COPYWRITER 064: The anxiety of the writing life

Would you like to land a copywriting job in an advertising agency working with blue chip clients? How about working in New York in the heart of advertising land? What about using your copywriting skills to write a bestselling novel? If you like to learn how to do any of these, then you need to listen to Philip Taffs. He has worked as a Senior Writer and Creative Director in both Melbourne and Manhattan. He’s worked with major players like Menulog and Playstation and helped launch the Honda CR-V & Odyssey into Australia.  He has taught copywriting at AWARD School, Strategic Communications at LaTrobe University, Public Relations at Deakin University, and Advertising, Media and Social at Swinburne, and his bestselling novel, Bubby, was recently re-released in the U.S. to great acclaim.  You’ll hear how he did it all and some important lessons on how you can get your foot in the door to launch your copywriting career even if you don’t have any experience. Here’s what else you’ll learn: The connection between copywriting and novel writing How to market a novel and find an agent Advice for copywriters looking to write a novel How he’d market his novel differently if he had the time over again How he got his foot in the door of the advertising industry How to connect with Creative Directors of leading advertising agencies, even if you don’t know them How he launched the Honda CR-V into Australia; the highlights, the low-lights and everything in between The importance of being ‘nice’ in business and why it will win you work How he landed a job in New York How to network and find the right people to speak to What advertising life in NY was like and the differences in writing copy for the United States How novice copywriters can get noticed and find work even if they don’t have any experience What he thinks of AI and how it is being used in copy and branding Insights/techniques/formulas/processes he teaches that resonate most with the students About Philip: Philip Taffs has worked as a Senior Writer and Creative Director in both Melbourne and Manhattan.  He still has a client out of London and handled recent projects for Menulog and Playstation. Major brand experience includes Honda (helped launch the Honda CR-V & Odyssey into Australia), Esanda Finance (headed up the account at Publicis Mojo), Australia Post (Joint Creative Director), and Cabrini Health (Creative Director).  As well as running his own creative consultancy, he has taught copywriting at RMIT and AWARD, Strategic Communications at LaTrobe University, Public Relations at Deakin University, and Advertising, Media and Social at Swinburne. Philip’s novel, The Evil Inside, was published by Quercus London in 2014.  (Same publishers as Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.)  In February 2024, it was re-released in the U.S. under the new title, Bubby. Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greg Baker knows more than most about AI and where it's headed. As an AI futurist and lecturer in Computational Linguistics at Macquarie University, Greg educates students on the intricacies of Artificial Intelligence for Text and Vision, and blends his theoretical insights with practical applications.  He helps the C-suite understand the future of labour, how to maximise AI productivity gains and how to gain a deep technical understanding of what is possible. He is a director at the Institute for Open Systems Technologies and has worked at Google and CSIRO and is a leading voice in how to understand the opportunities that AI offers us today and into the future. If you’re looking to discover how AI is impacting copywriters and the writing industry, this is the episode you have been waiting for.    You’ll learn how to: Take advantage of the opportunities (and understand the threats) in the evolving landscape of AI Explore new developments relevant to copywriters, including changes in platforms like Upwork Understand, access and create your own Custom GPT to help clients create better copy Monetise Custom GPTs for your own purposes Examine niche applications of Custom GPTs and understand the relevance of large language models for copywriters Compare the emerging competitors to ChatGPT and use the right ones for your needs Get the most from models like Anthropic’s Claude Opus   Use speech recognition programs to write your copy Get a job as a copywriter or screenwriter for computer games (and get paid more than ever before) Take advantage of the errors that ChatGPT makes when ‘hallucinating’ and turn that into a money-making opportunity (as a fact checker or sub editor) Understand the role Chat plays in Search Engine Optimisation (and why Google is in danger of becoming irrelevant). Create your own Chat Bot  Assess how the ‘helpful, harmful or honest’ used my language models skews the results we get About Greg: Greg is a lecturer in computational linguistics at Macquarie University, an author of 7 books and an award-winning music composer. His client list is a who’s-who of top businesses, governments and not-for-profits in Australia and around the world. His is also famous for his work preserving and restoring endangered and extinct languages. Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you like to add copy editing, project editing and proofing to your suite of services? If so, then this is the episode for you. Matt Davies is a leading copy editor. He specialises in the health care and government sectors and has created a thriving business that lets him work on his terms so that he has the time and space to pursue his true passion – writing novels. He’s already written three and he is just going from strength to strength. Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever considered adding ghostwriting of business memoirs to your suite of services? In today's episode, we explore the riveting tale behind the meteoric rise of Swisse Wellness, as recounted in the new book, "How to Build a Billion-Dollar Business" by Radek Sali, the visionary entrepreneur and former Swisse CEO. I happened to be his co-author on this project so I thought it’d be interesting to have a chat with Radek about the ghost-writing process and to share some hints and tips on how you too can add ghostwriting to your suite of services. The book details how Radek and his team turned a company that had $15 million in revenue and 30 employees, into a colossal $2.1 billion empire with over 1000 employees. He openly shares the highs and lows of his incredible journey, from teetering on personal bankruptcy, to engaging the world’s top celebrities as ambassadors. The book also covers how he steered Swisse from the brink of collapse and spearheaded the sale of Swisse to the Hong Kong based Biostime, which became one of Australia’s largest ever private business transactions. Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a leading journalist with The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, there’s not a lot that Jewel Topsfield hasn’t written about. Social affairs, politics, immigration, education, and global affairs are just a few of her specialty areas. Beyond journalism, Jewel is a sought-after speaker, lecturer at universities and schools, and has led a team that won a Walkley Award and served as a Walkley Awards judge.   I’m talking to Jewel today about her life as a journalist and how her writing life has changed over the years in response to the changing media landscape, in response to the ways that we consume media, and in response to the way in which the success or otherwise of a story is measured and much more. If you’d like a masterclass in how to research a topic quickly, and come up with world class content quickly that you know is going to be read by thousands of people, that has the potential to spark Senate enquiries – as her story on people smuggling did - you could take a leaf out of Jewel’s writing life.   Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you have a passion for a topic and would like to turn that passion into profit, you may want to build an online course so you can teach it. Amber Renae is many things. She started out as an engineer and then pivoted, seamlessly into becoming a celebrity stylist. It’s a logical next step, isn’t it?   She quickly realised she has a talent for not just making people look good, but helping their content look good too and so she created a course that helped others monetise their expertise. She is now a leading specialist in helping entrepreneurs and influencers create online courses so they can live their dream life.  Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI and copywriting. Everyone’s talking about it but someone who’s really getting deep into the weeds of how it all works is Leanne Shelton. Leanne is a copywriter who has taken a right turn and has reinvented her brand to become a specialist in copy and AI.  Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anxiety. We all have it, or elements of it, but some of us have it more than others. Writers, it would seem, have more of it than most. In this revealing podcast, Kerri Sackville, one of Australia’s most prominent columnists and popular writers discusses her writing life, and in particular, her unique relationship to, and with anxiety – how it helps her, hinders her and why it’s the creative force that underpins much of her work. Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To niche or not to niche? It’s a question I get asked a lot so I thought I’d interview Lynne Testoni, a leading content creator and copywriter. Lynne specialises in some of the most coveted topics – interior design, homewares, gardening, food, cookbooks and much more. She has carved out a niche writing career that enables her to write about what she wants, when she wants, and to work with the people she wants. If you’d like to learn how to successfully niche your copywriting business, become a subject matter authority and get paid what you’re worth, this is the episode for you. Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’re a copywriter and you’d like to expand your services and create a long term stream of income, you should consider becoming a ghostwriter. What even is a ghost writer? In many senses, a copywriter is the ultimate ghost writer in that we write content for a specific client, we are largely invisible, we don’t seek credit for the work and we work hard to become the voice of that brand. Read the show notes This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre. WritersCentre.com.au Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.