The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Sue Horner is a freelance writer in Oakville, Ontario, who blogs about writing, communications and running an independent business in The Red Jacket Diaries blog.

10 tips to polish your LinkedIn profile

By Sue Horner | Published: February 2, 2012

Never, never, NEVER auto-post your Twitter comments to LinkedIn. It’s annoying, all those #hashtags and @signs are #messy and #confusing to #people who don’t use #Twitter, and you’ll just cause your network to hide your comments, which effectively hides YOU from sight. Not what you’re looking for in a network that’s all about connection, is [...]

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Happy 5th blogversary (sorry!) to me

By Sue Horner | Published: January 24, 2012

Five years, 517 blog posts. That’s nothing compared to the outpourings of prolific writers who crank out posts daily or even multiple times a day. But as someone who had a hard time keeping a regular journal, as noted last year at this time, I marvel at having kept posting at least once a week [...]

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Tips & tricks for cleaning up computer clutter

By Sue Horner | Published: January 17, 2012

Do you keep your computer organized? Or do you have files in your email folders, files on the desktop, files on USB keys, files tucked in files hidden in files? Professional organizer Deanne Kelleher has seen it all before, and blames our disorganization for the headaches caused when we can’t find a file. Who wants [...]

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Break the bars and say ‘si’ to life

By Sue Horner | Published: January 12, 2012

Warm weather dreaming as winter sets in reminded me that last year, I spent five days in Cuba on a quick all-inclusive vacation during Son #2′s week off university. Juggling paying work and my own school work, I didn’t have a lot of spare time but figured it could work. Between booking the trip and [...]

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Is this how to treat a ‘valued subscriber’?

By Sue Horner | Published: January 10, 2012

“Dear Valued Subscriber,” the note began. Ah, my newspaper really appreciates my business. As well it should; isn’t the industry in distress? Millennials don’t read newspapers, do they? It’s time to renew my subscription and I’ll bet the paper really wants to keep me as a customer. Well, maybe it does want to keep me, [...]

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Friday word fun

By Sue Horner | Published: January 6, 2012

TGIF! Time for a few minutes of seemingly mindless fun, with a secret learning component (thanks to Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries): Correct the malapropisms, where one word is used mistakenly for another, like “I was prostate with grief” vs. “I was prostrate with grief.” Make a word as fast as possible with the tiles given [...]

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A new year, a new list to read

By Sue Horner | Published: January 2, 2012

Reading is one of my great pleasures, but 2011 was definitely not a stellar year for me and books. School is to blame, of course; between the required texts and assignments, I had very little time to read for the sheer enjoyment of reading. Still, I managed to sneak in 11 books for fun among [...]

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Top 11 posts for independents

By Sue Horner | Published: December 31, 2011

On this last day of 2011, here are the top 11 most popular Red Jacket Diaries posts about living the independent communicator’s life: How to get paid what you’re worth What an unpaid bill says about you Some tips for following up Marketing on a tight budget 20 things I’ve learned in 20 years 10 [...]

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Take time to celebrate

By Sue Horner | Published: December 23, 2011

It’s been a little quiet around the Red Jacket Diaries these days. I’ve just finished a stretch where every spare minute and then some went into various school assignments, both team and individual. My head was down and it felt like it came up only to check the next due date — sometimes, I’ll admit, [...]

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Happy holiday’s, er, holidays

By Sue Horner | Published: December 22, 2011

You’ve gotta love the intent behind the message, while regretting the lack of proofreader.   < A message in my in-box today.

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