Clear messaging starts with understanding both sides.

Hi, I’m Melanie Rhodes!

What do you get when you combine a copywriter with a background in teaching and web development?

A strategic partner who can understand the thinking behind your business — and how it needs to land with the people you’re trying to reach.

I focus on asking the right questions, catching the details, and shaping a message that works — without making the process harder than it needs to be.

Different backgrounds. Better messaging.

Teaching & Tutoring

You get someone who won’t skim the surface.

Before I can explain your offer clearly, I need to understand it well enough to see what matters — and where someone else might get lost.

Teaching and tutoring trained me to keep looking for the explanation that clicks, instead of assuming the first one will.

Web development

You get someone who understands the bigger picture.

Your copy doesn’t exist in isolation. It has to work alongside design, structure, user flow, and technical constraints.

My web development background means I’m used to thinking about how all of those pieces fit together — and how your message needs to work within them.

Copywriting

You get someone who knows the message has a job to do.

It’s not enough for the words to sound good. They need to help the reader see the value in what you’re offering.

Copywriting taught me to connect the message to the decision you want the reader to make — without losing the nuance that makes your offer worth choosing.

Before I write a word …

01

Understanding first.
Words later.

I never jump straight to the words. First, I home in on what you’re really trying to communicate, what your audience cares about, and where the message may be getting lost.

02

Find the thread
that matters.

When there’s a lot to say, not all of it carries the same weight. I look for the idea that gives the rest of the message context and helps everything else fall into place.

03

Clarity without
flattening.

The goal isn’t to oversimplify what makes your approach different. It’s to make the message easier to grasp without sanding away the nuance that makes it distinctly yours.

Proof behind the work

Winner of an AWAI B2B product-page spec challenge and the winning spec for a Site Content Audit course assignment*.

*Some spec work can’t be displayed publicly due to confidentiality.

You clearly have gone above and beyond for your client here.

— Customer Retention coursework reviewer

Conversational but also persuasive.

— Customer Retention coursework reviewer

Strengths in humanizing the story.

— Case Study coursework reviewer

Okay, if you insist …

Some fun facts about me

I’m a recreational pianist officially since the age of 8 (unofficially since I was a toddler able to clamber up on a piano bench … much to my parents’ delight) 🙂
I’m also a total sucker for all things K9. I spent my childhood watching Dogs 101, Too Cute!, and annual dog shows on Animal Planet.
I have 2 furry supervisors, affectionately known as Jenny Bean and Chloe Bear.
I love to crochet, and I made baby blankets for my own little babies.