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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.

Small Group Online Workshops

July 15, 2021

It’s been a while between posts here I know but between th workshops and events been cancelled left right and centre, I thought we might take things online for the moment….

I really think that with things so weird and up in the air and hard for everyone under lockdown and affected by the lockdown – this really is THE time to be there for your people. To put your hand up, to SHOW UP and say hey guys I’m here and we’re in this together and here’s some good stuff you might like.

But if you’re feeling a bit bleurgh…a bit stuck on how to actually do this well and consistently or at all. Then lets figure it out together. In a regular weekly small group catch up to build confidence, skills and community. Boom.

I’m taking all the updated workshop content I’d been working on for the workshops I was supposed to be doing all over the countryside this month and putting it in small group ‘camp’s starting in just a couple of weeks.

Winter Instagram Camp

Join me and a small group of like-minded small business owners (food/lifestyle/hospitatlity) to meet up for three one-hour workshop sessions over a month – and lets get our Instagram accounts firing with regular, valuable content that your community will love and act upon.

We start out with a 1.5 hour Zoom ‘seminar’ to lay the groundwork; aka how to create and share good content (this will be recorded so you can watch/re-watch at your convenience).

Then we kick off our small group sessions; four weekly 45 minute workshops to work through our content plans, tidy up our IG feeds and bios, work through the right video options for you (reels/IGTV/Stories?) and share ideas and strategies for growing and engaging our communities.

COST $250

What you get;

Access to a 1.5hr recorded Zoom seminar where I go through the below. You can listen along/join in live with me on the day and/or watch the recorded replay at your convenience.
Workbook to accompany this session, including ‘homework’ (optional of course but super helpful I think) to bring to our small group workshops.
4 x 45 minute ‘round table’ workshops with me and five other like-minded participants. This is where I think the really good stuff will happen. Plus it will keep us accountable and who knows who you’ll connect with and go on to collaborate with!
Access to a Content Camp Facebook group to continue conversations, get feedback from each other and keep connecting.

STEP 1 – Wednesday July 28

1.5 hour Zoom seminar (plus 1 hour question time).

If you can’t join in live, access to the replay will be emailed out to watch or listen to at your convenience.

Who are you/what are you here to say/who are you saying it to/what problems can you solve for them.
How to grow your community through really good content.
How to plan your content
How to create the words and the pictures
A series of Instagram prompts to help get us of and running (we will workshop these in the small group sessions).

STEP 2 – Small group sessions

Every Wednesday morning in August, beginning August 4 – you join one of four small groups (maximum six people including you) where we ‘do the work’ together.

Sign me up for the August Instagram Camp

Sign me up for the September Instagram Camp

Newsletter Camp

To start things off, you’ll receive access to a 1 hour seminar from me sharing everything I’ve learnt about newsletters; how to set one up, how to figure out what your people want to read and how to grow your email list. Then we break into 4 x one hour small group sessions. Working in groups of 6 (max) each weekly session will be a workshop format (via zoom) supported by notes and resources emailed out on signing up. You will also have access to a closed FB group to keep sharing ideas, giving feedback and supporting each other.

The idea is to build not only your skills and confidence when it comes to creating a newsletter people will want to read and act on, but also connect with like minded people to bounce ideas off and be accountable to. Your very own supportive network to get you off and running!

Cost – $200

Every Tuesday morning in August, 10-11am

Week one – Getting started

Choosing your platform
Mapping out your newsletter format.
What are you actually here to say and how can you best say it? Landing on a content plan for your newsletter.

Week two – Draft it up

Homework between week one and two’s sessions will be to write your first newsletter and send it out in draft form to our little group of five (it’s a safe space you guys). So this week’s session will be all about going through our newsletter drafts, tweaking them, working out where we stumbled, what bits we found the hardest and why.

Week three

Building our lists.
Staying consistent.
Landing pages, opt ins and other growth tactics.
Reading the numbers; how to use those dreaded insights to figure out what to do more of.

Week four

Wrap party!
How our social media and newsletter work together.
Collaborations and connections
General Q&A

Sign me up for the August Newsletter Camp

Sign me up for the September Newsletter Camp

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.

Small Group Online Workshops

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