The best of the Red Jacket Diaries in 2017

As another year comes to a close, I’m looking back at the most-viewed posts on my blog in 2017. Did you miss any of them?

As a freelance writer, I often talk about the various aspects of the indie life that I think others may be interested in:

Reflecting on marking 26 years in business in January prompted some thoughts on the value of running an independent business. “Is 2017 the year YOU make the leap?” also points to lots of resources for people thinking about doing the same.
Also in January, I hit the milestone of 10 years of blogging. In this post, I share some of the current thinking about the value of blogs.
If you haven’t found much value in Twitter, I have a three-step assignment for you in this post, along with some links to other helpful posts.

Words are my business, so I often talk about words (including jargon), creative inspiration and the mechanics of writing:

A chance comment on Twitter inspired some research into ways to spur your creativity, including Roger von Oech’s whack on the side of the head.
If you need to cram as much of an interesting interview as possible into a small number of words, I came up with 11 ways to do it.
What overused and jargony words do you most despise? I share my most-hated jargon (including incentivize and mitigate) and suggest better alternatives.
“Weasel words still in the spotlight” looks at some unfortunate corporate euphemisms for unpleasant actions. The post stars “re-accommodate” for forcibly removed and “implement changes” for firing 100 employees, among others.

My blog posts often summarize interesting events that I attend:

One of the most visited posts talked about how to solve problems using Post-It notes.
Another popular post summarized a panel discussion of IABC communication leaders. “Eyes and ears still key in the digital age” noted that old-school listening and face-to-face communication are as important as ever.
You’ll find on- and off-site strategies for search engine optimization in “SEO tips: Feed the beast to land on page one.”

Thanks for taking the time to read (and sometimes comment). Here’s to a fabulous 2018 for us all!

Thanks to Pixabay for the image.