words, pictures & pixels: put your best foot forward online

beth g sanders

@bethgsanders | bethgsanders.com | gplus.to/bethgsanders

social media & online strategy | writing | wordpress

Friday, May 11, 12

W d SrO ,&

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Get Ready

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Who’s Your Audience?Friday, May 11, 12

Pencil, Paper, Dreams

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Brainstorm

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Wd S

rOFriday, May 11, 12

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Don’t Be

This Guy

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Friday, May 11, 12

11 Errors — and a BonusI’m excited to be here at TechCamp Memphis!!! Technology provides opportunities for connection and alot of learning. Many people are intimidated by there device’s and think if they ignore technology it will just go away.

If your here, your probably glad its here to stay and, other then your family, one of the last things you’d want to loose is your internet connection.

More Technology-focused programming is needed in Memphis. Thanks for coming.

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Why Should I Care?• Consistency

• Professionalism

• User experience

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! ,“”-Punctuation

:Friday, May 11, 12

!Just don’t.Unless you want to be all, “Omigosh, I

went to the mall and he is, like,

sooooo cute!”

Friday, May 11, 12

Just don’t.Unless you want to be all, “Omigosh, I

went to the mall and he is, like,

sooooo cute!”

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,The Oxford Comma

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,• Never plural

• Like a toddler: possessive

• Like PB without the J: missing something

ApostrophesAs opposed to apostrophe’s

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“Quotes are for quotes.She said, “Yes.”

”Not for emphasis.“Please Do Not Swim.”

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-Avoid ambiguity or for a compound modi!er

• The president spoke to small business owners.

• The president spoke to small-business owners.

• She has a three-year-old child.

Hyphens

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•Bullets

• Consistency

• Emphasize the !rst few words

• No longer than three lines

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Don’t Capitalize Everything.

It doesn’t make it look Important.

It makes you look Dorky.

Capitalization

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AP: When in doubt, prefer down & closed.

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Have Pity on These Poor

Misused Words

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• Tenant/tenet: Which is a principle?

• Affect/effect: Will this _ffect my grade?

• Lose/loose: Which means not tight?

• Mute/moot: Which means purely academic?

• Misconception/misnomer: The same?

11 Misused Words That Kill Puppies and Make Little Kids Cry

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• Laxadaisical: This word does not exist.

• Momentarily/in a moment: Interchangeable?

• Adverse/averse: Which means against?

• Criteria/criterion: Criterion is singular.

• Farther/further: Physical distance?

• Sight/site: Which is a location?

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• I: subject of sentence: “I went to the store.”• Me: object of sentence: “John hit me.”• Myself: when you are the subject and the object.

“I see myself in the mirror.”

• Never say, “John and myself went to the store,” or“Call John or myself with questions.”

• The remove John test

Use Pronouns Like a ProI/Me/Myself

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No: For all intensive purposes ... Yes: For all intents and purposes ...

No: Help your critters produce less litters.Yes: Help your critters produce fewer litters.

No: Over 60 people came to TechCamp.Yes: More than 60 people came to TechCamp.

Don’t Slip on These ...

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Use Photos Well• Stock photos are ok, but your own are better.

• Use action shots and interesting angles.

• Be sure photos !t your style.

• Faces pull eyeballs.

• Crop outside the box.

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A photo is agreat background for copy,but choosecolors carefully.

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TypeFriday, May 11, 12

• Stay classy; ban Comic Sans.

• Use novelty fonts sparingly.

• Pay attention to leading/line-height.

Use Type Well

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TextText

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam sapien orci, ullamcorper ac convallis vel, volutpat vitae nulla. Nam a nibh lectus. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nullam eleifend rutrum ante. Nam rhoncus est id tellus aliquam interdum. Maecenas vel arcu ac tortor feugiat facilisis.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

Etiam sapien orci, ullamcorper ac convallis vel, volutpat vitae nulla. Nam a nibh lectus. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra,

per inceptos himenaeos. Nullam eleifend rutrum ante.

Nam rhoncus est id tellus aliquam interdum. Maecenas

vel arcu ac tortor feugiat facilisis.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam sapien orci, ullamcorper ac convallis vel, volutpat vitae nulla. Nam a nibh lectus. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nullam eleifend rutrum ante. Nam rhoncus est id tellus aliquam interdum. Maecenas vel arcu ac tortor feugiat facilisis.

Justi!cation: Unjusti!ed

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Friday, May 11, 12

Online Content

• Use inverted pyramid style for copy.

• Bullet points > paragraphs.

• Images are power.

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Please Don’t Autoplay ...

Even if it’s really awesome.

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Don’t Get Me Lost

• Breadcrumbs keep the reader oriented.

• Always have a one-click way back home.

• Make your navigation logical.

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ChooseColor

Carefully

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IntegrateSocial

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Feed Me

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WordPress

• Full-featured content management system

• Ability to customize as needed

• Wide variety of themes

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TextText

W d SrO

• AP is your BFF.

• Mind your Ps and Qs (Not P’s and Q’s).

• Be strong and active.

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TextText• Be real.

• Evoke emotion.

• Use white space to highlight.

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TextText• Invert your pyramid.

• Don’t annoy.

• Feed your reader.

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?Friday, May 11, 12

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beth g sanders

@bethgsanders | bethgsanders.com linkedin.com/in/bethgsanders | gplus.to/bethgsanders

slideshare.net/bgsand

Friday, May 11, 12