Freelance financial journalism.
Business | Investing | Wealth Management | Stocks | Markets | Funds | The economy
About
Optimal Media is the trading name of Alex Sebastian’s financial journalism business. He specialises in business, investing and wealth management coverage. Alex has more than a decade of experience spread across reporter and editor positions in the national consumer media and investment industry B2B titles.
His employers include This is Money, Portfolio Adviser, Financial Times Group, Euromoney Institutional Investor and Business Insider.
In these roles Alex developed an advanced understanding of the City of London, the investment sector, financial markets and the wider business world. He has built an extensive contact list to draw on.
He has also learnt how some of the world’s most successful media organisations use story selection, framing, headline style and SEO techniques to attract large audiences.
Alex is fully qualified as a financial journalist. He holds the CFA Society Investment Management Certificate (IMC), an NCTJ Certificate in Journalism and a degree in economics from the University of Sussex.
Further details are available in his LinkedIn profile or via emailing him at alex@optimal-media.co.uk
Areas of work
News
From rapidly written breaking news hits to longer explanatory pieces and everything in-between, all incorporating SEO techniques favoured by some of the world’s most successful news sites.
Analysis
Cutting through the noise to explain exactly what the news means for your readers, why it’s important and what they can do to take advantage. When executed to a high standard with strong framing, these pieces drive page views and subscriptions.
Commentary
A balanced weighing-up of all sides of a debate, or delivery of a punchy, strongly-argued opinion on something your audience cares about. Commentary done well can be a powerful generator of views and engagement.
Features
Profiles, single source interviews or wide-ranging pieces with multiple people quoted. The writing style can be tailored to be easy to understand for a general audience, or incorporate a high level of technical detail for specialist professional readers.
Editing
Sharpening up copy, adding strong SEO-tuned headlines, bullets and other elements, or just proofreading and fact-checking. Everything that’s needed to make sure your pieces are high quality and hit home with the target audience.
Editorial management
Stepping in to run a website, section or team of reporters. From a single day of cover up to fixed terms spanning several weeks.
Event coverage
Attendance of conferences, press briefings or other industry events and the subsequent delivery of a specified range of copy.