Greetings from Boston
Hot off the press – WriterAccess Writer Newsletter V2.
Thanks bunches for the feedback on last month’s debut WAW! Your avalanche of feedback and positive support WOWed us. Keep it coming, and we’ll keep the newsletter humming. Just reply to this email and we’ll actually respond—can you imagine?
Contest Winner
More than 100 photos were upgraded, and the pool of talent is looking good. Thanks to all that joined the fun in shaping up our image to customers, prospects, friends, partners, husbands, wives and fans.
And the winner is: David W from Columbus, OH! We’ll include your $100 cash prize in your PayPal account with your next payment. Enjoy! Thanks again, everyone!
New Contest: How to Avoid Common Writing Mistakes
Simply submit a common writing mistake, along with an explanation of how to fix it. For each accurate entry you make, you’ll earn a ticket in our lottery drawing. This month’s prize: $100 in cash or a $125 Starbucks Card! Your choice!
We’ll post all the submissions to our blog as well, linking over to your profile for bonus promotions to our customers, readers and fans.
Sample Mistake: Use Pronouns Like a Pro
Which is correct? The dog played with Joe and me. The dog played with Joe and I.
Language plays games on us. We tend to want to think of me as I, especially when we talk. The trick is to remove the first object of the verb “played” and temporarily drop the Joe: The dog played with me. The dog played with I. Hmmm. “I” does not seem right here. Bingo. Technically, “I” is in the subjective case, which is only used as the initiator of the action (“played”). The recipients of the action are the objects—Joe and me!
What’s New
WriterAccess 4.0 will launch to customers this month. New features include sleeker UX design, managed service, images, responsive design and streamlined order forms. The list goes on and on, so we won’t bore you. However, one exciting first-of-a-kind feature is something called Rule Sets on the Order Form. Clients quickly summarize requirements in a “checklist” that make it fast and easy for you to meet and exceed the expectations and requirements. We’re also upgrading the Revision Request area so that customers can make annotations/notes in the content, making it easier to fulfill the request.
Tips On Sourcing
Yeah, I know, when it comes to snagging orders and banging them out, it’s “Ready, fire, aim.” (Tom Peters, In Search of Excellence). Notice the source.
It makes no sense NOT to source your work and cover your you-know-what, protecting your reputation and advancing your career the right way. Avoid the penalty box now that you’re in the Stanley Cup Finals (Go Bruins!).
Meet the WriterAccess Team
Byron White, Founder and CEO. How does a philosophy major end up at Arthur Andersen? Exactly. It didn’t last long. Byron quickly migrated to the London School of Economics and re-launched an advertising career at Hill Holliday. That didn’t last long either. With serial entrepreneurdom in his blood, he started FreelanceAccess back in 1992, later sold to Aquent. Next up was LifeTips.com in 2000, followed by a full-service content marketing agency way ahead of its time. WriterAccess was finally born, taking a firm foothold and center stage – at least for a millisecond. DesignerAccess, PhotographerAccess, CoderAccess- they’re all on the way. You just can’t stop this guy.
Aaron Robinson, Director of Technology. Aaron has worked with Byron since the Web was in diapers. And with parenthood as his proudest accomplishment, he’s no stranger to diapers, or even keeping a squeaky rubber duck in his desk drawer. Aaron oversees all software development, technology and innovation for the idealaunch properties, backed by impressive high-tech honors. He’s twice qualified as a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, and his support of the online development community earned him Microsoft’s honorary recognition as a Microsoft MVP. As expected, the Internet is one thing Aaron could not live without, although a daily dose of Dilbert.com runs a close second.
Mia Coen, Content Strategist. As WriterAccess’ resident content queen, Mia truly earned her crown – and perhaps even keys to the kingdom. After graduating from UMass with an English and Professional Writing degree, this highly driven pro honed her skills managing freelancers, editorial calendars and digital content at a small print publishing firm. She was adopted by ideaLaunch in 2011, and currently manages the talent and editorial teams at WriterAccess. She is fiercely proud of her independence, lives by the tenet that “life is good,” and enjoys a smooth glass of pinot noir to reboot after a daunting day.
Allison Lynch, Support Specialist. With a degree in Creative Writing and Fine Arts that backs up her right-brain affinities, Allison makes one clever Support Specialist. She joined the WriterAccess team in 2013, working with freelance writers and clients to manage the content market workflow. Qualifying for the 2013 Boston Marathon is high on her list of accomplishments, as is supporting the victims of the subsequent terrorist attack. Her downtime includes creating vibrant, abstract paintings, running with the Greater Boston Track Club, writing for local running magazines, and grooving to sitar music.
Blog Posts of the Month
Semantic SEO: Not Just a New Ballgame, a Whole New Ballpark
Google is building a new ballpark, and one of the building blocks is semantic search. In the old days, content writers were required to embed blatant signals within content in order to have it rank for specific search terms. These signals were keywords…
by Paula A
Creating an Awesome Freelancing Space Outdoors
I read a book about a place of solitude a few months ago, ROOM by Emma Donoghue. It’s about a woman and her young son who are held captive in an old wooden shed in their…
by Miranda B
Attention WriterAccess Competitors: Read This!
Almost all of our competitors at WriterAccess are funded by VC’s—SkyWord, CrowdSource, Contently, Scripted, TextBroker and more. Some pockets are deeper than others, but all are driven with the same strategy—find a way…
by Byron White
Feedback (Always) Wanted!
As always, we’d be tickled with any feedback you have on the WAW newsletter. What would you like to know more about next month? Help us help you. And have a great May!
