What Sarah Said (About Web Design)

I must be the only web designer, social media strategist and programmer who can find inspiration for a blog post in a song by Ben Gibbard and Death Cab For Cutie. At the very least, if you're into music, I might have caught your attention with that post title. Truthfully, though, I can't say that the mythical Sarah had some true insights about effective design (the song is rather dour and melancholy, after all), but it's the sort of title that certainly grabs one's attention, isn't it? So, if Sarah was indeed somewhat of a web expert, what would she say, exactly?

Effective web design begins with listening, truly listening, to your client.

Without question, Sarah would say to listen to your client. That's first, foremost and non-negotiable. Probably the worst thing you could possibly do is present a client with preconceived concepts and ideas, ultimately designing and building a site which presents your strengths and meets your sense of style without taking into consideration the needs and corporate image of your client. Think about it: would you want to do business with someone intent on literally forcing their own ideas down your throat? I think not. We're hired for our vision and expertise, of course, but the true visionaries and professionals among us listen first and design later. Seriously: could we truly succeed and serve our clients any other way? After all, it's their company and their image. It's their future and their reputation on the line. And it's our job to refine and present that image in a memorable way, helping them to attract new clients and new customers along the way. Otherwise, you can forget about truly helping your client win new business. And you can forget about positive referrals and new clients of your own.

So, be sure to call upon your own expertise and experience. But never forget to listen, for listening to your client is perhaps the greatest skill you can ever have. It's the key to mutual success, and it's the key to longevity in this ever changing and highly competitive business. Pay attention, ask questions, make notes and prepare for the success which will come your way.

What Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Rilke and Annie Dillard Can Teach Us About Writing for the Web

Certainly, there are subtle differences in writing for the web and writing for the sake of literature. Brevity, for one: reading from a monitor is much more tiring than reading from a book, making it even more vital to edit out unnecessary ideas, words and phrases. Make your key points early in your text, keep your text short, and use memorable, active language.

And never hesitate to learn from the masters, even if they wrote decades or even centuries before the advent of the Internet.

• Hemingway: "If a writer stops observing he is finished. Experience is communicated by small details intimately observed.” And: "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.'
• Fitzgerald: “You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” 
• Rilke: "And still it is not enough to have memories. One must be able to forget them when they are many, and one must have the great patience to wait until they come again. For it is not yet the memories themselves. Not until they have turned to blood within us, to glance, to gesture, nameless and no longer to be distinguished from ourselves-not until then can it happen that in a most rare hour the first word of a verse arises in their midst and goes forth from them.” 
• Annie Dillard: "One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better.” 

You write what you read, in a way; so choose your reading carefully. Reading is our continuing education, both in wisdom and the craft of writing itself. And we close, of course, with Hemingway: Never forget that "we are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” The attempt, though, it is all about the attempt.

Writing Effective Twitter Posts

"All you have to do is write one true sentence," Hemingway said. "Write the truest sentence that you know." It's good advice considering the brevity of social media updates, especially for the 140 character Twitter limit. There's not much room to violate Hemingway's admonition of "no fat, no adjectives, no adverbs," but at the same time the strange abbreviations and acronyms we see often on Twitter can look more than a little weird (not to mention unprofessional).

Really, do you want a tweet such as this representing your business or corporate image? I think not. Consider the Twitter character limit sort of a literary challenge, less of a constraint than an exercise in creativity. Effective writers can turn the limit into an asset, writing compelling and entertaining tweets that help you achieve your marketing goals and make an effective contribution to your corporate image.

A few brief tips:

• Learn from the prominent players in your field. There are best practices out there; identify and use them.
• Write with your own personality and voice. Followers enjoy reading tweets from real people, not corporations.
• Set goals for your tweets and posts. You can't measure effectiveness if you don't first identify realistic goals.
• Use hashtags to broaden your audience and join popular conversations (make sure your tweets are relevant, though).

Put these principles into practice and see immediate improvements in your social media efforts, not to mention a greater return on your investment. As always, send us comments on what you learn and experience.