Content Writing - An Interview with Jessica Olma of Scribe Syndicate
This is the transcript of our interview.
Please scroll to the end to see links to Jessica's sites and FREE content.
Content covered in this interview includes:
- Introduction to Jessica and Scribe Syndicate.
- Why a business would need a content writer (and why creatives should consider partnering with each other).
- The process of working with a Content Writer.
- Why consider writing an eBook?
Barry: Hi, this is Barry Donovan with first impression warrior. Thank you for joining us. First impression warrior is designed for you, the warrior that is on the front lines creating great first impressions for your clients. Whether you're a graphic designer, freelancer; whether you're an agency or a print shop. We're here to help you grow your business. Now let's get right to our podcasts. Okay, welcome to the podcast. Today we have a special guest, Jessica Olma with Scribe Syndicate. I'm going to let her introduce herself. She is a first impression warrior and I'm real excited because this is our first interview of 2020. Jessica, say hello to the audience and please introduce yourself?
Jessica: Hello, yes I have a small business. It's a digital content writing business. Like you said, it's called Scribe Syndicate. I write and edit website page content mostly. I also create monthly blog articles and documents including white papers or say an eBook, and other things that a company might want to download to their audience. Writing has always been my passion. And so I devote even more time to researching some of the topics because I go across many service-based industries. The great thing about it is that I learn new things every day. I consider that a main perk of my job. When I'm not working, I love to hike or read a book on the beach.
Barry: Do you ever read a book while you're hiking?
Jessica: Well that would be kind of difficult to do unless it was an audio book. I could probably do that.
Barry: There you go. Let me ask you a question. I'm always curious how people get started in their industry or profession. So that's the first question I'm going to ask is how did you get started in this crazy business?
Jessica: It was kind of accidental. I was networking for work in the insurance industry at the time and I was discovering that business owners were paying for new websites but didn't know what to do with them. And this is usually in the age group of, you know, 40 and up. In the beginning, I was the only person out there that was networking as a writer. And so I didn't have a whole lot of competition. When I started the business, of course it was just me. I was doing all the writing and editing in the company while trying to grow the client base. Many business owners were needing a digital profile and a resume that they could have online to share. They needed something that described their businesses and services on their main website pages, which would be the, About, Home and Service pages. And then they might think about maybe doing blog articles. Even if they were good writers, they didn't really have the time to put into that. And they also didn't really have the time to edit properly. I saw a lot of stuff out there that was, you know, it really didn't look professional.
Barry: That's a nice way of putting it.
Jessica: Yes. It takes a lot of time to go over material and make sure that simple spelling errors and grammar problems are taken out so that you look professional.
Barry: So you kind of stumbled into the business. You mentioned that you were doing everything yourself, and eventually, we as entrepreneurs have to let go of the reins sometimes or bring in some help, find a partner, find a funding source, something to help us move to the next step. How did that all transpire for you?
Jessica: It took seven years as I was growing Scribe Syndicate from a one writer business to a collective of writers and editors. I did go for a business loan, which was extremely helpful. Just going through that process helped me create my business plan properly and look at a lot of the different areas of my business that I would have to learn more about. I knew the technical side, I knew the writing and editing pieces, but running a business is a completely different thing. So, I get most of my business from doing face to face networking and referrals. I spent about 15 hours a week locally and an additional hour reaching out to business owners online, offering consultations or looking for partnership opportunities. Partnership opportunities for me involved, hooking up with web designers and marketing consultants that have clients who need me in part of their process. There's a lot of people that are getting their website upgraded and that doesn't include the written content. So then they're stuck either looking for someone on their own or being referred to someone by their web designer. So I establish those relationships and clients look very professional before they go and market their website and their services.
Barry: Sometimes you find that people are trying to do everything themselves and I learned a long time ago, it's not what or how you do it, but who you hire. The smart people know who know how to do it but will bring others in to take care of the task. Because the most precious entity we all have is time. We can't get it back. And I've learned over the years as well, as much as I want to do everything I have to let go of the reins.
