Brighton’s first content strategy meetup

Approaches to web content strategy

Brighton’s first content strategy meetup is happening on 23 February at iCrossing’s office in central Brighton.

Here’s the blurb from Charlie Peverett’s event page:

You are cordially invited to Brighton’s inaugural CS meetup! For strategists, web writers, editors, UX designers and IAs; from Brighton, London and beyond.

Starting with drinks and nibbles in the iCrossing canteen, we’ll kick things off with a group discussion around the theme (honouring the recent TedxBrighton)

Reasons to be cheerful (about the future of content)

If you’ve got a reason to be cheerful, please submit it (with URL if relevant) to charlie.peverett@icrossing.co.uk by 5pm on the day, and be ready to tell us all what it’s all about.

Thanks to Richard Ingram for the lovely diagram illustrating this post.

Copywriters wanted for upcoming projects

Do you write copy?

Kendall Copywriting, in partnership with The Copy House, is looking for talented and experienced freelance writers – especially those who ‘get’ the web.

You can see our job ad on WiredSussex, but here’s the summary:

As a copywriting and content agency based in the centre of Brighton, we devote ourselves to creating finely crafted copy and content for major brands all over the UK.

As well as being a team of writers, we work with brand language consultants, content strategists and user experience specialists to make sure each piece of writing we produce is strategically sound, creatively endearing and forms a healthy part of the bigger picture.

Some of our end clients include YMCA Training, Fitness First, NHS, The Film Council and Unison Trade Union, as well as several London and Brighton design agencies.
Job description:

To build up our portfolio of writers for several upcoming projects in association with Kendallcopywriting.co.uk, we’re on the lookout for a set of exceptional individuals who have:

Over 3 years experience

  • tried and tested method for getting to the heart of the story
  • A down-to-earth and rigorous approach to writing
  • A strong track record
  • Savoir-faire for giving clients strategically targeted copy
  • Hawk-eyes for the tiniest details

Skills Range:
We’re looking for:

  • a content writer
  • a content editor
  • a content strategist
  • a brand language specialist
  • a concept and ad copywriter
  • a web copywriter with strong UX awareness
  • an SEO writer

No hope on the boat – a life lesson from TEDx Brighton

delegate

I was lucky enough to get a ticket for TEDx Brighton, the conference that aimed to deliver a few “reasons to be cheerful”.

The conference was fantastic – a phenomenal experience considering none of the attendees paid a penny to attend. Tom Bailey, the organiser, has a lot to be proud of. It was also a pleasure to watch two familiar locals, Anthony Mayfield and Will McInnes, deliver excellent talks.

However, my favourite bit of one big awesome day was hearing about Sally Kettle’s adventure’s in rowing the Atlantic. Sally told us a tale that sounded somewhat like a peculiar daydream, rather than something a person actually did. A spur of the moment decision to row the Atlantic ended when her  partner pulled out sick, so Sally called on her long-estranged mum. They then spent the next four months rowing together, across the actual Atlantic.

During the arduous voyage Sally would sometimes complain, “I hope the current changes direction” or “I hope the weather holds out for us” or “I hope we reach land soon”. Eventually Sally’s mum snapped, “Stop hoping for things. Hope does nothing to change anything. Hope is not an action plan. If you want to reach land sooner, row harder. There’s no hope on the boat.”

There’s no hope on the boat!

I love this idea. When Sally first mentioned her catchphrase, it sounded very bleak. “No hope” – doesn’t sound great, does it? But the meaning is incredibly positive, because it’s a call to arms. It’s an encitement to take charge, to take control and to stop waiting for things to happen.

So if you ever catch yourself hoping, or praying, for things to change, stop. Less hope, more rowing.

Should web copy look consistent? Or interestingly different?

Uniformity

Should web copy look the same on similar pages of a website?

For example, if you have ten product pages, should the copy look consistent across those ten pages? Should the copy use the same formatting and follow exactly the same pattern (eg opening question, list of benefits, explantory paragraph, call to action)?

While it might seem desirable to use a consistent approach, this does bring problems.

Firstly, you can quickly find yourself trying to force content into a shape that doesn’t work.

The other problem, I believe, is that your ten pages (or whatever) all look the same. And they may even read the same, or have echoes of each other. Kinda boring, no?

What do you think?

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