• The Subhead
  • Posts
  • Differentiation for the win!, trailblazing women in media & copy resource of the week

Differentiation for the win!, trailblazing women in media & copy resource of the week

Author

Kimberly Houston
May 19, 2024

Hey, hi, howdy, and welcome to Issue #17 of The Subhead, a bi-weekly newsletter about copywriting, marketing & media, and a look at some of the women who make it great.

Here’s what’s on deck in today’s edition:

✨ This week in freelancing

✨ Differentiation for the win!

✨ Trailblazing Women in Media: Jessica Robertson, TOGETHXR Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer

✨ Copy Resource of the Week: A tiny piece of copy with outsize importance

✨ Just for Fun

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

This week in freelancing …

I don’t know if other freelancers are experiencing this, but it feels like at least a tiny uptick in work is in the air.

This week I received an inquiry from a recruiter about a 6-month copywriting contract position, a website copy project that’s been on hold for several weeks looks like it may finally be moving forward, with a project kick-off meeting scheduled for next week, and I had an exploratory meeting with another potential client a couple of days ago.

What you learn again and again when you’ve been in the freelancing game as long as I have, though, is that none of those possibilities may end up turning into anything – or they might all turn into projects with deliverables and deadlines and the whole nine.

What you also learn is that, even when you have several promising opportunities, you never, ever stop marketing.

And on that note, I would love to do more email projects (Email projects are my favorite! … she said, in her best Will Ferrell from Elf, “I love smiling, smiling’s my favorite” voice). 😊

So, if you or anyone you know needs an email Welcome sequence, an educational email course (super effective for building your email list, for a whole host of reasons), or other email assets, keep me in mind.

Anyhoodles …

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Differentiation for the win!

One of the most frequent questions I’ve gotten from clients over the years is ...

How can I stand out online among all the other people who do what I do?

I’ve lost count of how many folks have told me some version of: “My business is not different / special / unique. I don’t know to differentiate myself.”

I often talk about infusing your distinct personality into your brand or business to differentiate; it’s one of the best ways to do so.

I recently shared 8 other ways to set yourself apart online over on LinkedIn:

Trailblazing Women in Media: Jessica Robertson

Jessica Robertson is Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer at TOGETHXR, a media outlet focused on covering women’s sports. But more than that, it’s a media and commerce platform that combines the founders’ love of athletics with culture, style, activism and social justice.

TOGETHXR’s other founders include national soccer player Alex Morgan, WNBA star Sue Bird, Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, and Olympic swimmer Simone Manuel.

Robertson oversees content, development, and strategy at TOGETHXR, along with helping drive partnerships and revenue initiatives. Before joining the brand, she served as Head of Content at sports media company, The Players’ Tribune. She’s also worked for MTV and AOL, and began her career as a journalist at Rolling Stone.

In a Fast Company profile from June 2023, Robertson shared that TOGETHXR doubled its revenue target in its first year. And that, “our second year, we doubled that, and we are on track to triple our target in 2023,” mentioning partnerships with brands such as Nike, Buick, Geico, Google, and Coca Cola. She says the company was on track to hit eight figures in revenue in 2023.

“Sports is such a singular unifier. It's also an equalizer. It can propel social change and move culture forward. Sports can also inspire a whole planet of people at once. It can create communities, turn the average into the extraordinary, make people believe in heroes and break your fucking heart. There's nothing like it.”

Now, I’m not a person who really follows sports or cares about much of anything sports-related (except UNC basketball and Lionel Messi & whatever team he’s playing soccer for), but the quote above gets me fired up. Fired up, I tell you!

You can learn more about Robertson and TOGETHXR at the inline links above, and / or check out:

The media brand is on track to hit eight figures in revenue this year (2023). Robertson, number 19 on this year’s Queer 50 list, shares her journey.

Athletes Alex Morgan, Simone Manuel, Sue Bird, and Chloe Kim talk to BAZAAR about how their joint vision came to be.

Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Simone Manuel and Chloe Kim teamed up to create TOGETHXR, a media and commerce company designed to elevate women’s voices.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Copy Resource of the Week: A tiny piece of copy with outsize importance

Wiser people than me have said that, “After your headline, your call to action (CTA) is the most important element on your website.”

CTAs, though often very short, are nevertheless, very important, so it pays to pay attention to this small piece of copy with a big job to do.

Get the low-down on how to write effective CTAs, with loads of helpful examples, from the fine folks at ConvertKit here:

If you want to go a little nerdier, you might like what the Semrush blog has to say about the topic here:

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Just for Fun

When I’m in the mood for a big ol’ raucous laugh, which is pretty much all the time, I read The Onion, one of the best things ever created.

I recently discovered something just as funny, which actually reminds me of The Onion:

Reductress, The Fake Women’s News Magazine

Founded in 2013 by Beth Newell and Sarah Pappalardo, this satirical women’s magazine takes on “the outdated perspectives and condescending tone of popular women’s media.”

Check out the fun press mentions on their About page, and visit the site’s Home page for HI-LAR-I-OUS stories like these:

:: How to Get Free Abstract Tattoos by Just Letting Your Cat Scratch You

:: REPORT: Mom Flabbergasted, Dumbfounded, Awestruck That You Can Read in This Light

:: Woman Who Wanted to Work Out After Work Makes Critical Mistake of Sitting Down  

:: Attempt to Avoid Eye Contact With Man Misread as Flirting

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Alrighty then.

That’s all for this week, my friend.

Be well. Stay curious. See you again in two weeks, on June 2.

Warmly,

Kimberly