Jonathan Crossfield shares storytelling success stories. Plus how to use exceptional storytelling to create powerful marketing pieces that engage consumers.
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Jonathan Crossfield calls himself a storyteller, because that’s easier than listing writer, digital marketer, journalist, copywriter, social media consultant, workshop trainer, event speaker and angry blogger. Jonathan has won awards for magazine articles and blog posts on digital marketing. Currently, he writes an outspoken column on social media for Chief Content Officer magazine, published by the Content Marketing Institute in the USA, and is a regular blog contributor to Cirrus Media in Australia. Jonathan is also on the judging panel for the CMI’s annual Content Marketing Awards. Now freelance, Jonathan works with a variety of clients in the IT, digital marketing and financial industries. Despite spending every waking moment staring at a blinking cursor on a screen, Jonathan still finds time to squeeze out pages for a proposed non-fiction book on content writing, while also trying to complete a first novel that refuses to let go. He lives in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia with a very patient wife and two very impatient cats.
Think Like A Journalist Quote
Success Tip
Stop obsessing over technology. Remember the core values of marketing and journalism: it’s all about the story.
Career Highlight
Joined a new cloud hosting business and was designing the content marketing which was ready for launch but the rest of the platform wasn’t ready. So they launched a pre-sale strategy. Jonathan’s work helped to completely sell it out within just an hour.
When It Didn’t Work
Jonathan took a job with a client that wanted to do a project a particular way simply because “there was approval” even though the strategy wasn’t the right approach. Find out what happened and what he learned.
Brand Journalism & Marketing Advice
- Find niche market that is relevant to audience every day not just when they need to buy something.
- Think about the Michelin Guide (it’s publications about where you go when you have a car). The guide was started 100 years ago. It delivers information to people about things to do and places to go not specifically the product that Michelin sells: tires.
- Know your customer and their interest.
- Find a specific niche topic that you can write about better than anyone else.
- List writing such as “5 tips to… or 10 places to…” are more information based but don’t usually tell a story.
- Don’t talk about the product. Instead write about the industry and values that your audience wants to be associated with. Then write about those values.
Multimedia Resource
iPad. Evernote. ia Writer app.
Book, Documentary, Podcast, Internet Channel
You Talkin’ To Me? By Sam Leith
Resource Links
TBJA 041 Steve Horowitz: The Magic Happens When You Get Uncomfortable
TBJA 040 Sarah Mitchell: A Scary Drop In Web Traffic Delivered A Valuable Lesson
Contact
Jonathan Crossfield LinkedIn Profile
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