I admit it.  I’m addicted to the textures and smells of freshly printed collateral.  The different card stocks and inks, sizes and shapes, pop-ups and fold-outs, fronts and backs thrill me.  Gloss makes me gleam, and matte is all that matters.

Undoubtedly, more advertising is moving online.  But, for many markets, print collateral is still standard issue.  Attendees at events, such as trade shows and seminars, are ideal audiences for printed collateral.

I can provide the talents of content development, graphic design, and information architecture as well as expertise in print technologies to produce agency-level collateral cost effectively.

User experience is the interaction of graphic design, interactive technology, navigation strategy, and information architecture to deliver information to a site visitor efficiently and intuitively.  An effective user experience takes your visitors by the hand, guides them past the message of your value proposition, and delivers them to a transaction page eager to move forward.

I design user experiences that drive sales, register visitors, compel PPCs, and inform clients.  Customers will enjoy doing business with your company.

Unless you’re “The Teflon Donald” Trump, you’ve probably said something that you later regretted.  While The Donald embraces his faux pas as a branding initiative, and others are able to escape theirs without a scratch, the rest of us are not so lucky.  Any senior executive unaccustomed to public speaking can no longer “learn on the job.”

The communication strategies required to avoid misstatements are not difficult to learn.  Breaking old habits, however, is more difficult.  If you find yourself walking back earlier comments more often than you should, I can help.

I will write what you say, coach you on how to say it, and stand by to whisper in your ear as you say it.  I can even say it for you.  Otherwise, it’s up to you.

So, you’ve cast a wide net, and prospects are hanging around to catch your presentation.  That effort is wasted if you don’t make a connection. Communications that connect pull needles from the prospect haystack with a message that tapers to your sweet spot.

Great orators make every listener in a crowd believe theirs is a one-on-one conversation.  My goal is to make your message connect at that same level with each member of your target audience.

I may change your tone and style as you speak to clients, employees, the media, or investors; but, following my guidance, each audience will feel your undivided attention.

Despite the similarities between a texting teenager and a grunting caveman drawing stick figures on rocks, our next generation are amazing communicators.

While some of us are still tickled how technology instantly brings faraway events and people to our smartphones, our children project themselves through that smartphone into people’s lives and events around the world.  That they also text someone in the same room is less amazing, but still game-changing.

Similarly, I look for ways to broaden your communications, so that you talk with more people, share more ideas, and connect at every level.  Relationships don’t end today because of long distance, they end when you are too distant.  I make every communication count.

Investors hate surprises — even nice ones.  State your plan, then do what you say.

I teach clients to communicate to their investors frequently and with accurate information about the company’s current status, future plans, and significant risks.  Predictions of future performance, when made, are conservative with an emphasis on positive trends and specific plans for solving troubling issues.  With my assistance, your communications will build consensus for your strategy and confidence in your ability to execute.

has all but disappeared.  Countless press releases are written each year; the news media is inundated with them.  Unfortunately, most are nothing more than keywords wrapped, somewhat grammatically, in empty phrases.  Their only purpose is to attract search engine spiders; they are rarely read by anyone.  Sure, I’m as guilty as others — if the client pays, I write what she asks for.  But, still, I practice the art when I can.

If you pay me enough, I’ll write a press release that leaps out of editors’ Inboxes and jumps up and down on their desks.  Whether that editor works for the New York Times or Bob’s Flea Market Gazette, depends on your story — I can’t work miracles.  Importantly, however, I get you the exposure you deserve.  And, no, I can’t guarantee Oprah.

Who said keywords can’t be cool?

And harder to keep.  Employees have been conditioned to stay light on their career feet by nimble employers that shrink and expand employee headcounts from one quarter to the next.

If your goal is to retain valuable employees, I can help. I teach companies how to establish a culture and build community within their workforce by initiating communication and encouraging dialog.

And if you have to downsize, I can help too — by communicating a message of hope and goodwill that imparts positive feelings to departing employees.

Have people lost their ability to absorb more than a few seconds or words at a time?  Studies show that typical web surfers will leave a page within seconds if it doesn’t immediately grab their attention.  The constant barrage of social media, 24-hours news, millions of YouTubes, hundreds of emails. . . people cannot possibly read all of the information thrown at them in the course of a routine day at the office. So, it makes you wonder; those brochures, web sites, white papers, and press releases — how much of that junk do prospects really read?  

I won’t claim all of it is read, or any of it as much as we’d like, but importantly, most of it gets a chance to be read.

Your words have to grab their opportunity to be heard, before it slips away.

Screaming helps … as does today’s marketing equivalent — publishing a steady stream of quality content and communications online.    Quality is key as search engines have become very efficient at discerning pertinent, sensible content from the inane blather keyword kamikazis use to attack their algorithms.

Offline communication strategies can still be effective as well — if you work harder to be heard.  The key is targeted content — know your audience. If your words state a value proposition quickly, establish credibility, and then call to action, you can drive predictable results.

Let me help your organization grow the voice that presents your value to clients, prospects, future employees, and your community.

Sure, a witty headline can grab attention, but to close the deal, you need to connect with the reader.  To do that, you must impart information quickly and clearly.  Vocabulary can and should relate to your target audience, but it is more critical that the content flows smoothly and is logically connected.  Your format should enable quick scanning, especially online.  Bullet points, subheadings, and an “inverted pyramid” writing style are a few of the techniques I use to achieve those goals.