sheena fronk

If your blog income dropped 4x from Google's Helpful Content Update, you need to hear this: Here’s what HCU is rewarding (and punishing) [Part 1] 1. People-first content Content should be written with the user in mind, addressing their needs and answering their questions. It should satisfy user intent and satisfaction, and not be overly optimised for search engines. Do people bounce off after the first few seconds of entering your page? If so, that’s not good. Is the content answering what the reader searched for? - Predict your user journey and answer their queries right in the beginning. i.e. primary and secondary intent. E.g. if they searched best areas to stay in Koh Phangan, the next thing they’ll probably want to find out is where are the best hotels to stay in the area. - Make it easy to read and understand - Internal links should point to user intent that sends users to the correct contextual signals, not just spamming a bunch of irrelevant internal links. ✅: - Freshness & relevance - is the content updated frequently? - Delivering real value - Quality content - Real-life experience that cannot be copy-pasted anywhere else - Comprehensive answers, not thin content ❌: - Not click-bait, not spammy - Not duplicate content - More words =/= good.  - Remove off-topic/ filler content. Anything that doesn’t get straight to the point, remove.  - Don’t over-optimise. No need for a keyword in every single heading. Don’t keyword-stuff. Thoughts? Stay tuned for Part 2 :)

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If your copywriter asks lots of questions, this is a good thing. It means they're very much interested in your project/brief. They're not trying to be annoying. They just want to get to the bottom of exactly what the request is, who it's targeting, and why (what do you want that audience to do?). It's when your copywriter goes quiet or becomes blasé that you should worry. If they just say 'yes' to everything, without asking questions, it's likely they've become disengaged... from the process, from the workplace, from stakeholders etc.

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There's a lot of doom and gloom these days, but there's also a ton of really cool shit happening -- so much so that I've made a career writing about it. If you're curious and want to learn something new about history, animals, climate solutions, and new scientific discoveries involving archeology, biology, chemistry, neuroscience, consciousness, and physics, then check out my newsletter, Curious Adventure, which has over 100 free articles to browse. #sciencewriter

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Does anyone else feel some of their articles could simply read: "No, it doesn't." (Plus a long list of references) For example, sometimes I think SEO departments see a highly-searched question like "If I say 'Unicorn' three times before I fall asleep, will I live longer?" Then, they manage to squeeze out five headers on the topic, and I'm left combing the research and asking experts to weigh in, when really, the answer is just "No." Anyone else? Only me? 😬🦄😅 #Health #HealthContent #Nurse #NurseWriter #Writer #Freelance #FreelanceWriter #HealthWriter

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I'll admit, writing a first draft is pretty painful for me (even after 3+ years of writing professionally!) Drafting is a bloody and messy process. That's one reason we all hate anonymous otters swimming around our docs while we're in the middle of it. It's actually good editing that makes all that pain worth it! To take a bunch of words and sentences... craft structure and meaning out of them... and watch them as they take coherent shape. I'd say it's rather 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴!  (𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.) So, I thought I should double down on my editing skills. After all, it's one thing that I truly enjoy in the writing process. That's why I took Shani Raja's "Editing Mastery" course on LinkedIn. It has seriously raised the bar for what good editing looks like. Although it's kinda geared towards academic and journalistic writers, it demonstrates editing practices that content writers can definitely benefit from (especially if you work with diverse types of content.) And if you also enjoy the editing stage of things, I'd recommend you check it out. P.S. Do you have editing resources to share? I'll devour anything to make myself better at editing.

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Big Lots -->> Today's Linguist Lotto Award goes to retailer Big Lots. A company in turmoil, its messaging has suffered from Brand Schizophrenia for years. Everywhere (?) Big Lots has a signature saying, "Live Big and Save Lots". Heck, they've been saying that for ages in all their advertising pages. But apparently during their brand new Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, there's a new game in town. Can you spot the word change? Confusion kills the deal. Confusion kills relationships. Confusion kills. Which way will your words take you--and everyone around you--next? #LinguistLotto #Copywriting #retail #branding #credibility #imsoconfused #BIGisnowBIGGQ