Jessica: And that's part of the expansion process that I've been going through. The growing pains happen when I have to introduce another writer or an administrative person. What type of software systems am I using to automate things so that I'm not wasting my time. And I also hired a business coach to help guide me through that process and I think it's going to be very helpful.
Barry: Well that's excellent. So that's just a recent acquisition so to speak.
Jessica: Yes, I started the process on my own and then realized that I wanted to get things done faster and I thought working with someone who's been through that process over and over with their clients would be able to make it happen.
Barry: Got it. And you mentioned being, you know, working with partners and that's why I thought of you for the podcast because there's so many creatives out there that again, try to do everything themselves or have clients that come to them. And let's say they're a web designer or a graphic designer and the client needs copywriting. Many times they don't know what to do. They just said, well, you know, I can't help you or whatever. And it just seems to me like a natural fit for a copywriter and a graphic designer or a web designer. I mean, you all are trying to achieve the same goal. And partnering with those types of people, it makes perfect sense to me.
Jessica: It made sense to me, too, because I can help them and they can help me and everyone wins. It's just a matter of establishing the right relationships and making sure that your processes fit their processes so everything goes smoothly and the client doesn't have to worry about it being a separate thing that they need to attend to.
Barry: I'm using the word copywriting, but you know, you're a content writer. That seems to be the title these days, they're interchangeable. But it is appropriate because everything out there, everybody needs content. So let me ask you this, why would a business need a copywriter?
Jessica: For the most part, there's so much written material that needs to be out there for a business owner. Professionals hire experts because they want to look their best. That's what we're all trying to do. And you know, the web designer can make the website look spectacular and professional, but the copy that's on it also needs to be just as professional. So while many business owners are perfectly capable of writing their own material, they're up against the millions of other online businesses competing for advertising space and browser recognition locally, nationally, and globally. And they don't really know what to do to their copy to make that happen. So they've got thousands of people within the same sector trying to come up with something original and compelling. And that's hard to do. It takes time to think about it. It's not something that you just throw together, and some business owners don't want to sit there and agonize over what it is that's going to make their message unique. They also want to come across with something that's concise or informative, some educational pieces or even some entertaining pieces.
Jessica: So now we're talking multiple areas of content or types of content that take even more time. Editing is also critical. They don't want to hit publish unless they know something about editing. And of course there are apps out there that can help you, but they aren't good enough to rely on 100%, you still need to know what you're looking at in terms of editing and proofreading. There are several stages. They also may not be aware of search engine optimization techniques, which requires some keyword use, which they can look up on their own to see what keywords are great for their industry or they can have someone do it for them. These are the words or phrases that need to be put periodically into whatever content they put out so that people can search and find it.
Barry: And there is a science to that. I've worked with SEO companies before and I tried it on my own and it was clear I didn't know anything after working with the SEO company. What I thought I was doing was great. Not so much. So there is a science, and again it goes back to the how versus the who.
Jessica: I agree 100%.
Jessica: Yes. And even if they're not ready to go to a marketing firm and really optimize SEO for advertising and promotion purposes, they can still have the content that they have, search engine optimized, ready for things like that. It's as simple as using your HTML heading codes, looking at your alt-tags for any of your images and knowing what meta-descriptions and backlinks are being used in the background. So not everyone's aware of how to go about doing that, and getting a content writer that's used to doing digital content, they already know those things.
Barry: It sounds to me like there's a lot more than just content writing going on here.
Jessica: Yes, definitely. The whole point is for people to find the content. For their audience to search for a topic that pulls up a blog post that then takes them to the website. It's not just about putting out really good content. Someone has to see it.
Barry: Exactly. Well, speaking of putting out good content, we've just talked about why somebody would need a content writer. Say they've just hired you. Is there a process or steps that you take when you're working on a project for a client that you can share with us?
