Brands and Agencies I’ve Worked With
Stuff I’ve Written
1851 Franchise
1851 Franchise is an online publication of Mainland LLC that specializes in articles, news, press releases, and think pieces focused on the franchising industry.
How Successful Franchises Like McDonald’s Thrive in Foreign Markets
For many global franchises, adaptability and branding are the keys to winning over international customers in all corners of the world.
The Junkluggers Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data for 2025
Franchise Opportunity Deep Dive: The Junkluggers is an eco-friendly junk removal company committed to sustainability by donating, recycling and repurposing items to minimize landfill waste.
Katung Aduwak’s Journey of Purpose With Right at Home in Southern Seattle
Aduwak’s partnership with the senior care franchise is driven by a need for professional independence and a desire to “leave a legacy of dignity and care.”
How Uni K Wax Leverages Technology To Create a Premium Customer Experience
Executive Director of Operations Frank Ponce explains how the venerable waxing and hair-removal franchise provides a high-touch, quality customer experience through streamlined check-ins and deeply personalized service.
Visit my 1851 Franchise author page for more articles.
ESTATENVY
ESTATENVY is another online publication from Mainland LLC that focuses on homes, luxury properties, and design/tech trends. The site is intended to drive traffic to 1851 Franchise, so there is considerable overlap with franchising topics as well.
Guide To Buying a Home Service Franchise — Home Service Franchise Disclosure Document
The home service franchise disclosure document details franchise fees, financial performance, obligations and legal terms, helping investors assess risks and opportunities.
How To Increase Your Home’s Value Without Breaking the Bank
Even modest improvements — like better landscaping, more living space or neutral paint — can go a long way in increasing your home’s market appeal and value.
Visit my ESTATENVY author page for more content.
StacheCow
StacheCow is yet another online publication from Mainland LLC. The content on this site is focused on finance, private equity, and (the accumulation of) wealth. It also drives traffic to 1851 Franchise, so most of the content is at least tangentially related to entrepreneurship.
Ready To Exit: How To Start a Business With an Endgame in Mind
Alex Lubyansky of Acquisition Stars explains how planning an exit strategy from the start can help franchisees build a business that is attractive to potential buyers when the time comes.
Assessing Your Franchise’s Value: What’s It Worth?
Understanding what drives a franchise’s value — brand strength, financial performance and market demand — can help owners make informed decisions about growth, investment or sale.
Visit my StacheCow author page for more content.
NUANCE Collaborative
NUANCE Collaborative, a.k.a. The NUANCE Agency, is a boutique digital agency headquartered in London. This is some of the content I wrote for the NUANCE blog, along with samples of work I wrote for our clients.
A History of SEO, Part 1: Excite, Yahoo, and Jefferson Starship
The discipline of SEO has come a long way since its early “black hat” days in the mid-90s. This article (part 1 of a 3-part series) covers the development of the first search engines and explains how rock band Jefferson Starship was responsible for the birth of SEO.
How Bad Reviews Can Benefit Your Business
Don’t sweat the occasional bad review. Instead, take advantage of it and use it as an opportunity to impress potential customers and improve your business’s online reputation.
PET Plastic and Peanut Butter Go Together Like PB&J (Plascene)
Plascene PET Plastic and peanut butter! The folks from Plascene discuss their favorite gourmet peanut butters from the Winter Fancy Food Show 2022.
Eco-Chic Beauty: Embracing Recycled Plastic Packaging (Plascene)
Recycled plastic packaging can help the beauty industry reduce its environmental impact and meet the growing demand for eco-conscious products.
Unleashing Efficiency: Exploring the Benefits of Lean Methodology (80/20)
As businesses continue to focus on efficiency and effectiveness, they are looking to lean methodology to streamline their processes and enhance their productivity.
Crafting Christmas Joy: Unique DIY Gift Ideas Using the 80/20 T-Slot Building System (80/20)
Whether you’re shopping for a DIYer or looking for something to build yourself, 8020’s Xtreme DIY T-slot projects and kits are the perfect gift.
Enhancing Senior Care with Artificial Intelligence (VigiLife)
With the senior population growing in the U.S., many healthcare providers are turning to technological solutions like artificial intelligence (AI) to help provide better care.
Is Your Team Ready for OSHA Heat Stress Inspections? (VigiLife)
OSHA has implemented a National Emphasis Program (NEP) to address the dangers of excessive heat and heat-related illnesses in the workplace.
Visit NUANCE’s Digital Articles, Stories + Tips for more content.
Thryv
Thryv (née Dex Media) began life as a conglomerate of Yellow Pages companies, but has since pivoted to a software-as-a-service company that provides customer relationship and online reputation management for small businesses.
Most of the articles I wrote for them involved content marketing, a service they stopped providing once they made the move to SaaS. While most of my contributions have long since been scrubbed from their blog, I did manage to save a handful of my favorites with the help of Wayback Machine. Enjoy!
The Surprisingly Awesome History of Content Marketing… from Ben Franklin to Jimmy Kimmel
With all the buzz about content marketing these days, you’d think it was an exciting new strategy for promoting your business. But the idea of attracting (and retaining) customers by providing awesome and engaging content has been around for a long, long time.
How to Write Truly Epic Blog Post Titles
How important are blog post titles? Short answer—pretty darned. Long answer—if you want anyone besides your mom to read your stuff, you really need to put some thought and effort into crafting headlines for your blog posts.
9 Ways to Draw Readers into Your Blog Posts
First impressions matter. A snazzy headline might be enough to lure readers to your blog, but your post has to keep the momentum going. You have, at most, a paragraph or two to convince folks that your post is worth reading. Otherwise, they’re going to click away (or “bounce,” as the kids and Web traffic analysts like to say).
6 Tips for Making Your Blog Content AWESOME!
A little effort and knowledge (or research) is often enough to crank out some pretty good blog content. But with a little attention to the final details, you can kick the quality of your content up to the next level.
The Problem with Blog Post Endings
I write a lot of blog posts. Some of them deal with digital marketing because I’m passionate about my vocation. Some of them deal with politics because I’m frequently full of righteous indignation. Some of them deal with comic books because I’m a colossal nerd. But the one thing these posts all have in common is this… Figuring out how to end them is HARD!
Argent Leaf Press
I’ve been a huge fan of authors Tim Powers and James P. Blaylock since I was a zygote. So imagine my delight when Chris Silver Smith, founder and CEO of Argent Media, asked me to edit the manuscript for his book, A Comprehensive Dual Bibliography of James P. Blaylock & Tim Powers. It was published as a limited edition in 2011, and Silver even asked me to sign it along with the other contributors! Definitely a departure from my digital content oeuvre, but I’m proud of my brief foray into literary editing.
(I actually spoke with Tim Powers in 2012, after the book was published. I asked him to sign my copy, and he wrote, “My God! This book! This beautiful book!”)
Chris Irby | Writer, Editor, Nerd 