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"Why the hell would my early stage startup need a writer? They're expensive, aren't they? And I can just ping stuff out from ChatGPT, right?" Wrong – a writer does WAY more than just polish your words ✍ 📈 🎯 🚀 Having an experienced freelance writer on your startup team adds a huge amount of value for your growth, brand and understanding of your proposition. Find out why in the blog post... 😉 https://lnkd.in/gJ4aJ6M7 #startup #earlystagestartup #founder #entrepreneur #business #smallbusiness #writer #writing #freelance #freelancewriting

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One thing I've noticed regardless of the field, job position, or experience level is that people aren't great writers. Harsh? Maybe. Accurate? Usually. This is one area that I excel in and get to really utilize my English degree. However, technical writing that is tailored to specific job tasks takes time to really learn and develop. I am a Policy Advisor and the real "value added" of my job is that I am able to research complex issues and synthesize that information into clear messages, documents, and advice. If I'm lucky, a senior leader will look at something I've written for a few minutes maximum. It is important for me to ensure my message is clear and quickly understood. I really recommend this course to anyone looking to improve their writing when briefing management and making a recommendation. I am already finding it useful in my role, and I'm sure anyone that has to review my work will also appreciate it.

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When New Harvest Coffee Roasters hired me to write their website copy, they wanted one thing front and center. It's the thing they do better than anyone else. "Source Direct Coffee." It’s their differentiator. Their story. The reason they rank at the top of Google for organic search. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase. Maybe you’ve seen it on labels. Maybe you even have a vague idea of what it means. But if you’re like me, you might not be sure how it impacts YOU, as the coffee drinker. Here's what New Harvest told me about "source direct." -They take it seriously—like, send-employees-to-visit-the-farmers serious. -They’re committed to ethical sourcing and long-term relationships with small-scale growers. -They create a system where the farmers are supported and well-compensated. And the more I worked on their copy, the more I kept circling back to one question: Why does Source Direct Coffee matter to coffee drinkers like me? (Aside from the fact that it supports small-scale farmers and contributes to ethical sourcing). Like a two-year-old on a road trip, I kept asking, “But why?” “And why is that?” “And why is that?” Until finally, we landed on the distilled version of their story: ☕ Forming a relationship with small coffee farmers gives us a consistent, long-term source of great coffee. ☕ Farmers get a dependable roaster (that's New Harvest!) who pays a good price. ☕ That connection creates better coffee for everyone... from seed to cup. That clarity made all the difference. We slapped it right on the homepage, where it belongs. Because when you know exactly why your biggest sell matters, your customers will, too. Aaand now I’m craving coffee. ☕ P.S. If your website copy isn’t quite hitting the mark, I’ve got some templates to help you clarify your message. Download them here!

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HubSpot Certified! 🎉🎉 For anyone wondering if they should look into a cert even though they've been doing the work, I'd highly recommend this course. I learned new tips and tricks and am walking away with a really helpful tech stack list.

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As someone who's worked both as a writer and as an SEO, I've noticed something unfortunate on both teams: the inability to understand each other's perspective and priorities. Writers tend to be more creative. SEOs tend to be very mechanical. And if you leave a writer at the mercy of an SEO guy, the SEO is gonna make the writer churn out a piece that is fit for search engines by all means but very awkward for a human to read. The entire content creation workflow needs to be headed by an experienced "marketer", not just a writer or SEO. It's always better to zoom out a bit and see the bigger picture. Writers need to understand that mere written words won't generate traffic. And SEOs need to understand that analytics isn't everything, you have to care about good writing too. And I think a truly good marketer is the person who knows the sweet balance between the two.

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Hey, freelance writers! It’s *last call* for “pay what you can” group coaching. I have a few slots left for my May 7 group coaching call at 8:00 a.m. (Central European Time). Who should sign up? Any freelance writer who… ✅ Has questions about running a freelance writing business. ✅ Wants 1 hour of group coaching…but doesn’t want to pay hundreds for it. (Pay whatever you can contribute. Honestly.) ✅ Is free tomorrow (May 7) at 8:00 a.m. (Central European Time). Why are these sessions “pay what you can”? I’m looking to get feedback and testimonials on the service, so you’ll be asked to fill out a brief survey after the call. Good for you. Good for me. 🙌 ➡️ If you’re interested, let me know in the comments or DMs, and I’ll get you all the info!