Jessica: Yes. When I'm working directly with business owners, it starts with a consultation to learn more about the business and the brand and that's pretty critical. They may or may not already have those answers. It depends on if they have a website that's currently operating or if they're starting out with a brand new one, and if they're making any changes to their messaging and their brand. And, so we talk about that over a period of maybe an hour. They may be trying to scale their business and try to get a more professional image online. And that's what they're coming to me for.
Jessica: So, we're going over their company profile and messaging, and how they can drive traffic through things like blog materials, eBooks, and other downloadables for promotions. I then get a sense of the size of their project, and then fit into a schedule with a timeline and take a deposit and we get rolling.
Barry: I imagine there's a lot of research behind the scenes. I mean, you're coming into a company that you know nothing about sometimes, or a topic or subject that is not something that you deal with every day. So what percentage of your time is spent just thinking and researching?
Jessica: I spend more time doing the research than I do the actual writing. And that's because I want to go to several different sources to learn about an industry that maybe I don't know enough about yet. There's a lot of industries I know a little something about but not in great depth. So I will ask the client if there's particular newsletters in their industry or a website that they go to get reliable information, any notes that they've already taken, anything that they can offer me to make sure that I'm not only educated on the topic but also get their viewpoint on it. A business owner's viewpoint in their industry can be very different from someone else that's in the same industry. And I want to make sure that I capture that as well.
Barry: Viewpoint, and I would imagine their voice.
Jessica: Yes. Style, voice and viewpoint. I sometimes will ask them to show me an example of an article that they've read and the way it's written and how they feel about that, if that's an example of what they want to come across like, and I will use that also.
Barry Yes, it makes total sense. I understand you recently wrote an eBook and it's kind of unique because the title is How to Write an eBook. So, tell our audience why you think someone should consider writing an eBook?
Jessica: Well, like I was saying, most business owners want to put out some sort of educational piece of content that enlightens their audience or their visitors to their site about what it is they do and why they do it. And it's a way of letting people get to know you. So an eBook is a very simple way to do that. And it doesn't have to be very long. My eBook is only 10 pages and I think it adequately explains the process of putting an eBook together. I'm talking about the writing aspect of it and some of the tools that you need to use. Because I write things for others, I didn't have an eBook of my own for the longest time, and felt a little hypocritical telling other business owners that they need to have this out there without giving them an example. So it was important for me to get that out.
Barry: Sometimes we're our worst clients. I like to try to keep these interview podcasts under 20 minutes and we're gonna wrap up here in a few minutes, but I just want to ask you if you have any final thoughts or comments you want to share with the audience in terms of working with a content writer or partnering with one or anything in general. Anything you think would be helpful to somebody who's thinking about writing copy on their own? What are your final thoughts on the topic of content writing and using a content writer or copywriter?
Jessica: I believe like most people, that, whatever it is that you do for your business is what your main focus should be. So one of the reasons for getting a content writer is to outsource that job to someone else who has the time and energy to focus on it. And also to look at the quality that they want to put out there. Because honestly, the first thing that they're going to do when they're vetting another business to hire or purchase from them, the first stop is going to be their website and it's not just the design of the website and the navigation that they're looking at. They're looking obviously for the content that's going to influence the way they feel about that business. So their content needs to be on par with that, with whatever business that they go to and feel that it shows a level of professionalism that they want. That's what they're trying to emulate. They want to have the additional downloadable tools and resources to offer people that are visiting the site. They want to have links that take the visitors from blog material to the website and back and forth to social media pages so that they look credible. And that's why the content is so important.
Barry: Many moons ago I was in the direct marketing industry and the phrase we use back then, and this was before you know, the internet and running water, but the phrase that we always used was Copy is King and I believe, I still believe Copy is King. Some people think video has taken over, but it's still the foundation for everything. Would you agree with that?
