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Making business planning approachable

Business planning can feel intimidating, especially to first-time founders. At Palo Alto Software, I wrote SEO-optimized articles and scripted educational video that turned complex topics into clear, practical steps.

Organization
Palo Alto Software: LivePlan & Bplans
My role
Writer, editor, video scripting and on-camera talent
Skills
Editorial writing SEO Audience research Video scripting
Audience
Small business owners and first-time entrepreneurs
Timeline
2019 – 2024
Note
Published under my maiden name, Makenna Crocker

The challenge

LivePlan and Bplans help people plan, fund, and grow their businesses. Most of their readers aren’t finance experts. They come from search with a specific question, like how to write a plan for a coffee shop or which numbers actually matter, and they need an answer they can use right away.

The content had to rank well enough to be found, and be clear and encouraging enough that readers would trust the brand with the next step.

How I wrote

  1. Start from the reader’s questionEach piece was built around a real search need, with headings that answer the questions people actually ask.
  2. Write for search and for peopleI wrote and optimized content for Google search, including on-page SEO in WordPress, without letting keywords get in the way of clear writing.
  3. Make it practicalStep-by-step structure, real examples, and free templates readers can download and use.

Selected articles

Video

Starting a Business: Why You Need a Business Plan

An evergreen explainer for the Bplans YouTube channel that I scripted and appeared in.

I also wrote, directed, and acted in a LivePlan series on common business planning mistakes. The series was based on our own research into where small business owners get stuck, and it used humor to make a dry topic easier to watch.

Next project
Who gets left out of health information