Why I’ve decided to start blogging

I’ve started blogging in order to keep my skills up to date and relevant. Over the last decade as a Web Officer at Edinburgh Napier University my role has moved from content collation and creation to project delivery and data analysis. As a result my main involvement with written copy is minor updates to existing content or adding content produced by others to new sections of the University website, such as Executive Masters.

There has been a shift towards a Content Marketing approach over the past year at Edinburgh Napier, an approach summed up by phrases like “show, don’t tell” and “the long wow rather than the big bang”. There’s nothing new about this approach, as seen with Red Bull’s output over the past few years.

Edinburgh Napier’s “Beyond…” campaign focuses on telling stories. To facilitate this, our Web Team has grown over the past year with new Content Officers being recruited. They are responsible for planning the direction of different areas of the website, sourcing stories, producing copy and creating rich and engaging media content.

Content marketing… what’s it all about?

In essence, content marketing means creating and sharing valuable free content to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers. While traditional marketing relies on television, radio and print advertising, content marketing focuses on articles, videos, blogs, tweets and emails that inform, entertain and educate.

At Edinburgh Napier we are trying to raise the profiles of our research activities. We are doing this through staff and subject area blogs. Part of my role in the department is to administer this service, setting up individual WordPress sites. Despite this, I haven’t actually got round to blogging myself so, until now, have only been able to offer advice from a technical point of view.

What will I be blogging about?

My main focus will be three-fold:

1. Reflection on recently completed projects and past successes, relaying lessons learned and considerations for future improvement (both for the benefit of myself and the reader).
2. Transferring the knowledge built up over many years as a digital media designer / developer and data analyst which may provide hints and tips to those considering, or currently pursuing, a similar career path.
3. Discussing the tools that I use in my job, reflecting on the role they play in my own workflow and showing in practical examples how these can work together to streamline a business model of working.

If you’d like to know more or have any projects I can help with, please get in touch.