Lazy writing is dead. AI can draft. But it can’t dig into niche research, find the insight no one else spotted, and turn it into a headline worth clicking.

That’s my zone.

I write B2B content that sounds like a real person, solves a real problem, and gets real results. SEO blogs, brand voice systems, strategy docs, founder POVs—if it involves words and outcomes, I’m in.

🧠 Research-heavy, not regurgitated
🎯 Built around reader intent, not just keywords
💡 Thoughtful enough to teach, sharp enough to convert
⚡️ And always edited with a knife—not a feather

Want content that moves people and metrics?
Let’s talk.

Sharan Phillora

📆 February wrapped - Inspired by Ray Slater Berry

A month that somehow moved fast and slow 

The Professional Life (dslx)

3️⃣2️⃣ articles written this month
3️⃣6️⃣ LinkedIn posts created across client accounts
📚 Published new pieces across multiple client CMS platforms
😂 Continued our very serious role of sharing jokes in the dslx Slack
✈️ Booked flights for our upcoming Muntanya Màgica offsite trip!
🤝 Shared new job collaborations and opportunities inside the dslx Campus Slack community

The Personal Life (Bookish + balance)

📖 Went book shopping and added to the ever-growing TBR
🏃‍♀️ Ran a 5K marathon and lived to tell the tale
📚 Finally got a paperback copy of Ray Slater Berry book 'Golden Boy'. Now waiting patiently for that autograph
🌿 Trying to protect my evenings a bit more, with at least three walks a week to switch off
💬 Joined a LinkedIn posting challenge hosted by Hava Salsi in The H Spot
✍️ Published 15 posts on my own LinkedIn over the last three weeks (got a bit lazy this week, not going to lie)
💍 Got the amazing news about my friend Marta Gomez - Taylor 💚 wedding 

How was your February?

#MonthWrapped

Senior Writer & Editor @dslx | AI can’t do what we do

We did have fun. You just can’t tell from our faces. 

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In the picture: Armin Tanovic, Ella Webber and Ray Slater Berry
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#teamday #worklife #writersoflinkedin #dayinthelife

No alternative text description for this image

Editing is just deleting sentences you were emotionally attached to.

Every writer knows the pain.

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#writinglife #contentwriting #b2bwriting #editing

Gathering tiny sparks of inspiration from the most random places possible

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#contentwriting #b2bwriting #copywriting #freelancewriter

The bar for content is no longer “helpful.” It’s “reliably useful for revenue.”

Our roles have shifted from Writer → content operator (research, structure, distribution, refreshes, repurposing).

What does that mean for every piece? We need to:
✅ pull real language (reviews, help docs, forums)
✅ map intent to decision (not keywords to headings)
✅ write for skim first, depth second
✅ add “proof blocks” (examples, screenshots, quotes)
✅ publish + refresh schedule (because ranking is maintenance)

What part of the “content engine” do you want to get better at this quarter?

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#contentwriting #b2bcontent #contentstrategy #seo #saasmarketing

We writers all have one thing in common: We can’t leave a perfectly fine sentence alone. 😅

Most of the time, I have an internal argument with my personalities about punctuation. One of them LOVES an em dash. The other one goes: “Don’t you dare. Keep it clean.”

And yes, there are more:

- I say “quick edit” like it’s a truthful phrase.
- I edit while I’m writing, so the doc moves at the speed of pain.
- I add “fix later” notes and somehow they survive until the final draft.
- I research one tiny detail and end up 17 tabs deep like I’m writing a dissertation.
- I cut “unnecessary words” and accidentally delete the only line with actual meaning.
- I do “one last pass” and it turns into a full personality change for the piece.

Anyway. That’s me.

What’s your toxic trait at work? 😅

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#writerlife #contentwriting #editing #copywriting #contentmarketing

Most AI content isn’t bad because it’s AI.
It’s bad because nobody bothered to be responsible for it.

Here’s how AI usually is used:
Prompt → paste → publish → blame “the algorithm” when it fails

Here’s how you should it instead:

▶️ stress-test structure (is the logic tight?)
▶️ generate counterarguments (what would a skeptical reader say?)
▶️ find missing steps (what did I assume the reader knows?)
▶️ create variations after the idea is great

AI can speed up execution, but it cannot replace taste, judgment, and context.

