You found me! My name is Forrest Jones, and chances are, you stumbled on my website because you either know me (hi Mom!) or you want to learn more about what a freelance writer does.
As a freelance writer, I consult organizations of all shapes and sizes on their content and messaging needs—I write and edit their narratives.
I do it well, because when it comes to written content, I’ve done it all.
In the corporate arena, I’ve handled written communications for the world’s largest oil company, the world’s largest software company and the world’s largest spirits company, among many others.
I’ve even written a novel—The Placebo Agenda.
For six years I lived in Venezuela and Chile, most of that time working as an overseas political and economics reporter for BridgeNews (formerly Knight Ridder Financial and later Reuters) breaking marketing-moving stories on a regular basis. I also led coverage of presidential elections in Venezuela, Argentina and Chile and chronicled the region’s successes and setbacks during the 1990s and early 2000s, a time of major technological, political and economic disruption.
In the mid 2000s, I was the News Editor at Latin Trade magazine in Coral Gables, Florida, where I wrote and edited stories on Latin American businesses and their contributions to the global economy. I also designed and launched a special publication targeting high net-worth Latin Americans known as LT Elite, which focused on wealth management and luxury lifestyles.
During these very rewarding years, I interviewed lawmakers, government ministers, world leaders—including Hugo Chávez at his house once—countless CEOs, CFOs, economists, analysts, hedge fund managers and a few Wall Street titans, always communicating my stories in ways that were clear to my readers.
From 2008 to 2014, after a roughly year-long stint as the Market Intelligence Lead for Latin America at software giant Microsoft, I worked as a U.S.-based freelance writer and editor. Here, I covered economics, financial markets, regulatory environments, banking issues, personal finance, technology and other topics for a variety of media outlets. I also supported public relations agencies by writing copy for their clients such as Diageo, the world’s largest spirits company, the Andean Development Corporation and the World of Business Ideas, among others.
From 2014 to 2019, I served as a writer/editor in the Environmental Protection Department at Saudi Aramco. In Saudi Arabia, I wrote and edited documents such as the confidential annual report on environmental, health & safety compliance and performance as well as provided support to the company and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in multilateral climate venues. Other projects included overhauling Enviro News, the department’s magazine. I also created a monthly column on environmental and health matters in the company’s weekly newspaper and edited copy as part of interdepartmental efforts to align communications strategies to better adapt to new realities facing the oil-and-gas sector.
Today, I manage content marketing at a global digital banking core in Miami. My writing generates leads and builds the corporate brand through a myriad of channels, including blogs, white papers, infographics, landing pages, ads, social media posts, press releases, sales presentations and video scripts, nurturing emails, speeches—the list goes on.
Enough about me. Now about you. In today’s digital world, content has never been more important. The narrative you build for your investors isn’t the same as for your customers, potential leads, the press or for the general public, and the channels for its distribution are endless.
It’s your story told in different narratives and points of view, and it takes an experienced writer to help you define the right angles and convey them properly depending on the audience
It also takes an experienced writer to take complex material and articulate it in easy-to-understand, jargon-free language, which is often much harder than it sounds.
And if you think AI is going to replace me in this aspect, think again.
Would you ask ChatGPT to churn out content and then post it without reviewing it first? No. You’d review it, and likely ask a professional writer to review it as well. I’ve played around with AI to see what’s it all about, and here’s a hint: it may be lighting fast, and it can be pretty fun, but it’s not always right, and it’s definitely not always good.
It’s a tool to serve human intelligence, not a replacement for it, as it has no soul or voice.
In fact, let’s just ChatGPT itself.
Me: Will AI replace writers?
ChatGPT: “While AI has made significant advancements in natural language processing and generation, it is unlikely that AI will completely replace human writers in the foreseeable future. AI, including language models like GPT-3, can assist writers by generating content, suggesting ideas, or even automating certain repetitive tasks. However, several aspects of writing involve creativity, emotion, and a deep understanding of human experiences, which are currently challenging for AI to replicate.
“AI may be a helpful tool for writers, but the unique qualities of human creativity, intuition, and the ability to convey complex emotions are likely to remain crucial in the field of writing. Instead of replacing writers, AI is more likely to augment and complement their abilities, opening up new possibilities and streamlining certain aspects of the writing process.”
Of course, take that with a grain of salt. AI doesn’t want to scare its way into oblivion by suggesting otherwise.
But ChatGPT is right about one thing: it has no human creativity or intuition.
No algorithm is going to “get” you and what you really want to say.
The best AI can do is mimic.
It’s fine for simple items like cranking out a small news item like a brief stock-market recap, but it falls short when it comes to communicating subtlety, nuance, wit, assertiveness or whatever aspect of your messaging that you need to prosper in business and in life.
So, if you’re looking for a tested voice, one who cares about writing like none other, then contact me, and let’s get started.
Your work is your life’s passion.
Let’s put your excellence in writing.
It’d be my honor to be a part of your journey.
