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Work with me

February 24, 2020

Hello

My name is Sophie Hansen and I was born and raised in Sydney. Now I live with my husband and kids on our farm just outside of Orange in country New South Wales. We farm red deer and cattle and run a vertically integrated meat business.

Please send me an email and we can set up a free 20 minute discovery call to find out the best way to work together; [email protected]

I trained in print journalism (at the University of Canberra) and have over 20 years experience as a features writer.
I help producers and food businesses create and share useful, valuable content that will drive sales, grow connections and build a community around what you do.
I am the author and photographer of three cookbooks; Local is Lovely 2014 (Hachette), A Basket by the Door 2019 (Murdoch Books) and In Good Company To be released Autumn 2020 by Murdoch Books.
I spent three years working with Slow Food Editore in Northern Italy in my twenties and now teach social media and content marketing to producers and small food, fibre and wine businesses via My Open Kitchen(podcast, e-course and workshops).
In 2016 I was awarded Australian Rural Woman of the Year in recognition of my commitment to rural communities.
I have developed and photographed recipes for a wide range of clients from Walnuts Australia to The Manildra Group, Beerenberg, Barkers of NZ and many more.
I write a regular recipe feature for Graziher magazine and often contribute to Organic Gardener Magazine. And I have over 20 years experience as a food writer for national magazines online publications.
I know from first hand experience – both as a journalist and farmer, the power of social media to tell your story and grow a community of advocates around what you do.

I can help you by…

Creating, styling and shooting original recipes to showcase your product and bring people to your social and owned platforms.
Figuring out your unique brand story – who are you, what do you do, why do you do it, who do you do it for and what problems do you solve for them?
Helping you develop and stick to a content plan that will drive sales.
Shooting an image library that will help tell your story in the most engaging way.
Teaching you how to style and shoot your own beautiful photos and videos.
Giving you the confidence and skills to tell your story online.
Setting the brand voice

Here are some of the packages I currently offer but if you’d like a more bespoke arrangement, please send me an email and we’ll figure it out together.

Recipe package

Price includes:

Original recipe development (includes testing recipe 3 times)
Complete, edited recipe including headnote/serving suggestions/variations/prep and cook times.
Preparation and styling of recipe for photography.
At least 5 x process/product shots of each recipe.
At least 5 x variations of final recipe ‘hero shot’ (close up, flat lay, portrait, landscape, medium angle). Supplied in low and high resolution (the latter posted on a thumb drive within 1 week of shoot)
Full ownership of recipe and image library.
I will share at least one of these images on my Instagram feed (32K lovely followers) with tags and links to your feeds.
I will share at least one of these images and recipes on my weekly newsletter ‘5 things to be cheerful about’ in a ‘recent work’ column.

Optional extra – I can also create video of the recipe process, ask me in the contact form below.

Image library, 3hr session

I can style, shoot and supply you with a high quality image library to use across your social media, blog, newsletter, website, for PR and media purposes. And I’ll also give you loads of ideas for captions to go with them!

This session can take place at your farm/kitchen/work space or an agreed location.
You will get at least 30 images showcasing your product, story, people, location.
Images will be edited and supplied in low resolution (via file sharing platform) and high resolution (thumb drive posted to you) within 1 week of shoot.
Supplied image library can cover everything from flat lays to styled vignettes, team shots, product shots, process shots.
I will share at least one of these images on my Instagram feed or Story (32K lovely followers) with tags and links to your feeds.
I will share at least one of these images and recipes on my weekly newsletter ‘5 things to be cheerful about’ in a ‘recent work’ column.
As a thank you I will also match up 10 of these pics with caption topic ideas to help kick start your content planning!

Optional extra – If you would like to make this into a workshop as well, I can show you how to style and shoot engaging pics on your phone or DSLR as I shoot. Please let me know and I can quote for this.

6-week social media schedule

Take all the guess work out of what to post on Instagram and when! We start with a review of your current feeds, clarify your target audience and what problem you are solving for him or her, then I will create you a complete posting schedule which will map out in detail; what you should post, where and when. I will also provide suggested hashtags for each post. This schedule will include 4 x posts for 6 weeks.

