In this episode of The Craft podcast, our host Rachel Westbury, Senior Editor at Shorthand, welcomes Jonathan Crossfield, a content writer and editor who specialises in 'un-boring' content marketing. In between client projects, Jonathan writes a regular column on content writing and creativity for CCO magazine, published by the Content Marketing Institute. Jonathan shares some insights into his work as a B2B content writer, and provides some actionable advice on how to make your B2B content engaging not only to the algorithm, but your audience, too. He explains “Don't just stop at the initia ..read more

In this episode of The Craft podcast, our host Rachel Westbury, Senior Editor at Shorthand, welcomes Dr Caroline Graham, Lecturer in Digital Journalism at The University of Queensland. Caroline is the co-author of bestselling Australian novel, Larrimah. She’s also the co-author and co-producer of the Walkley Award-winning investigative true crime podcast series Lost in Larrimah. Caroline shares some insights into her work as an investigative journalist, and talks about the importance of close observation, collaboration, and empathy in journalism.  She explains “We live in really divisive ..read more

In this episode of The Craft podcast, our host Dawn Murden, VP of Customer Success at Shorthand, welcomes Ronan Hughes, Output Editor at Sky News. Ronan speaks about the importance of news verification and fact checking, particularly in this era of smartphone journalism, social media, and a rapidly evolving news cycle. As he explains, “It's much better to be cautious than foolhardy. Even if you are 90% sure that something is right, don't publish it. Only publish it if you're a hundred percent sure — that's really important.” Listen as Dawn and Ronan discuss the pressures of covering complex ..read more

A brand story is the unique narrative that tells the world who you are, what you do, and why you do it. It's the emotional core of your brand — it humanises your business, and draws your audience in. But when it comes to marketing your brand story, where do you begin? In this episode of The Craft podcast, our host Rachel Westbury welcomes Kyra Denlinger and Zach Bell, Co-Founders of Bell Media Group, an agency that specialises in helping brands find and market their unique stories.  As Zach explains, “The information that we receive from our client’s storytelling session is so rich that i ..read more

Digital magazines offer a unique opportunity for editorial teams to reach a wider audience than ever before. But finding success with a digital magazine requires careful planning and thoughtful execution. So how can editorial teams find digital success?  In this episode of The Craft podcast, our host Rachel Westbury welcomes Matt McGregor, Director of Content at Shorthand, and Thomasin Sleigh, Senior Editor at Shorthand.  They discuss the differences between print and digital content, how to build a content strategy that takes both formats into account, and the importance of putting ..read more

In this episode of The Craft, our host Rachel Westbury welcomes Ryan Law, VP of Content at Animalz — a content marketing agency for SaaS companies, to discuss how AI is changing content marketing.  Ryan shares his winning content marketing strategy, and explains the importance of knowing your audience.  As Ryan says, “I almost never write for keywords. I never care about traffic. I write for a very small, very precise audience. And when they find us, they talk about us, they care about us, and they are quite interested in working with us as well.” Listen as Rachel and Ryan discuss ke ..read more

In this episode of The Craft, Shorthand’s Rachel Westbury welcomes Nahum Hendricks, Creative Director and Production Manager at Seven West MINT.  Nahum shares how his agency embraced creative operations to produce high-quality campaigns in less time.  As Nahum says, “This concept of creative ops is a really exciting venture, for any industry. We're appreciating structure and its importance, but doing it in an intuitive way that doesn't stamp out creativity or make you seek to create uniformity per se — it seeks to create consistency and maximise creative potential.” Listen as Nahum a ..read more

In this episode of The Craft, our host Rachel Westbury welcomes Ricky Robinson, CEO of Shorthand. Ricky explores the democratisation of storytelling, and how digital tools are allowing for continuous innovation online.  As Ricky says, “It might feel like we've already pushed the web to its limits, but there are whole new dimensions of magic to be discovered in what's possible within a web browser and how that translates into brilliant new ways to conjure emotion, transmit knowledge, and move minds and hearts. I know, because like we're hard at work on this stuff.” Listen as Rachel and Ri ..read more

In this episode of The Craft, Shorthand’s Rachel Westbury chats with Michael Jones, Publications Editor at The University of Queensland (UQ).  Michael shares how UQ’s alumni and community magazine Contact  leveraged expert analysis to boost audience engagement. As Michael says, “Our audiences are looking for trusted sources — so why shouldn't the community come to a university to get those expert analyses on the big topics facing society? Universities are the epitome of a trusted organisation with so many experts on hand.” Listen as Michael and Rachel discuss the content strategy tha ..read more

In this episode of The Craft, Shorthand’s Dawn Murden chats with Meredith Metsker, Content Marketing Manager at uConnect.  Meredith shares advice and practical tips on how to build a personal brand online. As Meredith says, “[...] Work on building your personal brand. Whether that's on LinkedIn or somewhere else — whatever your platform of choice — because in my mind, what better way to show how to market something and brand something than building your own personal brand?” Listen as Meredith and Dawn discuss the importance of getting to know your community, crafting high-value content th ..read more