content that helps

Just about a year ago, Basecamp, a project management software company, launched a quirky little lovely monthly online magazine called The Distance. The Chicago-based company hired a journalist to produce one long-form illustrated story per month, profiling a company that has been in business 25 years or longer and has thrived the old-fashioned way: through hard work, and without outside funding or partners. The site would not feature Basecamp customers or prospects. Nor would it feature technology businesses. And it would initially rely on in-depth, long-form storytelling (and, you know, ridiculously good writing!) rather than video and audio. It has editors polish and hone the pieces, so the story feels fine like feature writing — not rough-hewn like blogging often can. Today, the site still doesn’t prominently feature any Basecamp lead-generation tactics or corporate messaging or calls to action or obvious Basecamp marketing within the monthly profiles—save for a whisper […]