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Posts by Kristen

Mar 21

Why This Author Website Works: ChristineSchwab.com

Once in a while, I like to share well-designed websites when I come across them. Usually, the sites and blogs I’ll share here will be author/expert or book launch sites that act as effective hubs for their owners’ author platforms and promotional efforts. I also give kudos to sites that create clear calls to action and that are structured to convert casual visitors to subscribers or buyers.

Here’s the latest well-designed author website I’ve discovered: ChristineSchwab.com (a former consulting client). What’s good about this site:

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Mar 16

Semantics Lesson: Blog vs. Post

This is a reprint of an article I originally wrote in 2004 on MySpace, in reaction to a semantic error that allowed users to “Post a New Blog.” Unfortunately, this confusion over blog vs. post persists. Today, hundreds of thousands of people incorrectly refer to their individual blog entries as “blogs” instead of “posts,” a semantic error which is like nails on a chalkboard to us early adopters.

When I hear someone refer to a single post or entry as a “blog,” I assume they don’t know much about social media. Don’t look foolish in front of your friends and business associates! Read on to learn what you should be saying. (To bring this post up-to-date, where you see “MySpace” below, insert the social network or community of your choice (e.g., Huffington Post, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.).

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Blogs are websites that refresh their content on a regular basis.

Posts are the things that comprise blogs, the way chapters comprise books.

If you say to someone, “I read your blogs all the time,” that means, “You have more than one website that refreshes its content on a regular basis, and I read all of them.”  Read more

Mar 10

Interview: 563 Media’s Tech Writer, Keisuke Hoashi

We have a new feature here on our website–we’ll be running interviews with creative professionals and colleagues, starting with our own staff. This is the first in a series. Subscribe to our RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss future interviews from writers, social media strategists, web designers, graphic designers, and more.

Five Questions with Our Technical Writer, Keisuke Hoashi

Keisuke Hoashi

1. What exactly is technical writing? 

Tech writing is translating highly technical jargon into words a “normal” person can understand. The most common examples are user manuals, such as those you get with software or a kitchen appliance. Ideally, tech writers also have graphic design skills, since a well-designed diagram is often the most effective way to explain a complex device.

2. What are the three most common communications mistakes you’ve seen companies make? 

1 – Too many words.

Most users will only look at a manual to find the answer to one specific question (“Where is the ON switch?”). There’s no need to include a treatise on the evolution of the research done on how the location of the switch was decided by the design committee.
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