Chris Kenworthy – Embodiment Coach & Facilitator in Leeds

Tag: sales

  • Everything fits together neatly now I look at IT

    Sometimes it’s easy to miss an opportunity, even when it stares you in the face. Now I come to think of it, it seems the more obvious the opportunity, the more likely we are to overlook it, discounting them as not even being opportunities in the first place.

    It’s as if we refuse to believe anything that seems too good to be true

    For over two decades, I’ve worked in IT, digital, and software development for the web, both as an employed professional and as a self-employed copywriter. I’ve worked with small agencies, startups and software development houses, right up to being part of one of the largest, most ambitious IT programmes in the world (NHS Connecting for Health a.k.a NHS Digital).

    Yet I’ve never actively specialised in copywriting for IT, as an IT sector specialist copywriter, if you will. Even though I’ve designed and built software and networked systems from the ground up, giving me a grassroots appreciation of how the IT industry works.

    Perhaps because it’s always been a part of my life – staring me right in the face, I’ve taken it completely for granted.

    Now, looking back on almost a decade of self-employment as a freelance copywriter, I see an obvious pattern developing amongst my clients, ranging from tech startups, IT consultancies to Leeds-based IT businesses. I really should make the most of this niche I’ve unwittingly carved for myself – because it already seems to be self-sustaining without any deliberate planning.

    Imagine what I could achieve with focus and intent…

    Everything fits together neatly now I look at it

    Not just from an experience and qualifications perspective either. For a start there’s aptitude. IT develops rapidly – there’s always something new to grasp. This suits a curious, analytical mind that loves to learn. I’m lucky to have one of these, but I also studied hard for my solid grasp of the timeless principles which underpin the IT sector.

    Moreover IT is highly technical and rife with complex abstract ideas. These need elucidating and explaining in simpler terms, usually to the people who stand to benefit most.

    As luck would also have it, that’s my MO as a freelance copywriter – simplifying the complex, distilling a product or service down to its purest, most appealing form.

    There’s also one very simple reason to pursue this niche

    I enjoy it. IT is the essence of human/tool problem-solving. It’s a pure transformation of clever ideas into real-world functionality – building things that make life easier. That’s why I enjoyed programming so much in the early part of my IT career.

    By this point, you may well be asking “so why did you leave hands-on IT behind?”.

    Put simply, I followed the default route upwards into middle-management and away from the exciting coal-face. That’s just what people do. Sliding down a few rungs into freelancing was my attempt to regain that connection with producing things and solving problems.

    IT has never lost its appeal though – in my spare time I still like nothing better than tinkering with Linux, or experimenting with my Raspberry Pi(s). And every coworking experience so far has fortunately surrounded me with likeminded people who build websites, cloud computing and tech.

    Like I say – IT’s always been there

    When it comes to specificity in sales and marketing (and I always tell my clients to be brave about this) – the more specific and bold you are in intent towards who you want to connect with, the better your copywriting, and the stronger sounding your offer. This also applies to freelance copywriters in Leeds who need to reposition themselves, not just Leeds IT businesses.

    So in due course, that’ll be how I transform my business – a horizontal repositioning towards being an IT copywriter, creating sales and marking collateral for IT companies in Leeds, whether in digital or print.

    Like I’ve already mentioned, my IT portfolio is already here. Everything just needs tweaking and targeting to make my offer clearer – that I know IT fundamentals inside out, and writing about it is what I do, and always have done.

    Seems obvious now you think about it.

    In the meantime…

    If you’re an IT consultancy, tech startup, digital platform or software house in need of a freelance copywriter in Leeds. You know what to do.

  • Welcome to clarity utopia

    Cast your mind back to the last time you made up with someone. Perhaps you fell out with your partner over something trivial. Or couldn’t find common ground on a point of difference with a colleague.

    Now picture clearing the air. Between you, you agreed that the end result, be it cooperation, progress or the very relationship itself, was worth more than a petty squabble.

    Do you remember that lovely warm feeling after you came clean with one another, by explaining your side of the argument? Remember how good it felt to realise you pretty much wanted the same thing? Albeit for different reasons; ones you both found hard to express in the heat of the moment.

    Now dwell on that deep feeling of relief and contentment

    Because that’s the effect I want my copywriting and event photography to have on people – a feeling of complete satisfaction when we address that most basic of human needs: to understand and be understood.

    Put simply, I’m in the business of helping people exchange ideas clearly. So they form more meaningful bonds, and make better informed decisions – without the need to ever fall out in the first place.

    In real terms that means helping your customers or clients ‘get’ what you really stand for, by writing engaging case studies on your behalf. Or solving their problems with enlightening insight I write, so you’re front-of-mind next time they need to call in the experts. Speeches I edit do the very same – captivating people’s attention so, if only for a stolen moment, they too see the world through your eyes.

    The same goes for event photos. Suppose you host a lively, engaging event that brought people together and made your industry that little bit stronger. What’s the best way to share that electricity than with natural, honest photographs that capture the day’s activities truthfully. Much as I favour the pen, pictures transport people to different ways of thinking, far faster than words.

    As you can see, honesty and straight-talking are at the core of everything I do as a freelancer

    No matter what the subject matter, copywriting or event photography, that vision of humans understanding and being understood is what keeps the pride and joy in my art.

    This rosy world I dream of has people saying what they really mean to, and that only comes from being honest to yourself and others. It’s where people feel fulfilled from articulating themselves clearly, their truth transformed into terms others can relate to. No obstacle is too complex in this clarity utopia – everything can be taken to bits, to grasp how it works, then reassembled and made better than ever before.

