For our last freelance writer spotlight of 2017, we’re proud to introduce marketing and higher education expert, David Conway.
David joined Verblio in 2014 after retiring from 30 years in higher education administration. During his career, David Conway was extremely successful as Director of Admissions for a small college in Pennsylvania, more than doubling their yearly applications and thereby increasing selectivity. At other institutions, David served as Dean of Admissions and later worked in Enrollment Management, ultimately becoming VP of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Hartwick College in upstate New York. His career also included a stint with the digital marketing agency WSI, as well as business consulting for colleges and universities.
Life at Verblio for David Conway
Here at Verblio, David puts his marketing know-how to work creating high-performing content. Many of David’s favorite clients work in familiar industries: inbound marketing, business consulting, and even higher ed specifically. However, his marketing expertise also helps customers in technical fields like law and software development communicate appropriately with their unique audiences.
In addition to his later career experience, David also brings a deep resume as a writer; he got his start as a professional writer back in the early ’80s after earning a Masters in English from Temple University. David Conway says that if a client can tell him what the content should DO for their marketing, he can make that happen: “I like writing for clients who have a clear sense of their marketing objectives and are able to articulate that with some degree of precision.”
A huge part of creating great content is presentation: almost anyone can gather the necessary information to write a blog post, but it takes a great writer to properly convey a company’s brand voice and speak to their audience. David says he pays close attention to the topic contents, but also builds context by exploring a customer’s previous content. Here’s his advice to other Verblio writers:
Try to figure out not just what they want, but also why they want it—in other words, what marketing objective the article is intended to achieve. Always go to their website for context. This might seem to slow you down, but in fact it will give you the confidence you need to write more authoritatively, which in the long run will save you time, directing you to the resources which will best bring life to your work.
And it certainly seems David is doing something right: over 90% of his rated posts have earned a 4- or 5-star review.
This strategy has translated from marketing clients to businesses in industries from travel and fitness to automotive sales and construction. A large animal hospital is one of David’s favorite clients — he is passionate about animal welfare and has a secret source: his older brother, a veterinarian.
Life Outside of Verblio
Perhaps David’s veterinary posts are inspired by his own menagerie: 3 dogs and a cat to keep things lively. Baxter definitely approves of David’s animal health research, as long as it doesn’t stop the flow of treats:
I asked David if there was anything in particular that he wanted to share with the Verblio community, and here’s what he had to say:
Just that I love writing for Verblio—I love the community feeling. The writers are incredibly talented, and they’re good people (one look at the [Writers’ Forum] will tell you that). I write for other companies, but none comes close to this business model, and none feels so much like home. And, hey, the logo is a dog—what could be better than that?
Outside of Verblio, David Conway also creates oil paintings and plays the piano. He is passionate about music — classical music in particular, from Brahms, Mozart, Chopin, Handel, and Grieg. He also describes himself as a “political junkie” and says he loves to cook. He is currently working on a novel (based on his father’s real experiences) about the lives of WWII veterans working in factories in the late 50’s in a small town outside of Philadelphia.