Do you use AI more for drafting, or for editing and thinking?

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#aicontent #contentstrategy #writingcommunity #b2bmarketing #contentmarketing #copywriting

Here’s how I use LinkedIn to its full potential (in 3 extremely easy steps)

Shaz: Spend a day with me on LinkedIn

You can do everything “right” and still not rank.

Here’s the pattern I see when a great article doesn't leave an impact:

1. It targets a keyword, not a decision
2. It explains the topic, but doesn’t answer the real question behind it
3. It has information, but no proof (examples, comparisons)
4. It looks like every other post on page 1

Here's a simple fix. Before you write, define the “reader’s next move.”
Subscribe? Book a demo? Shortlist tools? Copy a template?

Then you can write backwards from that. If your content is stuck, don’t rewrite the intro; rewrite the target outcome.

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#seo #contentmarketing #b2bmarketing #saascontent #copywriting #contentstrategy

At this point, LinkedIn is just one long group project where everyone keeps submitting the same AI post with slightly different line breaks.

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#LinkedIn #AIContent #B2BContent #MarketingStrategy #ThoughtLeadership

Editing your first draft is realizing...
Half the article was just you thinking out loud.

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#writinglife #contentwriting #editing #contentmarketing #b2bwriting

Empowering SaaS businesses to thrive online by crafting growth-focused Webflow websites with exceptional user experiences. | Webflow Expert

I'm a Design Consultant specialising in the following: User Centric Design, Growth Driven Design, Webflow design and development, UI/UX Design, Web Development, Web Design, Wordpress Development, Graphic Design, Internet Marketing. 

I have 14+ years experience in digital design, and I'm very well versed in every aspect of design and development, from conceptualization to implementation and maintenance.

I have developed an obsession for trying to help businesses grow through technology and helping them become more successful through the right implementation of a successful marketing strategy.

Robert Smart

"We have 60% of the homepage designed... but the copy isn't signed off yet."

A potential client told me this on a discovery call recently.

They wanted to hit the ground running. Show momentum. Get the rebrand moving.

So they started designing the homepage. Mockups, layouts, visual direction. All looking good.

Except nobody agreed on what the homepage should actually say.

Now they're stuck. Beautiful designs built around placeholder copy that might completely change once messaging is finalized.

This happens more than you'd think.

The logic makes sense: "Let's get the design started while we work on copy. We can swap the words in later."

But here's what actually happens:

The design gets built around Lorem Ipsum or rough draft copy. Then the real messaging comes through and it's longer. Or shorter. Or needs a completely different structure.

Now you're either forcing copy to fit a design that wasn't built for it, or you're redoing the design to fit the actual message.

Either way, you're reworking something that should have been done once.

Copy before design isn't just a workflow preference. It's how you avoid expensive revisions.

Because design should serve the message, not the other way around.

When you know what you need to say, the design can be built to support that message. The layout works. The hierarchy makes sense. The visuals reinforce the words.

When you design first and add copy later, you're hoping the message fits the container. And it rarely does.

The fix is simple but uncomfortable:

Pause the design work until messaging is locked in.

I know it feels slower. I know stakeholders want to see pretty mockups. I know designers want to start creating.

But writing first, designing second saves you weeks of rework down the line.

Even if the copy isn't perfect. Even if it's a rough first draft. Get alignment on what you're actually saying before you design how it looks.

Your timeline will thank you. Your budget will thank you. And your designer definitely will.

--

Building websites where the message comes first and the design supports it. Let's talk if you're tired of redesigning things that should have been right the first time.

#website #ai #copy #growth #webflow

Sometimes I would get spam calls and when I hear that it is an AI voice I would repeat the same things they are saying just to annoy them. Doesn't really work though. They just continue with the script 🤣

You're not losing viewers because your content is bad.

You're losing them because by the time you ask them to do something, they've already moved on.

People watch your videos, engage with your content, and disappear. No lead. No sale. Just a view count that doesn't pay the bills.

That's the gap Clickk was built to close.

Most creators get one shot at conversion. A link in bio. A CTA at the end. A "check the description." By then the moment has passed. The viewer has moved on emotionally even if they're still on the page.

Clickk works differently. You build a timeline directly inside your video. Polls, quizzes, lead magnets, offers. Each one placed at the exact moment in your content where a viewer is most engaged. Not after the video. During it. While they still care.

