Welcome, Jordana Sacks!

Introducing Jordana, our horse-whispering law grad whose passion for writing can’t be contained! When we sat down with WMG’s newest member of the creative content team, we were blown away. Here’s why…

What is your favourite hobby?

Horse riding! I have two horses, Alice and Sixpence – Alice is an ex-racehorse who still hasn’t realised, 17 years later, that she’s left the track, and Sixpence is a little Welsh pony who looks like a woolly mammoth in winter and a unicorn minus the horn in summer. When it’s lighter I tend to ride at least five days a week, but at the minute I’m restricted to weekends so I have to squeeze in three hours every Saturday and three every Sunday.

I hear you’re also a bit of a horse whisperer?

I don’t know about that! I think I just have a strange combination of patience, calm and recklessness. I’m patient enough to spend hours sitting with a horse and getting them to trust me, and idiotic enough to get on and ride them after being warned that they might try and kill me.

You studied Law at uni… so why the move into content writing?

I studied Law because I knew I’d get the grades I needed and I saw pound signs. Unfortunately the plan to use my head and get rich didn’t work out very well, because I realised that I hated Law pretty quickly. Writing, on the other hand, was something that I actually liked, so after three years of forcing myself to do well at something that I hated, I decided to do something that I had a chance of enjoying.

What are your predictions for the biggest industry changes in 2014?

I think the biggest changes will be the three new algorithms which Google introduced last year. Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird seem to have really shifted the focus in content writing from keyword density to producing quality content. It’s now about writing content that people actually want to read.

What do you do here at WMG?

As a content writer, I write pieces to go on the internet. This can range from articles and blog posts which focus on delivering content that people really want to read, to landing pages and product descriptions for client websites, or instructional guides to teach people how to use a product.

Can you give away any of your content writing secrets?

I don’t know that I really have any! The writing itself is something that comes naturally. The research is conducted with the help of Google. I try to make my writing original by using multiple websites and sources to find my information. This ensures that I’m not just reproducing someone else’s work and that my facts are accurate as they’ve been corroborated by multiple sources.

If content writing was over tomorrow, what would you do?

I’d probably accept that I’d have to be penniless for the rest of my life and go and work with horses.

What are your best productivity tips?

Number one is to just sit down and do it. There’s no magic potion to increase productivity – you just have to make yourself work. The only way to beat procrastination is through sheer willpower.

The other tip is to treat yourself for getting your work done. Food motivation works best for me! I always have a snack on hand to reward myself after I complete a piece of content. I might end up having to be rolled out of the office, but at least I’ll be productive!

What are the best tools you use in your day-to-day job?

Google!

What’s your greatest achievement?

That would have to be my horses. They might have come with bad attitudes, but other horse owners always comment on how beautifully mannered they are now, which just goes to show what time and perseverance can do.

A close second would be getting my Law degree. I might not have enjoyed it, but I was determined to do well and I did.

What’s your favourite quote?

My favourite is by Churchill, who said that ‘There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.’