I write about small business, technology, health, beauty, food, personalities and relationships. I specialize in brand journalism and developing content marketing strategies.
PROJECT: NETWORKS
THE COMMON LANGUAGE
The Writer’s Garret
Executive Editor Aaron Glover
Production Editor Pamela Foster
Judges Melissa Ginsburg Ann Howells Joaquín Zihuatanejo
THE COMMON LANGUAGE PROJECT: NETWORKS | 2023
The Common Language Project is an annual poetry competition that results in the publication of an anthology and a public reading in Dallas, Texas. The project was created to bring poets into conversation with each other through the use of 30 shared keywords that spawn a collection of poems as ...
Digital Payment Power Play: Shifting with Your Customers
This report highlights results of the 2022 Thryv + Payments Dive Consumer Payments Survey.
Holiday spirits
By Shellie Terry | Contributor
We know that one stiff drink won’t get you through the holidays. (It might not even get you through one hour with your in-laws.) But hey, it could take the edge off. We met with some of the hottest mixologists working behind the bars at East County restaurants to find specialty cocktails that will make your mother’s spiked eggnog and rum balls look like tea and crumpets. These tasty (and creative) beverages up the ante in Yuletide drinking, so if you’re feeling ...
Bradenton singer-songwriter Matt Walden could be the next big thing
Matt Walden strikes the pose of a typical 20-year-old: He's slouched in a chair, wearing a red-and-black flannel and Vans tennis shoes, his steely blue eyes fixed on the iPhone in his right hand. His left hand combs through his thick mess of blonde hair as he contemplates the words on the phone.
But it's not a text or a tweet or a snapchat or whatever else the kids blast through their electronics these days. Rather, the 2013 Manatee High School grad is picking apart the lyrics of a rap he jus...
One sniff away
The future of early-stage cancer detection may exist in the snout of the jovial, floppy-eared beagles of Bioscent DX.
A half-dozen beagles cheerily flop around Heather Junqueira’s heels as she leads them to their play yard behind her Myakka City home. Their joyful tripping and wagging turns into all-out run of the yard, playing two-by-two in the fenced-in area. They jump and greet visitors with happy eyes and sloppy kisses — when they can get away with it.
A Transitioning Neighborhood Captured in Portraits
Photographer Jack Alterman is a native of Charleston, S.C., and has certainly seen his city evolve over the years. Today, one particular neighborhood on the east side of Charleston is undergoing a dramatic shift in response to extensive development.
Say This, Not That: Ace every conversation, whether you text, chat, post, email or call
We’ve all had those moments when we’re staring at an empty screen with no idea what to say. When you add all the different channels — email, texting, social messaging — the anxiety only builds. To emoji or not to emoji? All caps or is that considered yelling? Yikes!
To combat all these conversational landmines, we’ve built this guide to help you navigate customer conversations so you can confidently say the right thing to the right person at the right time.
Smokin' Summer Spots
What goes better with summer than a barbecue? I’ll wait. That’s right — there’s nothing that caps off a day by the pool or at the beach or that rings in the Fourth of July quite like some finger-licking, saucy chicken or fall-off-the-bone smoked ribs. But if slaving over a hot grill in the middle of a Florida summer sounds like torture, no need to worry. Several East County joints are sweating over the smokers for you, and they are definitely bringing the barbecue goods. We found five of the ...
Ready to Make History? 6 Resources for Women-Owned Businesses
If there’s one way women are making history today, it’s by starting their own businesses to build a future for themselves and their families. And their influence is growing every year.
In 2022, 1,821 new women-owned businesses launched every day in the U.S., according to Zippia, and the total number of women-owned businesses have increased by 114% in the past 20 years.
From Chat Apps to Playlists: How to Improve Collaboration Among Employees
In an ideal world, you’d be able to hire team members, stick them on a job together, and they’d all get along great. Communication and collaboration among employees would be a breeze.
In the real world, however, that takes a little more effort on the front end.
The two biggest factors in employee collaboration are team morale and communication. If you can nail those two, you’ll be on your way to becoming a well-oiled collaboration machine. Here are eight ways to get there:
Start by Building T...
5 Tiny Ways to Save Tons of Time
We get it ⎯ you’re too busy for complicated time management tactics. So we found 5 super-fast tips that give you more time back in your day — every day.
Learning As They Go ...
For many East County families, school is where your home is.
When David Martin’s oldest child Sara was in kindergarten, she brought home a picture of a dog she colored in school. Disheartened, she told her father she wanted to make the dog look fluffier, but was scolded when she colored outside of the lines.
“She was told, ‘You need to stay inside the lines,’” Martin recalls. “I could just see the spark and curiosity starting to dwindle.”
That’s when Martin, a Heritage Harbour resident, notic...
Customized Launch Care Packages -- With Love, S-OneLP
Business-to-business case study article to describe project related to new business division launch.
The 5 W’s for Small Business Brand Messaging
When it comes to generating marketing ideas for a business — any business — most people start at the HOW. How will I market my business? Facebook ads, direct mail, television commercials? And away they go, long before they have even considered what the brand stands for … or what message they’re trying to deliver.
In journalism, we use the 5 W’s when building news articles. The who, what, why, when and where are critical to telling a story that anyone can quickly understand. The thing is: This...