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Struggling to retain subscribers? Losing subscribers is frustrating, but it’s more common than you think. The real issue? Most newsletters fail to connect with their audience. Here’s what’s driving them away: → Content that feels generic and uninspired. → Emails that prioritize selling over serving. → No clear reason for subscribers to stay engaged. Here’s how you can fix it: ↳ Share real stories, case studies, examples, or BTS moments. ↳ Think checklists, tips, or solutions to common problems. ↳ Write emails that show you understand your audience’s needs. You know sources say that newsletters done right can boost retention and engagement by up to 20% to 30%? The question is - How far are you optimized to make this happen? Let’s turn your emails into something your subscribers can’t wait to read. Ready? Drop me a message, and I’ll help you get started! P.S. What's that one thing you love the most about newsletters?

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I want more creatives and marketers to stop undervaluing themselves during job talks. 2 ways to frame this: advocating for yourself generally + advocating for your salary. (Note: this doesn't apply in the case of massive orgs where you're treated like a cog in the machine instead of a person.) 1. Advocate for yourself generally: Good leaders should want their future employees to fight hard for themselves in all things, because if hired, you'll then fight hard for THEIR thing. In other words, advocating for yourself sends them a meta-level message, almost like when you ask really great questions. When you ask great questions, they hear the question itself, but they also think, "Wow, they do their homework! Wow, they're really smart!" When advocating for yourself, they recognize they have someone who sticks up for themselves and their values and can make a sound case without turning into a brute. Advocate for yourself, generally. Because then, if you get an offer... 2. Advocate for your salary (or total compensation) specifically: Congrats, you have an offer. Guess what happened to arrive there? They became invested. They spent time with you, learned to like you, and got excited by the prospect of bringing you on board, and decided to commit even more resources to ensuring that happens. They're leaning in, and they're eager. After all the time and energy to get to an offer, if you cite 1 number 1 time which is higher than they anticipated or wanted to hear and that kills the process immediately? Now THEY have conveyed a meta-level message to YOU: "We suck. Don't work for us." Chances are, the deal will not fall apart in an instant. They might come back with a different number and/or you'll make several attempts to figure out what could make it work -- and then, and only then, it might end. But if it ends immediately, you've avoided a terrible employer. They don't want your thinking. They want your obedience. They want you to (very Game of Thronesian voice) bend the knee. And so you say, Buh-bye! And you take your talents elsewhere. In all cases, start to finish, good leaders treat hiring like a collaboration, especially the later stages. The problem is up on their board: "Hire for X." (Then it moves to an offer.) "Hire Sam." Then you and they stand shoulder to shoulder to figure out how that happens. Don't undervalue yourself. It's not a confrontation. Assume it's a collaboration, and advocate for yourself. Said another way: Get paid, and get to work.

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Let’s talk TOPICS (Again! This is post #2) The most common questions I encounter in my work with writers are: - Is it the right one? - How do I decide which one to write if I have multiple topics? - What happens if I just don't really like my topic or don't want to write it? Let's deal with the first one: how to know it's The Topic, with capital letters. I’ll deal with these points one by one, in subsequent posts. How do you know it's The One? And look, the answer to that is usually simple: The idea arrives, taps you on the shoulder and then won’t go away. You might turn your back, say you’re busy and ignore it But it doesn’t give up. It’s persistent. You might start to meet people who talk about that topic. More often than not, you’ll just find that it’s an idea that floats into your mind whenever you’re not doing something else (or on occasion, when it’s very insistent, when you ARE doing something else!). You’ll know, deep down, in that place within where you don’t pretend to yourself, that there’s an idea you need to give attention to. Essentially, you already know, you might either be ignoring it and deluding yourself because it's easier to do that than do the work of actually writing your book, or you don't want to face whatever you'll need to face in order to write the book.

