November 29, 2017, by Postgraduate Placements Nottingham

No average days: the appeal of being a commercial copywriter

This week we hear from Natalie Thorne about her postgraduate placement with Nottingham-based perks and discounts scheme LionCard.

Working as a copy writer at LionCard has been great as it draws on the skills I developed when I studied media and journalism on my first degree, many years ago. Considering what a hard industry it was to break into back then I feel that I was lucky to get a start in journalism right away. These days, now that the internet isn’t just for geeks and computer hackers, there are a lot more opportunities out there.

I’ve always loved writing about local places and issues because it is so easy to get out there and experience the things I’m writing about. At LionCard I get to do just that, as my day to day role involves writing blogs, newsletters and reviews about a wide range of local businesses and partner organisations. Recently, for example, I wrote an article about ‘5 Places to get Great Coffee in Notts’ which involved researching various businesses and then interviewing their founders and owners.

My writing process will usually start with researching a company online and writing a few preparatory paragraphs. After that I’ll head out to meet the people who run it. It’s always great to meet people who are enthusiastic about what they do and to learn about how they overcame the challenges of setting up a new enterprise, why they chose the name of their company, why they chose that business location, and so on. In the case of the coffee shops article, I especially enjoyed learning the little stories about where they get their coffee from and the people in their lives who have influenced their menus. Once back at the office, I transcribe those interviews and integrate the human-interest material with the factual content I compiled earlier in the morning. Pure information is quite dull for a reader, so adding some quotations from the business owner helps make the piece feel more personal.

The other element of my placement role at LionCard involves writing and distributing press releases. For example, I recently wrote one to accompany a photo shoot featuring our new corporate mascot Cardashian. The aim of the press release was to attract the interest of the local press and help us to get publicity for our card scheme.

“Working with LionCard has been a wonderful opportunity to use the skills I’ve learnt over many years in the industry, to discover other abilities, and to get to grips with new technology. I’m really enjoying working with a young company who have some big ambitions, while funding my life as a student, and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!”

If you want to read some of my blog posts, check out www.thelioncard.com

If you’re a student interested in doing a postgraduate placement visit our webpage for more information, or check out current opportunities at the Placements Portal.

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