Heather Johnson's Blog, page 5

Reflections on Six Years of Business

Exactly six years ago today, I put my head down on my desk and bawled.

I wasn’t crying a long, snotty cry because I didn’t have any super-fun holiday plans (though it didn’t help). I cried because I had reached a breaking point. I felt stuck in a dead-end job that was making me miserable, and I couldn’t see any way out.

I took that job during the Great Recession, after the majority of my freelance work disappeared. It started as a part-time gig that I thought would tide me over u...

I Want You to Meet My Team

 

The coronavirus pandemic has left more than 30 million Americans out of work and many more either furloughed or underemployed. Small businesses, including micro-small businesses of one (aka independent contractors), are either closing up shop or praying their Economic Injury Disaster Loan goes through.

In California, weve been sheltering in place since March 17. While working from home is nothing new to meIve been working from my home office for most of the past 21 yearseverything else has...

The 4 Ps of Business Success (and 2 to avoid)

I learned one of the most important rules of email etiquette the hard way—by screwing up. That important rule: don’t fire off a snotty email when you’re angry or irritated. Especially when the recipient is a new client.

The situation: The new client, an advertising/marketing agency, asked me to write ongoing blog articles for a healthcare company. I had previously written a few pages of web copy for the company, and the process was smooth all around. The offer for ongoing work was a nice nex...

How to Network at Conferences and Actually Get Results

A little over a week ago, I put on nice clothes and commuted into San Francisco for Day One of AdvaMed’s Digital MedTech Conference. My goals were to learn about topics relevant to my business and to make a few connections that would lead to new business. I succeeded on Part A. The networking part? Room for improvement. 

Before I hopped on BART (the train from Oakland to SF), I spoke with business coach, John Bulman, MBA. He’s kept me accountable and helped me up my marketing game for most o...

The writing test: should you do it?

When negotiating a project or ongoing work with a new client, copywriters and content marketing writers often get asked to take a writing test. Is it worth your time to write something new in addition to providing writing samples? Sometimes.

A writing test or copy test is a sample exercise some companies ask for so they can get a sense of your writing style and proficiency. It helps companies because they can evaluate multiple writers who are covering the same topic. If it’s a specialized i...

Top 9 holiday gifts for content writers & copywriters

The heart of any content marketing campaign includes content: articles, eBooks, case studies, and so on. And because rising above all the other content out there is about as easy as finding your best friend in a packed football stadium, it better be good!

If you’re writing direct mail, lead generation emails or web copy, you need strong calls to action, readability and a little bit of magic. If you do either or both types of writing, expert guidance and inspiration go a long way toward taking...

Back in print! If These Halls Could Talk: A Historical Tour through San Francisco Recording Studios

If These Halls Could Talk: A Historical Tour Through San Francisco Recording Studios, originally published in 2006 by Thompson Course Technology, is back in print. It’s available now for $29.95 via The Book Patch at bit.ly/ifthesehalls. Know someone interested in record production, audio engineering or the stories behind the music? They’ll enjoy this.

And your purchase will go to a good cause. I’m donating 20% of the book sales to Women’s Audio Mission, a San Francisco-Oakland-based nonprofi...

Lessons learned from the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum

A little more than a week has passed since Ann Handley and the MarketingProfs team came to San Francisco for its annual B2B Marketing Forum. This was my first year attending and I’m so glad I did!

Over three days in November, more than 1,000 marketing leaders came together to learn, network and share marketing tips. The event included four keynotes, 65 sessions, six all-day workshops and networking events.

Because I live nearby, in Oakland, California, it was an easy trip. I was able to get...

7 key differences Between B2B and consumer marketing

Writing for a business audience and writing to consumers require two different approaches. Copywriting generally emphasizes benefits over features: “Our car’s ergonomic seating, with built-in massage feature, works the stress out of your commute.”

Businesses interested in investing in new products need to understand the features, as well. The following features might motivate an enterprise company to consider new accounting software: “For Mac and PC. Unlimited paychecks. Custom financial rep...

How to write sponsored content that rocks like Dökken

In the San Francisco and Houston Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and many other publications, you’ll see sponsored content mixed with reported articles.

It’s hard to distinguish sponsored content from editorial. That’s the point. Sponsored content, aka native content, is intended to blend with editorial on the page. (Hence the word “native.”) The difference? Money and editorial control.

Brands pay for sponsored content and therefore have control over their content. Editorial i...