Debbie Gerardi

How to stretch your marketing dollars

In a pinch, small businesses often consider a do-it-yourself approach. This is a quick, economical option if you are confident in your writing, web design, print design or photography skills.

While there is no substitute for a professional craftsman (or craftswoman), you may find it helpful to educate yourself on the freelance process before engaging the services of a professional. This will certainly save you time and money throughout the life of your project.

I have assembled a list of print and web resources that have proven invaluable to me in my freelance writing career. I encourage you to turn to them for advice. Or give me a call when you’re stuck. Your first cry for help will be answered at no cost to you.

Links

www.mosaicwebdesigns.com
One of the best step-by-step guides I’ve found for getting online and building your own website.

www.usability.gov
Follow these rules for good online manners. User first, please. What are their needs, limitations and preferences? This is the go-to site for all things usable.

www.useit.com
This online archive of bi-monthly columns about specific issues in usability is written by usability expert Jakob Nielsen. Always a good touchstone for what is happening in the world of usability.

http://www.webwritingthatworks.com/CResources3HOTevals.htm
Want to know how well your organization’s prose meets usability standards?  Use these online evaluation instruments to get a quantitative measure of your own pages –
then compare them with your competitors’.

www.vistaprint.com
Free business cards? Surely this must be a scam. But the quality is decent, and it’s an economical way to establish your identity through business cards, letterhead, notepads, pens, magnets… you name it.

http://www.guru.com
My competition! Here is an option for hiring freelancers of all shapes and sizes. Guru.com is the world’s largest online service marketplace. While I prefer to work one-on-one, through a more personal relationship, I do think it’s important for clients to weigh all options.

Books (A few of my favorite writing references!)

Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg. This book was recommended to me by one of my fiction instructors 20 years ago. I still turn to this Zen-inspired gem, along with Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, when I’m feeling blocked. These are not business writing books, but they do free one’s mind to write and write and write until the message eventually presents itself.
 

Hot Text: Web Writing That Works, by Jonathan and Lisa Price. This is a crazy fun approach to writing for the web. Loads of good stuff here.

Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time, by Maria Veloso. This title speaks for itself. A great start if you’d like to try your hand at copywriting. You may also wish to check out www.awaionline.com. Note: These resources tend to be heavy on the direct mail genre and can be a bit LOUD in style.

Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, by Jerry Weissman. This is technically a book about creating oral presentations, but there are plenty of great ideas here for ways to make your text talk.

The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing by Ben Yagoda. My personal favorite! A super smart guide for discovering and developing your own personal writing style and voice. Written by a columnist for The New Yorker.

Style Guides

There are varying schools of thought on style guidelines. For example, do you write: 

Web site, web site or website? 

On-line or online? 

e-mail or email?

A first rate writer or a first-rate writer?

Whatever else you do, decide on a style guide before you embark on any written communications. Do not jeopardize your company’s credibility by making typos, grammatical errors or a hodgepodge of stylistic choices.

I consult three tried-and-true guides: AP Style Guide, the Chicago Manual of Style and Franklin Covey Style Guide.  Before going live or heading to press, I also have a proofreader check, letter by letter, to make sure there’s nothing I’ve overlooked in the editing process.

Personal Resources

Looking for a trusted marketing professional, designer, web designer or photographer? Have I got a list for you! When you know precisely the type of service you want, go directly to the source. I give each of these professionals my wholehearted stamp of approval. 

If you are uncertain about how to begin or proceed with a project, call me. The Gerardi/WriteOn Review is a one-time commitment of $500. I will dig in and provide eight hours of intensely focused rewriting on any and all existing online and print communications. Or, for larger projects, I will assemble a team with the skills to most effectively meet your marketing or communications expectations.

Mosaic Web Marketing
Take your business to the next level with search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, pay-per-click advertising, quality assurance testing, and more. Mary Kay Murdaugh is my personal go-to guru for online marketing solutions. Feel free to contact her directly at www.mosaicwebmarketing.com.

Digital Leftovers
A web 2.0 strategy, design and development group, Digital Leftovers offers comprehensive web solutions that integrate design, programming and internet marketing. In other words, they do it all. And they do it well! Visit www.digitalleftovers.com. Ask for Kelly Jay. 

Words, Etc.  
Owner Jeanne Marra, my colleague from both the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., offers strategic business communications that draw on two decades of experience in employee and public affairs, customer communications, marketing research, news and feature writing, and online learning. Jeanne and I work well together on comprehensive projects. Or, you may reach her directly at jeannecmarra@sbcglobal.net.  

Lisa Hermann, photographer
Lisa shot the photos for my website. With a background in New York’s advertising world, Lisa has recently made the transition to photography and is a true professional. Contact me to schedule your next business photo shoot.