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In-Depth Guide: ‘Expanding Community Networks in Michigan’

Eight-month project to update and rebuild a previous 100-plus page document on how to build a municipal fiber-optic broadband network, geared towards rural and small-town areas of Michigan. The client was Merit Network, a Michigan ISP for universities and other public entities that manages a 4,000-mile fiber-optic network of its own.

This involved intensive editing, rewriting and new writing, while reorganizing and boiling the content down to a more manageable 63 pages. I wrote roughly the first half from scratch, adding new information to report on the state of the digital divide in Michigan, through interviews with subject-matter experts and community leaders as well as long hours of reviewing related materials.

I also found the graphic designer for this project and led the painstaking coordination of putting the final piece together. This occurred through about a dozen revisions, in addition to changes based on reviews from various staff members on the client side.

To be clear, I’m no broadband expert, just as I’m no IPv6 expert. I had only consumer-level knowledge of this topic before beginning this project. Using tried-and-true interviewing techniques, I’m able to go from zero to expert-level article in two days. I’ve done this for arcane legal, engineering, healthcare, financial, and technology subject matter. I have been exercising these skills since I was a teenager: first as a copywriter and proofreader, then as a business journalist, then as a broadcast news producer, and then full circle back to copywriting again.

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Copywriting: 2-Pager, Landing Page, Email for DDoS Protection Service

Example of recent copywriting work I’ve done on behalf of clients. In this project, we are marketing a service for defending against DDoS attacks, with a two-sheet PDF (sell sheet), web page, and promotional emails.

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Copywriting: Software Sales Documents

I wrote the copy for these white papers on behalf of Visual Components, a Finnish manufacturing simulation software firm, via MCCI, a PR and marketing firm in Detroit, in fall of 2021. These documents supplement standard brochure-type materials by taking a deeper look at features of the company’s software and service.

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Content Marketing and Copy Writing: Phishing Blog and Email Push

This sample represents a mix of copy editing, copy writing, and blogging/content marketing skills. A colleague wrote the piece, I edited it and added copywriting flourishes. I wrote the copy for the related email push.

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White Paper: ‘Addressing the Issue’ — In-Depth IPv6 Report

Report written for Merit Network, a nonprofit that serves as the ISP for Michigan public universities (and whose roots in “internet” technology date back to before the word existed).

This project took about seven months in 2021, calling for a deep dive into the second-generation internet protocol IPv6 and how it relates to higher education institutions. Project involved close work with networking engineers across the U.S. and the boiling of complex, arcane information into a succinct, digestible form for high-level university administrators. A very challenging but satisfying piece of work.

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Press Release: Vistage Indianapolis Launch

Quick press release project done for the launch of Vistage Indianapolis. Project acquired through Upwork, summer 2021.

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Content Marketing: Networking Automation Tips

Report offering tips and insights about automating network management tasks; written for Merit Network and its Michigan Moonshot broadband initiative in spring 2021, based on presentations given at a seminar on the subject.

Full report can be accessed at Merit’s site.

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Content Marketing: Article for Cannabis Industry Publication

Article written for the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association’s magazine, 2021 first issue. (PDF)

It could be fairly said that without technology, the cannabis industry may never have gotten off the ground.

Inevitably tight regulations make running a cannabis business touchier than selling office supplies or even whiskey. Cannabis businesses must track every gram of the product from “seed to sale.” This includes even when cannabinoid oil is divvied into many products for many customers. Businesses and regulators must be able to identify  where the products of a given plant are at any time.

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Content Marketing: Articles for Power Utility Publication

Work done for Michigan utility company DTE Energy’s B2B custom publication EnergySmarts, Summer 2020 issue. (Three PDFs, one for each of three articles written)

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Blog: Industrial kayaking — A journey through metro Detroit’s hard core

The Edwin H. Gott, docked at Zug Island
The Edwin H. Gott, docked at Zug Island, July 13, 2015

How many times have I driven over the Rouge River on I-94, looking northward at that long, unnaturally straight, excessively manhandled stretch of the river, and thought, “What the hell is going on with this? How would someone get down there?”