An exclusive interview with Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.) headlines the March-April issue of the Marine Corps League’s magazine Semper Fi, which we publish for the League. Gen. Zinni, who many believe was a strong candidate to command the Corps before he retired in 2001, is widely respected for speaking his mind even when his opinions run contrary to those of Marine and White House doctrine.
Soon (though not soon enough), winter weather will start to disappear and spring will be ushered in by budding plants and flowers and, for the green thumbs among us, the first hints of a garden. We thought it appropriate to kick off American Spirit‘s March/April issue with a feature on growing a heritage garden. Maureen Taylor investigates the significance of Colonial-era flower gardens and provides steps to help amateur gardeners create a modern version of an 18th-century garden in their own backyard.
The crew at Hammock Inc. is an environmentally-friendly one. We recycle. We eat locally. We volunteer for organizations that take good care of our planet.
So when one of our vendors, partners or clients takes a step in the same direction, we just have to give them a pat on the back and a heartfelt thanks! Today, that “thank you” and “congratulations” go to Brown Printing Company of Waseca, Minn.!
Four Tips for Making Content Work Online
Some may think that writing is writing. But truth be told, writing for the web is different from writing for a children’s book or for a magazine. Research shows that web readers want fast and easy information, in a format that is easy to digest. Here are a few things we keep in mind when we write specifically for online audiences for our clients or ourselves:
Many people think of magazines as flat pieces of paper in flat publications, but truth is, the pages can be much more dynamic than that. Advertisers and marketers have a unique opportunity with magazines that they don’t have with other media.
A recent article on Kiplinger.com says that the number of adult Internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled since 2005 — from 8 percent then to 35 percent now.
But as author Amanda Lenhart of the Pew Internet Project points out, using social networks online is still a phenomenon of the young: 75 percent of adults 18-24 use these networks, compared to just 7 percent of adults 65 and older.
The findings also show some other very interesting facts:
Ahh, to be 26 again.
If you’re not doing the crossword puzzle with your morning coffee today, we have a little quiz for you.
Each month, we write a post about a simple grammar rule or two because we could all use a little refresher from time to time. Now, it’s time to test yourself on what you know (or think you know) about some of those rules. It’s easy. Simply pick the correct sentence from each of the five sets below. Answers and explanations are below, so no peeking!
Many of us here at Hammock Inc. have known about Twitter (and have been using it) for close to two years now. When we first signed up back then, we weren’t sure what it was, what it would do or where it would go.
Nowadays, you can probably throw a rock out of your window and hit someone who knows at least that it exists; maybe your target is even using it. (But please, don’t throw rocks out of your window.)
Many of us “tweet” as individuals, and Hammock Inc. (@HammockInc) also tweets as a company. (A tweet is your 140-character-or-less answer to the question “What are you doing?” It has also become a verb for Twitter users.) Over the last couple of years, we’ve picked up a couple of tips — from followers and those we follow, and from each other — about making the best of our tweets:
Good conversation goes both ways. Try to avoid simply throwing information out there, but be sure to join in on conversations that are already happening. If someone asks what movie they should see this weekend or what they missed in the latest presidential news conference, take 20 seconds and jump into the discussion.
Follow us on Twitter and join in on the conversation, whatever it may be about today…
Jan. 2, 2009, marks one year that Megan Pacella has been with Hammock Inc. full-time. So as is customary around here, we sat her down to ask a few questions about what she’s been reading, her favorite day so far at Hammock, and cartoons she enjoyed as a kid.
We’ve talked about commonly mixed words before. Effect and affect. Ensure and insure. They can be tricky, but they’re not so bad once you get them down.
Two more sets that we’ve been talking about around here lately are lie/lay and who/whom.