Ask. Think. Plan.
Write. Manage.
The task could be small and singular (a name, a tagline, a set of key messages) or big and multi-faceted (a strategy developed and implemented) or somewhere in between (a website, a book, a video, an outreach campaign). The mission remains the same: Say what you mean, mean what you say.
Ask
Designers call this problem-seeking. One smart guy I know calls it being “the overt ignoramus.” Straightup just calls it “asking lots of questions.” I am completely over the fear of asking dumb questions, because usually they’re not. The point is to define the right challenge, thus improving considerably the chances of delivering the right solution.
Think
Intelligent analysis meets blue sky imagining. Creativity ensues.
What’s possible? What’s practical? What works best for your audience?
Plan
You know what they say: plan the work, work the plan. If you don’t want to, Straightup will.
Write
A colleague once called what I do “natural writing.” I liked the portrayal enough to wish I’d thought of it myself — but then he went to Yale and I didn’t so there you go. Natural is good. Natural, like nature, is smart, honest and elegant. Natural rings true, and that’s what straightup writing is all about. That and some creative hijinks when the situation calls.
Manage
Back in my corner office days (seriously, it was a corner) there were times when I wished I could just hand over a project to a “mini-me” – someone I could trust because she’d been to the rodeo — she understood my business and knew how to run a project. You can see where this is going. When you have a project you’re too busy to manage, too stumped to face, or too involved with to be effective, allow me to be you. I handle the details, you handle the glory.
Contact
Laura Johanson, LEED AP, lj(at)straightupcommunication.com
(360) 647-0869