I’m just back from Edible Institute in Santa Barbara, a 4-day gathering of food magazine editors and publishers, foodies and locavores. My people. The conference had two parts: an informational meeting for folks who own and publish Edible magazines (there ...
So much of my work as an independent food writer and journalist involves helping people learn to cook simply, healthfully and seasonally. My ongoing work with Kroger, the grocery retailer with a massive footprint across the U.S., is an example. ...
With so much business-related interaction happening in the digital realm, you might wonder whether such old-fashioned niceties as a well-designed business card still matter. They do. A great business card design makes such a strong impression. These days, it's not so much ...
Once, while working on a Habitat for Humanity building project, one of the construction pros volunteering on the job told me, “You have good worksite awareness.” I took it as a compliment ... and then asked what he meant. Good worksite awareness ...
With Thanksgiving Day in our rear-view mirror, the subject of gratitude still feels relevant. We typically think of gratitude in a personal sense—as in, feeling thankful for our health and our family. For a moment, let’s turn that gratitude toward ...
As an independent creative professional, I share a conundrum with many of my peers: How to lend my creative writing services to causes that I support in a way that's valuable to them and sustainable for me. I explored the subject ...
You remember “pink slime,” right? Earlier this year, this PR fiasco in the food industry revealed a huge communication challenge (or, let’s call it an opportunity) for both brands and consumers. And the lesson goes beyond the food industry. (A refresher: ...
One of the biggest (and most difficult) lessons I've learned in my first year and change as the owner of a small creative business is the value of patience. I don't have much of it, frankly. But I need more of ...
I returned from the Creative Freelancer Conference in June to face a week packed with project deadlines. But my project-planning calendar showed me that I the following two weeks were fairly light project-wise. And that two-week window gave me the ...
If you're a creative entrepreneur like me, you know how difficult it is to open up space in your day/week/month for business tasks. Client projects take precedence, of course, and we get busy and pretty soon we lose sight of ...