Making a Difference, Summer 2010 edition

The Summer edition of Making a Difference, a quarterly publication of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), has just wrapped up. In addition to it’s stellar design (hey, a designer should be able to toot their own horn) the magazine is full of inspiring articles and information.

The summer edition features the Children’s Freedom Initiative, which aims to move children with disabilities under the age of 22 out of state-run facilities and closer to home. The initiative was formed in 2005 after advocates with the Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO) discovered 141 children under the age of 22 living in state-run facilities and other nursing facilities. Mathew Harp, featured on the cover with his mom and sisters, gives an inspiring message about what it meant to him to return home after having to live in a nursing home when he was 21.
Other articles included in this summer edition are:
• Summer Fun for Everyone – summer camps for kids of all abilities
• State Legislature Summary and Outlook
• 20th Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act
• Success on the Court – young tennis star soars to the top

A PDF of the magazine can be downloaded here.

Etwoah Landscape Homepage, Designed by O'Neill Communications

Above shows the home page of the new Etowah website. As you can see it focuses heavily on the beautiful, lush landscapes they’ve created and maintained for their clients. Luckily we had some stunning photographs to really bring the site to life!

We also added a link on every page to Etowah’s Kudzu and Yelp listings so that current customers can quickly go on and review Etowah’s services and prospecitve customer can click to see what others have said.

Etowah’s stellar service has also inspired people to write in with kind words and testimonials. To share some of these we created a page of testimonials as well as a widget in the sidebar of every page that rotates through some snippets of the customers’ quotes.

In addition, we also created and installed a customer feedback survey, seasonal calendars and a sign up form for the Etowah Landscape newsletter.

Visit the Etowah Landscape Group website now!

General Overview Brochure

The General Overview brochure is a 14″ x 8.5″ parallel folded, full color brochure. The focus of the piece to is showcase what the gardens are about and what visitors can expect to see and experience during their time in the gardens. The photography for the piece was provided by the gardens and were of such a high quality that they really helped make for a beautiful piece.

Download a PDF of the Smith-Gilbert Gardens
Overview Brochure

Garden Tour Brochure

The Garden Tour brochure is a 25.375″ x 11″ french folded, full color brochure. This piece contains the map of the gardens with detailed explanations of the different points of interest around the gardens as well as a listing of all 30 sculptures, their creators and date of creation.  Once again, all the photography came from the gardens and looks terrific.  Smith-Gilbert Gardens was so happy with the interior map that we were asked to blow it up to poster size so they could display it in their welcome center.

Download a PDF of the Smith-Gilbert Gardens
Garden Tour Brochure

We’ve just finished the latest issue of Making a Difference magazine, a quarterly publication of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). O’Neill Communications handled the editorial content, cartoon illustration, and overall design of the publication.

The spring 2010 edition features the 12th Annual Disability Day 2010 in Atlanta. Advocates from across the state came together on February 25 to let the Georgia government know that they are ready…ready for the waiting lists to be cleared; ready for legislation to be passed for more readily available accessible housing options; ready for employers to recognize the value that employees with disabilities bring to the workplace…ready for change.

Kathleen Martinez, the assistant secretary for U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), was the co-keynote speaker for Disability Day. “It’s easy to get channeled into a job with low to no expectations,” she continued. “At the Office of Disability Employment Policy, we’re working on developing jobs with actual promotions, retention and satisfaction.”

Also in the spring issue:

• Safe Schools Initiative: Your Child’s Safety on the Line
• Student-Led IEPs Secure a Bright Future
• State Legislature Wraps Up Session

Published by GCDD, this quarterly magazine can be downloaded here.

Because I’m a writer, people often think that I love grammar and know everything about the English language. They think I lived for the grammar lessons in school.

Well, they’re wrong. I never liked grammar, and I have a difficult time explaining certain things to people. However, there are certain rules that are really basic, and that everyone should know.

• Lose vs. loose. These are two different words with two different meanings and two different pronunciations. You lose your keys. You lose weight. Your pants are loose if you’re losing weight.

• Could of vs. could have. ‘Could of’ is never right. It’s either regional slang or the pronunciation of could’ve, the contraction for could have. If you leave a comment with the correct usage of ‘could of,’ you get a gold star.

• Periods and commas go inside quotation marks.

• It’s not ‘can not.’ It’s ‘cannot.’ (Actually, ‘can not’ is sometimes correct but usually ‘cannot’ is correct, so when in doubt, use ‘cannot.’)

• Its vs. It’s. This is so easy, yet so many people get it wrong! It’s is a contraction for ‘It is” or ‘it has.’ Its is a possessive pronoun. If you’re confused, just read whatever you’re writing. Does “it is” or “it has” make sense? If not, then use ‘its.’

