Content Writer (Guides, Volunteer)

Binghamton; City of Ithaca (NY); Remote; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a community-focused initiative as a volunteer content writer, where your words will help local musicians and businesses thrive. You'll create engaging, well-researched guides that reach global audiences, all while honing your writing and SEO skills. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the music industry and gain valuable experience in content creation. As a volunteer, you'll enjoy the freedom to explore your creativity, collaborate with passionate individuals, and build a portfolio that showcases your work. If you're eager to make a difference and grow as a writer, this role is perfect for you.

Benefits

Letters of recommendation

Byline for published work

Portfolio building opportunities

Qualifications

• Must be at least 18 years old or have a guardian's consent.
• Ability to write concisely and objectively in English.

Responsibilities

• Write factual, objective, and engaging guides and reports.
• Research topics thoroughly and using multiple trustworthy sources.

Skills

SEO knowledge

Writing skills

Research skills

Music industry knowledge

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Tools

Laptop or desktop computer

Reliable Internet connection

Job description

Parlor City Sound doesn’t just promote local and regional music acts and locally-owned small businesses. We also publish free guides and tutorials to help them enhance their skills and broaden their reach. And that’s where our volunteer content writers step in!

As a volunteer content writer, you’ll help Parlor City Sound publish thoroughly researched, informative, valuable guides that help musicians and small business owners navigate the challenges they regularly face in the music industry. Our guides are factual, objective, engaging, and personable. And we’re looking for volunteer content writers who can help us maintain those qualities.

Unlike our local and regional music content, our evergreen guides reach global audiences. That means we have readers visiting our website from around the world who can then learn about the incredible music coming out of Greater Binghamton, Ithaca, Elmira, and other cities and towns in New York. So knowing (or learning) SEO is crucial for our volunteer content writers. But don’t sweat it if you don’t know much about search engine optimization. We’ll teach you everything you need to know!

Responsibilities

• Writing factual, objective, fair, and honest guides and reports
• Coming up with ideas for useful guides, finding valuable question keywords that need answering, and keeping an ear to the ground for emerging trends in the music industry
• Researching topics thoroughly and objectively, using multiple trustworthy sources. We don’t just rewrite blog posts or ask AI to do the grunt work for us. At Parlor City Sound, we want our content to be original, useful, helpful, and digestible.
• Using SEO best practices to ensure all of our content can reach audiences with ease (if you don’t know SEO, we’ll show you the ropes)
• Getting content published in a timely manner. You’re a volunteer, and other work can take priority. But we do also encourage everyone to submit content within a reasonable time frame so those topics aren’t just sitting around in limbo

Requirements

• Must be at least 18 years old, or be willing to put us in direct contact with a parent or legal guardian
• Laptop or desktop computer in good working order, with a reliable Internet connection
• Ability to write concisely and objectively in English
• Music industry knowledge and experience is a big plus
• SEO knowledge or a willingness to learn the ways of SEO content development

Compensation

Unfortunately, Parlor City Sound doesn’t yet generate enough revenue to pay our team. When we do establish monetization and start making more money than we’re spending out of pocket to produce this site, we’ll be compensating everyone on our team financially to the best of our ability. Until then, this is an unpaid volunteer position. We’re cool with asking for personal donations within your content so long as you follow our guidelines—we won’t allow anything deceptive or janky.

All content writers will get a proper byline and will be encouraged to share their published work in their portfolios. We’re also more than happy to write letters of recommendation upon request.

Apply Here!

Please fill out the following information:

Name: First Last

Email Address: This is where we'll contact you and also where we'll send your login credentials if you're accepted to the team.

City and State (or Province): We don't need your actual address. We just want to know what area you're generally located in and what area would be on your beat. If not in the United States, please include your country too.

What would you like to write about? Please check all that apply:

• Coverage of unsigned/indie bands (preferably local)
• Coverage of local businesses related to the music industry
• Guides for musicians, bands, etc.
• Guides for businesses
• Opinion pieces about local music scenes or the state of the music industry overall

Have a portfolio or an article you've had published elsewhere? We'd like to see one example of your work. If you don't have this, that's okay! We'll send you a test assignment to get a feel for how you write.

Why are you interested in writing with us? Let us know why you'd like to write for Parlor City Sound. We'd also love to hear about your favorite genres, your writing experience, etc.