The screenshot is a real timeline we built inside Clickk. Every marker you see is an interaction point a creator placed at a specific timestamp. Each one is a chance to capture intent before it fades.

We're launching this week and the waitlist is still open.

If you create content and you're tired of watching engagement go nowhere, this was built for you.

clickk.com

#clickk #marketing #youtube #vimeo #marketer #contentcreator

"The holdup usually is content. That is what usually holds up the whole project."

I said this on a call recently, and the client paused.

Because they knew it was true.

Here's what nobody talks about when scoping a website project:

The design gets done in 3 weeks. The development gets done in 4 weeks. And then the site sits there for 2 to 3 months, sometimes even up to a year waiting for copy.

I've seen websites fully built, tested, and ready to launch. Sitting idle. Because nobody wrote the words that go on the pages.

Technical execution is rarely the bottleneck. Content is.

And it's not because writing is hard. It's because writing good website copy requires decisions that companies aren't ready to make:

→ What problem do we actually solve?
→ Who are we talking to?
→ What makes us different from the 47 other companies saying the exact same thing?
→ What do we want people to do when they land on this page?

Those questions take time. They require alignment across teams. They need buy-in from leadership.

And until those answers exist, you're staring at beautifully designed placeholder text.

Here's the pattern I see:

Week 1-3: Discovery and strategy (smooth) 
Week 4-6: Design concepts (mostly smooth) 
Week 7-10: Development (smooth) 
Week 11-18: Waiting on content (chaos)

The wireframes sit there. The staging site sits there. The launch date gets pushed. Again.

Not because the developer is slow. Not because the designer missed something.

Because nobody can agree on what the homepage headline should say.

The fix?

Content first. Always.

Before we touch design. Before we open Webflow. We figure out what needs to be said, who it's for, and what action we want them to take.

Even if it's rough. Even if it's a first draft. Even if it changes later.

Because a website with imperfect copy that launches is infinitely more valuable than a perfect design that never sees the light of day.

If you're planning a website project, start with the words. The pixels can wait.

--

Building Webflow sites for teams who know what they want to say. Let's talk if you're tired of projects that stall in the content phase.

#webflow #website #content #strategy

Most creators I watch put out genuinely good content.

The engagement tells you that. The comments tell you that. The watch time tells you that.

But somewhere between someone finishing a video and becoming a lead, something breaks down.

We've been thinking about this a lot while building Clickk. The content isn't the problem. The offer isn't the problem. It's the moment between the two. By the time a viewer sees a CTA, the emotional context that made them ready to act has already faded.

That's what we've been trying to solve. A way to place interactive moments directly inside a video, timed to appear while a viewer is still engaged. Not after. During.

If this sounds like something you've been thinking about too, the waitlist is still open. 

#contentcreator #video #youtube #marketing #content

There is advice every creator gets at some point.

Just keep posting. Stay consistent. The audience will come.

And a lot of creators do exactly that. They show up every week, they put out good work, they build an audience that genuinely cares about what they are making.

Then they look at their revenue and wonder what went wrong.

Consistency was never the problem. It was never going to be the problem. But somewhere along the way it became the whole strategy. Keep posting and hope that volume eventually converts into something.

Consistency gets you an audience. But an audience without a way to capture intent is just a number that doesn't pay the bills. That's the problem we built Clickk to solve.

The waitlist is still open - drop a comment or follow our page for updates.

#clickk #waitlist #contentcreators #content #keepposting

"We need this done in 9 weeks."

"That's doable... if content doesn't hold us up."

I said this on a discovery call recently. The client had an ambitious timeline, clear goals, and a hard deadline.

They even had copy. First drafts. Good starting points.

What they didn't have? Sign-off.

The copy existed but wasn't finalized. Not approved. Not locked in.

Just drafts and a hope that approval would happen somewhere along the way.

Here's what I've learned after years of building websites:

Technical complexity rarely kills timelines. Waiting for content approval always does.

I can build, test, and launch a site in 8-12 weeks without breaking a sweat. The design gets done. The development gets done. Integrations work. QA happens.
And then the site sits there. Waiting. For weeks. Sometimes months.

Waiting for stakeholders to approve the homepage headline. Waiting for leadership to sign off on messaging. Waiting for copy that's been "almost ready" since week two.