• They’re vs. their vs. there. One is ‘they are’ and one is plural and one is a location.

• Don’t use 12 Noon or 12 Midnight. Just say noon or midnight.

• ATM Machine and PIN Number. When you write it like that, you’re really saying “Automated Teller Machine Machine” and “Personal Identification Number Number.”

• Ending a sentence with a preposition. Your grammar teacher told you not to do this, but in casual writing it’s okay. This rule is fading quickly even for formal writing, and I’m actually okay with this one. It’s annoying, and no one speaks with this rule in mind.

• ‘I’ vs. ‘me.’ Here is an easy way to remember – ‘I’ is the subject of the verb, and ‘me’ is the object of the verb.

There you go, a quick refresher course. Did I miss anything?

Ah, yes – the dreaded presentation where the presenter thought it was vital to put every word from their presentation onto the screen. Presentation – FAIL! Here’s usually what happens next – instead of the audience anxiously anticipating what the speaker will say next, they skip ahead on the screen and ultimately end up tuning out the presenter. What’s the point of listening if it’s all right there in front of you?

Here’s a few tips to make sure that you’re actually heard in your next presentation:

1. Focus on the key points. What are the main ideas that you want your audience to take away from the presentation?

2. Illustrate rather than spell out your points. Do you have a dramatic statistic that you’d like to focus on? Don’t hide it in copy or another boring chart, instead find a dramatic photo and use it as a callout.

3. Add some humor. Think about it – humor can loosen up any crowd and help keep your audience’s attention. Just make sure to keep it business appropriate!

I challenge you to go ahead and break the vicious cycle of copy heavy presentations! Only you can prevent snooze-fests! And let me know if you have any other suggestions on how you make sure your audience hears you during presentations.

I also find it difficult to critique other people’s work at times, but I realize that they are probably just like me and want to strengthen their writing as well.

After the break, learn what steps I use to critique various writing projects.

1. Take care of spelling and grammatical errors. These stand out to me and can be very distracting, so I always go through writing projects once and just focus on those so I can then move on to bigger issues.
2. Ask yourself whether or not the piece fits the purpose. For example, if I’m writing for a small newspaper advertisement and my copy is three pages long, there is an issue.
3. Make sure the copy fits the brand. Some businesses and brands take on a more serious tone while others are a bit cheeky. Tone is important.
4. Be specific. Writing “awkward” or “too wordy” is not enough. I am very guilty of doing this, but this doesn’t help the writer and can be confusing. If a sentence is “awkward,” explain why. If a sentence is “too wordy” circle what you feel are the unnecessary words.
5. Have a reason for your critiques. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people critique my work and simply say, “I changed this because I like it better this way.” This doesn’t tell me why, other than the person reviewing my work and I have two different styles. Perhaps you’re using more active wording or have shortened the length so the message comes across much more quickly.
6. Make sure you actually read. I’m very guilty of skimming and scanning, but even if you feel like you’ve read a piece two or three times, make sure you go through once to make sure you have caught everything.
7. Make sure nothing is missing. For example, if you’re critiquing copy for an email, make sure a subject line and headline are included. Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in writing body copy that I can forget another aspect of the project. It’s human nature to make mistakes – but that’s why there is a review process.
8. And read it again. Just one more time.
   

As a writer, I can say it’s very helpful to come up with a group of core people that you trust and know will provide honest feedback. You don’t necessarily need to correspond with them outside of writing or to even like them that much – but you need to trust and respect them enough to provide honest, helpful feedback.

What advice do you have for someone who is critiquing copy?

What exactly does this mean? For example, let’s say you search for Tiger Woods. I’m not sure why you would considering we haven’t heard anything about the guy in ages, but let’s just pretend you want to see what he’s been up to lately. So if you type “Tiger Woods” into Google’s search engine, you see this page:

Note that you first see news results, Tiger’s official Web site and the Tiger Woods Wikipedia entry. However, now you’ll see a “Latest Results” box:

This box consists of the latest postings on social network sites about Tiger (including Facebook and Twitter) as well as articles from news Web sites and Yahoo! Answers. It updates automatically, so there is no need to refresh your search results. In fact, you can click on the “Latest Results” link and be taken to a search results page that specifically updates from these real-time results:

So. What does this mean for you and your brand’s online identity? We now not only have to ensure that your Web site’s copy is en pointe so that it is more likely to show up high in search results, but also that you are producing consistent and timely information via blog entries and social network updates. It’s important to keep in mind that the Internet is not a stagnant marketplace, so your approach to your Web site or “supplementary materials” such as your blog should be to constantly be searching for ways to be innovative and timely. Once you hit “publish” on your Web site does not mean you are “finished.” Sure, take a break. Get some fresh air. But once you get back to your desk, it’s time to think about what more can be done.