    Misunderstandings only happen when people aren’t being honest with one another, and so fail to get their point across clearly enough. Sure, you can get by gesticulating and yelling ever louder – like a sunburnt Brit abroad. But that’s not a sustainable way to live and build trust.

    Instead, I propose we stride forward together towards my clarity utopia – one word and photo at a time.

    Care to join me there?

  • Time to realise the power in stories

    Humans love a good story. It’s probably our most effective invention (after writing of course), yet so simple in its execution that even a child can understand one.

    We’re all familiar with the way stories distill complex ideas into an unfolding sequence of events – usually viewed through the lens of characters, who react and develop in a way we can sympathise with. But have you ever paused to consider just how mesmerisingly powerful a story can be? And just how much persuasive influence they have over our thinking?

    I liken our general awareness of how stories work to the nation’s grasp of grammar. Most of us know how to use it implicitly, but we don’t quite grasp the underlying rules and mechanics. We’re taught the what and how, but less so the why.

    Same for me, until I collaborated with a professional storyteller, on a (soon-to-be-published) article about the art of storytelling.

    He explained to me how stories mimic our inner narrative and our relationship with time – how we perceive it as linear, and how reality to us is a string of related causes and effects. Put simply, stories help us make sense of all the complexity, uncertainty and noise around us. They connect things.

    It also fascinated me to learn how brain maps reveal stories are social; when we share them, the same parts of the brain in both listener and speaker light up (called neural coupling) – in the regions that deal with imagination, emotion, movement and the senses.

    Put simply, stories are tools for synchronising our experience of reality

    These revelations have set me on a course to discover more about the science of stories, for tricks I might borrow and incorporate into my freelance copywriting, of case studies and speechwriting. Like grammar, I use story-telling narratives a lot as a copywriter – but examining the fundamental building blocks unveils a whole new world of possibility.

    Stories in context

    I’m devouring Nick Clegg’s account of his time in coalition government at the moment, and the penny dropped when he put stories into a context I’m deeply engaged in – that of modern politics:

    “Simply appealing to hope, optimism or a better life is nothing more than an emotional spasm unless it is wedded a compelling story story about who you are, what you’re trying to do and why you’re trying to do it. Stories enable you to understand something instinctively, to feel and see it for yourself, in a way that is much more compelling than simply following a logical argument to a rational conclusion. It’s the difference between showing and telling.”

    He continues to say that powerful stories involve simplified choices between what you perceive as good or evil. They appeal to the heart, not the head. I think this is because much as we like to think of ourselves as rational, moderate and logical beings – we’re not. We’re just animals perpetually playing catch up with the technology, events and new challenges we unleash.

    And there’s no more influential, profound example of the power of stories than in events of our recent past here in the UK. Nick quotes the easily-understood narratives of the SNP, extolling liberation from a tyrannical English government (a timeless theme in Scottish folklore, and probably well-justified). How UKIP paint a rosy picture of the good old days when Britannia ruled the waves, and a return to the certainties of matron on the ward, and barbarously stringing people up who later turn out to be innocent.

    For right or wrong, these are simple stories that evoke strong emotion by borrowing from established motifs; stirring up powerful feelings in the listener. They’re bold and unafraid to assert their worldview, however controversial. They contrast against familiar backdrops and propose simple solutions to problems.

    The trick to writing lasting ones, however, is to be honest and put virtue at the heart of your story.

    “Governments and leaders who have a clear story that has a beginning, middle and end will generally be rewarded.”

    Nick’s right, and the same goes for anyone who wants to influence other people. Craft an evocative story, rich in imagery and emotion, that handholds a reader into their promised land, and you’ll connect with the people who share that, your, worldview.

    And whatever story you do craft, make sure it’s steeped in your vision, your cause, what gets you out of bed in the morning – because people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

    Stories help us make sense of the world we’re creating, which often feels too complex and overwhelming for many of us. And as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Making complicated things clear and easy to understand is what I’ve done all my life (not just as a freelance copywriter) so I feel the burden is on me, in some small part, to use that gift wisely, for good.

    So with this newfound knowledge comes respect. Next, I plan to put stories to meaningful use in my case studies as a freelance copywriter, ideally for clients who share my aspiration to do the right thing.

    Honesty always comes first. And if there’s one thing stories tell us, it’s that the hero or heroine who perseveres, and tries to do the right thing, always comes out on top.

  • French gite

    [et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]

    Though I’m usually a freelance event photographer in Leeds, occasionally a brief comes along that’s too temptingly different to turn down. In this case it was some interior photography to market a gite available for rent in rural France, near Bordeaux.

    Unlike event photography, the pace of work is far more relaxed – you don’t have to think on your feet quite so much. There’s time to plan your shots in detail, repeat and refine, and set up proper multiple light stands – a luxury you can rarely afford when there are countless people milling around at a launch event, for example.

    I’ve always been inspired by airbnb’s interior photography of houses and apartments so that’s the look I’ve gone for. It’s bright, vibrant and clear – thanks to high-key photography (almost overexposing shots) which makes spaces look fresh and clean. Using this style of photography, rooms seem to ‘pop’ out of the screen, emphasising modern, contemporary space. There’s some stunning vistas thrown in there for good measure too.

     

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery admin_label=”Gallery” gallery_ids=”6173,6174,6175,6176,6177,6178,6179,6180,6181,6182″ gallery_orderby=”rand” fullwidth=”on” orientation=”landscape” show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” background_layout=”light” auto=”on” auto_speed=”3000″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_gallery][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]