We have an initial phone call (or meeting in person if possible) to discuss your goals, target audience and key messages.
A review of your existing social media feed and profile bio and constructive feedback provided in writing.
Then I create a 6-week social media posting schedule with 4-5 post ideas for every week. These posts will be value-driven and focussed on solving problems and delivering value to your ideal customer.
Schedule will include Instagram Story and IGTV post suggestions.
For each post suggestion I will provide hashtag collections.
If you have already purchased the Recipe Package, we will incorporate these images and recipes along with ideas for repurposing the content in a variety of ways.

Optional extra – If you would like me to actually write these posts and create an image library to go with them, let know and I can send a quote.

ALSO…FIND ME HERE…

Instagram; @locallovely (31.6K followers)
Newsletter; ‘5 things to be cheerful about this Monday’ (weekly to 5.4k/average open rate 51%)
Facebook; Local is Lovely (5.1k followers)
Blog;www.local-lovely.com

Image above by Clancy Job.

The 17 newsletters I always stop and read – and why you need one!

March 2, 2020

I love love love a good newsletter; they a powerful tool for any small business wanting to connect with their people in a very real, personal way.

Every Monday morning I send out a ‘5 reasons to be cheerful’ newsletter and not only love putting it together, but also appreciate the feedback it generates and the opportunity it gives me to not only share what I hope is valuable content for my readers, but also tell them about new workshops and other things I have to offer.

Here are five reasons why I think you need one too!

Because email newsletters drive sales.
They let you connect with your customers in a very direct way.
They drive traffic to your website.
Because this is your bricks and mortar.
Because they provide you with a regular opportunity to check in, stay in front of your customers, provide relevant and trustworthy content and remind them what you have to sell that day.

In no particular order…here are the newsletters I always stop and read (or save for later) when they pop up in my inbox. They cover mixed bag of subject matters – food, fashion, business and writing advice but I appreciate and enjoy each and every one of them. And, I think they are all great examples of newsletter writing and creation done really really well…

If you’d like to start a newsletter but aren’t sure how, please send me an email ([email protected]) and I can help you get it off the ground and out into the world.

The newsletters I always stop and read

Ann Handley’s fortnightly newsletter is always a goldmine of useful information for marketers, copywriters and anyone interested in how to write better.

Really Good Emails– This website is a goldmine of inspiration and resources. Subscribe to their newsletter to get egs of really good emails sent to your inbox every week. The blog is awesome too.

The Daily Good – a daily (duh) newsletter with top use of white space, great header, consistent format (one thing to read, listen to, person to follow etc).

Head Ovary Heels– A fortnightly round-up of cool links, things to do, listen to and people to discover.

Pome – another one via Tinyletter, a poem every day at the same time. No images, nothing fancy. I love it.

Go To Skin Care– These guys always nail everything they do, from a super consistent tone of voice to branding and a great quality product to back it up. Their newsletter is an example in using white space well, in chatty friendly tone of voice and being sales-y in a way that feels like they’re just giving out really good advice and solutions rather than pushing products on us.

The London Review of Looks – Whenever this one pops into my inbox I either make the time or save it for when I have time to really savour create Ana Kinsella’s wonderful words. I love her as a writer, I love the simplicity of this Tinyletter newsletter and if you like good writing and farshon too, you might as well.

Hiut Denim Co– A UK based denim company that sends out a weekly ‘Do one thing well’ newsletter (they pride themselves on how they really do just one thing well – ie make jeans). I always find so many great links ideas and inspo in here, there my or may not be a note about a new product or a favourite style restocked but this is generally community building and branding at its finest.

The Back Room – a weekly newsletter by Forbes-based Cherie Quade sharing her latest workshops, yoga class schedule and links and recommendations for good things to read, do and think about.

Life & Thyme ‘Weekend Edition’ – A food and lifestyle website’s weekly round up of the best stories and recipes from their site. Well designed, always interesting.

Swiss Miss– great articles, clips and links.

Nicole Gulotta’s weekly newsletter – Nicole writes one of my favourite blogs Eat this Poem and has a book out of the same name. She also presides over an online community of writers called the Wild Words Collective and every wednesday sends out an encouraging email full of notes from her writing desks, links to articles and resources for writers and always a few good things to cook and do in and around the kitchen.

