Samples

Your website is your digital storefront. If the copy doesn't shine, you will lose some opportunities.

The challenge behind this educational content, for Fresenius Healthcare, was finding a way to make complex kidney-care material clear, accurate, and accessible. In this case, the writing faced particularly high hurdles — editorial review from three separate teams of clinicians.

But the copy came through unscathed, and launched nationwide with Fresenius's affiliates.

Blog content needs to walk a fine line. It has to be substantial, so that your readers learn something. At the same time, it has to entertain them. Otherwise they'll click "unsubscribe." On top of that, the content has to satisfy SEO requirements (which change all the time). But not at the expense of your human readership.

This post, for LifeLoop, puts that readability first. The post did everything a blog post is supposed to — taught you something, stayed human, and helped elevate LifeLoop to the very top Google search results for its niche.

The original kings of content. Big. Meaty. Unapologetically educational. White papers are my favorite projects to write. There's nothing else out there that gives me the chance to explore an issue in-depth.

Case in point, this white paper, for MPIRICA Health. I loved writing it, mostly because I uncovered some crazy facts about surgical care that I hardly ever see reported anywhere else.

This piece was also an effective foot-in-the-door for MPIRICA's sales team, who used it to successfully engage top-level decision makers at more than one Fortune 100 company.

One of the most effective content tools a company can produce. A good case study is not just persuasive; it also gets your imagination going. Strong concrete numbers behind another customer's success can make readers wonder — "are similar results possible for me?"

As an added bonus, creating case studies can deepen relationships with your existing customers. The process helps them to take a closer look at what you've done for them, which, more often than not, leaves them feeling even more grateful than before.

That was certainly the case for this case study I produced for NRC Health. Interviewing leadership from their client, Houston Methodist Hospital, was a blast, because they couldn't help but gush over everything NRC Health achieved for them. The case study has become an invaluable selling tool for NRC's staff.

On the far end of the content-density spectrum, we have direct-mail pieces. It's true what they say: people sort their mail while standing over a trashcan. You have to hook 'em quick, or your hard work gets tossed.

Punchiness was my goal with this mail piece for Nebraska Medicine's bike fit program. As a biker myself, this was a great project for me. And the health system's marketing manager flattered me when she said "everybody on my end is totally thrilled with it."

Newsletters remain one of the best ways for health systems (and a lot of other businesses!) to stay engaged with their patients. At their best, hospital newsletter articles are sincere, heartfelt stories about the quality of care that a health system provides.

That was easy for me in this piece, for Bryan Health — the story was about my wife! A few years ago, we had a harrowing health scare, and the staff at Bryan literally saved my wife's life. I've been tremendously grateful ever since.

Commercial work is my vocation. But I can't deny the thrill of a good byline. What I love about journalistic work is that it puts you right at the cutting edge of things — your job is to find out the "facts on the ground."

Sometimes that puts you in touch with some extraordinary people. For this piece, for Everyday Health, I got to speak with a Nobel Prize Winner, which was a career first for me!