Monday, November 8, 2010

How I plan to sell my client on using YouTube


This post was originally created as class assignment #7 for MSU's New Media Driver's License course, and posted to the course website on November 8, 2010.

I have a client that belongs on YouTube. To get them to take the plunge into online video, I need to make a compelling marketing case for investing their time, energy and (a small amount of) money to put their brand and their product line “in motion”. Here, I’ll outline the main points I plan to make to convince them to add online video to their marketing mix (in the form of answering the questions I anticipate they’ll ask).

The client:
A distributor of hand crafted wines (mostly from California), serving a defined region of the northeastern U.S. They sell their products to liquor retailers, restaurants and bars.

Note: At their request, I’ve left my client’s name and location out for the purposes of this discussion.


Their marketing challenges:
Business-to-Business:
  • Liquor laws in the state where they operate are strict, limiting the marketing levers they can use to impact their business. They cannot sell direct to consumers. They cannot discount their products. They cannot use promotions on popular products to encourage trial of new or lesser-known labels.
  • Customers (bars, restaurants and liquor stores) are reluctant to stock or serve wines they are unfamiliar with, as well as wines with a higher per glass or per bottle cost to serve.
  • Currently, company sales representatives call on individual customers, opening bottles to pour samples (bottles which cannot be given to the customer for resale, but must be disposed of), which is an expensive tactic for building brand awareness and encouraging trial.
Business-to-Consumer:
  • By law my client cannot sell direct to consumers. Currently, they must rely on the marketing efforts and recommendations of their retail customers (bars, restaurants and liquor sellers) to position and promote their products to wine drinkers. Most of their customers do little or no ongoing promotion of their brands.
  • Wine drinkers are reluctant to try unfamiliar labels without credible recommendations.
  • When purchasing a bottle of wine at retail, wine drinkers often rely on visual recollection of a wine’s label.
  • Most of the 36 wineries my client represents have websites. Only 3 feature video on their sites, but several brands were found in a YouTube search, indicating that there is content out there to make use of and build upon.

How can video help sell wine?
Marketing wine is all about storytelling. Wine enthusiasts are often as excited about the story behind a wine as they are about the taste of the wine itself. Telling a wine’s (or winemaker’s) story in a memorable way is a key step in elevating a specific wine on a wine lover’s must-try list. (It’s much the same challenge Valentina Trevino faced and met with her video art blog .

As the “middlemen” in the process, my clients’ challenge is to get the story of their wines out – both to retailers, to encourage them to stock/serve the wine, and to end consumers, to get them talking about – and asking for – the wine in stores and bars.

Here’s a great example of how a quick biographical video of a winemaker (a brand my client carries) helps position his brand and improve name recognition:

Scott Harvey Wines


Here’s another colorful example of how a brand my clients sell tells their wine’s story by connecting it with music:

Vihuela/Incendio



Can my clients create great video content like this?
Yes!! After reviewing online video content in the wine category, I’m convinced that my clients can improve on much of what’s out there, while also leveraging some of the strong content some of their brands are currently creating (like the examples above).
My client company’s owners are creative, charismatic and passionate about the brands they sell. In addition to being able to produce in-house content about their wines, they also regularly visit the vineyards they represent, and conduct local tastings in their area, creating additional opportunities to capture video for use in marketing.

Initially, I would recommend that they create a template for producing simple yet compelling descriptive videos about each wine they sell. As an example, here’s how one of the brands they represent does this with virtually no creativity. With very little effort or expense, my clients can improve significantly on this approach:

Crane Brothers Brodacious

Once this initial step has been taken, I would recommend that my clients expand on that content by developing a video blog (to live on both YouTube and on their site) that captures their own personality, reviews and discusses the wines they carry, and provides additional lifestyle content (restaurant reviews, area events, etc.) relevant to the region.

