Content Creation Services Making Magic with Words, Images, and Ideas
Writing
I work with you to create unique, engaging content that is as smart as the community you serve. Sharing enjoyable, informative, and actionable content is an extremely effective tool for strengthening relationships with your existing customers and increasing visibility within your target market. Frequently, these share-worthy stories serve as indirect marketing tools by educating readers on important technical topics.
Although many of my clients engage me to produce articles for engineers, scientists, and other technical professionals, I also enjoy creating content for consumer media serving "civilian" audiences.
I also write lots white papers and scripts for multimedia content, as well as the occasional press release. But, whatever the assignment might be, your audience will enjoy clearly-written, engaging content that encourages them to explore and understand even the most complex topics.
Multimedia
Web-based multimedia puts words, images, and ideas into motion, creating a powerful medium for engaging, informing, and, when appropriate, entertaining your target audience. It can help them expand their skills at web tutorials, pick the minds of industry experts at live panel discussions, or enjoy a from-the-show-floor experience at important events, complete with interviews and commentaries.
In all of these scenarios, I'll help you deliver the information and ideas they need, framed in a relevant, engaging context. I've had the pleasure of working on multimedia projects on a broad variety of topics, with an equally wide range of budgets. Depending on your requirements, I can simply serve as a knowledgeable host or take charge of end-to-end content production.
Please visit the Portfolio page to view selected examples of my multimedia work
Please visit the Rules of Engagement section to see how see how we can put my content creation process to work on your next project.
A video segment produced as part of my feature story for Ars Technica; "Living the Top Gun dream, on a budget: DIY warbird replicas, and the people who fly them"
Editing
Editing is the art of improving a story without losing the author's voice. Sometimes this involves fine-tuning the language for clarity or gently adjusting the style to better address a specific target audience. In other cases an article written by a non-native English speaker may have excellent technical content is difficult to read. These articles require a deeper level of editing for compliance with North American grammar and vocabulary conventions, as well correct use of standard industry jargon– all while maintaining the author's unique voice. The editing process can also involve identifying graphics and other resources that help tell the writer's story more effectively.
To put it simply, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure your story gets told clearly and effectively.
Examples of projects I've edited can be seen in the "Stories I've Co-Written, Coached or Commissioned" section of the Portfolio page."
Content Strategies
In order to be effective, your story must stand out from the torrent of other content competing for your audience's attention. This involves crafting a topic which offers easily-recognizable value to your audience and using it as the foundation for a story that engages them with information and insights they are unlikely to get elsewhere. It must also be told from a perspective familiar to the reader, and in the particular dialect of their profession or trade.
I enjoy helping clients develop topics, and strategies for their placement, that will help them gain visibility in highly competitive markets, as well as serve their existing user communities. Let's talk about how I can do the same for you.
One of my clients manufactures the battery holders and wanted a series of videos that provided some useful technical information along with a bit of product awareness without boring our viewers to death. To fulfil that mission, I created a series of "Dear Abby"-style shorts that mixed useful technical insights with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor." (Thanks to Jon DiPiero for using his video skills and creativity to make HYB such a success, and so much fun to produce!)
Rules of Engagement
A time-tested recipe for successful collaborations
Most of my clients are very busy so my goal is to make their partin the content creation process as smooth and simple as possible, while getting all the information I need to tell their story properly. For most of the folks I work with, the process looks something like this:
- We begin with an initial teleconference or a series of e-mails to define the topic and scope of the assignment.
- I produce an abstract of the proposed project for you to review. This usually includes a list of information resources I'll need to complete the project successfully, as well as the types of topics I'll need to discuss with a subject matter expert (SME) from your organization.
- You review the abstract and return it with any changes you wish, along with the background information I requested.
- I'll digest the supplemental material you send and develop a list of questions for the SME(s) to answer by e-mail. This may include a preliminary list of the graphics and any other supplemental material the client will need to supply for the story. (I do not normally supply the graphics as part of my services but may be able to provide them for an additional charge.)
- In some cases, I follow up on the e-mail Q&A with a live briefing with the SME to get any remaining details. This is held via either phone or web conference and usually takes 30–60 minutes.
- Armed with my notes and any additional reading I can locate, I create a rough draft for review and a list of questions that need to be answered.
- You review the draft and answer the questions either via e-mail or a second teleconference, allowing me to produce a second draft.
- In many cases, the second draft becomes the final copy with only minor updates. In case it doesn't, my base charge includes two more review/edit cycles to ensure the project fully meets your expectations.
Rates
My rates are very competitive with other senior-level content creators. Depending on the nature of your project, your charges will be based either on the size of the story, or on an hourly basis.
For well-defined writing projects where most of the background information will be provided by the client, I bill on a "per word" basis, using a rounded-down count of the main body of the story. This rate assumes I'll be doing some independent research, but that the client will be supplying the bulk of the specialized, industry-specific information, or providing access to a subject matter expert. In the event that a client can't provide the necessary background material, I can perform the additional research at a reasonable hourly rate.
For projects that are not clearly defined at the outset or don’t fit into a neat category, I work on an hourly rate, roughly in the middle of the prevailing pay range.
If you have an upcoming project, you can write or give me a call and I'll be able to give you a rough idea of scheduling and cost within a few minutes.