Archive for the ‘contractors’ Category

It’s always interesting to get the day’s word (sometimes it’s a phrase) of the day from the extremely diverse Urban Dictionary. Today’s seems particularly apropos for a holiday as many of us may find ourselves working on a day that is supposed to be a day off from labors and appreciation of the labors of others. For those of us in the communications realm, I actually recommend you check out any words or phrases you may have any question about on the www.urbandictionary.com site as you may be surprised at some of the street/urban meanings for things you thought were pretty innocuous!

Here’s the definition for today:

<snip>

September 6: workweek creep

1) Constant connectivity via your smartphone and computer blurs the boundaries between your work life and your personal life.

2) Constant connectivity at work via e-mail & chat, results in so many interruptions that you cannot get blocks of time to do any thinking, resulting in you catching up on your work at home on nights and weekends.

<end snip>

While it may sound a bit comical to some, National Grammar Day and other events and sites promoting the importance of good grammar actually do mean something worth noting.

Check out Facebook and you might be surprised to see how many groups exist that are dedicated just to the promotion of using the language properly and making it clear that more people notice typos, poor style, and bad punctuation than you may think. Here are a few of these Facebook groups… and there are legions of others elsewhere on the Web:

• Good Grammar Is Hot
• Martha Brockenbrough, National Grammar Day founder and founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG)
• I judge you when you use poor grammar
• I know the difference between “there”, “their” and “they’re”. (now that one has punctuation issues as commas should go INSIDE the closing quote mark, but THEIR hearts are in the right place!)

The host of this year’s National Grammar Day, the bright and clever Mignon Fogarty—Grammar Girl herself–has posted the following on her site:

<snip>As National Grammar Day’s Language is something to be celebrated, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It’s not only a date, it’s an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same! <end snip>

It’s a good day to reflect on the caliber of your written communications, including e-mails, blog posts, Tweets, brochures, trade-show collateral, and all of the rest, including your business cards, which don’t have a lot of real estate but are critical to messaging who you are. Hiring a professional to do your graphic and Web design is key, as well—but the messaging that goes with it can make or break how you are perceived. I have built strategic partnerships/alliances with some amazing, professional, and truly creative designers specifically to ensure that the messaging and look and functionality of any communication are all working in concert with each other without any of those elements disabling the impression you make.

The National Grammar Day site, http://nationalgrammarday.com/, even has games and other celebratory events…My suggestion? Have fun with it while not disregarding its importance.

Just a bit of a thought contribution on the joys and drawbacks of using and being a freelancer! For clients, having access to one or even a diverse stable of freelance professional talent for an array of projects makes great sense as your workload fluctuates and so does your need for professional (often higher-paid) staff. There are other benefits, though, and one that I firmly believe in is the ability to source new voices and new talents so that your company’s work doesn’t all sound the same with what amounts to, in essence, parroting of words and wording used elsewhere in almost everything else you’ve published. Please don’t misunderstand, though, as it IS critical to have a consistent voice and style to your work–but finding new things to say and new ways to say it while still resonating as “you” keeps your message and products or services fresh. Of course, I may be biased, but there are no drawbacks to using great freelance talent if they know you and understand you and your needs and they LISTEN!

; - )

From the perspective of being a freelancer, there are distinct benefits and potholes in the road… On the benefit side, the ability to work with multiple clients and wear lots of hats is a huge plus (for me, anyway) though there is some inherent financial insecurity compared to someone who has a predictable, 40-hour job. I am fortunate in having had some fabulous clients and would always prefer to have just a few great ones than lots and lots of occasional client connections. With freelance, if the fit or feel isn’t right, you can tweak or make adjustments to find situations and ways to approach them that do work. Sometimes, it’s just a case of finding a new way to connect with an existing client based upon what you’ve learned about them. For me, I love having the ability to work on a broad range of projects with different objectives and voices—but on the downside, I also have an exorbitantly high health-insurance premium to pay particularly as I am based in a state that precludes most professional groups and organizations from writing insurance here—so that makes it extremely expensive… my medical insurance, not even counting my dental insurance, costs MORE THAN MY MORTGAGE! That’s daunting and scary for sure. No one is putting aside profit sharing for you either, so it’s incumbent on us to plan and try to be like the proverbial squirrel and store supplies for the winter (read: future). I commit to working efficiently and with integrity and choose to affiliate with those who do the same. Finding just a few more great clients who do creative, well-considered work who are proud of being ethical in their dealings is about as good as it can get from my view!

Nancy