Some inspiration for this: Gary Vaynerchuk:
Wine “superstar” Gary Vaynerchuk has proven that there is an audience of wine enthusiasts who will tune in for entertaining content. His video blog has grown from a very crude self-produced show to a multi-faceted business that extends well beyond reviewing wine. All because of he let his personality and passion shine through on video

Gary V



Once they have a plan for content, can they develop an online video strategy?
Again, YES!! Components of the strategy would include (but not be limited to):
  • Creating an on-site video blog and promoting the site to their region (reaching both their customers and end users/wine enthusiasts) via keywords, Google AdWords, etc.
  • Creating their own video channel on YouTube, and posting to Facebook and tweeting out each time a new video is added (they have a Facebook fan page, and efforts are currently underway to encourage their customers to follow them on Twitter)
  • Budget permitting, develop a Promoted Video campaign on YouTube. This would be an appropriate tool for them to use:
  • It’s as easy as Google AdWords to plan and place a buy.
  • It’s targetable – since their trading area is clearly defined as one portion of one state, this is essential
  • It’s affordable, since you only pay when your video is viewed
  • It has “legs” beyond the media buy, since viewers can comment, rate and share videos. This could prove highly beneficial for generating the “word of mouth” recommendations so critical to a wine’s success.
  • It’s measurable – YouTube offers analytics (YouTube Insight) similar to Google which can help shape future video content and distribution.

Beyond YouTube, are there other tools my clients should use?
No other video posting site comes close to YouTube in traffic, or features, or ease of use. Using a recent review of video sharing websites , I explored other sites and compared them with YouTube. I would recommend getting a YouTube-focused strategy up and running first, before exploring others.

That said, I’d probably make one exception: vimeo. Vimeo positions their site as “a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make.” Since wine enthusiasts may share other erudite pursuits (independent films, etc.), vimeo’s more upscale, less cluttered environment might be worth trying and evaluating. They also offer a number of free services, including some cool widgets to enhance the client’s website and blog, and the ability to organize groups of viewers with similar interests. For example, they currently offer 37 groups focused on wine; a group specific to my client’s region could be added. An example of wine-related content on vimeo can be found here.

I would also recommend that as they create their basic product video library (giving viewers a simple review of the wine and a good clear look at the label), those posts, along with still photos conveying the same info, be posted on Flickr.


 Summary
I’m looking forward to working with this company in the days ahead to help them get their video marketing strategy online. They have great products with great stories, and a passionate audience with which to connect online. Video will allow them to use sight, sound and motion to connect with both their customers and their customers’ customers to raise awareness of their brands in a very crowded marketplace.

___________________________
photo credits:  Palermo Wine Splash by ciccioetneo; Corks by Josep Ma Rosell


Monday, November 1, 2010

Rough, Tough Social Media Monitoring: Carhartt

This post was originally created as class assignment #1 for MSU's New Media Driver's License course, and posted to the course website on September 27, 2010.
This post was originally created as class assignment #6 for MSU's New Media Driver's License course, and posted to the course website on November 1, 2010.
Background
The first step in creating a “listening strategy” FOR Carhartt is to listen TO Carhartt. The descriptions they share on their official website (which they go to lengths to brand as “official”) about their company, product line, distribution and target audience provide a quick sketch of the brand’s marketing footprint. That insight will help guide the creation of a social media strategy for them, and will provide a benchmark for determining how what others say about the brand compares with what the Company is saying.

Company: Carhartt is a Dearborn, Michigan-based clothing manufacturer. “For 120 years, Carhartt has created and manufactured premium work clothing known for exceptional durability, comfort, quality of construction, and fit that you can feel in the fabrics and see in the performance.”

Products: “Expanding the line from the traditional outerwear pieces, Carhartt now offers a complete product line for warm and cold weather alike that includes jeans and work pants, shirts, sweats, shorts, tee's and accessories. A variety of features such as premium fabrics, rugged construction, and comfortable fit are just some of the hallmarks of Carhartt workwear that fit our customer's needs in the toughest conditions.”

Distribution: Carhartt men’s, women’s and children’s clothing is sold primarily via a network of independent retailers and chains, as well as direct online and via a number of online retail partners.

Target: Carhartt summarizes their target market as follows: “As a choice brand of those who work and play outdoors, Carhartt is proud to serve a variety of workers in many industries including construction and manufacturing along with farmers, ranchers and outdoor enthusiasts.”

Carhartt’s current social media profile:
Carhartt participates in the social media conversation. Their website includes several new media features, including a number of blogs (currently 7, including product, and customer service, and topical), an online promotions (the October promotion, “Built to Outperform Sweepstakes” is assumed to be representative example of their ongoing activity), and they also engage via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube.

