Frequently asked questions


Content Marketing with Alley424

What is custom content?

What If you already conduct your blogging and inbound marketing campaigns in-house, but want help creating content to help position your company, custom content is for you. Here you can choose the type of content you need, and no ongoing contract is necessary.

What if I don’t have a content strategy or I need to improve it?

We can help and work with you to develop a content strategy based on the strategic direction of your company and your marketing campaign, and the needs of your customers.

We work with companies that have an established brand or corporate identity. Strategy sessions are not designed to help you develop a brand identity or to replace a marketing team.

We don’t have a marketing team. Where do we start?

If you don’t have a marketing team, we can start with a review of your current situation and content strategy to see if this is a good fit.

What if I need a whole bunch help, like a lot of content packaged together?

No problem. I can create a custom content package, that includes premium content, content strategy, editorial calendars, etc. We can mix and match, based on your needs.  When we get started, I work with you and your team to understand your goals for the project and ensure we are creating content that will help your marketing campaign to be successful.

We already work with outside agencies and freelancers. Why would we work with you?

When it comes to working with your other partners, I know how important that is to help you achieve your marketing goals. My focus is the content. So I expect you may be working with partners for things like branding or SEO. Depending on your needs, I am happy to closely with your existing partners to help you achieve your goals.

Content Management Systems

What content management systems have you used?

I have worked with WordPress, Drupal, and Hubspot, and I am comfortable learning others. Depending on how you like to work, I can input the content directly into your CMS (after approval, of course), or deliver the content to you to input it into your CMS and publish.

About Alley424 Communications

Who is Alley424 Communications?

Alley424 Communications is a Boston content marketing consulting firm that has been around since 2006. Right now Alley424 is mostly Manya Chylinski, the principal and a content marketing consultant and freelance writer. She works with other writers and partners when necessary, but Manya will be your point of contact for every project.

She has a Masters in Library and Information Science and she loves to do research. Which is part of why she enjoys creating content–it usually involves a bit of research before the actual writing starts.

Why should I hire a content marketing consultant or outside writer?

1. A content marketing consultant and writer gives you more time for a project.
You only have so many hours in the workday. For marketing managers, corporate communications directors, or anyone with responsibility for writing reports or other materials, writing is just one part of what is likely a pretty big job. Very often, writing drops to the bottom of the list after developing marketing and business strategies or launching new products or services. A consultant and writer takes care of the content while you take care of the bigger picture.

2. An outside consultant brings a new perspective to the project.
Just by being outside the day-to-day world of your organization, an outside consultant can see nuances that those inside the company may miss for being too close.

3. An outside consultant and writer can revitalize communications.
Because outside writers work with many different companies in diverse industries or aspects of an industry, they get exposure to new ideas and news ways of presenting information. It makes for an exciting mix in a workday and helps freelance writers bring a fresh approach to each client’s project.

4. You are the subject matter expert. I am the writing and content creation expert.

Why should I hire you specifically?

First things first, I’m pretty nice to work with. I meet my deadlines, return emails and phone calls in a timely manner, and work hard. Also, I’m a good writer–I can take your materials and present it for your audience. And don’t forget…my background is in research and I really enjoy it. That means that even if I don’t know your exact industry at the moment, it won’t take me long to learn what I need to know to help you communicate effectively. Lastly, I play well with others–your team, subject matter experts, customers, or partners.

How do I know if your services are right for me?

Call me and let’s chat. I offer a free consultation and evaluation of your project. It won’t cost you anything but a bit of time. If you’re interested, email me (manya [at] alley424 [dot] com). I’ll send you an email with a few questions about your project and your content needs. Then we’ll schedule a telephone consultation in which we talk about the goals of your project, ask and answer questions, and find out if we’re a good fit for each other.

How do we get started?

Email or call to talk about your projects. It’s that easy.
email: manya [at] alley424 [dot] com
phone: 617-851-0282