Rachel Extance
Award-winning journalist turned copywriter and content coach who enables you to raise your visibility and attract new opportunities by sharing your work.
“I love how she can take the mess from my head and make sense of it.”
Feedback like this ⬆️ makes me jump for joy around my living room 😃
Do you find it hard to articulate what you do?
You know, of course, but how do you explain it to someone else?
And it’s even more difficult when you’re not face to face with them. They’re reading about you on a computer screen. What do they want to know about you?
That’s where I come in: I listen to you, connect your stories with your clients’ stories, and weave them together.
I blend my news sense, writing, and coaching skills to help you share who you are, what you do, and how it benefits your clients. My approach is empathetic and inclusive.
I work with individuals and teams who want to:
✅ Get clear on what to say and how to say it
✅ Write website copy which introduces their business, lets prospective clients get to know them, and showcases their services
✅ Identify their stories and tell them effectively
✅ Enable their team to communicate their impact well
✅ Increase their visibility and build their brand.
Whether you run a team or are on your own, we can get together in a variety of ways to develop your business writing skills:
📌 1:1 online programmes
📌 Self-study courses
📌 Workshops
📌 Bespoke training
Looking at all the angles
One of my superpowers is being able to look at all the angles of your life and business. It comes from 15 years as a newspaper reporter. A staple of local newspaper life is campaigns. You set a goal and then spend weeks writing about the same topic, whether it’s the diversity in your local high street or a charity fundraiser.
This is me knocking on the door of 10 Downing Street. I’m pretty proud of this moment! We were running a campaign for fairer funding for a bus fare scheme for pensioners which was supposed to be free, but due to a shortfall, wasn’t. I wrote about bus fares for weeks. The result was 10,000 signatures on a petition, a trip to Downing Street to hand it in (no, I didn’t get to meet the PM), and finally, victory! We succeeded in getting the scheme properly funded.
While you might think you only have one story to tell, I can find you dozens of things to talk about.
My Media Career
I knew from an early age that I wanted to write for a living and I decided I was going to be a journalist. My parents had a broadsheet newspaper delivered every day and I dreamed of getting to write for it one day.
It didn’t quite work out, though I did work experience there for a week (and got a feature published as a result). Instead I worked in local newspapers and specialised in local government reporting. I’ve always been interested in politics.
I covered lots of great stories, often getting the front page. I reported on topics from social issues and the regeneration of towns and cities to national and European elections. I have a wide range of interviewing experience including cabinet ministers, business leaders and the occasional celebrity.
I had many roles including being on the newsdesk, the team which decides which stories will be going in the next day’s paper, editing copy and working with journalists, photographers and sub-editors.
It was clear early on in my career that digital was going to play a key role in the future of news. After working on the newsdesk, I moved across to editing newspaper websites, deciding which stories would go where, breaking news online, and teaching reporters how to write for the web and use social media.
Going solo
I thought I would always be a newspaper journalist but then my role got made redundant. I trained as a social media manager and then found people were asking me to write instead.
I also discovered that many of the independent business owners I was meeting at networking events didn’t know what their stories were or how to tell them. And so I launched The Story Cave Ltd.
I’ve written blog posts for 6 and 7 figure business owners, as well as website copy for a variety of SMEs. Over time I found that as well as writing copy, I enjoyed teaching others how to write for themselves, and that strategy was often missing when people started content marketing.
I now combine content coaching, including content strategy, with copywriting, to enable people to share their knowledge, expertise, and personality without fluff or faffing about on short-term tactics.
Public speaker
Are you looking for someone who can talk about storytelling, or how to share information about yourself and your business in an engaging way?
I’ve spoken at Cambridge Social Media Day twice, as well as several Meet Up events.
I’ve also presented masterclasses to online memberships.
Copy coach
Would your membership benefit from someone to help them craft their website copy? It’s not what they signed up for, but you know that they could do with a helping hand.
I provide copy coaching for online programmes. I’m friendly and encouraging (no-one wants to feel like they’re back in English class at school).
Please get in touch with me to discuss how I can help your membership.
What makes me different
I stand for individuality
With a front page mentality, where the story you are telling needs to be new, I focus on what makes you unique.
A focus on humanities
Research, creativity, critical thinking, and empathy are all benefits of a humanities and social science-based background. I have a BA in history and a BSc in international studies.
I’m a cheerleader who wants you to succeed
My focus is on giving you the skills to do the work yourself long-term without relying on me. I’m a cheerleader and delight in the success of others.
Joined up thinking
I’m a lateral thinker who spots connections between diverse sources of information and puts them together.
A perpetual student
I’m always learning about learning and paying attention to strategies which will help my clients.
My environmental impact statement
Are you talking about environmental impact in your business? I’ve been environmentally aware since we were taught about CFCs and the ozone…
Podcasts
Listen to interviews with me
Looking for a podcast guest to talk about content marketing, standing out as an individual, or introvert visibility? Get in touch with me.
Want to know how I can help you?
Let’s have a virtual coffee and discuss what you’re working on.
About
Rachel Extance is an award-winning journalist and writer who enables SMEs to write about their business clearly and engagingly so they build credibility.
Her audience-focused approach ensures your website, brochures, reports, and internal communications are relevant and convey key details quickly. She draws on her experience editing newspaper websites and her humanities degrees to tell unique stories that communicate the value of her clients’ work through workshops, group programmes, and working 1:1.
She champions her clients and makes them shine with original marketing materials.