"Stars are not important. There is nothing interesting about stars. Street lamps are very important, because they're so rare. As far as we know, there's only a few million of them in the universe. And they were built by monkeys." - Terry Pratchett
I have come to give you content
And I can’t wait to get started.
Content is the fundament of the online universe. I said elsewhere on this website that it makes the world go ‘round, and it’s never been more true than it is now. You can be doing incredible things, but if you want people to know about it, you have to tell them. I see it as the center point of my skill set: the ability to tell compelling stories in a variety of ways.
Writing
I write so much that I made a whole section of my website for it. The photo isn’t related to my writing, but I love it and I wanted you to see it (that’s Lucy, my parents’ dog, on the right). Read more here.
Video
Video is the content to which we are meant to pivot, and my videos are pretty good. I love making them! I also made a whole page for the videos I’ve made. The photo you see there is me with a video camera, which is nice to use when I have access to one. It’s amazing what you can do with a good phone camera, though. See them here.
Social Media
Every platform includes elements of writing, video, and photography, but the key to leveraging them in a marketing context is to know who you’re talking to and what they want to talk about. Sometimes they don’t want to talk at all, they just want to see your pretty pictures. I’ve done so much social media that there’s a whole section of my website just about that. The photo is me helping out the President of Carlow University with her selfie. Read more here.
Audio
That’s me recording voice-over for a commercial we aired on KDKA radio. Not only have I provided my voice, but I wrote the copy, too. I’ve also created three podcasts, produced audio interviews, and created all kinds of audio content. All I need is a microphone, a computer, and something to talk about (or, even better, someone to talk to!).
Podcasting
I do a bimonthly podcast and art/writing publishing platform called the League of Lensgrinders. With my pal Evelyn Pryce and my brother Robert Long Foreman, we talk about writing, reading, creativity, Orson Welles and trying to keep it all together through the pandemic. It’s fun to record, and I do all the audio production myself. The logo was designed by Katie Crawford.
Streaming
I play video games and I’ve recently discovered streaming on Twitch as @alteredbeef. I play games, sometimes with other people, and talk about them. I talk about a lot of things that have nothing to do with games, too. It’s more fun than I expected!
The avatar I use in all of my social media wasn’t actually made by me, but by my friend and former colleague Katie Crawford. Part of being a good content creator is knowing when you need to reach out to fill in the gaps. I knew I needed a logo and I love Katie’s aesthetic, which perfectly matched the tone I was looking for.