This does not mean to constantly update. An online marketing strategy should never consist of spam, and if your strategy is to simply update for the sake of updating without any real thought behind your target audience and the content you wish to present, you will become a spammer.

Here is some advice on how to continuously maintain and improve upon your online identity:

• Revise your Web site judiciously. Revisions are made often, and from time to time a complete overhaul is needed. But if a client or consumer of your product comes to your Web site but can’t find what they are looking for where they saw it last time, that becomes an issue. Rather, continuously be considering how you can get the most important information across to your target audience in the most convenient way possible. (You can use Google Analytics as an easy way to see what’s most important your Web site visitors.)
• Post your Facebook updates to your Wall. Some pages send updates to their fans’ inboxes, particularly “special deals” that are for Facebook fans only. Solution? Post the update to your public wall, anyway. If you want to be super “exclusive” then you can send a certain code to member inboxes. But chances are you’ll only gain more fans and interest by posting to the wall. And this way you are more likely to show up in search results.
• Tweet often, but only if you have something to say. You probably have a product to sell, and Twitter can be a great way to introduce an audience to your brand. But don’t tweet constantly just to show up in both your followers’ live feeds and the new real-time search results. You’ll only become a nuisance in the marketplace, like a mosquito in a quiet room. My advice is to tweet at least twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Once you fulfill that quota, stop to think. What’s new with your business? Have you read any interesting news articles about your industry lately? Maybe you’ve heard a funny (and appropriate) joke about your industry (I’m looking at you, lawyers.)
• Respond to others. Get your brand out there by responding to industry blog posts. If a fan of your Facebook page posts a comment or question, answer them in a courteous and cheerful manner. Join in on trending topics on Twitter. Work on keeping your online identity accessible.

What does your online presence currently consist of – just a Web site? Are you on Facebook or Twitter? What are your thoughts on Google’s real-time search results?

Here’s a few suggestions I’d like to give companies in order to keep subscribers happy and interested in what they have to say:

1. Quality over quantity. Going a week or two between emails isn’t going to make anyone forget who you are or what you do. Wouldn’t you rather your audience be pleasantly surprised to hear from you than immediately start looking for the unsubscribe link when they see your email? Ideally, I’d suggest sending emails bi-weekly with no fewer than 1 email per month. You also don’t want them to forget about you!

2. Keep it fresh. No one wants to read about the same thing over and over again. Tell them something new or different every time, and I promise they’ll keep you around. And by ‘new or different’ I don’t mean sending your subscribers something completely off topic. Keep the email topics relevant to what they signed up for.

3. Short and sweet. As much as you may want to believe, your audience probably isn’t sitting on the edge of their seat clicking “Get Mail” in hopes of something coming in. They’ve got things to do, so get to the point. Chances are they’re just scanning your email until something really catches their eye.

Follow those suggestions and your unsubscribers are sure to be minimal. A “good” average unsubscribe rate for a list that you communicate regularly with is somewhere between .2% and .75% (workz.com). What other suggestions you’d have for keeping your email on a company’s list?

However, something is just as, if not more so, important than content, and that would be how you say something. Even in print, tone is important. Are you trying to come across as friendly and open? Professional and corporate? Snotty and arrogant? (Don’t laugh … after all, A Diamond is Forever is a bit arrogant but has been a very successful catchphrase.)

When considering your tone, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Who is my audience? Let’s say you are writing a brochure about drug use. Your copy will be very different for a teenage audience than if the brochure is going to be distributed among police.
• What is my product? Is your product fresh and different? For example, the aforementioned Souper Drink uses very fun, tongue-in-cheek copy such as “Good for everybody and every body!” However, your product may be a piece of software to help others write living wills. You will probably want to strike a more somber tone for such a product.
• What is the collateral? Are you writing for a magazine, a Web site or a blog? Magazines typically provide more information, while a Web site should be as to-the-point as possible. Blogs are usually conversational, while a brochure would be more professional.
• Is this copy negative or positive? Always strive for positive copy. For example, don’t say “If you don’t respond by this date, you won’t be able to register for our conference!” Instead, try writing “Respond by [date] to take advantage of our special offers!”

The next time you have to write some copy, concentrate more on the message you want to send by how you write, not by what you write. You’ll be surprised at how much your style of writing may change!

Have you ever read an advertisement where the copy completely missed the mark?