The Content Byte

Continuing on with our successful freelancer series, we're chatting to journalist and editor Grant Jones, a former TV producer and newspaper section editor who now runs his own content agency and communications company. He's also cowritten the recent book, A Caring Life: What fifty years in nursing has taught me about humanity, compassion and community, by Keith Cox with Grant Jones. Find out how Grant had to reinvent himself during Covid, the skills he's picked up since starting out as a journalist so many years ago, and his tips for freelancers starting out. Connect with Grant On LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/grant-jones-content-media-marketing/ On Instagram - www.instagram.com/grant_jones_sydney/ Connect with us Rachel's List for job-seekers: rachelslist.com.au/jobseekers Lynne Testoni's website: www.lynnetestoni.com Rachel Smith's website: rachelsmith.com.au

Many experts say podcasting is still in its infancy for brands, but they're waking up to the huge potential benefits of audio content and using it to connect with their customers. In this episode, we talk about why journalists and content writers are in a great position to offer podcasting as a service to clients - and why it's a good time to upskill in this area. Tune in to find out: the transferrable skills you have that are great for podcasting (and the ones you might want to learn) why it's easy to outsource the bits you can't do (and how to do it) an actual breakdown of costs so you can see what to charge a client And more! ResourcesBlog post - Your guide to starting a podcast Blog post - "I write scripts for true crime podcasts" Lynne's client podcast: Building Better with CSR

This week Rachel and Lynne chat with successful freelancer Martina Donkers, who is a specialist grant writer. In an inspiring talk, Martina shares her story about finding her niche, how grant writing works and why she loves being a digital nomad - all from a hammock in regional Western Australia! You can connect with Martina via her website: http://www.martinadonkers.com/ Lynne's website https://www.lynnetestoni.com/ Rachel's website https://rachelsmith.com.au/ Rachel's List https://www.rachelslist.com.au/ Many thanks to Rounded for sponsoring this episode! Rounded offers user-friendly accounting and invoicing software, made just for Australian freelancers and sole traders. Visit https://rounded.com.au/

If you're as Mad Men-obsessed as we are, you're probably keen to know how copywriting on the agency side differs from, say, what other types of copywriters do. (And if you're like Lynne and Rach, that may mean sitting at home, writing everything from web copy to lead magnets.) So we're getting the goods from agency copywriter Damien Whelan. We ask: how DID he get into agencies? How does he come up with clever one-liners? What's it like working on an ad campaign for a billboard? How do pitch meetings pan out? Do they often pull all-nighters? How can freelancers get into agencies and become indispensible? And is there really is a decanter of whisky on everyone's desk? Where to find Damien Connect with Damien on LinkedIn

If you're setting yourself up to write copy or content for clients, it may be tricky to figure out the most important templates you need to have in place and why. These will be things you'll learn about, tweak and hone as you go, but in this episode we save you time and hassle by distilling it down to five templates we recommend you have from the start - and why they're so useful. Many thanks to Rounded for sponsoring this episode! Rounded offers user-friendly accounting and invoicing software, made just for freelancers and sole traders. The 5 templates and where to find them The rate card www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/rate-card/ A client brief template www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/client-brief-template/ A quoting template or statement of work www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/freelancer-statement-of-work-agreement/ An invoice template www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product/freelancer-invoice-templates-4-pack/ Belinda Weaver's copy deck template www.copywritematters.com/copywriting-copy-decks/ Kate Toon's copy deck template www.clevercopywritingschool.com/product/copy-deck-updated/ More about Lynne and Rachel Lynne's website www.lynnetestoni.com Rachel's website rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List rachelslist.com.au Starting out - Rachel's List for job-seekers rachelslist.com.au/jobseekers

This week's guest on the podcast is the talented Claire Isaac. Currently working as Editorial Director of TV WEEK and WHO on a maternity contract, Claire divides her time by filling in senior roles for long-term stints and writing for a variety of magazines and content agencies including Medium Rare, New Idea, the Big Issue and more. She talks about her start in teen pop mags and why she loves the excitement and pace of weekly magazines as well as how she created a successful podcast with friend Lisa Sinclair - Playing Devils' Avocado. Connect with Claire on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-isaac/ Playing Devil's Avocado is here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/playing-devils-avocado/id1459329449 This podcast is sponsored by our good friends at Rounded, easy accounting and invoicing software, made just for Australian freelancers and sole traders. It's everything you need to make freelancing easier! Find out more at https://rounded.com.au/ Rachel's List is: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/ Rachel's own website is: https://rachelsmith.com.au/ Lynne's website is: https://www.lynnetestoni.com/

Ever wanted to work with agencies? Lynne goes it alone this week with guest and agency owner Renee Francis, who talks about how freelancers can secure agency work, why she likes working with freelancers and the skills you need to secure good paying work. Renee's agency, The Bubble Co, is here: https://thebubbleco.com.au/ Connect with Renee via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-francis-7480a233/ This podcast is sponsored by our good friends at Rounded, easy accounting and invoicing software, made just for Australian freelancers and sole traders. It's everything you need to make freelancing easier! Find out more at https://rounded.com.au/ Rachel's List is: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/ Rachel's own website is: https://rachelsmith.com.au/ Lynne's website is: https://www.lynnetestoni.com/

The pandemic may have changed the way we work forever, says Dr Marcus Bowles, Rachel and Lynne's guest on the podcast this week and he feels freelancing might be the way of the future. In this thoughtful and far-ranging discussion, he chats about the careers of the future and all about micro-credentials and why they are important. Prepare to be inspired and challenged! Dr Bowles' website is here: https://marcbowles.com/ This podcast is sponsored by our good friends at Rounded, easy accounting and invoicing software, made just for Australian freelancers and sole traders. It's everything you need to make freelancing easier! Find out more at https://rounded.com.au/ Rachel's List is: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/ Rachel's own website is: https://rachelsmith.com.au/ Lynne's website is: https://www.lynnetestoni.com/

Savvy writers and freelancers all know that it's who you know, not what you know! A solid contact book is a huge asset for journalists, copywriters and content writers and this week Rachel and Lynne talk about how to find and nurture your contacts - and how to organise them so you can find the right expert at the right time. This podcast is sponsored by our good friends at Rounded, easy accounting and invoicing software, made just for Australian freelancers and sole traders. It's everything you need to make freelancing easier! Find out more at https://rounded.com.au/ The Folk CRM system Rachel talks about is here: https://www.folk.app/ The Source tracker on Rachel's List is here: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/toolkit/product-category/freelance-trackers/ Rachel's List is: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/ Rachel's own website is: https://rachelsmith.com.au/ Lynne's website is: https://www.lynnetestoni.com/

This week - the end of our financial year - Rachel and Lynne talk about fatigue. Ever since we spoke to Madeleine Dore about the cult of productivity, we've been mindful of not ignoring our fatigue levels and trying to be kind to ourselves. We recognise when we're at our best and when we're just pushing through to feel a bit ahead the next day. We share our tips about how we stay fresh, relevant and how we both avoid burnout. This podcast is sponsored by our good friends at Rounded, easy accounting and invoicing software, made just for Australian freelancers and sole traders. It's everything you need to make freelancing easier! Find out more at Rounded.com.au. Rachel's List is here: https://www.rachelslist.com.au/ Rachel's own website is: https://rachelsmith.com.au/ Lynne's website is: https://www.lynnetestoni.com/