The Lunch Read – A diverse collection of links and articles delivered every Wednesday (they even allocate a time frame to each one so you know what to expect…)

Man Repeller– Edgy women’s lifestyle website, I feel a bit cool when I read their daily newsletter and also find it points me towards lots of great music, articles and ideas.

The Odgers & McClelland newsletter – created by Megan Trousdale (one half of this beautiful online and virtual store), this newsletter is an example of how to do it right, compelling and useful content, well written and put together and a great, gentle advertisement for all the good things they curate and sell.

Sara Tasker’s monthly hashtag newsletter – Sara Tasker of Me and Orla and the fabulous podcast Hasthag Authentic sends her mailing list (among other good things) a monthly round up of her current favourite hashtags for Instagram. I always stop and read this one and always take away a few new lovely hashtags to follow and use. Super valuable content delivered in a reliable, friendly way, backed up with Sara’s expertise.

Naomi Bulger’s monthly mail art newsletter – Naomi is my creative crush, every month she sends out a value-rich newsletter featuring mail art templates you can download, personalise and send out, plus tips for slow living, resources and links.

Dislaimers!

Just a few disclaimers about the list above; many of my favourite blogs send me an email whenever they post new content – I do the same and love receiving them, but haven’t included these here because I wanted to focus on emails that are specifically written as newsletter content.

One more thing to note about this list – it’s a snapshot in time, a collection of my personal favourites at the moment. Others will come and go depending on what I fancy reading about in that moment, so for those interested, I’ll update and change it as new goodies come to mind.

And of course, I’m sure I’ve missed lots of great newsletters so please share your favourites in the comments below.

How to nail your Instagram profile

December 4, 2019

Your Instagram profile is the first point of contact for many potential customers/community members so it’s super important to set it up properly. If your links are out of date, if your photo is blurry and hard to make out or if your blurb isn’t a clear statement of who you are, what you do and what specific problem you solve for a specific person then you could be doing yourself and your business a big disservice.

The good news…it’s not hard to sort out your IG profile, in fact it only takes nine steps…lets go

Use a username (@handle) that will be searchable and recognisable as you/your business.
Likewise, use a Name/business name that is searchable and actually your name or your business name. Now’s not the time to get clever or tricky, don’t make it hard for people to know if they are in the right spot….
In your profile blurb, make sure you clearly state who you are, what you do (what service or product you offer) and what problem you are solving for your people. This is a tough thing to get right, especially with such a limited character count but please spend time on making this statement as good as it can be because this is where people will make a snap decision whether your feed is a place they want to hang out in or not. No pressure.
Still on your profile blurb, include a verb that encourages people to do something. And that thing should be your conversion goal. Update as that changes.
Make your one landing link count. Use Milkshake, Linktree or shop grid options.
Make it look good! Use line breaks – list style bios are good way to convey lots of information without using up too many of your precious characters (to get line breaks in your IG profile – type it out or paste it in on your laptop or desktop computer not a tablet – just use the enter key to add in a new line break and bingo there it will be)
Use emoji- when used well they save characters and can be eye catching.
Hashtags and @ mentions are important too – and now clickable in your IG bio so where applicable, use them!
About your profile photo…please consider using your face not your logo… people are on social media to connect with other people – the clue is in the name! And it’s much easier to connect with people when you can put a face to a name, especially when it’s a nice clear, smiley face. Obviously if you are Coca-Cola or Dyson or a massive brand, you’d want to have your Social Media profile photos as your logo to keep brand recognition etc. And I understand that government bodies and corporations need to use a logo. But, if you are the face of your brand, if this is your business and if it’s your voice and story, then I think it absolutely needs to be your face in that little circle there. Remember that Seth Godin quote; ‘people like us do things like this’ – it’s much easier to create a connection with someone if you can see their face. MUCH EASIER. And maybe you have a small team, perhaps you could get headshots of everyone taken together – on the same day, with the same background, maybe everyone wearing their team t-shirt or whatever. and light etc to keep consistency – and rotate them every month. Every time you chance the profile photo you could introduce that team member with a ‘5 things you didn’t know about Geoff’ so you are giving value, reinforcing your values and building connection all at the same time.

How to nail your Instagram profile

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