When your copy starts whispering from the grave 💀

Last night, I opened an old Google Doc — and a chill ran down my spine.

Staring back at me was a headline I’d once been proud of. Bloated. Overworked. Stuffed with unnecessary adjectives. Like a zombie version of my past self.

I thought, “Who wrote this?!”

Checked the timestamp: 2021.

Yep. It was me. 🙃

As writers and marketers, we all have our ghosts — old drafts that make us cringe, campaigns that never saw the light of day, and emails we wish we could un-send.

And no matter how long you’ve been doing this, some fears never die.

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The 5 scariest things for a copywriter

In this line of work, there are things far more daunting than haunted houses.

Here are 5 things that still make every copywriter’s skin crawl… and how to face them fearlessly:

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#1 — The undead draft 💀

You thought it was gone, but it keeps coming back with “just a few edits.”

How to escape it: Every revision should have a clear goal. If you’re rewriting the same section 4 times, it’s time for a call — not another Google Doc comment.

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#2 — The ghosting lead 👻

You sent the proposal. They loved your work. And then… silence.

How to escape it: Follow up once, then move on. Rejection isn’t personal — sometimes people just get eaten by inbox monsters.

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#3 — The haunted maze of overthinking 🌀

You can’t hit publish because “it’s not perfect yet.”

How to escape it: Perfection is a trapdoor. Get it 90% there, then post. You can always update later.

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#4 — The blood-soaked brief 🩸

The client says “I’ll know it when I see it.”

How to escape it: Ask for examples of what they don’t like. Sometimes knowing what to avoid saves you from a full-on creative massacre.

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#5 — The phantom KPIs 👀

You’ve written great content… but no one’s tracking the results.

How to escape it: Always ask how success will be measured. Because if you don’t define “winning,” you’ll never know when to celebrate.

Speaking of spooky tales… your website might be lurking in the SERP shadows.

Here are a few SEO mistakes that may be cursing your site — and how to banish them:

How to avoid 3 common SEO mistakes

C’mon, dude: My website is ranking for a human meat steakhouse 🔪

The marketing version of ESPN’s legendary “C’mon, man” segment

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Apparently, my website’s SEO is strong enough to compete with cannibals.

When checking my rankings the other day, I realized I was on the first page for the search term, “Grigg’s and Cass.”

I looked it up. And apparently I’m ranking for a fake steakhouse that serves human meat.

So I guess you could say my content is killer.

Lesson? SEO works in mysterious (and sometimes horrifying) ways. And sometimes, all we can do it laugh.

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👋 I’m Cassidy — copywriter, content strategist, and founder of Content by Cass.

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And also your super-chill friend who says hi, shares her most embarrassing moments, and cheers you on every Thursday.

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Follow me on LinkedIn for unfiltered, slightly jaded nonsense and insights

Check out my services if you need a content or copywriting partner

Book a free chat to say hi, learn more, and bounce ideas around

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