John Harrison

Senior copywriter with deep experience across product, growth, and brand writing. I take day-rate contracts, working five days per week as part of product and growth teams. Strong in complex and high-trust environments where clarity, compliance, and persuasion matter.

Penfriend.ai 

Co-founder and Head of Copy

Full-time Nov 2023 to Sept 2024

• Co-founded an AI-powered B2B blog writing SaaS, and led copy across acquisition, onboarding, and retention
• Ran an organic LinkedIn launch generating $41,674 (£32,936) in 24 hours, with more than a third from top-tier annual subscriptions
• Wrote a landing page converting 77% of visitors into free trials
• Nurtured prospects with a weekly newsletter achieving 40% to 60% open rates 

Senior Copywriter and Content Strategist

Contract, five days per week Aug 2022 to Aug 2023

• Retained for two consecutive six-month contracts at £600 per day supporting a researcher submission platform and wider comms work
• Wrote in-app UX copy, sales funnel pages, product emails, promotional emails, and newsletters for researchers, reviewers, universities, foundations, and editors
• Partnered with change management on strategic messaging, including mission and vision statements with senior stakeholders
• Designed a five-level content maturity scoring model and built a Coda-based capture and reporting tool to support future measurement and rollout

Lead Copywriter

Full-time employee Sept 2018 to Jun 2022

Property finance startup backed by £500 million in institutional capital:

• Joined as employee number 15, and served as the sole copywriter across product, marketing, and operations
• Owned the end-to-end customer journey across web pages, landing pages, forms, product flows, customer emails, and internal guides
• Shaped the value proposition and messaging that supported product-market fit, helping customers trust a new model with their home deposit savings
• Delivered high-performing email campaigns with 65% plus unique open rates and 7% plus unique click-through rates, driving high-intent applications
• Partnered with legal counsel to translate complex shareholder agreements into plain English, producing FCA-compliant copy while strengthening customer confidence
• Built and delivered company-wide tone of voice training and writing standards
• Conducted user research that informed product features and messaging strategy

Independent Copywriter and Advisor

Part-time alongside employment, contracts, and ventures Oct 2021 to present

• Helped clients turn complex ideas into clear, persuasive copy that drives sign-ups, sales, and funding narratives
• Typical work includes landing pages, sales pages, website rewrites, onboarding flows, and email sequences
• Selected clients include Napo, Top Apps, Smarter Rent, Red-on-line, Zero Down Lease, Hire & Fire Your Kids, and Bolt Energy Services

BA English, University of Birmingham