Guess who? 

 

That’s right, it’s me. Rachael Brown, content writer and podcast host. Back for another update on my partnership at Pearl Lemon. 

 

I’ve had a busy week, with dissertation deadlines and family commitments meaning I haven’t been able to push myself to write as much as I’d like. But I am still satisfied with what I have got done, despite my resting bitch face at team meetings, lol. 

 

This week I’ve been really getting into the festive spirit by doing some cooking. Baking is a relatively new yet beloved hobby of mine. Yes, it low key makes me feel like a 1950’s housewife, but I get cookies and pies out of it so you gotta look on the bright side. 

 

I have been using my family extensively as guinea pigs for new recipes I want to try throughout lockdown. One of these recipes has been gingersnaps, and for the first time on Thursday I got the spice mix perfect and they came out banging.

 

It upsets me sometimes Pearl Lemon is entirely remote, as I really like my colleagues and would love to share some gingersnaps with them like the office grandma.

 

My dreams aside, let’s get back to the update. Here are the highlights (in no particular order) of my week! 

Podcast Recap Blogs 

The primary focus of this week has been getting my podcast recap blogs researched and written. And hey, what can I say, it’s been a success! 

 

The first one I wrote was recapping my podcast trial run with Noah, and as the funniest podcast, it was a great place to start. 

 

I ran it by him to get his thoughts/ approval and he seemed to really find it funny which of course, as the de facto pearl lemon prankster, was a massive compliment. I tried to fill it with as many out of touch and unbearable memes as possible, to truly capture my personality. 

 

The second I wrote on Friday was of my interview with Lydia for the meet the team series. Where I recapped our discussions on living a plant-based lifestyle, weightlifting and BBQ lentils. I need to make some more edits to that, and I will get around to it next week where I want to aim to get three done. 

 

We shall see. 

Plant Sumo link building campaign 

 

This week we have got our Plant Sumo link building campaign, where we write local top ten round-ups of London vegan restaurants in specific boroughs for PR purposes, up and running. 

 

I and Harry have been primarily working on this. I say ‘Me and Harry’ it’s been more Harry really, this week I wrote up one post while he’s been tearing through the lists like a machine. He works extremely fast, and comparatively, I feel like a bit of a content slug because by the time I’ve finished research for one post he has written two. 

 

Every vegan publication in the UK should be bricking it because soon he will have identified the top ten plant-based restaurants in every borough in the UK and put them out of business. 

 

Oh well, I am still proud of what I wrote though- and I think I will pop over to Harlesden to check it out when I’m back in the ol capital.

 

Hopefully, Harry (hint hint) could give me some advance on this mysterious talent of ‘being productive’? (Joking, haha) Might just ask everyone on the team to compile a list of their top tips.  We will just have to wait and see. 

Content Writer Training Looms 

 

Noah has asked all the content writers to contribute content writer training videos to a spreadsheet file he is amassing for future content writers. Recording looms is a process I literally have to psych myself up for, as I mess up so often I should set up a blooper folder for all my unused takes. So I decided to get mine down this week and out of the way.

 

I decided to record my videos on how to write website copy and meta descriptions, as these are two areas I have extensive experience with. 

 

I wrote all the website copy for the official Plant Sumo website, and I have been writing and reviewing meta descriptions for Plant Sumo, Resume Cats and a variety of other sites. 

 

With my loom on Website copy, as it can differ so much depending on your specific brand, I tried to focus on highlighting the typical structure of a website and give advice which was universally applicable. Stuff like creating a plan with the web designer and brand founder before you write, considering your business and target audience and how this impacts the copy at every turn and making it readable for mobile. 

 

Meanwhile, for my loom on Meta Descriptions as they are so small, I decided to do a live demonstration where I came up with a brand, some key SEO words and wrote the main page meta description on the spot.

 

 I am what my friends call an ‘elephant typer’, ergo my typing is so loud it’s ridiculous. If you have ever studied English literature at University, you knew girls like me, who every lecture was smacking away at their MacBooks. So I wouldn’t recommend watching this loom of mine unless you want to re-experience that trauma. 

 

In my loom I also went through what they are, how they are used, and why they are so important, covering all the essentials. 

 

I found recording these looms surprisingly enjoyable. I didn’t expect to, like many people I cringe at the sound of my own voice, but feeling myself articulate explanations relating to knowledge and skills I didn’t have a month ago felt fantastic.

 

Recording these looms really helped me think through my own process when writing and what essentials I need to be consciously aware of myself when writing website copy and meta descriptions. 

 

Thanks for reading!