Real Freelancers Don’t Choke

I’m in the market for a Web developer for an upcoming project. A well-meaning contact pointed me to a former colleague of hers who has a full-time job as a Web designer/developer. After about 45 seconds it was obvious to me that this person knew plenty about Web design and maybe a little about Web [...]

Posted Under: freelancing,rapport with writer
This post was written by John White on September 23, 2008 Comments Off

Persona(lity) non grata

Creative brief checklist item #8: Put some ketchup on those fries. “Ketchup on fries” is the fast-food equivalent of putting personality in your writing. Does your company want that or not? On which pieces? White papers and position papers are notoriously devoid of personality. “Get the facts down, persuade the reader to see things in [...]

Posted Under: creative brief,marketing manager,personality,rapport with writer,subject matter experts
This post was written by John White on September 11, 2008 Comments Off

Interviewing on the Record(ing)

What do your writers use to capture interview content? I suppose some writers have remarkable memories and capture everything needed to write up the content into an article or paper. They’re a technical version of those waiters who can remember every detail of an order from a party of twelve, who wants the veal rare, [...]

Posted Under: interview,writer's diseases
This post was written by John White on September 4, 2008 Comments Off