Tom Prince portfolio | Melbourne-based freelancer and digital content writer

Jump to portfolio: Mental health | Marine | Culture and music | B2B retail

I’ve been told that I have a diverse (eclectic even) professional background.

I regard that as a compliment. I have 13 years’ experience in Australian media and during that time I’ve held several diverse journalism and digital content roles, including:

Digital Content Manager at Bauer Media.(recreational marine and RVs).
Editor on the Australian Hardware Journal (retail and manufacturing).
Editor on TrailerBoat magazine (recreational marine).

Digital Content Producer at Bauer Media (machinery and agriculture).
SEO Consultant at RACV (motoring).
Content Manager at On the Line (mental health not-for-profit).

I am essentially a content creative (a writer and editor) who actually enjoys SEO keyword spreadsheets and Google Analytics reports. Essentially, you get the best of both worlds.

I’ve worn many hats. Here are selected examples of my work.

Mental health and wellbeing

On the Line | Formal submission for Senate mental health inquiry
As content manager for On the Line I researched and wrote this formal submission to the 2017 Senate enquiry on rural mental health.

Operation Compass | Video interview with veterans about PTSD and mental health
I conducted this series of deeply candid video interviews with Australian military veterans to promote a Defence mental health service.

MensLine Australia| Coping on Fathers’ Day
I researched, wrote and SEOed this blog for MensLine Australia. It is a help-seeking piece aimed at men that addresses ways to cope with stress, loss, depression, anxiety and loneliness.

Lost Dogs Home | 5 amazing things I learnt from fostering animals
Not a formal mental health article, but nonetheless a topic close to the hearts of many people.

Marine, boating and fishing

RACV | Guide to marine fuel docks in Port Phillip Bay
This guide shows on-water fuelling locations in Port Phillip Bay and Western Port. It is based around a custom Google Map that shows all marine fuel locations that are accessible to recreational boaters. Identifying all location required extensive research with dozens of marinas.

RACV | Comprehensive dockside eating guide
I spoke to dozens of venues and marinas to compile this comprehensive guide to dockside eating in Port Phillip Bay and Western Port. Like its companion fuel guide (above) it is built around a custom Google map that shows where to eat after docking your boat. It includes dozens of physical locations as well as hundreds of food outlets within walking distance.

RACV | Winterising a boat motor: fact or fiction?
Winterising is the practice of protecting a marine engine from corrosion and other deterioration when not used over winter.

RACV | Winter boating in Victoria
Boating and fishing in Australia’s southern states is highly seasonal. This long-form piece is based around interviews with two experts and covers the best boating options during Victoria’s cold months.

RACV | Boat trailer maintenance checklist
RACV Marine commissioned me to write several articles that introduced fundamental concepts of recreational boating. As the name implies, this piece is about effective boat trailer maintenance.

RACV | Recreational boating maintenance checklist
This article is based around a general checklist for recreational boating. It was derived from an interview with a subject matter expert, the media liaison officer of a Volunteer Coast Guard unit.

RACV | Introduction to buying a boat
Another introduction to the basics of recreational boating. As with purchasing a car, so too does buying a recreational boat involve many common sense steps.

RACV | Guide to marine batteries
This straightforward article explains marine battery maintenance. To differentiate it from a multitude of similar articles I titled it “5 guaranteed ways to ruin a marine battery” and structured it loosely in a listicle format.

RACV | Introduction to boat shows
This piece promotes the RACV Marine Melbourne Boat Show. It intentionally contains some ambiguous elements so that the page can be readily repurposed year after year for the same event (and therefore build on its search equity).

RACV | Marine insurance questions
A straightforward piece. It intentionally avoided a ‘hard sell’ tone and steered clear of hyper-focussing on the fear element.

BoatSales.com.au | A day in the pits at the World Jetsprint Championships
Originally published in TrailerBoat magazine, this was one of my earliest editorial assignments. Jetsprint is basically monster V8 racing in tiny aluminium boats and my job was to cover a day in the pits. The team I was embedded with happened to consist mostly of ex-prison officers and this line from the article kind of captures the mood of the day: “It had been a gruelling day, fraught with drama and a fair share of danger. Various boats had landed on embankments, and one even fell on and trapped a track marshal”

Culture and music

Single-page SEO exercise that netted 100k+ organic pageviews | 10 things you didn’t know about Lemmy
This article has recorded well over 100,000 pageviews since publication, overwhelmingly from organic traffic sources. It was published on an obscure private blog, with no incoming links, no formal social media presence, and no static front-page from which to index articles. The traffic was due to the simple application of basic SEO principles.

Time Out | Deadlifts & Death Metal fitness classes in Melbourne
This feature for Time Out Melbourne is about a fitness class called Deadlifts & Death Metal. It’s a strength-training class that – as you may have guessed from the name – is based around a heavy metal music theme.

Hysteria Magazine | Interview with Chuck Billy from Testament
Interview I did with Chuck Billy, vocalist for thrash metal band Testament. We talked about the upcoming album, his love of boating, and his recovery after contracting COVID-19.