Jessica: Yes. I definitely agree with that. It'll always be a way of learning more about business or different topics that you want to educate yourself on. Storytelling has been around since the dawn of time. It's not going away. Even the video people often need scripting work, so none of them, none of those pieces should be used all by themselves. You want the audio, you want the video, you want the written material. I think they're all extremely valuable.
Barry: Yes, absolutely. They can't work independent of themselves. Without a doubt. I'm getting a little tone in my ear. I don't know what that is.
Jessica Oh it was a notification on my computer.
Barry: Okay. That was my tone to wrap it up. I appreciate you coming on Jessica, and being my Guinea pig. This is our first interview for 2020. So for those of you who are listening, look, I'm not hiding anything. I'm very transparent. I hope you've enjoyed this, Jessica's been a wealth of information and I want you to reach out to her if you need content writing or if you're looking to partner, you are a graphic designer, web developer or other creative professional, and you're looking to build a network of partners. Jessica is an excellent resource. So Jessica, let me ask you this. How can people reach out to you and learn more about you and the work you do?
Jessica: Yes, well they can find me at my website of course, which is scribesyndicate.com. I can be reached by email at Jessicaolma@scribesyndicate.com. I do have a Facebook page that's under scribe syndicate as well as a LinkedIn page under my name, Jessica Olma.
Barry: Okay. I will post all that information in the show notes and at the bottom of the blog, since we do a podcast slash blogcast usually and the blog part is the transcript of the conversation. So if people want to read, they can read it or if they want to stick their headphones on and listen, they can listen. But I'll be glad to put all that information in there. The folks can reach out to you.
Jessica: Great. And also just so that they know that they can find more information and elaborate on what we talked about today. I do have a full article about why you need a content writer on my scribe syndicate website on the blog. And also I have a link to the eBook which I believe I shared with you that can be posted.
Barry: Yes. Perfect. Perfect. Be sure to get those folks, download those. It's great information. I've read both of the documents and it's great information. Even if you'll never write a lick of copy. It's good information to know and be able to share with your clients. This podcast is called the first impression warrior and it's called that because I believe creative professionals are on the front line of creating that first impression for their clients, whether it's an image or written text or copy. When somebody goes to somebody's website or sees their logo. It's that first impression, right? And being able to find partners out there and have knowledge about things that you are going to refer your clients to is important to keep up and educate ourselves on them. And both Jessica's article and her eBook are excellent resources, so I encourage you to download them, put them in your library, make a folder for that type of stuff and continue learning. Well I appreciate it, Jessica, thank you again and I wish you a happy 2020 and we'll talk to you soon. Real soon. Like next Thursday.
Jessica: Yes. Thank you, I appreciate being on your podcast Barry.
Barry: Thank you for listening and please share our podcast with others if you found it of value. If you're interested in learning more about our platform VisnessWare, a platform that allows you to host, manage and publish your custom design digital business cards, please visit visibledigitalsolutions.com. Thank you again and go make it a great first impression.
Jessica Olma is the Founder and Owner of Scribe Syndicate, a full-service provider of written and edited digital content. Their clients struggle with creating unique material to describe their brand on website and landing pages capable of engaging consumers and capable of building continuing relationships. They feel overwhelmed trying to find ways of cultivating connections through valuable resources like blog articles and sending out newsletters regularly. Social media takes yet another version of the copy for advertising new services or promoting events.
Scribe Syndicate also maximizes SEO through keyword use, HTML headings, image alt-tags, meta-descriptions, and backlinks. They partner with web designers and marketing consultants to handle the tedious job of adding this to client content.
You can reach Jessica if you want to learn more about her, the services and content writing in general at:
jessicaolma@scribesyndicate.com
Website: http://Scribesyndicate.com/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/scribesyndicate
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaolma
https://twitter.com/ScribeSyndicate
To read the full article about Why You Need a Content Writer: http://scribesyndicate.com/why-you-need-a-content-writer/
Cheers,
Barry "Custom-Designed Digital Business Card" Donovan