The pattern is always the same:

Weeks 1-3: Discovery and strategy (smooth)
Weeks 4-6: Design built around draft copy (mostly smooth)
Weeks 7-10: Development (smooth)
Weeks 11-18: Waiting on final copy approval (chaos)

The wireframes are done. The staging site is live. The launch checklist is ready.
But the About page copy is still "pending review."

This isn't a developer problem. It's a decision-making problem.

Finalising website copy requires alignment that most companies underestimate:

Does this messaging reflect who we actually are?
Will leadership approve this tone?
Does this differentiate us enough?
Are we comfortable committing to this positioning?

Those decisions take time. They need multiple rounds of review. They require buy-in from people who are juggling ten other priorities.

And until those approvals happen, you're building around copy that might completely change.

If you're planning a website project with a tight deadline, here's my advice:

Don't start design until copy is finalised. Not drafted. Finalised.

I know it feels slower upfront. I know stakeholders want to see progress. I know designers want to start creating.

But designing around draft copy that changes later means rework. And rework kills your 9-week deadline faster than anything else.

Get the approvals first. Lock in the messaging. Then build.

Because a website that launches on time with finalised copy beats a beautiful design stuck in revision limbo every single time.

Your 9-week deadline is doable. But only if content approval doesn't hold you up.

--

Building websites for teams who finalize copy before we touch design. Let's talk if you're ready to get approvals out of the way first.

#website #copy #webflow #websitedevelopment #websiteproject

"How many leads does it take to convert a customer?"


I asked this question on a discovery call recently with an outbound sales agency.

The answer: "We don't know... we don't get any leads."

Not because their offer is bad. Not because there's no demand.

Because they've never tried.

They're an outbound-first company. Cold outreach, referrals, direct sales. It works. They've grown without needing inbound at all.

But here's what they're realising:

Prospects still Google them. Partners still check their website. Referrals still want to see what they're about before taking a call.

And when people land on their site, there's nowhere to go. No lead capture. No clear next step. No tracking to even know if it's working.

The website exists. But it doesn't work.

This isn't unique to them. I see this pattern constantly with B2B companies that rely on outbound:

- Sales team is crushing it with direct outreach
- Website gets treated as an afterthought
- No analytics, no lead magnets, no conversion strategy
- "We don't need inbound" becomes the default position

Until one day you realise: you're leaving money on the table.

Not everyone who hears about you is ready to take a sales call. Some want to download something first. Some want to poke around your site. Some need to build trust before engaging.

If your only path to conversion is "book a call," you're losing everyone who isn't ready for that yet.

The fix isn't complicated:

Track what's happening on your site. Even if it's small numbers.

Give people a low-friction way to engage. A download, a quiz, a calculator, something.

Optimise for the people who DO show up, even if you're not driving traffic yet.

You don't need to become an inbound-first company. But if you're good at outbound, imagine what happens when you add a website that actually converts the traffic you're already getting.

--

Building websites for companies who know how to sell but want their site to pull its weight. Let's talk if your website exists but doesn't work.

#website #inboundmarketing #sales #webflow

Most businesses are not struggling because of bad design.
They are struggling because they do not truly understand their audience.

A few years ago I learned this lesson the hard way. It cost me over R10,000.

I was building, launching, testing ads, tweaking websites. But I was missing the most important piece. I did not clearly define who I was speaking to.

Later, when I built the 59er Digital website, I did something differently.

Before touching design.
Before writing copy.
Before thinking about traffic.

I created a detailed buyer persona.

Who are they?
What are they struggling with?
What are they trying to achieve?
What would make them trust us?

Everything became easier after that. The messaging improved. The website structure made sense. Conversions improved.

If you do not understand your audience, you are guessing. And guessing is expensive.

I share the lessons I learned in this video.

If you are building a brand, launching a startup, or trying to improve conversions, this might save you time and money.

Watch the full video here: https://lnkd.in/dahdD2Rp

#Entrepreneurship #MarketingStrategy #StartupJourney #DigitalMarketing #BusinessGrowth #AudienceFirst #FounderLessons #BuildInPublic

"Hi there Bob"

Nobody calls me Bob.

Not clients. Not friends. Not even my mom.

But apparently someone sending me cold outreach does. Twice now.