Scope of Social Media Monitoring Strategy:
For the purposes of this analysis, we will assume that Carhartt has a current strategy and system for capturing and analyzing the conversation that happens on their own website and social media channels. Test monitoring indicates that Carhartt representatives promptly respond to questions, comments and complaints left on their site and communicated directly to the company through social media. The monitoring strategy outlined here will expand on that, helping Carhartt monitor what’s being said outside of their “official” channels.

Who and what to monitor:
Carhartt can mine a tremendous amount of actionable information by tuning in to the social media conversation. The following categories are recommended for inclusion in their ongoing monitoring strategy:
Consumer reactions to products, including
  • Core target: Feedback on Carhartt’s own product performance claims (durability, warmth, etc) from users in their defined target (construction workers, farmers, outdoor enthusiasts, etc.) will help Carhartt gauge whether they’re putting the right stuff in the market, and whether it’s performing as promised. Test monitoring confirms that this audience is not shy about providing feedback
  • The “Anti-Target”: Perhaps the most entertaining aspect of monitoring Carhartt in social media is listening to Carhartt wearers the company is NOT expressly targeting: This group wears Carhartt for an “urban cache” they associate with the brand. Test monitoring indicates that this target is young, urban, and draws trend inspiration from street sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX bike racing, etc., as well as hip-hop and rap music. Even if Carhartt chooses never to court this buyer directly in the U.S., these consumers reflect the critical youth voice in fashion and culture, and can greatly expand overall market awareness of the Carhartt brand (or, if they chose to, could brand Carhartt as a loser).
  • International – a quick look at their own link to Carhartt Europe and comments monitored both here and abroad indicate that outside of the U.S., this “Anti-Target” is a primary target.
  • Consumer and Influencer reactions to advertising and promotions – Carhartt recently launched a new tv campaign and cross-media promotion, which generated significant response from both consumers and the media. Interpreting this feedback will help them determine whether and how to modify the campaign going forward.
  • Price/discounting/promotional information – which promotional levers are getting people’s attention (since Carhartt retailers appear to have significant latitude in how they price and promote, it would seem that the company could learn a lot by listening to retailers are going to market). For example, in test monitoring, a promotion through Cabela’s for a t-shirt selling for under $5 generated significant conversation.
  • Competitive information – At the very least, Carhartt should be monitoring what’s being said about core competitors like Dickies, Columbia, and Patagonia. Test monitoring indicated that consumers are choosing between these brands, and looking for recommendations from others.
  • Sentiment: In each of the above categories, a mechanism must be in place for evaluating whether mentions are positive, negative, or neutral; all impact brand awareness and resonance. Some monitoring tools allow the user to evaluate and manually assign sentiment, while others provide an automated assessment. Carhartt should be cautioned that automated assessments of sentiment are not perfect (it’s difficult for a computer to determine whether someone is happy or angry).

Keywords to monitor:
Primary keywords to track would include:
  • Carhartt
  • Work clothes, work clothing
  • Competivie brand names, including Dickies (Williamson Dickie), Patagonia, Columbia
  • Urban fashion brands (as determined by an expert), such as Stussy
  • Keywords specific to promotions, such as “Built to Outperform”
  • At least initially, also consider tracking “Carhart” to compensate for possible misspellings


Tools for Monitoring
Since this strategy calls on Carhartt to monitor numerous categories of information, a comprehensive tool or set of tools with broad functionality is called for, specifically:
  • Multiple social media platforms: Simply monitoring tweets will not provide adequate; blogposts, news mentions, and shopping sites must be monitored as well. And since Carhartt has evolved into a “lifestyle” brand (for both their primary and “anti” targets), sentiments shared on Facebook pages are also relevant to understanding and monitoring brand image and trends.
  • Team monitoring capability – the strategy must include a plan to divide listening responsibilities (and corresponding analysis and response duties) among experts within the company, and the monitoring tools must have this capability. If feasible, individuals currently responsible for monitoring Carhartt’s own channels should expand their monitoring to include the external conversation.Since Carhartt is currently monitoring and responding to comments on their own sites.
  • Reporting and Analytics – the effort is only worthwhile if actionable information is not only captured, but aggregated and analyzed. Ultimately, whichever monitoring tool or tools Carhartt chooses must be able feed into a comprehensive dashboard that all users can access (even though it is recommended that one administrator have oversight, working with each “listener” to summarize information.

