We work with clients to plan content months ahead of time. It’s not uncommon to write a story on the history of Christmas cookies in June or interview entrepreneurs with summertime businesses in February. This early and detailed planning is just one essential piece of the publication puzzle.
The kids are back in school. Halloween candy is stocked on store shelves. And before we know it, the ball will drop on the new year. Have you done everything that you wanted to this year: on your website, in your publications, with your money? If not, now is the time to get busy. Here are six things to do before 2008 is history:
Recently I asked three of our printers why it is so important for us to deliver our files on schedule. And all three basically gave the same answer.
We’d already been toying around with the idea of writing a post on soliciting and handling content from your members, when SNAP beat us to it. So first, we recommend you check out Gregory Fine’s tips on handling volunteer content on the SNAP website.
I’ll add these thoughts, based on Hammock’s years of working with association publications. Consider these ideas as you manage your publication and your volunteers. Every association is different, so you’ll need to create a process that works for you.
Adjectives can take three forms. I’m not talking about liquid, solid or gas; I mean positive, comparative and superlative.
Simply put, the positive form of an adjective describes a single noun or pronoun.
The comparative form of an adjective compares two nouns or pronouns.
The superlative form then compares three or more nouns or pronouns.
Not sure when to use more/most, double the last consonant or change y to i? Here are a few general rules. But remember, there are always exceptions.
Funny name, useful application
We spend a lot of time at Hammock trying out different web applications and related software. Some of us are geeks, so we think that’s fun. But we also want to stay on top of the latest trends for our clients.
We’re long-time wiki fans, but we know that this kind of content management system isn’t as popular as it ought to be. A number of prominent wiki sites (like, say, Wikipedia) don’t make it as easy to contribute as they could, so we suspect a lot of people dismiss wikis out of hand.
But, wikis don’t have to be hard. (And I’ll throw in on a personal note, they don’t have to be ugly, either.) If you’re in one of the situations below, you should be considering a wiki:
This time of year, it’s nearly impossible to stay indoors all day long when it is so beautiful outside. So when the weekend rolls around, it isn’t unusual to find many of us hiking, camping, bicycling, canoeing, white-water rafting or savoring other outdoor activities. That’s why we took particular pleasure in putting together the July/August issue of American Spirit, whose cover image of a serene wooded spot on the John Muir Trail beckons the nature lover in us all.
I must’ve stared at that Word document for almost two hours straight Wednesday. I was writing an article for a client, using beautiful and powerful words and making sure the flow was nice and smooth. I had read it over and over again to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. They were going to love it.
At one point I finally let myself go to the kitchen and get a nice glass of ice tea, and when I returned to my desk, there it was: a spelling error right in the title. Spellcheck didn’t catch it. (It was a word, after all, just not the word I wanted to use.) How did I miss it before? I would definitely be sending this piece to a fellow editor for proofing of course, but I wanted it to be in the best shape possible before then.
So I started thinking: How can we self-edit to produce our best work?
We were delighted to see ourselves mentioned recently in a column in the Tennessean about companies using blogs well. David Bohan, CEO of Bohan Ideas, shares several tips for blogging well, corporately speaking.
Thanks for the kind words!
Earlier this year, American Business Media launched a custom media microsite. We are members of ABM and Barbara Logan serves on the Custom Media Committee. The new microsite promotes the value of business-to-business custom media. Research, white papers and case studies are available to marketers interested in learning more about custom media and how it can benefit their organizations.
Check out the site today to see Hammock’s Custom Media Craft blog and our work with the Marines Corps League featured.