A Hertfordshire copywriter who makes your business sound like you on a good day.
I’m Nick Blatchley. Since 2014 I’ve been writing websites, blogs, books and social media posts for businesses in Ware, Hertford, right across the county and a good way beyond it. You know your trade inside out. My job is finding the words that make everyone else see it too.
Same brief, better words
Most business writing isn’t wrong, exactly. It’s just written the way everyone else in the sector writes, so it slides straight past the reader. Here are three examples, each written two ways.
Swap claims for things the reader can picture.
The usual version
Welcome to our website. We are a family-run joinery company with over 20 years of experience. We pride ourselves on providing high-quality bespoke joinery at competitive prices. Our friendly team is committed to customer satisfaction. Contact us today for a free quote.
The rewrite
Most of what we make gets used every day for decades: the stairs your children thunder down, the wardrobe that finally fits that awkward alcove, the table everyone ends up round at Christmas. We’re a family joinery workshop and we’ve been building things like that for twenty years. Have a look at what we’ve made, then tell us what you’ve been putting up with.
Don’t tell them it’s stunning. Let them stand in it.
The usual version
This stunning four-bedroom detached property boasts a spacious kitchen, a large garden and is located in a sought-after area. Early viewing is highly recommended.
The rewrite
On summer evenings the sun comes straight down the garden and into the kitchen, which is where you’ll want to be anyway. It’s big enough for a proper table and opens onto a terrace that holds the light until late. Upstairs there are four bedrooms, the largest looking out over open fields, and the village school is a five-minute walk.
Cut the throat-clearing. Start where it gets interesting.
The usual version
In today’s competitive business landscape, it is more important than ever to have a strong online presence. In this blog post, we will explore five tips for improving your website.
The rewrite
Your website has probably been fine for years. That’s the trouble with fine. Nobody complains about it, and nobody picks up the phone because of it either.
Copywriting services
Everywhere your customers come across you in writing, from the first search result to the book on their desk.
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Website copywriting
Home, about, service and landing pages that tell visitors within seconds whether they’re in the right place, then give them a reason to stay. Written for people first, with the phrases your customers search for worked in properly rather than bolted on.
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Blog writing
Regular posts that give your audience something worth reading and give Google a steady reason to send people your way. One a month or several, on topics we plan together around what your customers want to know.
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Business books
Plenty of business owners have a book in them and no time to get it out. I can write it with you, or edit and proofread what you’ve drafted, and I know the people who can design and print it well.
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Social media posts
Posts written for each platform that sound like a person rather than a press release, so your followers stop scrolling and actually read them.
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Property descriptions
For agents and developers with homes that deserve better than “viewing highly recommended”. Descriptions that let buyers imagine living there before they’ve booked a viewing.
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Editing, proofreading and plain English
Reports, proposals and technical documents turned into clear English that a newcomer to your industry can follow, without losing what the experts need to say.
Help that carries on after the first job
Good content isn’t a one-off. These are for businesses that want their writing looked after month in, month out.
Prefer to write it yourself?
Service plan for your writing
You write the blogs, emails and posts. I check and polish every one to a professional standard before it goes out, for a small monthly subscription.
Business writing training
Practical sessions for you or your team, including how to make a dry subject genuinely interesting to read.
Rather hand it over?
Keep your website content fresh
I go through your site page by page, rewrite whatever has gone stale or out of date, then keep it current so it never drifts back.
Subscription packages
A set amount of writing each month for a set fee, so new content keeps going out even in the weeks you’re flat out.
Why hire a copywriter at all?
You’ve probably written your own website. Most business owners have, and most of them suspect something isn’t quite right with it. Usually it’s one of two things. Either it’s far too modest about what you do, or it’s so full of what you think you’re supposed to say that you’ve disappeared from it altogether.
Search engines have become very good at telling the difference. Cramming pages with keywords stopped working years ago and now drags you down the rankings. What climbs is writing that answers the question someone actually typed, clearly and with some authority. Conveniently, that’s also the writing that turns a visitor into a customer.
I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember, and these days I tell them for hotel consultants, claims specialists, kitchen companies, health and safety firms, and the web agencies who pass me their clients’ briefs. I start by listening, I research properly, and whatever I hand over sounds like you rather than me.
You don’t have to stay the best-kept secret in town.
How working together goes
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We talk
About your business, your customers and what you want the writing to do. A phone call or a coffee usually tells me more than any written brief.
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I do the homework
Your sector, your competitors and the questions people type into Google before they buy. It’s the slow part, and it shows in the finished copy.
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You get a draft
Written in your voice and sent over for you to read, question and scribble on.
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We get it right
Your changes go in until you’re happy to put your name to every line.
What clients say
At Flow Ink we’ll continue using him until his fingers are numb from typing.
Nick is now my first port of call when it comes to copy as I know for a fact I can rely on him.
He has helped us deliver high-quality reports written in coherent, plain English.
Nick took his time to thoroughly research the topics that we had listed as part of the brief which was clearly evident in the copy that he provided.
With Nick’s expert help we produced the book in the timeframe we agreed and off it went to print.
Questions people ask before hiring a copywriter
If yours isn’t here, ask me directly.
How much does a copywriter cost?
It depends on the job. A single web page, a monthly blog and a whole book are very different pieces of work, so I quote for each one once we’ve talked it through. If you’d like regular writing at a predictable cost, my subscription packages give you a fixed monthly fee.
Do you only work with businesses in Hertfordshire?
No. I’m based in Ware and plenty of my clients are local, which makes meeting up easy, but most of the work happens by phone, email and video call. Where you are matters far less than what you need written.
Will the writing actually sound like me?
That’s the whole point. I listen to how you talk about your work and read anything you’ve written before, then write in that voice. If a line in the draft doesn’t sound like you, say so and it gets changed.
Can you write content that ranks on Google?
Yes, though not the way it used to be done. Stuffing pages with keywords now does more harm than good. I find out what your customers are really searching for and answer those questions clearly on the page, which is what search engines reward and what readers respond to.
I’d rather write my own content. Can you still help?
Yes. My service plan is made for exactly that: you write it, I polish it to a professional standard before it goes out. I also run training in business writing for individuals and teams.
Do you work with marketing and web design agencies?
Regularly. Several agencies send me copy for their clients’ websites, blogs and campaigns, and I’m used to working to an agency brief and an agency deadline.
Your turn.
Got something that needs writing?
Tell me a bit about your business and what you’re after. I’ll come back with honest thoughts and a quote, and if I’m not the right writer for it, I’ll say so.