I’m reluctant to recommend specific tools based on the information available to “free test drive” users like me. But among the monitoring tools offered for consideration, I would recommend that Carhartt explore HootSuite Pro (a paid upgrade):
  • It monitors the major social media outlets (Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Fan Pages, LinkedIn, PingFM, WordPress, MySpace, Foursquare)
  • It can accommodate multiple users
  • It provides advanced reporting and analytics (even the ability to be combined with Google Analytics).

Incorporating Google Alerts into the listening mix would round out the strategy, providing additional monitoring of blog and news mentions.

(Carhartt may also wish to investigate having a more customizable monitoring system. A good place to start the search might be a social media monitoring resource wiki like this one.

Initial Findings from Test Monitoring:
The tool I used to conduct test monitoring was SocialMention, a free monitor that combined much, but not all, of the functionality recommended in the strategy. (It lacks some features like the ability to conduct and save multiple searches simultaneously, although it does provide for exportable CSV data).

A real-time monitoring of the keyword Carhartt on SocialMention illustrates just how much social media monitoring could reveal about Carhartt’s brand image:
  • Carhartt is being talked about, and overall sentiment is neutral-to-positive
  • Carhartt’s new TV campaign is being talked about (and in general, the reaction is positive)
  • Facebook mentions confirm that Carhartt is a go-to brand when the weather turns cold
  • Consumers are debating between Carhartt and Patagonia for cold-weather dressing – a competitive brand to watch
  • Examples of the “Anti-target” from Twitter and YouTube illustrate that a younger, edgier audience sees the brand as cool on its own, and by association with other lifestyle brands: Twitter: “Drooling over this setup…The Kona Bicycle Co, Jake the Snake, bike rack, Carhartt threads, and Smith optics”




Most amusing thing heard on Facebook, from Alaska news source the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman:
“Today a reporter from an Italian fashion magazine called to ask me for the name of Sarah Palin’s fashion consultant. I wish I’d thought to tell him ‘that’s Carhartt, with two Ts’.”



photo credits:  Label by mrdrei.andrei; Overalls by rasenicks



Monday, October 25, 2010

Sleep Better with Google Tools

This post was originally created as class assignment #5 for MSU's New Media Driver's License course, and posted to the course website on October 25, 2010.

I was awake half the night last night thinking about Google Tools. Actually, that’s not exactly true. I was awake because my husband was snoring. But since sleep wasn’t likely, I got up, logged on, and explored Google Tools.

Are there Google Tools that could help me get a good night’s sleep? That might be asking too much, even of Google, so here’s a different question: If I came up with a way to stop snoring or help people sleep better, are there Google Tools that could help me build a successful business around it?

Insights for Search: Am I the only one who can’t sleep?
I suspect that lots of folks are challenged by a snoring partner, but to see if indeed there is a market for a non-snoring business, I turned first to Insights for Search, a tool that helps you learn more about what people are searching for.

It’s quite simple to query Insights for Search. I began by selecting a “Search terms” comparison, and arbitrarily trying a few snoring-related terms. Within the Filter category, I first selected a Web Search, focused on the U.S. (again, arbitrarily – it doesn’t mean I don’t care about the sleepless in Singapore), and looked at searches that took place in 2010. I also focused the search on the Health category. Here’s how that query looked:




Turns out, snoring is just a subset of the larger category of “sleep.” Sounds obvious, but that insight could prove important when determining the focus of my sleep-related business, and developing ad messaging, choosing keywords, and even planning blogposts (assuming this new business will employ all three). Focusing on sleep as a health concern, rather than just snoring, might be a smarter marketing strategy for this hypothetical business.






The top searches and rising searches associated with Sleep, another analytic tool available through Insights for Search, provide still more insight into what sleep-related issues are hot on consumers’ minds right now.

Google Analytics: Is my business putting people to sleep?
If I were to start an online business related to sleeping better (and why not? I have plenty of time, since I’m not SLEEPING), Google Analytics could tell me all about visitors to my site:

NEED AN ANALYTICS image
* Who’s new to the site and who’s returning (assuming those returning visitors are really sleep-deprived)
* Are they sticking around or leaving quickly (“bouncing”)?
* What sites and searches drove them to the site? This info can help me identify the keywords I should be choosing, and Google Adwords can be easily incorporated into Google Analytics to track the performance of paid search efforts too.

