by Sue Horner | Jun 18, 2013 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The caller got right to the point. “How much does it cost for a 250-word newsletter article?” The thing about services is that there’s rarely a simple answer to “How much?” You can always answer with a range, but that’s only helpful if you provide context and details....
by Sue Horner | May 2, 2013 | Most popular posts, The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Are you interested in starting your own business? As companies think about calling all employees back to a physical office, rumour has it that many people are planning to quit. This may be the spark that lights your simmering entrepreneurial passion. After working...
by Sue Horner | Mar 2, 2012 | Most popular posts, Writing samples
(Written for HP Canada employee newsletter) A treasured photo can be a memento of a significant occasion, a record of a birth or marriage, the last connection to a late loved one. For families left homeless after the devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005,...
by Sue Horner | Mar 2, 2012 | Writing samples
(Article written for Suncor Energy employee publication) Like the canary in the coal mine signaling air quality, frogs and toads move in when an ecosystem is healthy. “To most people, toads may not be the ‘sexiest’ wildlife species out there,” says Leo Paquin,...
by Sue Horner | May 31, 2011 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
“Words are not much valued on the Internet, perhaps because it features so many of them.” So reads a line in a recent article by David Streitfeld in The New York Times, called “Funny or Die: Groupon’s Fate Hinges on Words.” The article...
by Sue Horner | Feb 21, 2011 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Today’s the day: Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day. Although I am not actually in my bathrobe right now, I could be, and that’s the whole point. Learn more about that in my last post about it.
by Sue Horner | Feb 11, 2011 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Get your bathrobe ready! Monday, February 21st is the 8th annual Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day, an annual celebration of the freedom and joys of owning your own home business. (Sorry, link no longer live.) Blogger Kristie Rimmele calls working from home...
by Sue Horner | Jan 31, 2011 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
“You can have it fast, you can have it good, you can have it cheap. Pick any two.” If these are words for independent communicators to live by – reflecting the value of what we do – why do so many of us buckle when a prospective client balks at the price we propose? A...
by Sue Horner | Jan 10, 2011 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Are you getting paid what you’re worth? Anyone can appreciate the value and attraction of that concept, but perhaps independent business owners most of all. I attended a networking/professional development event on just that topic, put on by IABC/Toronto’s...
by Sue Horner | Nov 8, 2010 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Two things jumped out at me about the 2009 IABC/Canada online salary survey*: 1. “Nationally speaking, men do appear to make more on average than women.” According to the survey, the mean (essentially the average) yearly salary / median (the middle-most value when the...
