Part of hiring a web communications specialist involves browsing around the internet(s) looking for insightful questions to ask a web writer, because I aren’t one.  In the process I found this neat girl Tiffani Jones, a sort of web writing gunslinger for hire.

An awesome one-two punch from her amazing recent presentation are below.  …The raccoons put it over the top.  Put me under obligation to share it:

You should check out the entire presentation.  Not to me missed.

In the talk, I presented a series of commonsense–but regularly overlooked–tips on how to create good web copy. We covered the basics of solid writing, what makes for effective copywriting, and why web copy is special.

A great download.  Share it:

(Reporter’s guide to multimedia proficiency) – from Mindy McAdams at the University of Florida

“I only write copy”
“We don’t have a photographer”
“Video? We’re not staffed or equipped for that.”

Your days are numbered. The liberal arts crowd is steadily taking back ground which was previously overrun by the nerds and the technologists. Better tools, simpler technology, and easy-to-use software are making child’s play of once complicated tasks – breaking down the barriers to doing great storytelling online. And there aren’t many excuses for not picking up the skills contained in that great document -  a document which was intended for journalists, but easily applies to web communications.

Learn it, live it, and grow. Or get accustomed becoming more irrelevant and replaceable with each passing month.  The VCR comes to mind.  Heck, Betamax.

I found a new favorite quote the other day, while reading comments on a metafilter thread, which linked to this essay from a magazine writer who was fired while vacationing with his family.

The quote goes like this:

“You are only as secure as your ability to find your next job.”

I like my job/employer and I hope I never get fired.  But that sentence still rings in my ears.  A friendly reminder to never get complacent.  Never stop growing.