Without having an actual site to analyze, I couldn’t play with Analytics, but I’m anxious to. There’s SO much data to crunch here, it could help any business work smarter (and any insomniac sleep better!) Seriously, the sophistication of the data you can include on your dashboard is impressive.

I’m just beginning to explore the benefits of these and other Google Tools. I could use Google Blogs to see what sleep-related topics are being discussed in the blogosphere, using either Google Alerts, a Google blogsearch gadget on my homepage, or a blog search feed through Google Reader. And I haven’t even explored how I might use Google TV advertising to target people when they can’t sleep – that’s another great option!

I’ll be spending much more time working with Google Tools down the road. But right now, I think it’s time to try and get some sleep!



photo credit:  sign by dmjarvey

Monday, October 18, 2010

5 Reasons to put Copyblogger on your must-subscribe list

This post was originally created as class assignment #4 for MSU's New Media Driver's License course, and posted to the course website on October 18, 2010.

Are you reading Copyblogger? If you’re serious about developing your online copywriting and content marketing skills, and you want to enjoy yourself along the way, I’m here to convince you to start today.

But why should you take my word for it? How do you know if Copyblogger, or any blog for that matter, is worth your time? When it comes to digital marketing, there’s a ton of information and two tons of opinions out there; it’s hard to know how to get to the good stuff. For what it’s worth, here’s a tip that’s working for me: When investigating a blog for the first time, I start out skeptical and let the blog win me over. And this is one place where it’s ok to allow yourself the luxury of impatience: If you don’t pick up at least one useful nugget of info in the first 2 posts you read, move on.

I found I couldn’t get through the first paragraph of the first post I read on Copyblogger without jotting down notes, and it’s been that way ever since. I hope you’ll have a similar experience, and that, like me, you’ll appreciate the many ways this blog is worth following:

1. You’ll write more good better. Copyblogger’s name defines its priorities: This is first and foremost a copywriter’s site. Sure, you’ll learn how all the social media goodies can help get content noticed on the web, but always within the context of strengthening your copywriting skills.

2. You’ll think like a blogger (while still feeling and writing like yourself). Copyblogger believes in the talents and writing voices of its audience. They’re not out to change your voice; just to help your voice to be heard.

3. You’ll feel right at home talking back. Copyblogger has a huge, loyal, smart, engaged audience, and the comments they make do more than compliment the blogger, they complement the post. Most Copyblogger posts have over 100 comments (many I’ve seen have 300+), and it feels like a conversation you can be a part of, not a clique of insiders.

4. You’ll hear multiple voices in one place. I could sing the praises of Copyblogger’s founder and very frequent contributor Brian Clark all day. He’s a superb writer and a very good explainer , and if he authored every Copyblogger post I’d still be a loyal reader. But one of the big pluses of Copyblogger is that it has so many other wonderful contributors, all of whom make their living communicating in the digital space. One who recently shared some great advice for beginning bloggers is Pamela Wilson. Although she’s probably forgotten more about blogging than I’ll ever know, she still remembers what it’s like to be learning this stuff for the first time, and her post provided me with real inspiration to keep blogging.

5. You’ll take away something you can use today. A wise teacher recently encouraged new media newbies like me to “imitate before you innovate.” The more I dig into Copyblogger, the more I find to imitate, and the more inspired I am to adopt their suggestions to improve my writing.

In fact, I’m doing my darndest to use many of the techniques I’ve seen on Copyblogger within this very post! Leave a comment to let me know how many you notice. (Hint: that was one.)


photo credit:  desk, telephone, typewriter by SheepPurple

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Web Site Optimization: Get On Base With Great Content

This post was originally created as class assignment #3 for MSU's New Media Driver's License course, and posted to the course website on October 11, 2010.


When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), the goal is to get your site or blog to a coveted spot at or near the top of the page on a search. In baseball terms, that’s hitting a home run.

It’s easy to get caught up in trying to “swing for the seats” by creating some magical, perfect recipe of keywords to instantly catapult you to the #1 spot, and keep you there.  If SEO was that simple, every Google search, regardless of the topic, would return my blog at the top of the list (and I'd be Mrs. Derek Jeter).

