carriefreelance communications

   holistic media solutions

Carrie Jaffe-Pickett is an award-winning fiction writer, with 20 years of experience  

in association communications. She has published articles in Redbook magazine and many others, and has received a novel-in-progress award. She has also been named one of 39 writers to follow on Twitter, and is the author of Six Degrees of Twitteration.

Monarch Notes

Summer Travel Tips

Welcome to the Butterfly, and a big hello to new subscribers! Happy summer! Summer for me means planting some new sunflowers, which after only 2 weeks have sprung to about 2 inches already! For a city gal like me, these kinds of things are exciting. Also exciting are some upcoming travel plans I'm really looking forward to, and will update you on that as well. For all of you, I hope you have a vibrant, fun, and safe season, and that your family and business activities all thrive and flourish.  

For those of you who have upcoming travel tips, here are some suggestions on how to make your trip go more smoothly.

*Frequent Flier Programs: Make sure if you have points, that you check on your account and maximize their use for your trip, as many times point programs can change over time, or even expire. Check also for blackout dates and holidays, where they may not be allowed. 

*Pack Light: My rule for packing is the same as for e-newsletters -- set out everything you have planned, and then only take (or publish!) half. Stick to solid colors you can mix and match, that will work for business as well as fun. When it comes to electronics, consolidate as much as possible so you can multitask. If your camera takes video, you may not need a separate video camera. If you have an iPad and a Kindle, just choose one as your favorite e-reader.  If your smartphone will work for everything, all the better. I find my notebook laptop works great for all the basics, like checking e-mail, keeping up with my blog posts, and for social media updates.

*Advance Publish: If you have a business where you communicate fairly often with your audience, but you still want  a little break, try advance publishing your blog posts or your newsletters, and even your social media updates. Programs like TweetDeck and Hootsuite are great for this, and you can even configure your setting so that you get a copy of everything e-mailed to you.  

*Organize Your Travel and Business Documents: Airports are stressful, and there's nothing worse then fishing around for important papers when you need them. I find it well worth it to consolidate items like e-tickets, passport, business cards, and pens, into a convenient document holder or travel portfolio.  

Here are some neat recommended travel items I put together in my Amazon "Summer Boutique," (affiliate) because I just couldn't help myself, and OK, I added a few books because, well...er...I couldn't resist. Now pass the watermelon and have fun!  

What's your favorite travel tip? Post a comment on my Facebook page, and you'll be entered to win a surprise travel-related gift I'll be announcing the end of this month!  

Another Happy Client. and ...Yoganomics!   

Over the last few months, I've been handling the marketing and communications for our local yoga and pilates studio...including redoing the newsletter, Facebook page, and getting media coverage, including 4 local media placements! I'm proud that we've doubled our Fan page, gotten great feedback on the newsletter, and grown our community both through online and offline marketing strategies. It's been a thrill to work for owner Fran Philip. You can check out her video here, and here's a recent blog post  where I highlighted some of the challenges and rewards of small business marketing with a new appreciation for "Yoganomics!" Do any of these issues ring a bell? Feel free to comment on my Facebook page to share your small business trials and tips!  

Cool Tools

• Blekko for online search.
  

  I first learned about Blekko at the Web 2.0 conference in April, and I was very impressed with the demo they showed me, and later when I tried out their site. A competitor to Google, Blekko integrates the use of hashtags to automatically refine your search, and get all the online "junk" out of the way, so to speak.  This interesting New York Times article provides some insightful background on this new startup.

   
•  Buffer for Twitter.
  This is super nifty. Buffer lets you create an automatic stream of tweets, that automatically post at different times of the day. So if you see a lot of links you want to tweet, you don't have to worry about scheduling them. It's so easy, the demo video is only about 20 seconds! Try it and let me know how you like it. 

Summer Communications Tuneup!

• Are you feeling overwhelmed by social media?
• Are you confused between blogs and newsletters, and don't have time to publish them anyway?
• Are you losing valuable prospects by not communicating effectively to them?

It's time to get your communications groove on...

I'm offering a summer special on monthly packages, which not only include a range of services, but a free one-hour assessment by phone,  where I review all your current communications and make recommendations for improvements.   

30% off all packages, thru June 15th only. 

See below for package details, and contact me for your free one-hour assessment!  

Bronze: Includes one monthly service  

Silver: Includes two monthly services  

Gold: Includes three monthly services, free press release or professional bio write-up, plus any writing you need on a retainer basis 

Choice of services: e-newsletters (writing, design, coaching), blog coaching and writing, pr and media outreach, social media brand management and coaching, web site writing, editing and proofreading for all print and online publications, e-book writing and coaching

To get started, call Carrie at 650-206-2682 for details and pricing, or e-mail me at carrie@carriefreelance.com.