Cheryl Bell Copywriting
Finding the balance between work and family is the true measure of success for Halifax writer Cheryl Bell. The Nova Scotia-raised writer and editor juggles life with three children, a busy husband and a vibrant freelance business with clients on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
“The quality of life is utterly brilliant here,” says Bell, who spent 20 years working as a professional writer in London, England. “Life in London is pressurized, crowded, and expensive, and so the move back to Nova Scotia has been so worthwhile, and it’s brought me closer to my family.”
With a solid corporate client base in the UK and an expanding group of clients in Nova Scotia, Bell is able to run Cheryl Bell Copywriting, her freelance writing and editing business, from her home in south-end Halifax. Thanks to the global connectivity of the Internet (and the occasional flight back to Europe), the polished writer is able to maintain business relationships built over the past 20 years.
From her Halifax office, Bell can research and write corporate reports, website content, case studies, company newsletters and marketing literature. She works with both design companies and companies directly, as well as the education, financial and health sectors and not-for-profits. “I've written about pretty much everything,” says Bell, “from bank accounts and pharmaceuticals to schools and the construction industry.”
The native of Tatamagouche, attended Mount Allison and Dalhousie universities. With her Masters degree in English in hand, she planned a six-month trip to England in 1985. “It was meant to be for just one summer,” smiles Bell, “but I stayed for 20 years.”
While in London, she lucked into a job working for The Design Council, a quasi-governmental organization created to help promote design achievement for British industry. Bell was interviewed not for her solid university credentials, but for her friendly phone voice.
“It seems anyone who had a nice telephone voice was invited in for an interview,” she says. “That’s how I got started.”
As other members of the team assembled displays showcasing British design, from Rover cars to London Docklands, Bell wrote the scripts that accompanied the exhibition.
The job demanded meticulous research skills and a flair for concise and clear writing. It was also an important early rung on the ladder toward a career in writing. “As soon as you have one good writing job, you have the beginnings of a portfolio.”
Bell later went to work in the banking industry, writing and editing in-house magazines and newsletters for Abbey National, one of the UK's leading personal financial services companies. Although the context of the writing may have been different, her talents for clean and economical writing have served her well and were further honed during her time as the in-house writer for Fitch RS, one of Europe's leading design consultancies.
In 1991, she set up her own freelance writing business based in London, England. Much of her work has been writing with the design community, researching and writing reports for major corporations including Scottish Power, the UK chemical company Quest and insurance specialists European Brokers Alliance.
Bell, her husband and their three children (aged seven to 14) returned to Canada in 2005, choosing to be closer to her family in Nova Scotia. With its slower pace, cleaner environment and a more sensible work-life balance, the province offered an ideal place to raise a young family and still run her business.
The meticulous writer brings her interviewing skills and professional writing to corporate reports for Saint Mary’s University and Mount Saint Vincent. She also has written for Colour and Tourism Nova Scotia, still working closely with graphic designers to deliver polished publications.
“Freelancing can be a tough game, and it depends on making the right contacts,” explains Bell, “It would be very difficult to launch off as freelance writer without a track record. It’s best to have the credibility of having worked for a big company. Right out of university, I was just too green.”
The biggest challenge of starting afresh in Nova Scotia is simply meeting the right people and building a network of professional contacts. “But business is growing,” says Bell.
“Up until now, I have seen Halifax as the base for my business, with the occasional project in the UK. But I believe that it’s important to look farther afield, to the Maritimes as a whole, central Canada, and the whole eastern seaboard. Thanks to the Internet, there's no reason why this shouldn't be possible.”
With its central location, vibrant cultural and business community and more reasonable pace of life, Nova Scotia is an ideal base for building her business.
“You just can’t beat Nova Scotia for the quality of life.”
