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Welcome!

Welcome to LeadVenture! Whether you’re part of our Dealer Spike team, or ARI team, or both, we’re excited to have you on board. This page offers a quick overview of resources you’ll need and processes you’ll need to become familiar with. Bookmark this page, leave it open while you’re working, and use it as much as you need.

First Things First…

Your first day will be guided by our HR department and IT. They’ll work to help you get set up and in the system. They should have reached out to you prior to your first day to begin this process.

 ADP

LeadVenture uses ADP as its primary time tracking software. It also tracks pay, tax, and personal information, and is also where quarterly reviews are carried out.

For a full walkthrough of all ADP features, check out the LeadVenture ADP training module.

 LeadVenture Intranet

LeadVenture uses SharePoint as its shared intranet space. You can find exciting updates there, as well as assigned training and courses to build your knowledge.

Check here for the intranet home page and here for training resources.

 Communication Platforms

There are a number of ways to communicate with your coworkers at LeadVenture, but the primary forms of communication are through our email provider, Outlook, and our instant messaging platform, Teams.

Both programs can be accessed using your internet browser or by downloading a desktop app. You may find one works better than the other.

Who’s Who?

Once you’ve got the basics, it’s time to meet the team! Many of your coworkers are spread across the United States and the world. You may be just down the street from a fellow writer or on the other side of the world. If you’re unsure what time zone the person you’re talking to is in, try hovering your cursor over their Teams or Outlook profile.

 LeadVenture, Dealer Spike, and ARI

LeadVenture is a digital marketing company with many brands under its umbrella, including Dealer Spike and ARI. While all brands offer something a little different for our customers, we work together to share knowledge and improve efficiency.

You have joined either Dealer Spike or ARI. Each brand has its own team of writers, and you’ll notice the work is very similar, which is why we still work closely together. You may even find yourself jumping to the other team to help with the workload.

 Digital Marketing

The entire Digital Marketing team can be found on this organization chart. You likely won’t need to interact with many of the people listed, but it can still be helpful information to have.

You can also find this link in the Kickback Sheet on your monthly tracker.

 SEO Team

The Content Team interacts with the SEO team on a regular basis. The SEO reps are in charge of creating monthly requests and curating keyword lists that drive each client’s SEO campaign.

You can find the full list of SEO reps on the organization chart or in the Kickback Sheet on your monthly tracker.

 QA Team

Our QA team assumes many responsibilities, including copy editors. They may screen some or all of your content for basic errors and let you know when larger sections require revisions. Our teams work closely together to establish best practices and create the best possible content for the clients. In fact, you’ll find a separate Teams chat reserved just for QA and Content.

The QA team members are:

  • Ned Faulhaber - QA Team Lead

    • Emma Luthy - Senior Marketing QA Specialist

      • Tius McCowin - Digital Marketing QA Specialist

      • Paul Zombory - Digital Marketing QA Specialist

 Juniper

Our Juniper team, based out of La Paz, Mexico, offers support for teams across most Digital Marketing teams, including Content. They’re primary role in the content process is to published fully written and approved content onto the clients' websites.

While you likely won’t interact directly with them, you can find their names and titles in the organization chart, linked in the Kickback Sheet of your monthly tracker.

 Content Writers

There are nine full-time Content Writers across Dealer Spike and ARI, based in cities across the U.S., India, and Belize. They are all very gifted writers and will be excellent resources as familiarize yourself with the work and the products. Ask them questions, listen to their advice, and check out some of their work for inspiration.

Your direct supervisor is the Content Team Lead, Amanda Kelner. She reports to the Vice President of Digital Services, Erica Danford, and works closely with other leads to improve faults in the process and help the team grow.

Your fellow writers are:

  • Dealer Spike

    • Based in the United States:

      • Madison Garner - Senior Content Writer

        • Jess Zelhart - Content Writer

        • Sam Zyra - Content Writer

    • Based in India

      • Mohit Gupta - Senior Content Writer

        • Trishna Sharma - Content Writer

    • Based in Belize

      • Kory Leslie - Content Writer

  • Dealer Spike and ARI

    • Based in the United States:

      • Sheradan Hill - Content Writer

  • ARI

    • Based in the United States

      • Courtney Lynch - Senior Content Writer

        • Katy O’Brien - Content Writer

Time to Start Your Day!

Once you’re all set up, you’ll begin training, which will be conducted by the Content Team Lead. Everything that’s covered can be found below…

Clock In

Start by clocking in every day using your ADP account.

ADP is also where your hours are logged, where you’ll find pay information, and where we conduct quarterly reviews.

Check Your Messages

Start every day by opening your email, Teams chats, and calendar.

Answer any messages and emails that came in after you left the previous work day. Leave these messaging platforms open. You must promptly respond to emails and Teams communications throughout your day.

Your calendar will tell you if you have a meeting scheduled for that day. As a writer, you will have a handful of meetings you’ll be expected to attend, or may want to attend to learn from other writers. Meetings are held virtually (unless otherwise noted), and the meeting event on your calendar will also have the link to the online meeting room (usually through Teams or Zoom).

Links for Content Fulfillment

The majority of your day-to-day will be spent filling content requests from the SEO department. You should receive a complete training on this from the Content Team Lead, but you can find a quick refresher, along with important links, below.

 The Complete Content Fulfillment Process

For a complete walkthrough of the content fulfillment process, check here for the DS process and here for the ARI process.

1. Open Trello

 Trello Links

Trello is the primary project management platform for the content fulfillment process. The entire process, from start to finish, is a series of boards in which each team responsible for different parts of the process has their own board (the ARI system will be launched for July 2022 fulfillment). You should have access to every board, but you’ll spend most of your time on the Content Writing boards.

