Six years ago this week I resigned from my three day week direct marketing job in a fit of dangerously impulsive pique, finally going fully freelance.
All change in the digital marketing freelance writer world
Over the last six years I’ve seen Google’s search algorithms change dramatically, trashing businesses who sailed too close to the keyword-stuffing and duplicate copy wind. I’ve experienced the stellar rise of social media and witnessed countless online marketing innovations that have long since gone dog-shaped.
I’ve watched online inbound marketing take the stage, a re-invention of classic database marketing. And while I stared, open mouthed in wonder, the internet became a behemoth.
I’ve seen fresh, current web content become vital, and saw relevance and quality begin to shine. And I’ve observed, fascinated, as the tiny screen hit the big time and the mobile web revolution steamrollered on.
But in a fast changing marketing universe, a few basics remain the same.
Some things don’t change…
- beautifully written websites still convert sales better than crap copy
- accurate spelling is just as important as ever
- copy is equally difficult to understand when it isn’t punctuated properly, despite the popularity of truncated text speak
- seo-friendly formatting still pleases search engines and helps people read your content with ease
- direct marketing best practices and principles still apply, if not more so
- you still need business experience to write effective commercial copy
Anyway, it’s been a thrilling ride so far. Not quite as exciting as Rutger Hauer’s famous Blade Runner soliloquy, but getting there!
Here it is, a beautifully crafted, poignant, inspirational piece of writing and a suitable way in which to mark the start of my seventh freelance copywriting year. I particularly admire the wonderfully alliterative “back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps”. Heavenly.
“I’ve known adventures, seen places you people will never see. I’ve been off-world and back… frontiers! I’ve stood on the back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps with sweat in my eyes watching the stars fight on the shoulder of Orion. I’ve felt wind in my hair riding test boats off the black galaxies, and seen an attack fleet burn like a match and disappear. I’ve seen it, felt it…”
Here’s to the next seven years. Thank you to all my lovely customers, past and present.
