MATTHEW COLLISTER

While every project is unique, and rarely follows a straight-line path, my basic process follows these steps. 

Kickoff meeting (video or voice call)

The kickoff meeting sets the tone and direction. 

• I’ll ask for an overview of your goals, specific expectations, and how you’ll measure success. 

• We’ll discuss your audience and key messages. 

• I’ll ask about existing resources, SMEs, and stakeholders. 

• We’ll agree on details like word / page count and timing. 

Discovery

I’ll combine independent research (web/AI) with SME interviews that focus on my learning about three things:

1. Your industry and the trends shaping it

2. Your customer and the challenges they face

3. Your company and how you’re addressing customer challenges 

Note: I’ll voice-record our meetings to have an accurate record to work from. 

Outline

The discovery insights will inform my approach to creating an outline of your project. 

Outlining allows us to agree on an approach and iron out many of the details before investing resources in creating a complete draft. 

I’ll send you the outline in MS Word or Google Docs for your review. We can meet to discuss your feedback. 

Draft

The finished outline guides the first draft. My guiding objectives as a writer:

• Align with your style guide while striving to write in plain language; seek to explain complexities in simple terms

• Connect with the customer (reader) by acknowledging their pain points 

• Showcase your value proposition—how you address the pain points

• Showcase your authentic voice

You’ll receive a clean draft in MS Word or Google Docs. 

Review and refine

You’ll take the time you need to review and mark up the draft. We can meet by video call to review and discuss your edits and alternate approaches. 

I’ll refine the edited draft, producing a clean, final draft based on your feedback. Then I’ll send it back to you to conclude the project. 

Contact me and let's get started!