Building a content department from the ground up
When I joined Baunfire, a digital agency built for technology companies, there was no content team to lead. As Director of Marketing, Content Strategy and Copywriting, I built one from scratch, grew it into more than $500K in new revenue, and kept writing alongside my team on the client work that mattered most.
- Company
- Baunfire, a digital agency for technology brands
- My role
- Director, Marketing, Content Strategy and Copywriting
- Team
- Built from zero: writers and content strategists
- Timeline
- 2023 – 2025
- Clients
- Technology brands, including HUMAN Security and WireSafe
The opportunity
Baunfire had built its reputation on design and development for technology brands, but content sat outside what it offered. Copy was often handled late in a project or left to clients to write themselves, which meant revenue the agency wasn't capturing and websites that looked sharper than they read.
The opportunity was to make content strategy and copywriting a core part of Baunfire's work: a service clients would pay for, a team that could deliver it consistently, and a process that put messaging at the start of every project rather than the end.
My role and leadership
I owned the department from end to end, from shaping the service offering to hiring, training, and leading the team. I also never stopped writing. On high-stakes engagements like HUMAN Security and WireSafe, I led the strategy and wrote the copy myself, which kept the bar high for the work and showed the team what great looked like on the page.
- Built the content department from zero and grew it into $500K+ in new revenue
- Hired and developed the team, bringing trusted freelance writers into full-time roles
- Held staff turnover at 0% and promoted direct reports into senior roles
- Led strategy and wrote client copy myself for technology brands including HUMAN Security and WireSafe
- Brought content into projects from kickoff, working side by side with design and development
How I built it
I shaped content strategy and copywriting into services Baunfire could sell, scope, and deliver, so content became part of the pitch instead of an afterthought.
I started with trusted freelancers and grew the strongest of them into full-time roles, building a team of writers and strategists who shared the same standards.
I created the processes, frameworks, and editorial standards that let the team deliver consistently, and gave thoughtful feedback on the drafts that crossed my desk.
I stayed hands-on as a writer, taking on the most demanding client copy myself, so clients got senior-level writing where it counted and the team saw the standard in practice.
Navigating the hard parts
Many clients were used to treating copy as their own job. I made the case for content strategy in pitches and kickoffs, showing how messaging decisions shaped the design, the performance, and the results.
Building quickly can weaken the work, so I scaled the team deliberately and invested in feedback and mentorship to keep every deliverable at the level clients expected.
Running a department while writing client copy meant protecting time for both. Clear frameworks let the team move independently, which freed me to write where my experience mattered most.