Gear review – Isobaa’s Isosoft merino blend top

Isobaa asked me to review some of their merino gear in exchange for the items reviewed. I was more than pleased to say ‘yes’!

What do you wear in bed?

It’s a bit of a cheeky question isn’t it. But the question I really meant to ask was this one.

What do you wear in bed when you’re camping?

Continue reading “Gear review – Isobaa’s Isosoft merino blend top”

Would you trust a tent review written by artificial intelligence?

Can AI write outdoor blog posts and articles?

I recently wrote a post about copywriting and artificial intelligence. It’s an interesting topic. One I’ve been keeping an eye on for a while now. One that represents a slightly disconcerting situation.

Because the software is already available that could put me out of business.

Continue reading “Would you trust a tent review written by artificial intelligence?”

Copywriting and artificial Intelligence. Is it time to review my position?

In November 2019 I wrote a post about artificial intelligence and copywriting. In it I suggested that the time might come when I would need to compete with AI, or more specifically natural language generation, to win copywriting jobs.

That time has already come.

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Ten blog post ideas to bring visitors to your hospitality business website

Congratulations. You’ve upgraded your hospitality business website. The images are fabulous, bookings run smoothly, clients have all the information they need.

But you’re still not getting enough website visitors

That’s because there are so many hospitality websites out there. Not only are you up against your biggest, glossiest competitors, you’re also fighting for recognition from Google.

So what can you do?

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Colleagues are really important. Even for freelancers.

There’s nothing like the feeling of working in a team but when you take on life as a freelancer, you often find yourself working alone. When you’re doing freelance jobs, you might not have colleagues in the traditional sense but don’t be surprised if they appear along the way.

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Five things they don’t tell you about freelance work

According to the government definition of self employment, self-employed people are those who define themselves as working for themselves, rather than receiving a wage or salary from an employer.

Sounds great doesn’t it?

The freelance life definitely brings freedom, and decision-making power but just as with any other lifestyle, there are drawbacks to being a freelancer. Your income will be less certain, you won’t get sick pay, and you’ll have to work hard for every penny of profit you make.

Don’t give up on the idea yet though. We have five disadvantages of being self-employed below but we also explain how to deal with them. Continue reading “Five things they don’t tell you about freelance work”

Working from home? 5 great reasons to hire a freelance copywriter

Your staff are working from home, your business has moved online, and your website messages need updating. If this sounds like you, you’re in good company. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the emphasis on online service delivery models has led to an increase in requirement for experienced copywriters. Continue reading “Working from home? 5 great reasons to hire a freelance copywriter”

Staycation or vacation? What exactly is the new travel normal?

Don’t judge me but it’s time to confess I find the current shake-up in the travel industry interesting. It is no surprise this year’s vacation has been replaced to a large degree by the staycation.

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Influencer marketing and advertising standards: Whom exactly can you trust?

When influencer marketing goes wrong

Hands up if you know what an influencer is. Most of us have heard of the term and understand that online influencers are people who have developed an online following and use that influence to have an impact on the purchase decisions of those who follow them. Trustworthy influencer marketing can bring about a win-win result for all three parties involved; the business, the influencer and the purchaser but there have been infamous cases of influencer marketing going wrong. For example, the now notorious Fyre Festival, which made the double mistake of failing to acknowledge its relationship with influencers and failing to deliver on the festival as promised.

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Awesomesauce… We have the best of January’s new Oxford English Dictionary words

OED additions January 2020

I don’t want to risk OED mentionitis (the over mentioning of something to which one is attracted) but the latest list of additions to the Oxford English Dictionary has got me a bit broigus (irritated). All this futzing (messing about) with the language can be hard for us writers to keep up with, and how on earth am I supposed to get danfo (a yellow minibus from Lagos) into my freelance copywriting?

Macaroons and macarons

However, I am not entirely awedde (overcome with anger). We can all finally relax and watch Bake Off without getting confused between our macaroons and our macarons (meringue-like biscuits). We can also create our own bespoke beverages because tea-bag (to put your own herbs into a tea-making sachet) has at last ventured beyond the urban dictionary (entirely different and unsuitable meaning) and is now a respectable, middle class verb. I am pleased to note that chicken soup and chicken noodle soup, both of which I have been making for years are now official (goodness only knows what they were called before) but I refuse to describe any food, apart from chicken, as tasting chickeny (although come to think of it, we do have beefy, porky and turkey).

Cucamelons for tea

Regarding my hobbies. I am particularly pleased to find cucamelon (something I would like to grow this year) in the January 2020 OED additions.  I am not sure I will be investing in a couscoussier (steamer for cous cous) for the campervan but may adopt the preposition a-eastell (actually related to Nigerian politics) to add a little pep to my navigation courses.

New words and lots of rain

So far 2020 has brought us some interesting new words and lots of rain. I am hoping this latter isn’t an example of cyclonic bombogenesis (a dramatic fall in pressure) but I don’t have a barometer to check.

OED word fun

If you want to have your own word fun with the new Oxford English Dictionary lists, you can find them here. I will leave you now to work out for yourself whether or not you have a noonie

 

October at the Oxford English Dictionary… new words please!