Check below for links to the primary content boards for Dealer Spike and ARI:

All additional Trello boards connected to the content process are linked below:

2. Choose a Request

Choose one or more requests to fill. Priority is given to:

  1. High Priority requests from assigned clients

  2. Dealers whose content requires approval

  3. Oldest to newest requests from your assigned clients, up until the following month’s work

  4. Unassigned requests from the current month’s work

  5. All requests from the current month’s work

  6. Requests for the following month

A Note on Client Assignments: Every writer receives a list of assigned clients for whom they fill content month after month. The list is adjusted each month as clients cancel and sign on. You can find these clients on your tracker in the far right-hand columns. For more information about your responsibilities as an assigned writer to a client, check out the Expectations and Accountability Documentation.

3. Screen Requests

Not all requests are ready to be filled, whether it’s because there’s missing information, conflicting information, the request is too difficult, or any other reason that’s creating an obstacle for you. That’s when it’s time to kick the card back to the rep for corrections.

 Kickback Process

For a reminder of how the kickback process is supposed to work, check out our step-by-step breakdown. Remember, it’s still a kickback if you were able to resolve the issue by messaging the rep, and should still be recorded in the Kickback Sheet on your tracker.

4. Fill Requests

If the requests are good to go, it’s time to fill them. We’ve provided a list of resources you can use to fill each request, but you’ll want to use what you’ve learned with what you already know about good writing to provide the best possible product for our clients.

 SEO Information

All the long-form content you write is part of the department’s SEO offerings. The primary goal is to boost SEO ranking by adding more content to each client’s site and boosting authority.

You won’t be expected to have SEO expertise, but some context can be helpful. Review these documents for some helpful information around what it is we do.

 Content Format Breakdown

The first thing you’ll need to note is the format of the piece being requested. This will dictate length, intent, and structure. Use our Format Breakdown for a refresher on what we offer.

 Glossary

You’ll also need to know what the product you’ll be talking about is. If you encounter a term or keyword you’re unfamiliar with, check the LeadVenture Content Glossary of Industry & Regional Language or one of our many product resources in our Research References folder in the Drive.

If you can’t find answers in those places, then you might be lucky enough to be encountering a new product! Add the information you find to our resources so we can benefit from what you discover, including linking the finished piece in the indexes when you’re finished.

 Up for Grabs

First, you should see if an existing, unassigned piece could fill a request for you by checking what’s in Up for Grabs. You can find all our Up for Grabs pieces in this folder, or linked in the DS and ARI indexes.

For a complete walkthrough of the Up for Grabs process, check here.

 Rewrite Indexes

Oftentimes, it’s easier to fill a request using a topic or information that the team has covered in the past.

All previously written content is kept in the LeadVenture Rewrite Indexes. The indexes are tools to help make content fulfillment easier, but there are no rules around how frequently you use them.

 Creating Original Pieces

Whether you’re out of rewrites, or you’re looking for something fresh, the team has created a number of internal resources to make coming up with original topics easier. If you’re struggling to fill a request that must use an original topic, try browsing some of the team’s tips, or ask your teammates for help.

 Dealer Folders

All content is stored in Google Drive folders assigned to specific dealers. They offer a historical record of all previously written content and also will store all future content written.

When it’s time to start writing, you’ll make your way to the dealer’s corresponding folder and create a document there.

 Creating File Names

Google Drive uses an alphabetization system to organize files, so we must use a specific file naming system to keep the files organized and easy to reference.

 Style Guide

The LeadVenture Content Team follows a Style Guide specific the demands of the work. For questions about composition, voice, tone, or other style choices, refer to the guide.

 Additional Resources

The Content Team has spent years filling Dealer Spike and ARI requests and subsequently, we’ve spent a lot of time creating our own resources to make this task easier. You can find these resources in the Content Writing Tips folder in the Content Drive.

5. Wrap it Up

When the piece is finished, there are some final steps to take before you can move on to the next set of requests.

📝 Review Your Piece

Take a quick scan and make sure you’re satisfied with the quality and there are no typos.

📝 Fill Out the Finished Content Template

Copy the Finished Content Template into a comment on the Trello card and fill out each prompt appropriately. Remember, depending on which content format you used, you may not need to fill out the entire template.

 Finished Content Template Screenshots

For Dealer Spike:

For ARI:

 Images

On the Dealer Spike side, all articles must be submitted with an image. To learn more about how to find an appropriate image, check out the Pulling Images for Dealer Spike Content Guide.

📝 Enter Information into Content History Sheet

Each piece must be recorded in the Content History Sheet on the client sheet (linked on the card). You will only need to fill out the information up to the publication information in the last two columns.

📝 Submit to QA

Once all requests on the card have been filled, click your corresponding QA button to send the card to the QA board, where our QA team will either review your content or push the card through to publication.

📝 Record in Tracker

Your daily work will be recorded in a monthly tracker. These trackers are created at the beginning of each month and can be found in the Writing Documents portion of the Drive.

🎊 And now you’re all done and ready to do it all over again for the next card!🎊

Additional Notes About Your Work

For International Writers

For all writers not based in the United States, applying American and Canadian dialects can be difficult. While it’ll get easier with time, there are a couple of resources we can give you:

 Style Guide

The LeadVenture Style Guide has a number of sections dedicated solely to identifying unique American and Canadian phrases and conventions. Take some time to review these sections so you know what the team’s official stance on these details are and contact the Team Lead with additional questions.

 Additional Reading

We’ve identified a number of helpful resources written using American and Canadian dialects. You can find them all in the Helpful Content Resources, which will also offer important information about the products we write about.

 Udemy

LeadVenture utilizes Udemy, a platform of online courses that can help close some language gaps for an additional price. If you can identify a specific course, or if one is assigned to you, you may request to be reimbursed for taking the course as part of your daily work. Contact your local manager for more information.


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