Steve Edwards: Business Communications Co-Ordinator

Steve Edwards is the new boy on the block at Mata Digital, putting the words to music in website development.

As Business Communications Co-ordinator, his content-writing skills adds another string to our bow.

Steve sits down with clients and gets their story, then translates this into exactly what is wanted on a webpage.

If this sounds like an old-fashioned interview, you’re right.

Steve cut his teeth as a junior reporter at the Matamata Chronicle way back in 1985.

In those days you could literally walk out the gate of Matamata College and get a job for a local business.

This set Steve on the road to a career in journalism spanning 30 years, chiefly with community newspapers in the Waikato, during which time he conducted countless interviews with people from all walks of life.

He loves finding out about people and their businesses…what makes them tick.

From a one-man band to a bustling corporate, Steve will get your thoughts down on all aspects of a business in a form fit for any webpage.

He knows the importance of finding that point of difference which will make your webpage stand out in the crowd.

It might be your track record in customer service and delivery, specialist skills, use of the latest technology and equipment, and follow-up.

Steve says quality content on a webpage is vital in “selling” yourself and your business to potential clients.

A picture is worth a thousand words and with his newspaper background, Steve brings with him vast experience behind a camera.

Quality photos can be a real selling point for any webpage, showing browsers exactly what your business is all about and capable of producing.

Steve writes punchy copy perfect for platforms including social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

This can also be extended to text and photos for business publicity material such as flyers, mailouts and invitations (all created in-house at Mata Digital).

Steve can also knock up a pretty good press release and still has some handy contacts in the media world to further promote your business.

For the past three years, he was Business Development Manager at House of Travel in the Waikato, covering branches in Hamilton City, Cambridge, Matamata, Morrinsville and Te Awamutu.

This saw him work on advertising campaigns, in conjunction with House of Travel’s national marketing department, across a variety of platforms.

This included webpages, Facebook sites, radio, newspapers, AV screens and billboards.

In this role Steve also organised consumer events, so knows the best ways for businesses to get their message across to the public.

This includes what you “put back” in the community, such as sponsorship or volunteer work, the value of which to potential clients cannot be under-estimated.

Steve will help you sing your own praises even for the most modest of clients.

He will also follow up with you to update material and monitor its success.

Those that know him will recognise that Steve has a sharp eye for detail, with his copy-writing skills also extending to proof-reading and sub-editing.

He is also likely to throw in the odd travel tale during any business chats.

Don’t get him started on Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

Most of all, Steve is a “people person” who understands the message you want to put out and makes it happen.