Editorial management & content creation

Content services to support businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to global corporates

Yes, you could turn to AI to help you generate content for your website, but how will that help to differentiate you from all the others using the same method? Working one-to-one with a writer—especially one who understands content strategy and SEO as well as storytelling and engagement—can help you to create content that not only sings, but helps you to stand out from the crowd.

I understand the power of content for businesses; after all, I’ve been in your shoes. In my in-house days, I established and ran brand newsrooms that were total content production machines. I’ve delivered content strategies to help guide and drive international content programs, and I can pump out high-quality content quickly.

I have a rare 360-degree view of content marketing, having been in-house, in agencies and in the media. That’s what helps to set me apart as a content service provider: I have the journalist’s nose for a story and eye for detail, the in-house understanding of office politics and the need to sell, and the agency’s creative nous. I wrap it into a package called The Content Type, and I’m at your service.

Content planning and management

Content creation can be a real headache if it’s just part of your multi-hyphenated remit as a marketing bod in-house. Working with you as a partner, I can take away that burden by managing your content planning, your writers, and/or your uploads and promotion as needed. I can also report back on success (if you give me access to your metrics!), and help you to test and learn what works best for your audience.

Blogs & articles

You’ve no doubt been told that you have to blog regularly to get your website ranking highly on search engines. While SEO is about more than just the words on the page—there’s a whole world of factors that go into your ranking—there is no doubt that you need fresh, regular content to keep your website engaging and to keep your audience returning for more.

As a former newspaper journalist, I understand how to find fresh and interesting ways to tell stories. I can interview your in-house experts, customers or stakeholders to build an article, or I can do some desktop research to create a blog on relevant topics. Not sure what you want to write about? No worries at all. Let’s chat about topics and come up with a content plan together.

Content strategy

Everything we’ve spoken about so far is nothing but a tactic; without a strategy behind them, you’re barking at the wind. Content strategy doesn’t need to be pages long nor does it need to take a long time to create. All you need to get started is a mission, a goal, some objectives and an idea of both how you’ll create the content and how you’ll measure its success.

We can approach your content strategy in a few ways. The deluxe version is based on workshops and interviews with your people to create an all-singing, all-dancing flashy strategy that will see you through the next few years. Of course, that might be a bit much if your business is just you or maybe a handful of people, and you’re just wanting to blog a bit. In that case, we can work together to decide on the relevant topics and audiences for your marketing, and I can create a simple content strategy and editorial plan to keep you on track. Whatever you need, content strategy can be flexible.

Small business storytelling

Stories are the oldest way to engaging an audience – from the days of sitting around a campfire and passing on legends, to today’s story-driven content marketing, audiences are inherently drawn to stories. So, do you know what your business’s story is? Do you know how to tell it?

Many SMEs focus on the sale, on the message push, on shouting about their benefits without thinking about what the audience actually needs. I can help you to discover your story and ensure it’s told consistently across all of your channels – both external and internal.

Brand journalism & content marketing

Of course, you can have the best strategy in the world, but if no one’s around to create the darn content then you’ll fall at the first hurdle. I use more than two decades of experience creating content – articles, blogs, social media posts, newsletters, etc – to ease the burden of your content machine and make sure you hit your own deadlines. I aim to make your content production as seamless and successful as possible.

Ghostwriting

I’m not byline-hungry; I’m happy to write that article or report on behalf of your CEO, your in-house experts or whoever is fronting your campaign. I actually offer a white-labeled service to a lot of my regular brand journalism clients, meaning you’d never even know I was involved…

Event coverage

Holding an event? Let’s work together to create a package of content to promote it in advance, create a buzz during the event, and then wrap it all up afterward. I can write articles and marketing collateral to get people wanting to be there, and handle social media on the day to create the ultimate FOMO, all while taking notes and interviewing panelists and attendees to write that all-important follow-up content.

Editorial support

Sometimes you’ve got a great in-house production machine, but need an impartial eye cast over the content before it goes live. I’m an accredited member of the Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders, and can whip your content into shape – that’s not just checking for spelling and grammar, but also giving a sense check and ensuring it fits with your tone of voice and brand style.

Tone of voice and style guides

Speaking of style and tone of voice, have you got it covered? These essential documents help to ensure that whoever is writing for your brand can keep it consistent with all other content issued under your company name. Tone of voice is how your brands sounds, while style is the way you put words together – how you handle things like bulleted lists, sentence vs title case for headings, and the dreaded Oxford comma. (Yes, it’s all a bit writerly geek.) I’ve researched and created many tones of voice and style guides, and offer this as a separate service as well as wrapped into content strategy projects.

Case studies and project round-ups

The CSO is crying out for case studies and examples of how great your company is, but you just don’t have the resource in-house to give case studies the justice they deserve. As a bottom-funnel content stream, case studies and project examples are essential to your company converting its prospects. I can either write to your in-house style or help you to create a template for case studies that will get the point across in a straightforward yet engaging way.

Story alignment

You’ve got a great content strategy that is doing the business – but is it aligned across all channels? Does it match what’s happening in your employee comms? It’s so important to make sure both external marketing and internal communications teams are aligned, giving the same messages to employees and customers so that no matter where people come across your business, they get the same result.