Elless Media

Content Strategy & Digital Publishing

Content Strategy by Larry Swanson

My Mission:
Democratize Content Strategy

Master the field. Practice it. Build community around it. Make it accessible to all. Learn from the experts. Help the non-experts.

My Vision:
Purposeful Content

Clear purpose and strong intent should drive every content decision. We are all stewards of scarce content resources; let’s not squander them.

My Pitch:
Hire Me

I’m a versatile and experienced content-strategy generalist ready to fill any of these roles:

    • website, blog, email, and social-media content strategist for a small- to medium-sized business
    • content designer on an interdisciplinary UX/product team
    • content manager on an SEO team
    • strategist/editor on a content-marketing team

If you’re looking to strengthen your customer communication, build your online presence, and otherwise improve your content efforts, I’d love to help you. Here’s my contact info.

What the Heck Is a “Content Strategist”?

I recently came across a post that gives a great explanation of what we do. The TL;DR version:

“Content strategists are organizational ninjas with killer communication skills.”

By keeping content issues at the forefront throughout a digital product’s lifespan, we help you (executives, product managers, et al.) focus your content efforts, understand your users’ content needs, optimize content processes, and measure your content’s effectiveness.

Content Strategy Definition

Here’s how I define it:

Content strategy is a business practice that clarifies and focuses your publishing and other communication efforts so that your customers are delighted, your organization is authentically portrayed, and your business goals are achieved.

DIY Content Strategy

In 2018, I set out to solidify my content-strategy knowledge and skills, so I:

  1. interviewed 34 content-strategy experts
  2. read every content-strategy book, article, and blog post I could find
  3. took several online content-strategy courses
  4. attended Confab and other content-strategy events
  5. joined my local content-strategy meetup organizing team
  6. applied my learning to my own content, and
  7. otherwise dove deeply into the world of the content-strategy profession

I discovered that there is no shortage of information out there for professional content-strategy practitioners and those who aspire to be. If you have some experience in the digital world and want to get up to speed on the professional practice of content strategy, you can easily do so in six to nine months of diligent study.

But what if you need a content strategy (and we all do now) but don’t have the time to master the profession or the resources to hire an expert? 

That’s where a DIY approach comes in. I’m just getting rolling with this project. If you’d like to learn when I create new content and products, sign up for the newsletter on the DIY Content Strategy website.

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