We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kate Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kate below.

Kate, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

The industry standard for outsourced business content is an agency model. With this model, companies hire digital marketing agencies that outsource content to a string of freelancers. This model can be scalable, but expensive. Plus, clients don’t get to engage with the freelancer directly –they need to go through an account manager. So, the relationship is built between the client and the account manager rather than the client and the writer. Plus, most of the money clients pay ends up in the agency’s pocket, with the freelancer receiving just a small fraction of it for their hard work.

People First Content isn’t an agency. Instead, we are a fractional content team. We are all W2 in-house writers who directly interact with clients who need great content. This level of personalization allows us to really get to know our clients and the type of content they need for their different audiences and purposes. Plus, the money we make is put directly to the writers, who are paid a fair, stable salary instead of living in the feast or famine mode that is typical of freelancers.

This difference matters for companies that want to work with a team but don’t have the money (or need) to hire one in-house. They benefit by getting to know all of us personally. As we all have different strengths, we might interact with them at different stages of a project or for different types of content. They know they can ask us directly when they have questions or need changes. Our retainer clients also get direct access to our writers via Slack during business hours.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always loved writing. I pursued a Ph.D. in English, Language, and Literature because it was the only career path I could think of that would let me write essays as my job. I started that path in 2003, back when digital content writing wasn’t a valid career path. Along the way, I started writing digital content and discovered I much prefer that medium to academic writing. So, after graduating with my doctorate, I ditched the idea of academia and instead pursued content writing at a tech company. I started People First Content in 2018 after realizing how many companies were outsourcing their content. I wanted to provide a high-quality outsourced solution for businesses that wanted the expertise of a professional writer but didn’t have the need or budget to hire in-house.

A primary differentiator is that my team is made up entirely of in-house W2 writers – we don’t outsource to agencies or freelancers. This level of personalization sets us apart from agencies and allows us to genuinely become an extension of our clients’ marketing and leadership teams.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

It might sound cliche, but being authentic and genuine in every interaction is really critical to building a solid reputation. I don’t overpromise, and I don’t agree to projects that are outside our wheelhouse. If we mess up something or miss a deadline (which doesn’t happen often), I’m upfront and inform the client as soon as possible. Clients understand the human aspect and that sometimes mistakes happen. But they don’t accept being lied to. I have found that, however uncomfortable a conversation might seem, it’s always better to air things out and approach a challenge from a place of mutual understanding. And I know I’m not for everyone. That’s OK. If a discovery call doesn’t go great for whatever reason, it’s fine for us to part ways and agree that we aren’t a good fit.

Any advice for managing a team?

I’ve been managing teams since 2005, when I was the Assistant Manager of the Espresso Bar at Nordstrom. I was lucky to get management training at such an early stage in my career. Some of it has stuck with me, and some I’ve forgotten. But the most important thing you need to do when managing teams is be empathetic and transparent. My employees know what’s happening in the business, including when things slow down. I know they took a huge risk joining my team instead of going to an established firm. In exchange, I want to offer them the best possible work environment. We’re 100% remote, though we do meet in person from time to time. I don’t demand set working hours, so they can be as flexible as they need to be. We all get vacation days. Most importantly, they have opportunities to grow and develop however they want by choosing the types of projects they want to work on.

Contact Info:

• Website: peoplefirstcontent.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/people1content/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwilliams72/

Image Credits
Jessica Karin Trout