Interview With SEO Copywriting Certification Grad, Laura Crest

Laura was born not with a silver spoon, but with a pen in her hand.  She has been writing since she can remember, from “what today was like” in her childhood journals to poetry, essays, graduate papers, and then white papers for non-profits to support herself as a graduate student at the University of Washington’s Institute for Marine Studies.  With a background in natural resource economics and journalism, Laura landed her very first gig while an undergraduate at Michigan State University, as an intern writer and editor for Michigan Natural Resources Magazine.

Fast forward to the present day: Laura began her own freelance copywriting career last fall, having completed AWAI-affiliated programs in direct response copywriting and web 2.0  (Michael Masterson and Nick Usborne, respectively).  But what really captured her creative and highly analytical mind was Heather Lloyd-Martin’s SEO Copywriting Certification training program.  It all clicked then, everything Laura had thus far learned about copywriting, from the big direct response and web-writing picture down to the dirty, search-engine, content marketing details:  SEO copywriting.

What SEO copywriting/content marketing projects are you working on now?

I hit the ground running, landing two clients before I could even flesh out my website, let alone catch my breath!  Presently, I am sub-contracted with a virtual assistance business as their SEO copywriter, website writer, and content marketing writer (articles, blogs, press releases, newsletters, etc.)  Another client needs a complete SEO rewrite of her entire (20+ page) site.  I’m presently negotiating with a third client to develop the content for her new website.  Needless to say, it’s kept me busy and most gratified!

What would you say are your biggest “take-aways” from the SEO Copywriting Certification training program?

Wow!  I would have to answer “all of the above.”  Seriously, Heather’s course is so comprehensive, so thorough, and yet so “hands-on” detailed”¦. Starting with the fundamentals of research, for instance.  This is a step most of us would just as soon skip.  Sounds like tedious work; and most people are nearly allergic to the word “research.”  But it is the absolute cornerstone of solid SEO copywriting, and the way that Heather explains it, it is a SIMPLE, EASY, smart, and efficient foundation for all that follows!  I don’t want to be a spoiler, but”¦by the end of the course, you ARE a top-echelon SEO copywriter, and can charge accordingly!!

So, the short answer:  it’s given me the know-how and confidence to pursue my career as one of the exclusive, elite group of professional, certified SEO copywriters, taught first-hand by the widely recognized SEO copywriting expert of our time!  And, I get to display the SEO Copywriting Certification Badge of Honor on my website (when I finally finish it!) and on my marketing materials.

What are your hobbies, interests, other passions?

I absolutely love all things green and marine.  I grew up fascinated by Jacques Cousteau and National Geographic, and studied natural science, environmental science, and marine science as a student at MSU and UW.  An unabashed Ansel Adams’ fan, I enjoy landscape, seascape, wilderness, and black-and-white/ tonal photography, thrive on wilderness hikes, and am deeply attached to the coasts — almost all coasts, but especially those of the Pacific Northwest and Michigan.  I love great literature, great thinkers, and great poetry, as well.