By Kathleen Rake We've been working with Community Futures South Fraser in Chilliwack, BC to help tell their clients' stories. It's been a great Fraser Valley adventure. Please meet Charissa Boucher, owner of Alchemy Hair Lounge in Abbotsford, BC. - 30 - Copyright © 2021 Click Media Works. All rights reserved. Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake I grew red cabbage! Just three heads -- but I grew it. After using half the largest head to make coleslaw, I am turning the rest into red cabbage sauerkraut, the fermented food you either love, hate,... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake Halloumi-and-orzo toss from Chef's Plate was our dinner tonight. Of course, there were oven-roasted vegetables and a Mediterranean-inspired dressing for the lot. This was my first cooking or eating halloumi cheese -- and I liked it. It... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake Chef Ricky was back in action last night with Chef's Plate pan-seared Parmesan chicken, mashed potatoes, and oven-roasted broccoli. I pulled a Blue Grouse Estate Winery Pinot Noir to go along with it, partly in honour of... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake Not only is English hard, it's silly. I mean, really? How can so many words sound so similar? And how many times have you typed expect instead of except? Or fro, when you meant for? What about affect, when you should have typed effect? Your spell-checking program isn't likely to pick up those spelling errors or misused words because the mistakes and misuses are actual words, and as long as you spelled those correctly . . . <sigh> Here's an infographic with nine sets of words that are easy to misuse, misspell, mistake, or mis-almost-anything. And while... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake Ha! It's a simple question, with a less-than-simple answer: Somewhere between $25 and $4,500. The media release (press release/news release) is a powerful and cost-effective marketing and promotions tool, especially for a growing organization. But it's JUST ONE of many important and effective tools. You have to be sure to use it in the right place at the right time. Read what Bill Byrne of Remedy Public Relations says about it in his article at Muck Rack. ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ Read article now. -30- Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake "Healthy people are the foundation for a strong community," say Denise and Candyce Fowle, owners of Inspire Me Fitness and Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award recipients. Below is the link to our piece featuring these women and their business, published today, International Women's Day, in the Mission City Record. Perfect timing. Right? Read the story: Download 2019-03-08_Spotlight on Business Excellence-Inspire Me Fitness Connect with Inspire Me Fitness on social media: Facebook Instagram -30- Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake The exclamation mark loses its effectiveness when you overuse it ... so employ it sparingly. And please, don't use more than one at a time. The exception of course is Twitter <sigh>; I mean, who can tweet without using at least one? -30- Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake If you want to clear the clutter from your writing, eliminate the word that. Chances are you don't need it. -30- Copyright © 2018 Click Media Works. All rights reserved. Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake It's exciting to plan something new, right? I think so, too. I was surprised, however, by the number of horror stories people shared when I mentioned we're setting the plan to redesign our website to accommodate (and promote) our business and its new directions. So, that started me thinking: Why? Why so many horror stories? While I can't be sure why others experienced horrors, I'm pretty sure I can guess. And I'm pretty sure these are the three reasons we won't. Before we made a commitment or paid any money, we had several conversations with our website... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake I'll bet most of you who know me know that since 2010 I've had success as a full-time freelance writer—as a freelance copywriter and content creator. Prior to that, since the mid-1990s, I did it part-time, at nights and on weekends, off the corner of my home-office desk—the proverbial side hustle. But, do you also know that over the course of six years and prior to breaking out solo as a freelancer, I worked as a business advisor within a self-employment program and helped hundreds of new entrepreneurs from the Fraser Valley—Mission, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, and Langley—start and... Continue reading