But back to reality: every search result returned on Google (or Bing or Yahoo) is the result of choices made in real time – some that are yours to make (like the keywords or phrases you choose to use, and sites you choose to link to or comment on), and many that aren’t (like who chooses to leave a comment on, or link to, your site, or the search engine’s algorithm).

So where do you start?  Maybe it’s good to head back to the rules of baseball: It’s not a home run unless you touch all the bases. With that in mind, what’s “first base” in SEO?

Many experts will tell you, the starting point is the content you create. David Meerman Scott, for one, says “the best thing you can do to improve your search engine marketing is to focus on building great content for your buyers.”  It’s sort of that “if you build it, they will come” idea (oh no! another baseball reference!), but it’s more than that. 

Aaron Wall at SEOBook feels the same way (and I highly commend his video to all newcomers to SEO -- it's zero sizzle, all steak). He points out that the more you try to manipulate or force traffic (through duplicating content or including poor quality links, for example), the less Google will reward you with a higher placement.

A better approach in the long run (but one that requires diligence and patience) is to put your well-written ideas out there and use the social power of the web to get people talking about them.  And once again, those social media tools will only work their magic if your content is worth reading.

A related point to keep in mind, courtesy of Brian Clark at SEO Copywriting:  Your content is more than what you write on your own site or blog. Every time you comment on someone else’s blog, you’re authoring content.  As Clark discusses in his blog post “Is Commenting on Blogs A Smart Traffic Strategy?” if you comment simply for the sake of marking the territory, or to try and be the first person to comment (and therefore, to occupy the first comment spot to garner links back), even when you have nothing to add to the conversation, you won’t get the result you’re looking for.

Does that mean that if you write great stuff there’s no need to worry about optimizing your copy?  No. Back to baseball again (last time, I promise), if content with value for your audience gets you to first base, then the other tools, like well-conceived optimization strategies and social media traffic-drivers, have a better chance of “scoring” a better search result ranking. 

But we'll leave those topics for another day, and another analogy.
                                                                                                                                              


photo credits:  World's Largest Baseball Bat by basheertome; Bucket of Baseballs by laffy4k 

Monday, October 4, 2010

Let the blogging begin!



Welcome graffiti -- photo by alborzshawn

This post was originally created as class assignment #2 for MSU's New Media Driver's License course, and posted to the course website on October 4, 2010.

Welcome to Freelancia!
This is the inaugural post of my inaugural blog, the beginning of what I hope will be a long, creative and productive relationship with today’s social media tools, and with everyone who reads and comments on my posts.

What can you expect from this blog? My goal is to create a platform for newcomers to new media to hear from the experts in the blogosphere, like David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan and many others. I’ll be citing and commenting on the knowledge they share in their own websites about how to blog, what to blog and when to blog, as well as how to use new media techniques like search engine optimization (SEO) and popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Along the way, I’ll be sharing tips of my own as I scamper up the learning curve, helping myself and my clients to communicate more effectively and build and execute more impactful marketing strategies.

This blog is for anyone who feels that the new media train is leaving without them. In particular, this blog is for my fellow freelance writers, who are skilled in the tried-and-true, but perhaps not so proficient in the networked-and-new.  If you’re an independent MarCom pro like me, your clients count on you to get their messages across -- in letters, press releases, direct mail, presentations, training materials – all sorts of marketing communications – and you deliver for them. But are they also asking you to help them get noticed on the web?  Are you afraid they might ask any day now?

If you're like me, you want to be ready to answer that question with confidence. Your clients trust you with their brands because they value your talent and expertise. You owe it to them and to yourself to learn a new skill set (one that will complement, not replace, your existing one) and get their message ---your content -- noticed. So I invite you to join me on the learning curve.

I’ll admit that for now and likely for a long time to come, this blog will likely take much more from the online conversation than it contributes to it. I have everything to learn, and this space and all points connected to and from it will be my classroom. The impetus behind starting this blog is the New Media Driver’s License course I’m currently enrolled in through Michigan State University.  I thought my formal schooling ended years ago (at the state’s other Big Ten powerhouse), but none of these marvelous new media tools existed way back then, so it’s back-to-school for me. 



Classroom circa 1950, photo by Nationaal Archief / Flickr
 I feel lucky to have the opportunity to learn from some real pros, and I hope this blog helps, in some small way, to pay it forward.

Again, thanks for visiting Freelancia – hope you’ll stop by often.