Copywriter | Blogger | Proofreader/Editor
Crystal J. Milburn
I WRITE SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
Some of the best things in life are freeing.
Some of you refuse to write the way I refuse to use plastic bags or waste even a bite of food. I really, really love food and am thinking I should combine my loves - first, eat amazing food and then write about it.
But, I digress.
If you can't fathom having the time or the desire to write about your business, then we both know why you are here. I look forward to talking to - and writing for - you soon!
#content #word #freebird
SERVICES
Because you have a business to run.
It's time to get excited about CONTENT. Why? Because it matters to your clients, prospective clients, social media followers, stakeholders, employees, board of directors and Google. What you have to say and how you say it can be the difference between you defining your own brand and someone else doing it for you.
And, since you have a business to run, the freeing part is not having to manage and perfect your content; you have me for that!
COPYWRITING & COPYEDITING SERVICES:
■ Annual Reports
■ Blogs (Ghostwriting)
■ Copyediting/Content Editing
■ Email Marketing
■ Interviewing Subjects for Articles
■ Newsletter Collaboration & Writing
■ SEO Friendly Content
■ Website Content
■ WordPress and Other CMS Work
FEES:
$60-80/HOUR
MONTHLY PACKAGES AVAILABLE.
“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.”
Jeffrey Zeldman (Zappos)
CLIENTS & WORK
Don't bite off more than you can write. Have the best of both words. You keep your day job, and let me handle the rest!
CrossFit OC3
Media Director
August 2015 – Present
Full social media marketing and strategy, PR, blogging and web copy.
Milltown Coffee
Media Director
June 2016 – August 2017
Full social media marketing and strategy, blogging and web management, marketing collaboration. Business hired new management.
Serene Serendipity
Copywriting, Email and Social Marketing
August 2016 – Present
Social web, email, newsletter and event collaboration project (Aug. - Dec. 2016) with ongoing copyediting and consulting.
Web Design Agency
Ghost Blogging
August 2016 – October 2016
Home security and safety blog writing to fill a need while short-staffed.
SmartFinancial.com
Web Copywriting
2016
Car insurance copywriting.
Per Mar Security Services
Blogging & Web Copy
2016 – Present
Home and business security and safety blogging and copywriting.
Friends of Stephanie Acri
Web & Social Strategy and Updates
February 2017 – May 2017
Run 3-month social campaign during mayoral candidacy.
Result: Elected mayor with 72% of the votes!
Living Lands & Waters
Web, Social, Content, Email Marketing, PR
February 2017 – February 2018
The organization hired me internally after one year of freelancing to fulfill another need.
Work with office staff and barge crew to promote various events and river cleanups online.
Festival of Trees, Quad City Arts
Collaborative Social Media with Creative Students
November 2017
Worked with students from the Creative Arts Academy on the human interest side of FoT for a three week period.
Elite Casino Resorts
Web Copywriting
2018
Write SEO friendly web copy for all three of the Elite Casino Resorts in Iowa
Portfolio
Because sometimes, you have to read it to believe it.
Blog Work
Click here to see my blog work, organized by category.
**This is not up to date at the moment and is a work in progress. Please contact me for samples.**
Web & Social Media
Click on the hyperlinks listed under "Clients" for web and social sample work.
**Not currently taking any new social media clients.**
ABOUT ME: THE BACKSTORY
Everyone has a story and, if you are curious enough, mine is yours for the reading!
LONG STORY SHORT
Seventeen years of sales and marketing have led me to LOVE the unexpected: WRITING. Why hadn't writing landed on my radar back when I was choosing a major? I can't say for sure, but I have two hunches: 1) My love/hate relationship with research papers (the hate part was my was-it-a-blessing-or-a-curse procrastination habit), and 2) Probably for the same reason most people aren't actually working in their major field of study right now. Plus, I genuinely thought I wanted to climb all the corporate ladders when I was young and green! This sentiment gives me a good laugh now, not because there is anything wrong with climbing corporate ladders but because those ladders are so far from my core now.
Hindsight > foresight.
So, freelance writing as a "solo-preneur" it is. They say that some of the best things in life are free. Just for the record, hiring a freelancer isn't one of them, but it is freeing (and it's typically much less expensive than agency rates)! ;o)
SHORT STORY LONG
By now, you've caught on that I have more than a crush on writing but you may not know that I did a lot of exploring prior to landing here. I worked my way through high school and college, landing only jobs I really wanted (to my very grateful fortune).
My first tax-paying job was as a bagger at a unionized grocery store, which meant I quickly made more than minimum wage, had paid vacation and company health insurance at 16 years young. In college, I landed a retail job and an office job, both of which would be useful later when I needed a business professional wardrobe and some experience to reference during job interviews in the 'real world.'
Those interviews led me to take some really awesome, lucrative opportunities after college. It was after my first sales job that I realized that my goal of getting into marketing would be on the backburner for a bit. Sales had a way of sucking me in. So, I went on to sell butt wipes, search engine optimization (SEO) services and IBM/Lenovo computers.
Corporate B2B sales continued for something like 11 years. Cold calls aside, it was a lot of fun. The lushest was the limos and Ritz Carltons that came along with medical sales. The most fun had to be the Google-like SEO startup that encouraged scooter races and loud music, topping out at 300 employees before the feds shut the place down (I snuck in a visit to Google's HQ in Mountain View just prior). And, the most enlightening (enlightening for my soul, anyway) had to be the fortune 500 (Lenovo).
Not long after this exploratory phase, which included two 1,000 mile relocations, I made my way into marketing. Finally, the career I'd set out for so many years ago, yet something didn't feel right here either. So, I learned as much as I could and met some really great people while I pondered what I really wanted to be when I grew up.
The real question was: How soon could I get out of high heels and all other business professional attire?
It was at my first agency (where jeans were allowed and encouraged) that I wrote my first blog. I immediately knew what had been missing ALL THIS TIME. Writing sales proposals and PowerPoint presentations just weren't the same. Connecting with people via words and creativity, this was it. It was love at first blog and I knew there was no going back. I also now understood my love/hate relationship with research papers back in my college days.
Eventually, the stars aligned and I became a freelance copywriter overnight. It was seemingly easy, not to say I didn't work hard and wasn't deserving - I had and I was - but having patience and trusting life was key for me to take the leap. Had I attempted to go full-time freelance any sooner, I'm not sure it would have worked out.
See, due to the nature of my title, I was always first on the chopping block when it was time to downsize. And, there was a lot of downsizing during those formative years! So layoffs became commonplace and, being normally risk-averse, I may never have jumped into entrepreneurship but my experiences had taught me that everything is a risk, whether it appears that way or not.
I'm ecstatic at and grateful for the opportunity I've been served. I never thought I'd ditch the Sunday blues, happily work seven days a week and find fulfillment from the very thing that pays the bills. It's still a "job" some days but one I can fully cherish thanks to the time I served up until now...and the freedom (and lack of a dress code) is priceless!
If you've read this far and have any curiosity about working together, let's connect in one of the 74.6 ways available online, or, (gasp) in person!
#content #word #freebird
FIND ME...
WHY LIMIT THE WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN CHAT?
...OR LET ME FIND YOU!
DON'T BE SHY! REACH ME HERE AND I'LL GLADLY GET BACK TO YOU!
Copyright 2016