Since I first started using MailChimp for client enewsletters and e-blasts, I always appreciated the funny monkey-related jokes ("Time for a banana break") and the easy style. The banter doesn't seem calculated but I'm making an educated guess that it has calculable results in sales.
And this last week, while learning the Thesis theme for WordPress websites, the humorous instructions for customizing banners with CSS made my late night work all the more enjoyable. Double Mule's instructions, for example, kept mentioning mule traits in passing. "As a rule of hoof, aim for a range of height between 50 and 200 pixels..." and "Significantly more advanced 'header section' tutorials may be on the way. Or perhaps not. Never know with Mules — such stubborn creatures." The code provided was perfectly accurate and delivered the intended result. Could have been presented in a dry style. It's good to see people having fun, because emotions are contagious.
What do author and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, corporate CEO Dov Seidman, and I have in common? We’re interested in how goals are accomplished, how trust and credibility are earned, and how we tackle pressing challenges. All joking aside, these soft skills (“how”) impact hard results — such as whether a client wants to renew a contract. What does this suggest? That fostering an ethical culture within and surrounding wherever you work or live is worth its weight in gold.
In the following video, Tom Friedman and Dov Seidman combine their intellects to discuss how behavior matters in an interconnected (flat) world.
Laura and Tim Buckner of Happy Woman Jewelry wanted a simple website. One that would tell their story and show a portfolio of their work. One that they could keep updated themselves.
Four years ago, Laura had invited me to show and sell my pottery at a holiday fair in a winery. (Which prompted me to file my business name, get a seller's permit, document my work, make a website, and sell at other fairs ...) She liked my pottery website, probably especially when I said I had made it without knowing much html and she could have one too, keeping it up to date herself. Below is a screenshot (click to enlarge) of the home page we created.
I admit I get easily inspired. My sister Julia is starting a business to lead trail rides all over Mendocino County and environs, and now taking a course on Entrepreneurial Marketing and filling out the LLC paperwork to be able to get insurance. She wants me to take footage for a video ad. Cool! I've been wanting to dive into very creative satisfying work in new media. Walking up a hill with her and her husband Jon to our country-barn-turned-home, I traded my baby for her stack of books momentarily. Re-connected with Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Levinson. After she's done, I need to re-read it. Just reading the first paragraph of a chapter on "mini-media" marketing techniques for small businesses and entrepreneurs got me thinking about the work I do and how to talk about it more effectively with clients ...
This summer I've been working on a calendar for the Ukiah Unified School District's Network for a Healthy California. Students from local elementary, middle, and high schools drew and painted vegetables and fruits at the end of the school year, and we chose one piece of their art for each month.
Already April! With the Madera Group team, I've been busy writing email message campaigns, a fundraising plan, an online technical analysis, and more. All consultants who have babies should get their mother and father to move near by, like mine did! Little Gwendolyn gets lots of good grandparent time while I do a lick of work, then spend time with her, then do more work, then walk around the block with her. My sister Rose and I realized that our babies won't have a clear first memory of their first time using a computer — Gwendolyn was "talking" on Skype video this morning with Rose.
I wish my family, friends, and colleagues a very happy
New Year with health and happiness in 2009! My baby Gwendolyn was born November 21st, so my husband Pete and I have been enjoying a very cozy winter with her. The photo shows Gwen and me when she was a week old. She's the most special gift I could ever wish for. I've learned one-handed typing and phone dialing meanwhile.
Julie says: “I am so excited about this Love Story, the best one I have ever done. I believe so deeply in the power of Love stories because, to me, there are two things that make a wedding exceptional: 1) a sense of community; 2) the feeling that the two people getting married makes the world a better place. With this one, I could not have had better subjects. Deirdre and Charlie are so free-spririted, creative, authentic, and in love.”
I plan to work together with her to record me and my husband Pete telling our story of getting to know each other and our dreams for the family we're starting, which I'll then synchronize with photos and images in Final Cut as a fun project during my maternity leave.
For the last year, I've had the honor to work in online messaging and fundraising with a major foundation that works to solve pressing global challenges. We are attaining the highest click-through rates (three times normal) through the use of video. The best online fundraising performance has been attained through multi-part narrative email series — so a combination of narrative email series and video messaging could be ... killer. It's a strategic and creative decision to start planning as the holiday giving season approaches.
