Neil Cumins

G75 Media provides copywriting services - such as sales brochure copy and website content with the ambition of scoring highly in internet searches - for a variety of private sector clients, including opticians, property consultants, publishing houses and PR agencies. The company was founded in East Kilbride three years ago - by journalist, Neil Cumins. Beginning with £1000 of savings, Neil started the company from the spare room of his house. It is now turning over roughly £50,000 per year.

1. What inspired you to found G75 Media and wasn't the market already saturated with people capable of writing compelling content for clients? 

I founded G75 Media precisely because there didn’t appear to be anyone out there capable of producing outstanding copy and editorial. My then employer used a number of highly-regarded freelancers over several years, all proving to be inept in one way or another. Through subsequent market analysis, I began to discover pent-up levels of demand among companies for professional copywriting services. From personal experience, many people claim they can write, but surprisingly few of them really can - even 'famous journalists' who have spent their entire careers in this sector.

2. You write web content with the aim of achieving high 'search engine optimisation'. How does that affect the words you choose? Does it compromise your writing style? 

Writing SEO text is a very tricky task. It’s a fine balance between being SEO-friendly enough to achieve good results with the search engines, yet still being readable and informative to a consumer or end user. Compiling SEO text is very different to my normal flowing style of writing, but I’ve mastered the dark arts after spending a lot of time with some particularly evangelical SEO enthusiasts.

3. How does copywriting differ from traditional print journalism? Is it more akin to penning strapline for advertising campaigns? 

Copywriting covers a far wider remit than journalism, and it’s typically more client-friendly in tone, although in truth, it can consist of pretty much anything. To give just four examples, so far this year, I have written (and broadcast) live travel announcements for drive-time radio shows, reviewed executive homes for Scotland’s largest property publication, produced in-depth profiles of African charities and scripted Twitter updates for car dealerships. If it needs writing, I’ll produce it, and I probably already have in some form or another.

4. What have you done to grow the business so it no longer is operating out of your spare room? 

I’m truly hopeless at networking, but I’ve pretty much done everything else - web advertising, PR campaigns, strategic marketing, and the like. This year, I’ve started getting word-of-mouth recommendations, which is always flattering, and I actively encourage it among my existing customers. To be honest, one of my biggest triumphs as a freelance copywriter is the fact I can now work from home - officially it’s a home office, but technically it’s still a spare room. And that’s fine by me, especially when the M8’s at a standstill and the rain is lashing down outside.

5. Where could the business grow from here? 

Given these volatile economic times, I’m not being overly ambitious in the short term, although I would love to take on more work. I’ve never had a dissatisfied customer, and people generally seem very happy with the service I deliver, so it would be nice to think G75 Media could eventually become one of the UK’s leading copywriting agencies. However, I’m predicting slow, organic growth rather than anything more seismic - I’m certainly not going to take over a rival company or do a Dragons Den-style funding plea.

6. How many clients would you say you have worked for, and do you produce all the content yourself? If no, how do you employ others? 

I have a team of people I can call on to help me with web design, proofreading and suchlike, but I write all G75 Media’s output myself. A quick look at my client database suggests I’ve worked with 300 organisations in the last three years, primarily for one-off assignments that were sub-contracted to me by one of my three principal clients. These are the companies I deal with day in and day out, and I have strong relationships with each of them.

7. Are you looking to expand your freelancing team and what terms do you offer? 

G75 Media’s turnover hasn’t increased in the last six months, and I wouldn’t want to commit any more revenue to employing freelancers until new clients have been brought on board.

8. Where does one go to learn the art of copywriting? 

I genuinely believe that being able to write perfect prose is like any musical or artistic talent. Quite simply, you either have it or you don’t - becoming great from scratch is pretty much impossible. I studied the media for six years at college and university, and then spent nine years learning my craft as an employee of other companies, but if I hadn’t been able to write well in the first place, I doubt any of that would have happened. Writing has been an instinctive ability of mine since I was at primary school, and people keep telling me I must have a natural talent for it, because I work so quickly.

9. Proudest media moment? 

Earlier this year, I won an award at the 2010 Freelancer of the Year ceremony in London. Being chosen ahead of the cream of the UK’s freelance community was the greatest endorsement I could have had, and it made all those hard months of trying to establish a business in my spare time (on a shoestring budget) feel thoroughly worthwhile.

10. Most embarrassing? 

Oh God, which one do I choose? There was the half-million pound townhouse I visited where my trousers disintegrated during an inspection of the attic; the moment live on air when a radio DJ asked me to insult a mutual friend, without realising he was listening to the station online in America; the job interview I attended in a hotel bedroom because the function suites were double-booked; or the occasion I accidentally reversed a van into someone’s car, only to discover the irate victim was the person I was supposed to be co-hosting a media event with that morning…