As I enter my 17th consecutive writing day I thought that I would write a short piece about a project I’m currently working on. One Praxis habit that I am trying to make my own is documenting my work. Letting people know what types of projects I am working on and what professional things I am up to. It’s a great way to build connections and to find people who may be working on similar things or who have experience in whatever you are working on and who would be interested in helping.
Anyway, something that I am in the middle of building right now is a website that basically talks up Detroit. Right now my goal is to eventually pitch it to my employer as a content marketing campaign. The website is basically just a blog that I have been filling with content discussing things happening in the city. New restaurants, new stores, events, concerts–pretty much any cool thing going on that I think people should know about. The idea is to both bring people down from the suburbs, and let people who are living in Detroit, visiting Detroit, or new to the city know about cool things to do both new and old.
As I discuss in Detroit’s PR Problem And The Obvious Solution, downtown Detroit’s persisting problem is one of public relations. There are so many new and awesome developments that are happening in the city. The number of restaurants in the heart of the city has increased threefold, we have a thriving brewery and craft beer scene (complete with brewery bike, bus, and walking tours), thousands of new housing units have been built, and for the first time in a long time people are moving to the city. This is what businesses need to let people know.
So my goal is essentially to help my company become the source for all things Detroit. Have them not just talk about things that they are doing, but things that every business is doing. Get people excited about coming down and then once you get them to come down, funnel them to your business specifically. I want them to become the trusted source for a wide audience for events in the city, give readers useful information, and then subtly (or not so subtly) let them know new things that are going down for us and our partners.
Right now I am just in the middle of creating quality content that offers people useful and interesting information. This is my first purposeful stab at content marketing. I think the content will be there, but what I need to focus on is building a readership. I have some ideas for search engine optimization (SEO) and doing a bit of social media marketing. I’m excited for this project and think I will learn a lot while at the same time producing value for my company and for the city of Detroit.
More will come on this as I progress further into it.