Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

What a great time of year to remember how privileged we are to live in such a great country. I hope your weekends are filled with your favorite things and your loved ones. Take advantage of the opportunity to show your American Pride and wear a little red, white and blue. I have a feeling that Instagram, Facebook and Twitter will be taken over by pictures of American flags, burgers, brats, beaches, campfires and fireworks.

I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!

PostedJuly 3, 2014

AuthorAmanda Washburn

CategoriesFood for Thought, Rough Draft Solutions

TagsWork Life Balance, Content Marketing

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As promised, here is the blog side of the blog vs email newsletter debate. While both mediums have unique and important purposes, sometimes it is just too much for people to start with both projects at the same time. Blogging has a large variety of ways it can be used to benefit your company – from boosting the likelihood of your website being found by the general public, using it to grow your email list, and also positioning your company as an industry expert. The amount and the kind of information you can share on your blog is limitless and the people who view it have usually chosen to read your content (unlike newsletters that just arrive in their inbox). (If you want to read about the benefits and challenges of newsletters, check out our previous post!)

PostedJune 26, 2014

AuthorAmanda Washburn

CategoriesCommunication, Newsletter, Rough Draft Solutions, Marketing, Blogs

TagsEmail Newsletter, Blogs, Content Development, Audience Engagement, Search Engine Optimization

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When faced with making the decision of starting an email newsletter or blog, a person experiences something much like coming to a fork in the road. Ultimately, you need to know what your ideal destination is. In marketing speak, you need to know what your top priorities are and what your goals are. Blogs and newsletters work well for creating engaging content and for communicating with your current and potential clients. They are very different mediums and do serve unique purposes. For today, let's focus on email newsletters... tune in next week for our take on blogs!

Email Newsletters 101:

Who receives it: Emailed directly to a list of current and potential clients that you have acquired. You have been given approval to add them to your distribution list. *Be very careful to not send out newsletters to lists you have purchased.

PostedJune 19, 2014

AuthorAmanda Washburn

CategoriesStrategic Communication, Newsletter, Rough Draft Solutions, Blogs, Writing

TagsBlogs, Email Newsletter, Credibility, Customer Engagement

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Well, it is officially June. I am not quite sure how we got here, as it seems like we totally skipped spring. As our routines often change during the summer months, I want to take a moment and remind you of the value of ramping up your business's communication efforts. Whether you have a manufacturing business, a retail shop or maybe even an insurance agency, your customers are out and about and may have a little more time on their hands. We have all experienced the drudgery of the winter months and it is a good idea to break out of our comfort zones. This means challenging yourself to proactively engage your customers and let them know what is new with your business. Here are a few ideas of topics you could discuss with your customers and ways you could reach out to them.

PostedJune 2, 2014

AuthorAmanda Washburn

CategoriesRough Draft Solutions, Strategic Communication, Writing, Communication

TagsEffective Communication, Customer Relationships, Newsletters

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Have you ever wondered how to more effectively engage your customers? Sometimes it is hard to know what to say and other times it is a challenge to know how often to reach out to your customers. Whatever the situation may be, business owners often postpone the task of reconnecting with their customers after they have completed a project - simply because they don't know what to say.

The common misconception is that our customers don’t want to hear from us or that they already know enough about our company. However, there is immense value in sending friendly greetings, occasional updates and sharing relevant industry news with customers.

PostedApril 30, 2014

AuthorAmanda Washburn

CategoriesCommunication, Marketing, Rough Draft Solutions, Trusted Partner, Strategic Communication

Tagseffective communication, trusted partner, authentic communication, customer relationships, professional communication

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As a way to commemorate the launch of Rough Draft Solutions, I thought it would be appropriate to post about new beginnings. Rough Draft Solutions is built on the principle that the best time to start improving is now. When I was deliberating about starting this company I came across the following quotation by Hugh Laurie.

"It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any."

What a profound thought that is - that today is better than tomorrow and today, we can do more than we didn't do yesterday. There may never be "the perfect time" and so we should stop procrastinating and just get going.

PostedApril 8, 2014

AuthorAmanda Washburn

CategoriesGetting Started, Food for Thought, Rough Draft Solutions, Content Marketing

TagsCustomer Engagement, Content Marketing, New Beginning, Content Development

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Happy Fourth of July!

How to Engage Your Customers with Relevant Content

How to Effectively Communicate with Customers

A New Start

Happy Fourth of July!

Newsletters vs. Blogs Part 2

Newsletters vs. Blogs Part 1

How to Engage Your Customers with Relevant Content

How to Effectively Communicate with Customers

A New Start