Shelby R. King
Shelby R. King
Content strategy · Editorial leadership · Thought leadership · Customer proof · Sales enablement · Search visibility
Denver, Colorado · shelbyrking@gmail.com · shelbyrking.com · LinkedIn · Shelterforce
Leadership profile
I lead content work that has to be accurate, useful, and able to hold up under scrutiny. My background spans investigative reporting, developmental editing, B2B payments, customer proof, SEO, and editorial operations. I build the standards and source habits that help teams publish clearer work with fewer false starts.
Current scope
At CSG Forte, I function as the lead for Payments content strategy and operations. I own editorial strategy and execution across thought leadership, executive communications, customer proof, product and solution content, SEO, web content, and sales enablement. I also direct external contributors and agency work, set standards, and align Product Marketing, Design, SEO, Customer Success, Sales, subject-matter experts, and leadership.
Selected scale and impact
- 150+ Insights articles produced or supported since Feb. 2025; 202-article library organized for planning, reuse, and optimization.
- Named customer-story portfolio expanded from 6 to 11, with proof reused across marketing, sales, proposals, and buyer education.
- Up to five external writers and ebook contributors directed at once; external agency engagement managed.
- 30 high-value SEO opportunities mapped; 12-week optimization roadmap and KPI baseline built.
- Full public website relaunch supported through messaging, architecture, migration, and publishing QA.
Core capabilities
Strategy: Content strategy · Thought leadership · Executive communications · Customer proof · Product and solution messaging
Operations: Editorial leadership · Standards · Contributor direction · Cross-team review · Publishing QA
Complex subject matter: B2B payments · Housing finance · Public policy · SEO · Source development · research and review workflows
Professional experience
CSG Forte — Editorial Specialist | Functional Lead, Payments Content Strategy & Operations
Jul 2023-Present
- Built the structure behind a high-volume content function: governance, intake, calendars, briefs, review paths, contributor workflows, publishing QA, measurement, optimization, and reuse.
- Own editorial strategy and operations across thought leadership, executive communications, customer proof, product and solution content, SEO, web, and sales enablement.
- Led solution messaging, information architecture, migration, and publishing support for a full public website relaunch.
- Built research, briefing, optimization, reuse, and quality-control workflows that use AI tools where they help and keep source checks and editorial review intact.
- Directed external writers, ebook contributors, agency partners, and cross-team partners toward consistent, credible work without waiting for formal reporting authority.
Shelterforce — Investigative Journalist, Housing Finance & Policy
2021-Present
- Report nationally on the financial, operational, and policy systems shaping affordable housing for practitioners, policymakers, funders, lenders, developers, advocates, and community leaders.
- Built a sustained affordable-housing business-model investigation examining preservation, capital, operating stress, lending, public policy, and institutional incentives.
- Develop trusted sources across executives, economists, researchers, developers, lenders, residents, advocates, and public officials; translate contested evidence without sanding off uncertainty.
- Reporting has influenced public and industry responses, including attention to manufactured-housing finance and future tenant protections.
The CE Shop — Developmental Editor, Real Estate Education
2016-2023
- Shaped online Pre-Licensing, Post-Licensing, and Continuing Education content, translating real-estate law, regulation, and industry practice into accurate digital learning experiences.
- Partnered with SMEs, instructional designers, multimedia specialists, and product teams to improve logic, pacing, compliance, consistency, and learner experience.
Earlier Experience — Developmental Editor; Newspaper Reporter; Front-of-House Restaurant Manager
Earlier career
- Edited nonfiction books, proposals, and long-form manuscripts across business, memoir, and narrative nonfiction; strengthened structure, argumentation, clarity, and voice.
- Reported for regional newspapers including Herald and News in Klamath Falls, Oregon; The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon; and the Daily Journal of Commerce and The Mercury in Portland, Oregon, covering government, education, business, courts, public safety, and community issues.
- Built expertise in public records, interviewing, deadline judgment, source development, and practical operations leadership.
Education, speaking, and technology
Education: University of Oregon, B.A. English Literature; B.S. Magazine Journalism, 2009
Speaking: NCRC Annual Conference; YIMBYtown Portland; Shelterforce webinars; Housing After Dark; industry podcasts; public author talks
Content, web, and publishing: Contentful · WordPress · Netlify · Zoomforth · interactive proposal systems · HTML/CSS · Figma · Canva · publishing QA
Search, analytics, and measurement: Semrush Enterprise · Google Analytics 4 · GA4 Explorations · Google Search Console · Power BI · KPI baselines · content audits · search roadmaps
Research, AI, and knowledge tools: Glean · ChatGPT · Claude · Perplexity · Microsoft Copilot · Gemini · NotebookLM · prompt libraries · source checks · briefing · optimization · QA workflows
Operations and collaboration: Asana · Notion · Microsoft 365 · SharePoint · Teams · PowerPoint · Excel · Google Workspace · editorial calendars · governance · contributor workflows · review systems
Selected work examples
- Government stock bid proposal system: shaped story, structure, proof points, and sales handoff for a reusable proposal experience for public-sector payments buyers.
- Customer proof: translated documented outcomes into sales-ready evidence, including Mecklenburg County kiosk results and Intech’s 230% collections increase.
- Forte Insights optimization system: organized a 202+ article library around baseline measurement, priority pages, Contentful handoffs, and 12-week outcomes.
- Website redesign and Contentful migration: supported solution-page architecture, message development, migration planning, governance, analytics setup, and publishing QA.
- Affordable housing business-model investigation: built a national reporting platform around preservation, financing, operating stress, public subsidy, and institutional incentives.
Selected editorial range
Housing finance and policy: preservation, operating stress, lending, public subsidy, institutional incentives, and resident impacts.
Complex B2B payments: product and solution messaging, buyer education, customer proof, sales enablement, SEO, and executive communications.
Editorial systems: source development, standards, governance, editorial operations, research workflows, and cross-team review models.