About Me
I’m a freelance B2B copywriter for the mining supply sector. I get a lot of questions about why I write for this sector. The answer is quite simple. I live in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, where there are many mining supply companies. If I could stand on the roof of my house, I would see about 40 of these companies.
When I worked as a freelance journalist for the Sudbury Star, Northern Business Journal and miningsupplynews.com, I learned a lot about the mining supply industry and organizations such as NORCAT and CEMI. I liked the people I interviewed. They were passionate about mining and making mining a safer, more efficient, and an environmentally-responsible industry – things I cared about, too.
When I shifted my focus from journalism to copywriting, the mining supply sector was the niche I chose to specialize in. It seemed the right place for me to be.
The mining industry is undergoing huge changes. Miners are looking for new products and mining suppliers need to get their products noticed. To do that they need great marketing copy and content marketing. I’m able to do that for these companies.
So how did I get to be a copywriter? It wasn’t a straight path.
After high school, became a registered nurse. I moved to Sudbury, Ontario and worked on medical and surgical units until my first child was born. I left the profession then. The shift work wasn’t going to work for my family.
My daughter was three months old when I started a commerce degree part-time at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario. But two children later, managing the workload was becoming difficult. I was approaching the third year of the program, which required five courses to be taken simultaneously. With a self-employed husband and three children, it just wasn’t possible to continue in the program.
I took a few years off and ran a small home-based business selling children’s books. That’s when I came up with the wild idea that I would like to write. English had never been my strong suit. What was I thinking?
I took a journalism course at Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario and considered entering the program. In fact, my professors encouraged to do so. Instead, I returned to Laurentian University and changed my degree to English.
After 19 short years, I graduated in 2002 with an honours B.A. in English. Did I mention that English wasn’t my strong suit in high school?
Twice, I was short-listed for the English department’s annual essay writing contest.
Along the way, I wrote and published short stories, winning several contests. I also wrote a monthly humour column for a local publication for three years. In 2003, I placed second in the 7th Annual Erma Bombeck Writing Competition out of 1,100 entries from 48 states and 21 countries. I was the only non-American to place in this contest to that point.
Since I graduated, I’ve worked as a journalist and I’ve freelanced. I wrote a weekly column called One Life for the Sudbury Star. I worked on advertising-driven copy for it as well — advertorials and special sections.
I was a regular contributor to an online magazine about the Canadian mining supply industry — miningsupplynews.com. Most recently, my articles have appeared in Canadian Mining Journal, CIM Magazine and Canadian Mining Magazine.
With freelance journalism opportunities dwindling, I’ve become a copywriter. I’d always been interested in copywriting, but I didn’t know where to begin.
I’ve taken courses with some of the best copywriters in Canada, including Steve Slaunwhite, Gordon Graham and Nick Usborne, as well as Ed Gandia and Carol Tice. These names may not mean much to you, but they are rock stars in the copywriting world. (If the copywriting world has rock stars.) They are great teachers!.
With my background in business — both academically and through experience — I’ve found I really like being a copywriter.
I love working with clients to produce great marketing copy for their businesses — marketing copy that speaks to their target market and breaks out of corporate speak that makes people’s eyes glaze over.
Re-writing copy is great fun. I like taking bland, boring website copy and making it shine, so that potential clients know within seconds of landing on their website what the company does and how it can solve their problem.
In case you were wondering what I do when I’m not writing great marketing content. I read, knit, snowshoe, cycle, eat ice cream (don’t tell my doctor) and cut down dead trees with my chainsaw. I’m also writing a novel.
But enough about me.
What I really want to do is write great marketing copy and content for you and help your business succeed!
Click on the Let’s talk button below and let’s chat about how I can help you create the marketing content you need. No time like the present to get started!