PR and copywriting in Nottingham

Do you want a copywriter to help you engage with your customers, staff or the media – the people who really matter to you?

Bennettwords produces considered, creative copy for organisations of all sizes both in the UK and internationally, grabbing readers’ attention and cutting through the jargon.

Run by freelance copywriter Andrew Bennett and based in Nottingham, Bennettwords specialises in B2B marketing copy, news releases and other materials for the media, web copy, magazine articles and much more besides.

Andrew has worked with clients of all shapes and sizes, ranging in recent years from leading international companies to marketing and PR agencies and UK-wide charitable organisations.

All copy is tailored to meet each client’s needs and produced to tight deadlines, requiring very little supervision. Contact Andrew at Bennettwords for more details about how he can help make your latest copywriting project stand out.

Bennettwords has a new online portfolio featuring some of the recent writing, PR and content creation projects completed by proprietor Andrew Bennett.

A selection of Andrew’s magazine articles, web content, press releases and marketing materials can be viewed at http://andrewbennett.crevado.com/

The digital portfolio is just a snap-shot of many, but not all, of the projects Bennettwords has undertaken on behalf of a variety of clients in the last few years.

West Bridgford property lettings specialist Slater & Brandley is a success story. They turned to Bennettwords for help with PR to mark the fifth anniversary of their business, gaining coverage in local media including the Nottingham Post as a result.

Here’s the press release:

From zero to 350: West Bridgford property lettings agency celebrates success

Business which started with no portfolio now boasts local expertise and scale in just five years

19 September, 2016

A West Bridgford-based property lettings business celebrates its fifth birthday this month with achievements including having a portfolio of 350 properties under its management.

Slater & Brandley, founded in September 2011, started out managing single let residential properties and in recent years have also become known as experts in managing Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) for working professionals; the largest of which is the 32 bedroom, West One site in West Bridgford, where the company also has its offices.

With the local lettings market continuing to grow due to the lack of property to buy at affordable rates for first time buyers, Managing Director, Garry Slater and Partner, Will Brandley have set their sights on growing the company’s management portfolio to 1,000 rental properties within the next five years.

The Slater & Brandley business started from scratch in 2011, and is now registered as an ARLA (Association of Residential Lettings Agents) regulated managing agent, accredited by the UK’s foremost professional body for letting agents.

 Garry Slater commented: ‘We were delighted to mark five years in business with a special event for our landlords at the Canalhouse on Thursday, 15 September, 2016. A good number of our landlord clients, trades and the whole Slater & Brandley team joined us in celebrating what is an extraordinary achievement.

‘Slater & Brandley has come a long way in just five short years. We cover a wide range of properties within a five mile radius of Nottingham City Centre and have become well-known for our success in managing both single let properties and Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).’

‘Since the Brexit vote in June for the UK to leave the EU, an increasing number of new landlords have come to us. Reasons for this include many realising that property remains one of the best investment classes for the long-term’.

Mr Slater added: ‘As a result of the team’s sheer determination to focus on exceeding customer expectations we have grown faster than any of our competitors both organically, and because landlords are switching to us’.

‘Our business has been built on an unrivalled reputation for delivering “everything lettings should be” and we are now growing at a great rate as a result of building a strong local brand. We very much look forward to the next few years.’

Marking five great years (from left to right): Slater & Brandley’s Will Brandley, Nick Morgan, Joanna Benson, Garry Slater, Vanessa Pennington, and Garry Corpe.

 

Did you rush to post #jessuischarlie? Perhaps you felt moved to give it up – digitally speaking – for Beirut, or upload a French flag or Eiffel Tower image as your Facebook profile photo. Maybe you, too, liked the recent #jesuisparis hashtag.

This blog posting isn’t here to question whether and how private individuals should respond to dramatic, and recently horrifying, world news events in any way. That is down to people’s individual consciences.

But as an experienced copywriter and PR adviser, I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of jumping on the newest, trendiest bandwagon to achieve publicity or even commercial gain.

A few thoughts:
• Getting involved with heavily trending social media sensations – generated, of course, in response to horrendous news events – can certainly get you noticed. And quickly. But choose wisely; the above mentioned hashtags were (and are) extremely public and people will be quick to judge your motivation for commenting on, or becoming part of, the debate

• Think about your long-term strategy. If you’re always ‘in the news’ commenting on topical, and sometimes highly controversial, issues, then offering your perspective using Twitter, Facebook and other channels may just be part of your daily work

• But if your organisation is new to showing its face in public, you would be better to start on safer, more familiar local ground than launch into the so-called ‘Twittersphere’ reacting to a big international news story. Especially if the event is one whipping up strong emotions and controversy

• If you don’t necessarily seek a high profile, sometimes silence is the best option. Some members of a charity representing members in the UK and Republic of Ireland were offended and annoyed to see the genetic condition it speaks for misrepresented in the British national press last autumn. A quick reaction to the tabloid newspaper pictures and news stories might have generated results in terms of seeing the charity’s own views in print. But ultimately, the charity trustees made the right decision by choosing not to respond on that occasion. As a result, the news story died out within a few days because the flames of controversy had not been fanned again

• Likewise, sometime as a copywriter it is worth avoiding the bandwagon of the day, or thinking carefully before you plant your boots on that wagon – so to speak (public opinion moves on quickly). Does talking about a particular event or cause suit your client’s purposes; does it fit with your audience and their needs? Or would it be just tacky, inappropriate sensationalism to drop that name or join in?

All food for thought.
www.bennettwords.biz

What does it take for your charity PR campaign to be successful, especially on a limited budget and with very finite resources?

During June 2015, the Albinism Fellowship for the UK and Republic of Ireland achieved three different pieces of TV news coverage in England and Northern Ireland, three radio reports, including live BBC studio interviews with both a family affected by the condition and the chair of the charity, and at least three items in the local press for its campaign for Albinism Awareness Week (see the Albinism Fellowship’s press release).

That’s not to mention a healthy amount of social media interaction generated by members of the fellowship charity and its supporters (and equivalent charities) around the world, and in the media.

Better whisper this next bit – that’s more coverage than some private sector PR campaigns have achieved on bigger budgets.

The main purpose of the campaign was to de-bunk the myths of albinism, a rare genetic condition that affects roughly one in 17,000 of the UK population. Adding clout and extra credibility to this year’s Albinism Awareness Day was the support of the United Nations, which spearheaded albinism charities around the world – including the Albinism Fellowship – in challenging some of the damaging myths about albinism head-on.

While albinism is big news for those that live with the condition and their families, it seldom registers on the ‘news radar’. Few journalists have heard of, or understand, the condition – certainly in the UK. After all, albinism is not a life threatening condition, so why devote space to it given there are often more emotive stories out there?

Here are a few thoughts on why this campaign was a success (Bennettwords played an instrumental role in generating much of the media coverage that was gained, as well as writing the press release) and what can be learned.

• If your cause is not a ‘mainstream’ one (meaning it has low public awareness), write a strong press release linking it to a newsworthy event
• Why should journalists (and outsiders) care? Find people with first-hand experience of your cause/message who are willing to be interviewed and can put your points across well. Think how the ‘man in the street’, who may know nothing about your cause, can easily identify with your messages (or in this case, a rare genetic condition)
• When choosing ‘case studies’ remember they real people! Before putting them forward for media scrutiny, ensure they are comfortable being questioned about aspects of their lives; photographed and potentially filmed. Are they really happy in the spotlight?
Those are just some of the tips in achieving a strong media campaign. Want to know more? Contact me.
• Neither Bennettwords and Andrew Bennett are responsible for the content of any external websites, including those of news organisations