Break the bars and say ‘si’ to life
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...
Is this how to treat a ‘valued subscriber’?
“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...
Friday word fun
TGIF! Time for a few minutes of seemingly mindless fun, with a secret learning component (thanks to Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries): Don’t you want to find out How Strong is your Vocabulary? (This replaces one that’s no longer available, sadly:...
Top 11 posts for independents
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...
Take time to celebrate
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...
Happy holiday’s, er, holidays
You’ve gotta love the intent behind the message, while regretting the lack of proofreader. < A message in my in-box today.
Indie communicator? Here are 20 things I’ve learned in 20 years
It’s been a busy year, and somehow I just realized that the milestone of 20 years as an independent business communicator and freelance writer passed months ago. To echo a post my friend and fellow indie Donna Papacosta ran about her 26 years in business, here are 20...
Punctuation challenge results are in
No doubt you breathlessly awaited the results of the contest that marked the 2011 National Punctuation Day (Sept. 24) — the day for drawing attention to America’s lapsed grammar skills. Well, wait no longer! NPD founder Jeff Rubin announced the select few...