A content agency writing stories about technology
We ghostwrite essays that you're proud to share with customers, and even with your parents.
Why Quill Exists
In 1948, an important political battle was underway in Texas for their second senate seat. The front-runner, Coke Stevenson, had a wide lead and in a blue state, winning the primary was as good as winning the seat. But, one of his opponents was none other than Lyndon B. Johnson.
For much of the primary, Johnson, despite a well-funded campaign, failed to draw support away from Stevenson’s down-to-earth, cowboy charm. That was the case, at least, until he found his story.
Johnson decided that instead of doing traditional political rallies and barbecue dinners, he would lean into small-scale stump speeches. He’d find a way to connect with small towns across Texas and instead of preaching to hundreds, he’d talk and shake hands with dozens. His story would become centered around his energy, passion, and being a friend to everyday Texans.
The problem was that the everyday Texan lived in small towns across Texas. Johnson had his story, he didn’t have a way to deliver it to the right people.
Taking a bet on a new technology, Johnson commissioned a four-seater helicopter. He started flying six days a week, hitting dozens of rural towns each day and delivering his new story.
Johnson’s bold strategy paid off in a big way - it turned his whole campaign around.
His helicopter tour became known as the “Johnson City Windmill” and rural votes for the primary swayed increasingly in Johnson’s favor, winning him the Texas senate primary and, later, election. From there, he would one day become the 36th President of the United States.
Our mission is to build that helicopter for our clients.
So, what does Quill do?
For example, we’ve written a deep dive into the trucking industry, a history of database technologies, and the evolution of technical trends. As an agency, we ghost-write, which is why the second and third examples are not linked.
Quill started in part from a quote in Ratatouille. Anton Ego, the critic, writes, “The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.”
For startups, that’s now more true than ever before. Over the past two decades, moats from incumbent companies have solidified. Network effects are more unshakable, distribution channels more saturated, and switching costs more painful.
And so, startups need a new edge, something that large enterprise companies can’t copy. We believe that to be the story, which helps a startup define itself to the world and shapes their internal culture and mission. The form that we’ve chosen to tell these stories is long-form writing.
At Quill, we split our writing into two categories. Tangible and intangible. Content and narratives.
Content, Tangible Writing
Quill produces content that attracts customers for our clients.
For a long time, content marketing has been finding keywords, incorporating them in an article, getting indexed by Google, and having that one-off investment brings in recurring dividends over time.
Unfortunately, the internet today is an SEO arms race with increasingly spammy copy. Our answer to that is to write interesting, relevant, top-of-funnel content that targets prospects, gets them excited about our client’s product, and converts them to paying customers. Resources, documentation, and case studies help warm up prospects, all before anyone reaches out to start a conversation.
Further down the funnel, content acts as enablement tool for sales. Imagine a deal in which one of a prospect is concerned about pricing (probably not so hard to do). Sending over a case study featuring how another customer saved $x0,000 using the product builds the trust and credibility needed for the buyer to feel comfortable enough to move forward.
The crown jewel for content lies in renewals and expansions. Content is the best way for customers to learn and realize how new offerings can solve their problems. Every insightful piece that our client’s customers read adds to their experience and builds their brand.
This sort of cumulative goodwill is so often the difference between customers that silently pay and evangelists that love the product. It’s content all the way.
Narrative, Intangible Writing
Startups aren’t just selling to customers. They’re also painting a picture for investors, talent, and partners. Some parts of this picture come from raw numbers. Raising $x is usually a pretty good signal that the company is doing well. Other parts of this come from their narrative.
Our definition of narrative is any piece of writing that reinforces the brand image of a company. A basic example of narrative work is an essay about the trucking industry for a trucking startup. A more involved example is that same trucking startup commissioning a piece about the evolution of freight factoring and what macroeconomic variables impact factor rates.
Unfortunately, narrative is also a vague, shifty, imprecise thing. Some articles can have thousands of clicks, but short of a miracle, it’s hard to understand what impact that piece of writing had on fundraising, recruiting, or marketing.
At the same time, some of the most enduring startups of our generation came as a result of narratives. Stripe’s tagline of “increasing the GDP of the internet” and their dedication to the craft earns trust from developers. Airbnb’s story of ramen profitability and taking pictures for users shows their care for users. And Doordash’s suburban origins and rapid execution led to one of the largest IPOs ever.
Why Quill?
We started Quill because content can be an awkward puzzle piece. For most companies, it isn’t a core competency (we’re one of the rare exceptions, content’s our breadwinner). Everyone and their mom would love to have world class documentation or an exceptional blog. The problem is that to get there requires a conscious investment on the part of the company when there are dozens of competing priorities.
That’s where Quill comes in. We’re here to create an asset for you. We’re writers at heart who have seen firsthand the impact of great writing. In fact, one of the companies that we previously started grew to millions of monthly readers.
Our experience allows us to understand and produce for any level, whether it’s strategy at 10,000 feet, or a code snippet elaborating how a particular endpoint works. And because we handle the load associated with sourcing high-quality writers with the necessary expertise as you grow, Quill scales alongside you. We’re laser focused on producing the best content for you, it’s literally all we do!
Interested?
If you’re interested in working with us, zing us an email at richard@hirequill.com