Written by Editorial Director David Tao and The Greatist Team.
Note: This document is confidential. It is intended only for employees of Greatist, partners of Greatist, Greatist readers, and anyone reading this on the back of strategically-placed guerilla marketing toilet paper. But seriously, TOP SECRET.
At Greatist our goal is to become the world’s first trusted, relatable health & fitness brand. We inspire and inform people to make one healthier choice per week through our content and a growing array of useful, accessible products and services. We are not a medical information site. We are a lifestyle fitness, health, and happiness guide. We’re the super-fit, super-fun friend who impresses you with knowledge and also how down to earth he/she is. It’s Jack Lalanne meets Dwyane Johnson. And while Greatist has a big list of goals, they all boil down to this one: We strive to radically change the world of health and fitness for the better by making it easier.
High Quality, Trustworthy, Independent
1. High-quality: Our content is clear, entertaining, compelling, relatable, actionable, accurate, current, and verified. (That’s CECRAACV, if you’re looking for a catchy acronym.) When people read Greatist’s content, they should immediately know they’re reading something of substance.
2. Trustworthy: Greatist is a company founded upon honesty, clarity, and Starbucks. It’s our duty to be up-front with readers regarding what we can and can’t conclude, as well as the sources of our info. No mystery doctors, no ninja nutritionists, no mad scientists. Once we establish ourselves as trustworthy, readers will help us grow our brand (and probably a lot better than we can).
3. Independent: Greatist has no hidden agenda. If Walmart merged with Coca-Cola and offered each team member an aircraft carrier, we wouldn’t take it. We’re on the side of the consumer, but we’re not anti-commercial. We welcome partners striving to build a fitter, healthier, and happier world, one barbell or superfood smoothie at a time.
How We Work It (I Put My Thing Down, Flip It, and Reverse It)
Our drive to become more relatable, higher quality, and more accessible can never stop. We consistently update our content to ensure that when readers use us as the go-to A-to-Z resource, they’re getting only what’s up-to-date and relevant. And when someone uses a product or service with the Greatist-label, they’re getting something that contributes to their fitness, health, and/or happiness. Positive reader and user experiences will in turn contribute to that all important sense of trust. It’s the editorial team’s duty to constantly ask ourselves:
Are we communicating directly with our readers to learn what they want? Are we using our Expert Network to improve the quality and trustworthiness of our content? Are we learning from new employees and partners? What do other people in the health and fitness space think of our content and company? Is our vision clear to them?
Greatist is still a small, scrappy company, which makes change very easy. Greatists aren’t afraid to step up and take responsibility for what needs getting done.
Our Readers (Are Awesome)
While Greatist’s content is accessible and actionable to almost everybody, our core readership is 21- to 35-year-olds, young go-get ’em types living busy lives. They want to make healthier choices, and Greatist is becoming that trusted resource where they can turn for verified and relatable content. Our content needs to be “must-read” for them.
Fitness, Health, &Happiness
Our content revolves around three categories:
Fitness: Improving the body through physical activity. Fitness is not just the person squatting on the highest number of stacked BOSU balls (personal record: seven). People have a broad range of fitness endeavors: distance running, powerlifting, acrobatics, and the ability to hold a spoon using only the human nose. No matter how “fit” a person is in their chosen field, they always have the capacity to work out smarter.
Health: The body’s overall wellbeing. Health involves contributors to physical wellbeing beyond exercise. It’s how food changes the way we feel, or how chairs play Twister with our spines. It’s nutrition, resistance to disease, recovery, and body chemistry. Oh, and hygiene. That’s important, too.
Happiness: Happiness encompasses social relationships, sleep, psychology, self-image, and interaction, and numerous other factors that affect mood. Stress and how we manage it are important components. As with fitness and health, happiness means different things to different people.
Our Content
Daily Articles: A variety of informative, actionable, and relatable pieces comprise most of our daily content. They collectively make up the Web’s top A-Z guide and include features, frequently asked questions, news, tips, comparisons, and more.
Larger Features:Greatist also publishes more in-depth features, bringing high-quality journalism to the online health and fitness space. The same basics apply: a consistent appreciation for different perspectives and an emphasis on actionable takeaways. Our writers have the opportunity to address the big questions in health and fitness and to become influential figures in the space.
Other Content: Our content includes guest posts and columns from people with unique perspectives and insight into the health and fitness space. We also feature content a bit outside the normal health and fitness realm (like some deliciously unhealthy recipes).
Jokes, Jokes, Jokes, Jokes!
A huge component of Greatist’s relatable tone is humor. When it comes to the driest subjects, one of our jobs is to make sure readers crack a smile. We love pop culture, prize the nexus of goofy and relevant, and hate anything demeaning or overly negative. Puns are cool, and we avoid cursing (unless it’s absolutely fucking necessary). A big part of our humor is keeping it real. (“It’s funny ‘cause it’s true.”) Health and fitness is hard, and sometimes it helps to laugh along the journey.
Likewise, it’s important for us to live the life we champion— and that means having a ton of fun together. Producing killer content is an opportunity for us all to learn and grow with our readers, and the process of making our articles hilarious should be just as funny/punny as the jokes themselves. Because if anyone can benefit from laughing at us, it’s us.
Putting It All Together
Greatist’s biggest strength is our drive to produce the highest-quality content— period. We strive to outdo even ourselves, improving our content and fostering innovation in this space along the way. We do this because we think people deserve better than what’s available, a source they can trust and that will never stop working to earn that trust. And we want to work with people who share our vision and want to work on realizing it with us.
And that’s it in an almond shell. Welcome to Greatist. We’re pumped to have you on board.
Also be sure to check out The Greatist Way on Scribd.
