Case study: content writing retainer for SaaS

Breathe is an HR software company, providing HR SaaS to SMEs across the UK. Their target markets are SME business leaders and people responsible for HR management and administration.

With a gap in their content team and the need to continue creating and updating content to fit their busy content schedule, I worked on a content writing retainer with them for two years. A year later, I worked on a further retainer of 11 months with them.

As a freelance content writer, I was able to provide several services to support the team. Here are a few highlights:

Blog repurposing

Great content deserves to be seen but needs regular spring cleaning to keep it working hard from an SEO perspective. The team at Breathe gave me a list of blogs to repurpose as part of my content writing retainer. With access to their Monday.com board, I delivered blogs in line with their updated keyword targets and any other changes, while running due diligence checks on stats and legislative information to ensure all content was correct. Naturally, I ensured keywords were incorporated naturally and effectively for SEO dynamite.  I also provided page titles and SEO descriptions. Some of this work involved merging multiple posts into single blogs. Every post was delivered to schedule.

Blog writing

Refreshing existing content is an easy win, but writing new blogs is a surefire way to show your audience you’re on top of current topics. Again, working from the team Monday.com board, I delivered a series of blogs in line with keyword and title requirements. Some blogs had very specific briefs, others were left open for me to write as I felt fit. Again, every blog was written to a tight schedule, and I turned edits around in a flash.

“Her work is well-researched and very well-written. I would highly recommend Laura’s services” – Carl Sadecki

Gated content for SAAS

Information-rich gated content is lead-generating gold. However, it needs to be up to date. The Breathe team briefed me to update a selection of their guides – all of which related to employment law, leadership and team management. I researched the topics, sense-checked the data and ensured links and statistics were still relevant. If there were stronger links or better statistics, I updated these. In some cases, social attitudes were shifting – especially if the content was written pre-covid. In this case, I edited things and alerted the team, so they were aware of my changes.

Content writing training for team members

I was asked to run a training session with a newer member of Breathe’s content team to help with their development. During the two-hour session, I shared my methodology around content creation, particularly focusing on research and helpful tools to help with blog writing. The feedback I received was that the session was very useful and shaped how the writer builds their content to this day.

Content writing retainer results

I worked with Breathe in two separate contracts. During my first content writing retainer, I wrote 82 articles for Breathe. These have been read by more than 870,000 people and generated more than 4,000 clicks through to other content, including requests for software trials and demonstrations.

“Laura has been a great asset to our content team over the past few years. She fully understands our brand voice & our goals, always creating insightful and interesting content that is enjoyable to read. Laura has re-invigorated some of our older blogs with her engaging writing style, as well as shared her valuable knowledge in updating some of our core website resources. Laura also kindly ran an incredibly useful training session with me when I was new to content writing, sharing some golden pieces of advice that I implemented & still use today. I can’t recommend Laura highly enough, nor thank her enough for all her hard work and help.”

Aimée Brougham-Chandler

You can see some of the work I completed for Breathe here.

12 Copywriting Tips for Small Business Owners
A black typewriter holding a blank piece of paper. There is a text overlay which reads "12 copywriting tips for small business owners"


As a small business owner, you need to master a range of skills. As well as finance manager, CEO and pot washer, you need to become a copywriter. And the truth is that although copywriting seems simple at first, it can quickly become overwhelming. My copywriting tips for small business owners are just what you need!

Copywriting tips for small business owners.

Are you ready? Coffee in hand? Let’s go…

  1. Writing doesn’t need to be a drama. You’re just communicating with your audience. If you feel anxious as you approach your keyboard, then try some mind tricks to help you relax into it. One such trick is to pretend you’re talking to just one person – you’ll feel yourself slipping into a much more comfortable frame of mind, ready to write!
  2. Worries about your grammar? Install Grammarly – it’s what all the copywriters are using. It handily checks your grammar & gives you a little nudge if things look incorrect. Beware, the free version has a fondness for Oxford commas & American spellings, so use it with good judgement and align it with your preferences.
  3. Forget yourself. You’re not writing for yourself. You’re writing for your audience. So make sure your writing talks to them about what they’ll get. Not what you can deliver.
  4. Bad writing is better than no writing. After all, you can’t edit a blank page. So no matter how uninspired you feel or how bad your cold, get something down on the page. Chances are it won’t look that bad when you review it. Speaking of which…
  5. Sleep on it. Leave everything you’ve written for a good few hours before you send/upload/share it. Overnight (or even longer if you have the time) is best. You’ll be amazed at how much you want to change on your final reading.
  6. If it’s not your idea, say so. After all, you’ll just get into hot water if you try to pass off an idea or passage as your own. And in any case, it’s an opportunity to link to or mention your contributor, by which you broaden your audience.
  7. Share! What’s the point of writing fine words if they just sit on your laptop or blogging account without ever seeing the light of day? Share, share and share again. And then repurpose it so you can share it even more. The world deserves to see your brilliance wouldn’t you say?
  8. SEO is dead. Or so they keep saying. If you want your online writing to index well with search engines, you need to write naturally. Keep it relevant to your audience and use a broad range of vocabulary that refers to your “keywords” – not that anyone admits to using these anymore.
  9. Keep it simple. Forget the long words and keep to simple language that’s anyone and everyone will understand. There are no prizes for the number of readers who don’t understand you.
  10. Leave out unnecessary words. The more words you include, the more your audience needs to process, and the more likely they are to stop reading. Remove words such as “to”, “of”, “then” and “that”. This goes a long way to making your copy that little bit easier to read.
  11. You don’t need to start at the beginning. It can be easier to get stuck into the meat of what you’re trying to say and then build the copy up around it. Don’t worry about finding the perfect opening paragraph – just leave it, write the rest of your document and then come back to it later on.
  12. Get help. No-one is an island. If you’re really struggling, get a copywriter (shameless plug, my apologies!). Otherwise, ask willing (and capable) friends and family to proofread your work and give you feedback. A brainstorming session with your network can go a long way to giving you new ideas for your next few blog posts or emails.

