Author: Neil Wheatley

Copywriter since 2008, specialist in IT, software and video game marketing, dad to Wolfie and Rock.

What do you get for £10 with Facebook ads?

We haven’t put much energy into our Facebook page so far, but for the sake of our own self-respect we’d like to increase our likes count (it’s currently around 70).

So we’re going to try some Facebook ads. We want to reach 200 likes for starters — a nice round tally.

I’ve used Facebook ads before. I found it simple to use and pretty good value. If you’re new to it, we’ll try to guide you through the process in this post. We’ll also share our own results. Continue reading “What do you get for £10 with Facebook ads?”

Is dlvr.it a good free social media automation tool? We tried it.

Wheatleys recently set up new social media profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter to go with our re-brand. Now we want to start posting useful stuff across all those profiles. It’s a time-consuming business, so we figured we should give social media automation a try.

We used to use TweetDeck to schedule and deliver our posts, but it now only works with Twitter. So, after reading this post on the best SM automation tools, we thought we’d give dlvr.it a try.

Ideally we want to manage all our social media profiles in one place — and for free. After our experience with dlvr.it, we’re not sure that’s possible… but we might have found another good solution.

Here’s what happened.  Continue reading “Is dlvr.it a good free social media automation tool? We tried it.”

Should you mention MailChimp in your website privacy policy?

Update 21 May 2018 – This post hasn’t been refreshed for GDPR and may be outdated. If you’re looking for copywriting services, please visit our home page.

Along with our new website, we recently wrote a new privacy policy. Regarding sharing user data with third parties, our policy originally said:

We will not share your personal information with or sell it to third parties unless we have your permission or the law requires us to.

But since we use MailChimp to process our email newsletter subscribers, that isn’t 100% accurate. MailChimp is a third party and they process data from customers who send us work enquiries or sign up to our email list. Maybe it’s a similar story at your website. Continue reading “Should you mention MailChimp in your website privacy policy?”

A week with Mobike smart bikes

I’m lucky enough to live 20 minutes’ walk from my office. Until very recently, it was the only regular exercise I got. It also saves me a lot of money on transport.

So, when I started noticing Mobikes lying around Salford Quays a few months ago, I ignored them.

— Just another over-engineered tech solution nobody needs!

— Probably a rip-off!

— One smart device too many!

I didn’t really say any of these, but they sum up how I felt about these so-called smart bikes.

Then, last Friday, I ended up trying — and liking — Mobike. Continue reading “A week with Mobike smart bikes”

Is it better to publish on Medium, Linkedin or your own blog?

I was recently asked by a client to write and publish a couple of articles not on their blog, but in my own name on Linkedin and Medium.

It was my first time writing on either of those platforms, and I found some pleasant surprises. I would definitely consider publishing on both sites again, but which is best? Here’s what I found this time. Continue reading “Is it better to publish on Medium, Linkedin or your own blog?”

Ideas for your new indie game’s press release

It’s a couple of years since I helped out with press releases for a small indie game called Apple Jack 2. But I’m still amazed by what we achieved, and I’ve been meaning to write it up to help other developers ever since. Better late than never.

Apple Jack 2 is a genuine independent game, made by one talented fellow from the South of England. None of this Kickstarter stuff! Developer Tim Sycamore at one time tagged his company “the zero-budget game developer,” and it’s a fitting slogan. The game’s few external contributors worked for no money up-front, but shared in pretty good profits afterwards.

So how, with such limited resources, did AJ2 wind up on the front pages of massive gaming sites like IGN and Eurogamer? If you’re a game developer, the answers to this question could maybe help you do the same. Continue reading “Ideas for your new indie game’s press release”