Look, I get it. Cold outreach is a numbers game. AI writes the emails. Templates save time.

But if you're going to claim you did research on my business and have "exclusive access to my entire market," maybe start by getting my name right.

And the business name they mentioned? Not mine. Never has been.

This is the problem with AI-generated outbound right now.

It pretends to be personalised while being completely generic.

"We have exclusive access to your entire market" - Do you though?

"20-50 ready decision-makers onto your calendar weekly" - Based on what?

Here's the thing: I actually respect good outbound. I work with outbound companies. I know it works when it's done right.

But this isn't it.

If you're going to reach out cold, at least get the basics right. My actual name. My actual business. Something that shows a human looked at this for more than 3 seconds.

Otherwise you're just noise in my inbox.

And for everyone else getting these emails: you're not alone. Apparently we're all Bob now.

PS. The eagle has landed 🛬

#outreach #outbound #agencylife

"What's the problem with the current website?"

"Everything."

That was the answer I got on a call with a prospect recently.

Not "the navigation is confusing" or "we need better CTAs."

Just... everything.

The site was built by a junior person in the company a few years back. No strategy. No buyer personas. No goal beyond "we need a website."

It exists. It's live. It has pages and content and a contact form.

But it doesn't actually work.

And here's the thing: most B2B websites fall into this exact category.

They were built to check a box. "We have a website" becomes the entire objective.

Nobody asked:

- Who is this for?
- What problem does it solve?
- What do we want people to do when they land here?
- How does this support our business goals?

So the site just... sits there. Looking professional enough. Saying nothing specific. Converting nobody.

It's decoration. Digital wallpaper. Proof that the company exists, but not much else.

The tell is when prospects approach a redesign like they don't have a website at all.

Because functionally, they don't.

If your current site isn't driving leads, isn't supporting sales, isn't answering prospect questions, isn't doing anything measurable... do you really have a website? Or do you just have a URL?

This isn't about the design looking bad.

The internet is filled with beautiful websites that do absolutely nothing. Clean layouts, nice colours, professional photography. And zero strategy.

The problem isn't pixels. It's purpose.

If you're planning a website project and the honest answer to "what's wrong with the current site" is "everything," you're not alone.

Most companies are in the same boat. A site that exists but doesn't work.

The good news? Starting from scratch with actual strategy behind it is easier than trying to fix a site that was never built with a goal in mind.

Just don't make the same mistake twice. Know who it's for. Know what it needs to do. Build it with intention.

Otherwise you'll be back here in three years saying "everything" again.

--

Building websites with strategy, not just to check a box. Let's talk if your current site exists but doesn't actually work.

#webflow #website #strategy #growth

For 4 weeks, I was creating content to drive waitlist signups.

Reddit posts. Twitter threads. Trying to get traction for Clickk's waitlist.

Zero signups.

I thought: "Maybe I'm not posting enough. Maybe I need to try different subreddits. Maybe I'm not being consistent enough."

Turns out, the form just didn't work.

Here's what happened:

A few weeks back, we noticed weird email signups on our waitlist. Stuff like: an.ataw.agg.agde@gmail.com

Classic bot behaviour.

So we implemented a honeypot solution. Tested it. Worked perfectly. Bots stopped. Problem solved.

Or so I thought.

Fast forward 4 weeks. Someone tries to sign up and can't submit. The form just... doesn't work.

The honeypot solution had stopped working. And I had no idea.

For a month, I was writing posts, creating content, driving traffic to a waitlist that nobody could actually join.

Zero signups wasn't a content problem. It was a broken form.

The lesson: 

Test your forms. Regularly.

Not just when you set them up. Not just when you make changes.

Actually submit a test entry every few weeks. Make it part of your routine.

Because broken forms fail silently. No error messages. No alerts. Just... nothing.

You'll sit there wondering why your content isn't working when the real problem is nobody can actually submit.

Whether you're using native platform forms, custom solutions, or integrations with your CRM - test them. Monthly at minimum.

I wasted 4 weeks of effort driving traffic to a form that didn't work.

Don't be me. Test your forms.

taplio

The Battle

Sharan Phillora

Robert Smart

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taplio

The Battle

Sharan Phillora

Robert Smart

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Sharan Phillora's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreSharan Phillora's LinkedIn Performance