Looking for more copywriting help?

As a copywriter who regularly writes for small and medium sized businesses, I can help you in a number of ways.

  1. I can write for you. Give me a call, tell me what you need and I’ll get writing!
  2. You can book a 121 inspiration call. You can use these calls in any way you like – from brainstorming ideas to coaching you to write perfect blogs.
  3. You could join one of my copywriting workshops. I run a range of free and paid workshops, they all contain copywriting tips for small business owners!
  4. You could sign up for my email. You’ll get a monthly update with advice and news to help you improve your writing. You’ll also get a free blogging basics guide to help you get started!
Beyond Awesome. Better Ways to Say “Great Job!”

It’s nice to give praise. To tell people they did a great job or that you really enjoyed the coffee/meal/cake they made you. Positive feedback helps reinforce desired behaviours and sends a message of appreciation. Something that’s much needed in the workplace and home. But have you stopped to consider how you give praise?

“You did a great job Sally, well done”

“That presentation was awesome. Great job!”

“Amazing cake, thank you!”

Do you spot a theme?

Yes, the words are positive. But then if they weren’t, it wouldn’t be praise.

The other thing you may have noticed is that the words are all fairly general. They’re not specific and are easily swapped around with one another. “Awesome” could apply to the cake, presentation or job that Sally did.

So what?

The problem with using generalist vocabulary is that it lacks true impact and doesn’t really say what you were impressed with. The effect lessens with each usage. The problem with telling everyone that they do a great, awesome or amazing job, is that over time, the effect of that compliment diminishes.

How to give more constructive praise

It all comes down to the words you use. Be more thoughtful in your choice of vocabulary. Perhaps Sally did a “meticulous” job, or maybe she was “right on brief“. Both of these give Sally an idea of what you’re so happy about, helping guide her with future projects. She’ll be just as, if not more pleased than if you’d said “great“.

And that “awesome” presentation may well have been “inspiring“, “thought-provoking“, “highly competent” or even “well-judged and very funny“. So much more helpful than an over-used statement of  “awesome“.

And of course, you’d be absolutely right to describe a delicious cake as “amazing”, but how about getting a bit more creative with your compliments – “so rich and chocolatey”, or “light and delicious”, or even “just the sugar hit I needed right then”. You’ll be so much more likely to be offered an extra slice…

Let’s face it, no-one’s going to get grumpy with you if you happen to tell them they did something awesome. I certainly wouldn’t. But to give them a thoughtful compliment or well-considered piece of praise could well make their day.

And wouldn’t that be awesome?

 

Looking for better ways to express yourself? Sign up to my not-very-regular email updates and you’ll get more ideas and suggestions. (You’ll also get a FREE downloadable checklist to help you write better blogs – feel free to pass it on if you won’t use it!)

Want to write a bad email? Start like this…

It slips off your tongue easily and finds its way off your fingers and onto a keyboard even more easily. But kicking off with an apology is one of the fastest ways I know of starting an email on the wrong foot.

Sorry. Forgive me. My apologies.  Whoops-a-daisy. My bad.

You get the picture.

Why you shouldn’t start with sorry

The person reading your email will be ready to wonder what you’ve done. Should they feel aggrieved? Impatient? Irritated? You’re certainly suggesting they have a right to be. As we humans are highly suggestible there’s a chance that even if they weren’t aware of the wrong you’d committed, and couldn’t have given two hoots, they may be a bit less than impressed with you than they were 10 minutes previously.

An example…

Let’s say you’ve sent something a bit later than promised. Train delays, kids off school, cat to the vets with a mystery cough… life happens. You finally whizz off the email to your contact, starting with an almost out of breath “sorry this is so late…”.

What’s the first thing the recipient thinks? “urgh… late again”. They sigh as they sip their coffee and add a little black mark against your name in their imaginary list of “people I deal with”.

If you were just an hour or so late, you’d have been better not mentioning it at all. There’s a chance they hadn’t even realised your note was late. If you were over a clear deadline or a day or so late, you could replace an effusive apology with a more assured “thank you for your patience…” – a trick you might have seen elsewhere.

Thank you for your patience

It’s something doctors say, you’ve probably heard it before…

You’ve been waiting in a stuffy waiting room with only copies of the “People’s Friend” for entertainment. It’s been 45 minutes and you’re ready to create merry hell. The doctor eventually calls you in and says “thank you for your patience”. They may even explain why they’re so over their schedule. Because your doctor is lovely and you know they do a good job, you readily forgive. After all, you don’t mind being patient do you? 

Instead of apologising for a small and understandable deficiency on their part, the doctor praises you for a positive behaviour. It’s a small thing, but it makes a big difference to the way you feel. “Thank you for your understanding” works just as well. You make people feel good about their behaviour, shifting the emphasis off yourself. But sometimes this isn’t appropriate; perhaps a big fat “sorry” is in order.

When the situation demands an apology.

You don’t need me to tell you this. In situations that require an apology, you should say sorry.

But you don’t need to start your email with an apology. Get into the solution, help resolve the situation. Something along the lines of “I see what has happened. I’ll get back to you with XYZ by lunchtime tomorrow”. Then add your apology.

In fairness, if you’ve made a mistake that demands an apology you probably need to get on the phone and talk it through. But because you’ll be following up that phone call with an email as well, you need to remember to think carefully about how and where you place that necessary apology.

Sorry? What was that?

Say sorry. Show sorry. But start an email with a “sorry”? There’s never any need to do that.

 

Do you agree? Or not? Let me know.