Here's what I've been working on. What's next?
When I went out on my own at the start of this year, I knew one thing – I was tired of being pigeonholed as a journalist and editor. I wanted to do less writing and more diverse work with tech and media companies.I’m happy to say, that’s exactly how it’s turned out so far.Here are a few of the projects I’ve worked on:
Joining the Google Digital News Innovation Fund team as an external assessor for their fifth funding round. I assessed and interviewed applicants and made recommendations for which projects the fund should support. This work will wrap up soon.
Running workshops to help startups on accelerator programmes present their products to the public in a more compelling way.
Advising online publishers about launching and operating new titles. In many cases, this involved spilling my brain into a series of heavily bullet-pointed Google Docs. Seeing publishers take up my recommendations is always gratifying.
Advising startups on their content strategy – whether they should have one, what it should focus on, the tone it should take, the goals it should have, the resources they should allocate to it.
Advising startups on how to present their products and stories to the public. Some of these were seriously B2B, niche products and it’s fun to explore strategies around how to make them more compelling and get the right decision-makers onboard with a product they might not fully understand.
Advising startups on how to launch their products and announce news in ways that would interest the press – how to put together the right materials, and approach the right journalists in the right way. And helping them navigate tricky email conversations!
I’ve also continued with event and broadcast work. I’ve been an event speaker, moderator and MC, and appeared on BBC news programmes to offer insight on technology stories.
Through all of this, I've worked with companies from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and the USA.In short, it’s been more diverse and mentally stimulating than I could have hoped.
What’s next?
I’m currently taking on clients for the second half of the year. If you’re interested in working with me on a one-off, short-term, or long-term basis on anything like the above – or if you think I can help you in another way – please get in touch: martin@martinbryant.net.