Public Copy Savvy 101 workshop

Hootville Communications is holding an additional Copy Savvy 101 webinar Thursday October 20 at 12.30pm. Join people just like you from for a 3.5hr session that will leave you a savvier, more effective copywriter – guaranteed.

Who is this for?

Well Surf Life Saving NSW, YMCA NSW, Jean Hailes Foundation for Women, Agsafe, Victorian National Parks Association, Benetas and Diabetes Australia, Victoria were among those which participated in the first Copy Savvy 101 webinar a few weeks back.

What they said:

“Hootville runs great webinar.“ Maxine Hawkins, direct marketing officer, Victorian National Parks Association. (Clearly she took to our headline writing advice like an endangered duck to native wetland.) 

“I learnt a lot which I’ll be using so that our communications are more focused. For example I just rewrote this sentence.” Melissa Jones, project and event assistant, Hepatitis Australia.

Anyone from anywhere who writes as a part of their living would benefit: marketers, communications officers, copywriters, fundraisers and campaigners from nonprofits, government or any sector at all really. Anyone who wants to communicate better via words in their many and varied forms will be made smarter.

Copy Savvy 101 is not about grammar and spelling. It is about making people who write as part of their job better, more effective writers. Copy Savvy 101 includes specific ways to improve your:

media releases;
membership magazines;
brochures;
speeches;
opinion pieces;
appeal letters;
eNewsletters;
Facebook and Twitter content;
website copy.

The specifics that make good copy good and bad copy bad.

We’ll look at five ways to dramatically improve your copy - headlines, quotes, captions, culling and adopting the active voice. (That’s a lot of learning right there.)

Communications commandments including knowing thy audience: who are your key audiences and what do they think about you and your issues? We’ll show you a quick way to plot out their perceptions to help find a way to connect to them.

Deciding on the right tone for your content.

Few copywriters work in a vacuum so we’ll look at professional practice issues:

Developing a copywriting brief to ensure there is a specific goal for your writing beyond just getting it done.

Do your bosses love “casting an eye over” your work? Does this improve your work? Thought not. That’s why we’ll run you through our suggested Critic’s Oath. 

Pre-workshop: Participants can submit examples of their work for feedback and examination by the group as a whole. Go on, we dare you. 

During the workshop: You’ll have plenty of chances to participate during the webinar via keyboard or telephone and yes there will be plenty of improptu copywriting challenges.

Post workshop: feast on many pages of notes, a month of access to follow-up coaching, PLUS we’ll hold a one-hour free-flowing group follow-up session via teleconference Tuesday November 1 at 10am. Clearly this is quite a bit more than just a simple workshop.

Why a webcast? Less travel, stress and carbon; lower cost for participants, greater accessibility for rural and regional folk.

About the presenter: As a reporter Brett de Hoedt wrote for the Sunday Age, Truth, New Idea, The Melbourne and Sydney Weekly magazines. As a marketer he’s written media releases, 30 second community service announcements for TV and radio, opinion pieces (in clients’ name) for the Sydney Morning Herald, appeal letters, TV game show questions and t-shirt slogans. That’s over one million words and thousands of opening paragraphs, headlines, metaphors and quotes. Check out reviews of his training.

Working with 300+ nonprofits over the last 11 years has given Brett a genuine understanding of working life for copywriters and communicators. This workshop is for those of you shackled to the real world.

Cost: $330 for the first person from any organisation, $220 for the second person if from the same organisation, $110 for each additional person if from the same organisation.

Bookings and enquiries to Brett 03 9017 1062 or email brett@hootville.com details of your organisation and participants and we’ll reply with an exquisite invoice. Webinar log in details wil be released the week of the event. 

Finally: how many words do you write each year? How big a slice of your time is spent conceiving, writing and editing copy? What might happen if you wrote more persuasively? When was the last time you worked on your writing with a bunch of writers? Enough said.