Check out our new website at bigonwriting.comWhy is writing about ourselves always the hardest thing to do? I stepped in to help Sue and Ben refresh the website for Big On Writing, the collective I've been a part of for over a decade.
We wanted it to reflect our expertise in enterprise-level websites, from the planning to the strategy, SEO, writing, writing direction and more. We truly believe there's no other company in Australasia who has the experience and expertise to manage these large-scale jobs like we can – and it's an area of big website creation or refresh that is often overlooked. Believe us, having a team to manage things like the business case, content audit, page briefs, copywriting, editing and writing direction is essential. Take a look at our simplified diagram to explain the website content process we like to follow:
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Well, in 2021 the rest of you finally got on board with what I've been saying for years: working from home is the BOMB. Okay, not the first take-away we think of from 2021, but it doesn't need spelling out what a strange year it was, does it? In many ways 2021 was business as usual for me, although I had some NEW opportunities to try out my hand at writing for the television industry when my book Not That I'd Kiss A Girl was optioned by one of New Zealand's largest production companies, South Pacific Pictures, and they let me in the writer's room to do some storylining with a fantastic team of other women. Highlight of the year for me, as I am a pop culture and TV nut and have the 1994 Shortland Street cover of Kirsty and Lionel's wedding to prove it. I also continued on with writer's festival events to promote the book around New Zealand, culminating in speaking with one of New Zealand's most prolific novelists, Charlotte Grimshaw, at the Auckland Writers Festival. It was also another year of great copywriting challenges:
Can't wait to see what 2022 will bring... get in touch if you have a project you need a hand with. When my fantastic friend and one of the best Project Managers (now business owner) I've ever worked with, Claire Mance, asked me to help turn a clinical studies paper into some PR for her client at Talk Creative, I gulped and said yes. Claire and I have worked on some tricky scientific/technical jobs before, such as AlphaImpactRx, and turning difficult scientific language into clear content had been a really rewarding challenge. 'Challenge' being a key word.
The task A small New Zealand software company with a focus on clinical trials software had grown rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to their involvement in a very complex clinical trial to study effective treatments for COVID. They wanted a long-form piece, a blog post and a press release that explained why the clinical trial(s) had been so groundbreaking. In language that could be understood by everyone. The process After battling my way through the paper published about the trial, I went straight to the source, chatting to two Kiwi researchers and doctors who had set up the trial. Their interviews revealed fantastic human insights into why this was so important, and it boiled down to: people who signed up to their trial were more likely to receive an effective treatment than if they didn't. That mean real lives saved. I had my human angle. But I also needed to understand what Spiral's platform did, why it was unprecedented, how the trial worked, and interpret that – and make it newsworthy. There were a number of ways to talk about it, and this is reflected in the three pieces that were about the same study, but placed emphasis on different angles. I will post all below, but here is the long piece on Medium: COVID-19, the world's most complex clinical trial, and the small New Zealand company who made it possible. As an interior design and technology nerd, it's almost painful working at Fisher & Paykel appliances amongst all these beautiful refrigerators, washing machines and ranges. I want all of them! Since I began a contract with F&P – one of New Zealand's most recognisable brands – I've learned so much not just about this brand and its products but also about the process of building such a massive website with e-commerce and hundreds of products on it. From writing brand copy to product descriptions, I'm loving the experience, and have really enjoyed learning more about agile working too. Let's be honest, I'd rather be in that kind of a scrum than in this one... My contact at Fisher & Paykel may be ending in Feb/March, so hit me about my availability if you have a cool project coming up! lil@lilcameronwrites
iAnd you can't beat a freshly sliced lamb sandwich eaten with a backdrop of Rangitoto.
That's right, I've officially arrived back in Auckland, New Zealand after a two year stint in crazy old New York. Since I've been back I've been working in-house with Westpac, helping them with some major web projects. (Check out their new Everyday Money section.) I'm keen to get stuck in with Kiwi clients and can work remotely or on site, so hit me up at lil@lilcameronwrites.com. Thanks to the sponsorship of Westpac, I got to ask three kick-ass Kiwi women who're living and working in New York about their experiences. Is it what people think it is? What's it like being a woman in your field in New York? What do you love here, what's been... well, crap about it?
Part one - with musician Sarah Gibson from the band Streets of Laredo – is up now. on Westpac's REDNews hub. Part two – with Creative Director Beth O'Brien from R/GA. Part three – with Director Sally Tran from Ghost Robot. ![]() Some of the industries I've worked in this year:
I know this is a relatively boring post, so here are some delightfully naughty pandas to make up for it. ![]() I'm writing a couple of posts for Westpac New Zealand's REDNews – a digital hub of great content – and the first one's about chucking out the idea of "networking" and focusing on building real connections with other professionals. Read it here: www.westpac.co.nz/rednews/women/networking-with-heart-building-real-connections/ For the win! Westpac's Home Loans section nabs People's Choice at the Plain English Awards8/12/2015 Last year I spent a few months working with Westpac's marketing and product teams to revamp their Home Loans section. We had fancy new templates designed by Infinity to play with, so this was our chance to make our copy just as modern and accessible. So we reviewed, restructured, chopped out about 40% of the existing content and developed a brand new Property Investment hub. It was great! At times a little mind boggling! But mostly fun! This kind of restructuring job is like a great logic puzzle to me, and it really brushed up my skills in content mapping, sitemapping and using Balsamiq for wireframing. And of course, simplifying a whole lot of words down into a clear, easy-to-read user journey. And we just won People's Choice for Best Plain English Communication! Yahoo! "Members of the public also submitted entries for two categories. The People’s Choice awards recognise the best and worst in government and corporate communications. Westpac won the Best Communication award for its web content about the often-complex topic of home loans. Of this entry the judges said, ‘This is a well-constructed website that explains a complex range of options and considerations in clear, straightforward language. Taking out a home loan is an important decision, made even more so by the current housing affordability crisis." |
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