by Sue Horner | Jan 6, 2010 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The start of a new year always seems to prompt at least a couple of weeks of good behaviour. Yeah, this is when so many people talk about losing 10 pounds, learning a new skill, getting organized. And so I found myself looking around at the mess in my home office over...
by Sue Horner | Dec 18, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
It was still dark as I drove my husband to a 7 a.m. doctor’s appointment yesterday. Traffic was building on the highway, but at least it was moving. In another half an hour, cars would probably be keeping no better than a snail’s pace. It suddenly occurred...
by Sue Horner | Oct 15, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
At a networking event given by IABC/Toronto’s Professional Independent Communicators (PIC), I shared why I volunteer, as did my colleagues Leslie Hetherington, Donna Papacosta, Barb Sawyers and Lee Weisser. PIC supports more than 100 independent communicators,...
by Sue Horner | Oct 2, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
While decluttering my office, I ran across a battered 1981 edition of The Canadian Writer’s Market. In it I found 32 pages of agency listings, each entry with a pencilled X or check mark beside it, plus new telephone numbers and scribbled names. Flashback: I was...
by Sue Horner | Sep 20, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
This week I had the shocking experience of having someone Not. Like. My. Work. I say shocking because I’ve been fortunate. Over about 18 years of running my own business, I’ve been able to submit a first draft of my assignments that’s pretty close to...
by Sue Horner | Sep 9, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I turned down an assignment today that wasn’t my area of expertise. Instead, I referred my contact to someone else I knew would do a great job. But it got me thinking, what do clients want from a freelance writer? Here are some things, beyond of course the...
by Sue Horner | Aug 31, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Updated July 13, 2018 You have to be disciplined to be productive when working from your home, and usually I am. I’m at my desk at 9 a.m. After a quick check for e-mail, I keep the sound off to avoid hearing the siren song that more has arrived. A to-do list has...
by Sue Horner | Jul 28, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
So when I sang the legal blues recently, I should have been more helpful and given some suggestions for avoiding approval problems with lawyers. Here they are: Consider what’s going on. In a time when lawyers are super-super-sensitive, like a lawsuit or merger,...
by Sue Horner | Jun 17, 2009 | Writing samples
(Article published in Escarpment Views magazine.) Debby McLachlan has strict instructions: no big purchases, because her tiny condo is already jam-packed. So we’ve arrived at the Aberfoyle Antique Market about mid-morning, coffee in hand, “just to...
by Sue Horner | Feb 9, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Today is Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day, the 7th annual celebration of the freedom of home business ownership. Today’s the day to make the bathrobe your power suit, or so says Kristie Tamsevicius, whose blog offers “mom-geared work-at-home...
