Hello, i’m steve. I’m a copywriter and author based in edinburgh

I write for brands that need to sound clear and unambiguous. I’ve written for Volkswagen, Aviva, SSE, John Lewis, Mars and TV Licensing.

Real talk: I’m not the writer you pair with an art director to brainstorm creative concepts with our feet on the desks. I’m the guy you call when you need something written — or rewritten — with clarity and coherence.

I’ve been copywriting for 20 years. Besides agency work, I’m also writing a novel.

Let me know what your copy needs are, and I’ll let you know if I can help. I’ll work with you to create beautifully clear, distinctive and relevant copy for websites, emails, socials and other marketing material.

HOW IT WORKS

I spend time uncovering how you and your brand tick, observing the language you naturally use. This informs how your business communicates.

I craft these observations and ideas into a focused, authentic narrative that’s unique to your organisation and conveys your products/services and competitive edge.

The language developed by this process is a tool for you to use — it can be deployed across your website, marketing materials, social media and more.

I can also help you write these materials if needed.

so, about this whole ai thing…

The hot topic of the moment. A lot of writers are rejecting AI out of hand but I think there are specific use-cases where it can be a useful tool.

AI is like a digestive system. If you eat nothing but pizza and chocolate, your body starts to feel horrible and doesn't do what you want it to do. AI is like that too. It’s a SISO (sh*t in, sh*t out) system. The trick is to give it quality inputs, known as prompts. Then it stands a chance of giving you something actually useful.

Here’s what you need to know about me and AI.

I won’t use AI to write your copy, unless you specifically ask me to (and even then, I’ll probably have an informed view on whether it’ll give you what you need).

What I can do — and this is often most helpful for smaller organisations who don’t necessarily want to hire copywriters on the regular — is work with you on a consultancy basis to help you develop rigorous, in-depth AI prompts for non-writers in your business. This kind of work is used to guide people who don’t write for a living generate better written communications. This is usually not marketing or brand copy (because this requires tone of voice mimicking, which AI still isn’t terribly good at). But if you’re after some internal comms, a sales call script or some product wording, I can help you get AI to give you what you need.

If you want to have a more detailed chat about AI and what it can and can’t do, and how I might be able to help you work with it, drop me a line.

ABOUT ME

I’m a copywriter and author. I’ve been making sentences simpler for 20 years.

I also have a proven track record providing clarity to some big names, including Mars, the BBC, Volkswagen, Aviva and the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity.

I’m based in Edinburgh, but most of my work is done remotely.

HOW MUCH IT COSTS

I usually bill on a project-by-project basis. Please contact me for details.