§ 3.2.1 · A1 / A2 · typically one week per piece · recurring
What this is
Written pieces originated rather than derived. Articles, thought leadership under an executive’s name, resource guides, and case studies. Research, outline, draft, edit, and search optimization.
A standard piece runs around a thousand words. Substantial pieces with original research or interviews run considerably longer and get scoped as their own thing rather than absorbed into a standard slot.
When to originate rather than derive
Most of your written output should come out of the Voice-to-Market™ package, because that is cheaper and it sounds more like you. This piece is for the things the show does not naturally cover.
The common cases are a topic that needs research the founder does not carry in their head, a case study that needs a customer interview, a piece with a deadline that will not wait for the recording schedule, and a search-driven piece targeting a specific question your buyers ask.
If a topic could plausibly be an episode, we would usually rather it were one.
What we need from you
For most pieces, very little—the messaging document and the audience profile carry it.
A short conversation with an expert in the topic if possible. Writing from a brief produces something publishable and slightly hollow, and the difference is legible to readers even when they cannot name it. Twenty minutes on the phone changes the piece more than any amount of research.
For a case study, an introduction to the customer and their permission. This is almost always the slow part.
Subject-matter review where the content is technical or regulated, ideally from someone who can actually approve rather than only comment.
What you will have
A finished piece, optimized for search.
The standard we hold every piece to is whether it sounds like you rather than like a marketing agency, whether it serves the strategy rather than filling a slot, and whether your ideal customer would find it useful rather than only your marketing team.
How long it takes
About a week for a standard piece. Longer where an interview or subject-matter review is in the path, which is usually the constraint rather than the writing.
What this is not
Not a piece derived from a recording—that belongs to the V2M package regardless of how it reads at the end.
