Social and Content Strategy
I’m a content and social media strategist with five years of experience and a background in copywriting. I've led end-to-end content campaigns—from researching, creating and pitching the strategy, to managing day-to-day production, distribution, targeting and optimization. I have an insatiable curiosity and a mind geared towards solving problems in a way that delivers on actual business goals. I strive to create content from an audience-first perspective to always make something that people actually want to pay attention to.
Why I See Content Differently
Great content comes in all shapes and sizes.
It can be helpful, entertaining, educational – it can be the reason why you decided to test your DIY skills one Saturday by knocking down the wall between your kitchen and dining room.
But all great content strategies have one thing in common. It puts the needs of the audience first.
To me, that’s only natural. The audience decides whether or not your content has earned their attention. They decide if your company deserves their business. So, the first objective for any content plan is to understand what the audience needs and use that information to create relevant content that improves the brand experience.
To me, in a (brief) nutshell, that’s what content strategy is all about.
What Led Me To Where I Am Now?
I started my career in creative. I wrote landing pages, pitched in as a designer, created animations—you name it. Eventually, I found my niche as a copywriter. As much as I loved motion graphics or cutting video, my strengths as a communicator ultimately led me into a career as a writer.
At the core of every creative career—copywriting or otherwise—the same thing happens. An assignment is dropped into your lap, and your responsibility is to turn a blank screen, filled with empty white pixels, into something remarkable.
The fear of failure jolts your mind and instantly you start riffling through questions. Who is this for? What do they like? Do they have a sense of humor? What do we want them to get from this?
These questions helped me hone my strategic edge. And as I got better at finding the answers, I created and pitched the new process and ethos for my agency’s strategic content services.
What Makes Me Who I Am?
I’m incredibly curious, competitive, and I would be nothing without my eclectic collection of interests.
I have an odd habit of finding something I’m interested in and ravenously learning absolutely everything I can about it.
For instance, in the last year or so, I’ve become an avid cook. I’ve learned that the brown bits stuck to the pan after you sear meat are called fond. I’ve learned the best hard-boiled egg is boiled for seven minutes and forty-five seconds then immediately submerged for four minutes in ice cold water.
I’ve also, due to my work on TradeStation, started trading derivatives. They’re an incredibly risky asset class, which is why my goal for 2018 is to completely automate my trading strategies to remove human error and emotion from the process.
I’ve spent hours and hours diving into woodworking, macroeconomics, e-sports, home automation, audiophile speakers and more. The ability and desire to learn has always allowed me to get to the heart of what matters.
Why Does That Matter?
In order to create effective content and social media strategies, you have to create something valuable. My copywriting skillset allows me to find the angle that’s interesting, relevant, and unique. My ability and hunger to learn the ins and outs of any business that I work on means the strategies I create deliver real value—not just a reworded regurgitation of what’s already out there on the internet.
It helps me consider the audience first, a perspective I believe every brand must adopt in order to remain relevant.