Portfolio
This portfolio represents a small sample of the vast array of projects I’ve worked on and mediums I’ve worked with. At Boston University the majority of my classes focused on copywriting for traditional print ads, resulting in a lot of spec work for magazine and outdoor ads, as well as actual client work done for print in AdLab, BU’s student-run agency. My “real world” experience since then has been mostly web-based; this includes basic SEO copywriting for various types of sites, ghost blogging, email marketing, press release writing and optimization and social media marketing.
Promotional and E-Commerce Websites
SEO copywriting for websites involves writing each webpage not only for the actual human reading it and using the information, but for the search engine spiders to crawl for keywords and make sure it ranks and is found by the human searcher. Promotional sites are used to create a brand image and usually tie-in with an existing advertising campaign.
Ghostwriting and Blogging
Ghost blogging requires in-depth research to become well-versed in a client’s industry in order to write and post blog entries on their site, as a member of the organization. I’ve written for a number of clients in a wide variety of industries, including politics, sales training, recruiting, ecommerce and non-profit. All of these posts are written for search and optimized for certain keywords with the intent of driving targeted, free, organic traffic to the site.
Social Media Marketing
Effective social media marketing combines a variety of social news, bookmarking and networking sites with blogging, microblogging and existing website content to create a wide network through which to market a product or service, spread general brand awareness and “create buzz.” Examples of integrated social media marketing projects utilize a well-written, optimized website; ongoing blogging on this site; press release distribution; linkbaiting and article submission; Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and LinkedIn account creation; management of these social sites; video and image optimization.
Email Marketing
Email may be old-school, but email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach and persuade people to take action. Most email recipients have self-selected themselves, making them prime targets for advertising and promotion messages. The trick is to entice them to click through without being spammy by using compelling copy that convinces them the offer or information away from the email is worth taking a look at.
Direct Mail
Usually a companion or counterpart to email marketing, these campaigns were designed to reach targets who had not opted into email, or for whom an email address could not be obtained. Direct mail is also useful in blogger outreach packages and when targeting high-end consumers.
Print Advertising
Traditional print ads shown here include newspaper, magazine and outdoor advertising, as well as brochure copywriting. Some of this work is spec advertising done for classes at while in COM, the College of Communications at BU, and some is print work done for real clients in AdLab. Spec work was done on my own, without an art creative; AdLab work was done in conjunction with an art director and delivered to the client at the end of the semester to use as they wished.
Online Advertising
These online advertising (OLA) units are a mixture of static banners and flash or rich media ads designed to attract attention. All were made in conjunction with a specific landing page for the promotion, shown with the corresponding ads.
Video & Multimedia
YouTube has taken the web by storm, prompting every brand to demand a “viral video” for their next ad campaign, no matter what their budget. While it is impossible to predict how and when a video will “go viral,” it is possible to produce great content that is a testament to your brand or product.