Cheers 🥂 to you and yours for a happy holiday season and all the best 2018 can bring. -30- Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake Q: Should you ask existing customers for referrals? Short A: Yes. Longer A: Yes. But only if you want to get more work from people who are likely to pay well, pay on time, and give additional referrals. What do I mean? Well, chances are that a good customer is going to give you the names of people he or she thinks are good candidates for your services. No one wants to make a bad referral; in my experience, at least, chances of a good customer-writer relationship increase when it begins as the result of an already-good-customer... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake On November 17 I saw this great post by the BC Chicken Squad on Twitter: Chicken and chorizo sausage, with potatoes on one pan. The recipe came from Jo Cooks and I modified it to suit our... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake Are you considering making the move from in-house or staff writer, journalist, or author to full- or part-time freelance writer? We know that move can be scary—we've been there! We want to help you shake off some of that fear by answering your questions about the business of freelance writing (#BoFW) right here. So, let's go: Question: How do you avoid getting stuck with unpaid invoices? Answer: We do two things we do to ensure we don't get "stuck." First, we write a detailed proposal that the client reads and signs. You'll want to make sure the... Continue reading

→ Write. → Get paid. → Repeat. Are you a writer who wants to make the move from in-house staff to professional freelancer? We are happy to answer your questions. Ask them here, on Facebook or Twitter, by email, or at Instagram. As we get questions, we'll share them (and our answers) with you here. Look for the hashtags #BoFW and #BusinessOfFreelanceWriting on all our social media platforms ... and please check back often. -30- Copyright © 2016 Click Media Works. All rights reserved. Continue reading

Click Media Works has joined the fun at Instagram. Please follow us there for snapshots into writing, copywriting, the freelancer's life, business, and the business of freelance writing. -30- Copyright © 2016 Click Media Works. All rights reserved. Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake Do you know why Canadians wear poppies to commemorate November 11, the date we call Remembrance Day? Here is a poem almost every Canadian child learns by heart. It was written by Canadian poet-doctor-soldier John McCrae during World War I. It will help you understand. In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake I admit it! I am easily distracted, even with a deadline looming. But, over the years, I have discovered a couple of tricks and one valuable tool to help me beat the distractions so I can keep to task and meet my deadlines. Turn off anything that rings, chimes, dings, clicks, or buzzes, except for #3 below. That way you won't be tempted to find out what's going on outside your focused bubble. Go to your computer with a full stomach and a large glass of water. If you are hungry or thirsty, you will find an... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake A spectacular view of Mt. Baker combines with hop bines in full bloom to serve as backdrop to the first-ever BeerBQ event, which is set to tickle the taste buds of BBQ and BC craft beer lovers... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake I am not competitive in business; at least, not competitive in the traditional sense. I don't believe I have to beat YOU in order to win ... to be successful. Rather, I like to embrace those who are considered my competition for a number of reasons. And I think you should, too. Scroll down to find out why. I don't worry about what my so-called competitors do—I am aware, but not worried. I am too busy dedicating my energy to growing my own company and serving clients. At Click Media Works, our focus is relatively narrow, especially... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake A quick word about campaign cycle vs. sales cycle. When we work with our clients, we write, edit, and create content designed to help move them through particular campaigns. What we've created then becomes integral to the campaign cycle. The content we create for these campaigns often includes: eNewsletters and advertorials, media releases and newspaper articles, case studies and white papers, social media and blog posts, website copy, and more. I use the term campaign cycle rather than sales cycle with purpose. Every campaign has a beginning, middle, end with a goal, and several important points and... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake Are you a business writer, poet, graphic artist, web designer, painter, musician, photographer or another creative soul who makes a living selling your expertise, art, ideas, and the expression of same? Here is an infographic I created. Let me know if you think it is too cheeky or not blunt enough. When you view this infographic with your critical, professional eye, please kindly remember I am a writer/editor/publisher, not a graphic artist. And, consider this my "express written permission" to share it, if you like it. Download the PDF. -30- Copyright © 2016 Click Media Works. All... Continue reading

By Kathleen Rake At Houtson PR, author Hamish Thompson shares his "list of the most annoying pieces of jargon." Of the top 10 he listed, #7 has been in my top 3 since the 1990s. My #1, which has no mention anywhere in the article, is the word overwhelm, when used as a noun. And while unicorn was not on the top-10 list, I was sorry to see it cited under the "Other (please specify)" category because some may confuse the beautiful mythical creature with the other one. -30- Copyright © 2016 Click Media Works. All rights reserved. Continue reading