I swear I'm a professional

I swear in my social media posts and blogs.

I don't know if you've noticed.

It causes more problems for me than you might think.

The most prominent problem I face is that my other half winces a little each time he reads what I've written. He no doubt thinks that our small child will miraculously learn to read, decode and contextualise all of my blogs before the age of 3, and somehow have her life ruined by the language I infect her tiny eyes with. Or, his unease could purely be down to the fact that I swear a lot around the house in front of her, to be fair...

As you'd probably imagine, the 'lack of professionalism' of my bad language brings out the trolls in force. Now, I love a good dalliance with a troll, and nothing gives me greater pleasure than to bitch-slap them into the middle of next week with a mix of logic, indifference and being awkward as hell, but it can become tiresome, and though my responses often win me some clients along the way, my trolls don't directly pay my bills, so I don't have much time to dedicate to them without it impacting somewhere else in my personal or professional life.

The main issue that's caused by my swearing, however, is the fact that some people think that because I swear in my social media posts, if they hire me as a copywriter, I'll swear in what I write for them, too...

Can we just stop a second and realise that this is fucking ridiculous?

If you hire a professional to come and re-decorate your house, they're not going to paint all your walls in their own favourite colour, are they? Similarly, if you go out to a restaurant for your tea, you pay for the meal you want to eat, not for whatever the chef fancies rustling up on your behalf. If you pay a professional copywriter, guess what! They write what you want them to write!

When I post on social media, I'm promoting a brand. That brand is me. Therefore, in order to market myself, I'm writing in my style, with my words, in my tone of voice. If you want me to effectively promote your brand, however, you can go ahead and assume that I'm going to write in your style, with your words, in your tone of voice. And, if you're struggling to find, create or adapt your tone of voice for your project, I can help you sort all of that out, too! If that tone doesn't involve swearing, then that's just fine, because believe it or not, I have access to other words! There's a reason why, amid all my swearing, I market myself as a professional copywriter. I do a bloody top job, that's why.

The worst thing for me as a professional copywriter would be to write a piece of content for a client and then for them to turn around and say, "No, it's just really not us, Jo". It would mean that I've failed to listen attentively to them, and/or to convey their message and branding in the way that they had hoped and desired when hiring me as a professional writer of stuff. With my clients, it's all about them. I'm here to put things into words when they struggle to do it for themselves.

Whilst my swearing may upset, un-nerve and even rattle a few people, let it be a testament to the fact that, when I write, I'm bold, I make an impact, and I create content that gets people talking.

If you don't want that for your business or brand, then I've got no fucking idea how I can help you.