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Let’s talk TOPICS (Again! This is post #2) The most common questions I encounter in my work with writers are: - Is it the right one? - How do I decide which one to write if I have multiple topics? - What happens if I just don't really like my topic or don't want to write it? Let's deal with the first one: how to know it's The Topic, with capital letters. I’ll deal with these points one by one, in subsequent posts. How do you know it's The One? And look, the answer to that is usually simple: The idea arrives, taps you on the shoulder and then won’t go away. You might turn your back, say you’re busy and ignore it But it doesn’t give up. It’s persistent. You might start to meet people who talk about that topic. More often than not, you’ll just find that it’s an idea that floats into your mind whenever you’re not doing something else (or on occasion, when it’s very insistent, when you ARE doing something else!). You’ll know, deep down, in that place within where you don’t pretend to yourself, that there’s an idea you need to give attention to. Essentially, you already know, you might either be ignoring it and deluding yourself because it's easier to do that than do the work of actually writing your book, or you don't want to face whatever you'll need to face in order to write the book.

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Email marketing suggestion: About the dreaded unsubscribe. People's interest levels change. Their priorities change. Unsubscribes happen. So how do you use that to your advantage, and leave a space for those customers to come back at a later date? Many companies issue a brief poll, asking why the recipient unsubscribed. These polls can give you valuable information sometimes. So by all means--have one if it feels useful. *DON'T*, however, then send an email to the un-subscriber, confirming they've been unsubscribed. They didn't want to get any more emails, remember? So let them go, and keep refining your strategy. Just my two cents 😊 #emailmarketingtips #freelancewriter

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As writers, we create content that starts the conversation. We write our best, but we’re just the beginning of the conversion process. It's not just us who turns leads into sales. It’s the sales team, the business development team, and everyone working together. Writing is the first step, but it takes a team to complete the journey. We set the stage, and then the whole team plays their part to make it happen. Everyone talks about creating something new. Create FOMO. Create funnels. Create engaging content. It's all about creating, creating, creating! But sometimes, we need to stop and take a breath. I'm just a writer, not a wizard of Oz. I’ve been writing since I was a kid. Writing is my craft. I don’t create worlds from nothing. I procreate though, haha. I take ideas and make them grow. It’s like tending a garden, not painting a blank canvas. People call writers creators, but that’s not the full story. We don’t create in the usual way. We don’t build things from scratch. We shape and mold ideas. Writing is an art. Writers are artists, not just creators. The psychology of creativity says this too. Creativity is about combining known ideas in new ways. Writers use their skills to turn ideas into stories. We take our experiences and rearrange them to express thoughts. Writing captures the human experience. We write to connect, share, and inspire. It’s about reflecting reality, not making up new worlds. It’s like music. Composers don’t invent notes. They arrange them into songs. Writers do the same with words. Writing is about communication. It’s about turning complex ideas into simple stories. We don’t invent concepts; we explore them. We’re more about transformation than creation. Next time someone tells you to create, remember: it's about quality, not quantity. It's about crafting messages that linger. The best stories aren’t just made; they’re felt. Writing isn’t about making something from nothing; it’s about bringing thoughts to life. Trying is what sets us apart, and that’s where the real magic hap

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OK, freelance writers. I’m doing a (very limited) round of “pay what you can” group coaching. Who wants in? Here’s what it’s all about: ✅ You decide how much you want to pay for a 1-hour group coaching session with me ✅ Hop on a Zoom call (I’ll have dates and times available) ✅ Ask me (a freelance writer since 2006) anything you want about freelance writing ✅ Listen to the questions of your fellow freelancers I’m opening 3 sessions for this offer. Max 10 people per session. Spots are first come, first served. So…why am I doing this? I’m building out the group coaching arm of my business (in addition to 1-on-1s), and I’d *love* more testimonials from people who’ve been through a session with me. If you sign up, I’ll ask you to fill out a brief review form about the coaching. You answer and rate the call 100% honestly. --- If you're a freelance writer, it's a good bet you've got questions. Things you're stumped on in your business. Something you want a second opinion on. So, what’s the value of having someone answer *your* freelance writing questions for an hour? Comment, DM, or email "I'M IN" if you’re interested in snagging a spot.

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