How can clients and consultants get along better? Heard today from a consultant who gets emails after 11 p.m. on a Friday night about work due the next Monday morning. And know of a client who received assignments after the deadline. Bad, bad, on both counts.

So what are some rules for a more productive relationship? Here’s a few I can think of, please suggest others–

• A scope of work or agreement that clearly spells out assumptions on both sides
• An open line of communication so that the consultant can email or call the client with questions and receive timely responses
• A discussion about how the work should be turned in, especially if it is a more free-form deliverable such as findings from an assessment or series of interviews (a formal report? an email?
• An agreed-upon schedule, to allow time for review and revision.

What else would you add?

Name of my e-newsletter, from a quote by Alexander Pope:

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance.

Note he (and I) didn’t say “easy writing.” But just like dance lessons can help get you around the floor with your partner more gracefully, the goal for my newsletter is to share a tip or two each month so you can improve how your organization communicates in writing.

Ask me to send it to you.

Returning to work after a few days away is hard, even if the projects are interesting. So how do you get back in the swing of things?

Here’s what I am trying, after a great week in Ireland:

I began with the financial stuff that had accumulated (a bill due, a payment to be deposited)

Then moved on to an assignment I could finish up in a few hours.

Got my files around for a big writing project due early next week, gradually easing myself into feeling more creative.

Not totally there yet, but I’m thinking of that nice Guinness a little less often today than I did yesterday…..

We “made over” three writers at a wonderful networking group I attend each month. The three people asked our advice as they consider new directions–two are considering the freelance route from full-time jobs, while the third wants to market her articles to new publications.Always easy to tell other people what is good for them….While they asked us different questions and we gave them different answers, there were some common threads of advice:

• Ask others for help, but be specific about what you are asking. For the person seeking new markets, we suggested she ask some of her current editors and contacts (who love her work) for some contacts, since it is so much easier to start with a name than with a cold query.
• Set goals. Something about writing it down and holding yourself accountable seems to start aligning the stars in the right direction.
• Make your work accessible. For example, work samples should be in PDF form to send to a contact.

Not rocket science. Just colleagues helping each other.

It was my son who found out first that Obama would be speaking at our local high school. He got a Facebook invitation.

So we went to a very temporary campaign office in Falls Church and stood in line for about 30 minutes to get tickets (two apiece) for the following Sunday.

“Stand for Change: Town Hall Meeting” with Barack Obama reads the ticket. We and maybe 4,000 other people were there by 12:30. Everyone was in a good mood (fortunately, it was cold but now awful), and we were part of a multi-hued, multi-generational crowd, including lots of “older women for Obama.”

There was lot of down time until he finally came. Spirits and energy rose and fell–up when various officials warmed up the crowd and cheers arose, then not much happening. Obama finally came in around 3:30 p.m. He spoke for a while–very well–and then took about five or six questions from the audience.

Lots and lots of young people have become energized by this candidate.

Sarah Massey, Massey-Media, suggests this timeline for contacting media with a press advisory to cover your story:

• Monthly magazines–at least 1 month prior to publication (I’m thinking earlier, what about you?)
• Weekly paper–at least 2 weeks in advance
• Daily paper, TV, radio–at least 1 week in advance

Then call your targets, the journalists whom you most want to reach. Don’t rely on email! You need to make it through the clutter.

What about online media? I would use the 1-week rule, but remember that often blogs pick up stories from more traditional media, so you might get your coverage afterwards.

The topic at yesterday’s Roundtable sponsored by the Alexandria Small Business Development Center was on giving and getting referrals. Most of us are on either side of the fence regularly. In the past few days, I have referred colleagues to the photographer who did some work for me, a voice coach in a women’s network in which I participate, and the owner of my Internet Service Provider.*

Our discussion brought up a few points about referrals:

When you are looking for a referral (in other words, you would like someone you know to recommend you to someone they know), are you specific about the kind of person or business you are looking for? The more specific and memorable, the more likely you will elicit a helpful suggestion.

When you are giving a referral (in other words, you are telling someone you know about someone else who can provide a product or service), are you confident that the person you are recommending will deliver? Your reputation is on the line. Just because your neighbor is a graphic designer doesn’t mean you should make a referral without knowing his or her work and reliability.

When you receive a referral (in other words, your contact has paved the way for you to call on one of his or her contacts), do you follow up immediately? Your reputation and reputation of your referrer are on the line. In some fields, a commission or percentage of sales is expected (and, if so, should be spelled out clearly beforehand). A gracious thank you, or perhaps lunch, coffee, or even flowers or a gift card, are more the norm in my experience.

LinkedIn, on which I have a profile, presents an online alternative to referrals. But most of us just enjoy helping each other out through our personal networks, too.

*Tom Ball Photo, Ann Timmons, Heller Information Services

Keywords? Check. ALT Images? Got it.

I just finished the last lesson of an online course on Search Engine Optimization. How strange, and yet exciting, that a field has emerged that can talk about its “history” back in the 1990s or early 2000s.

The course, conducted by the SEMPO Instititute, was good, although subject to the occasional technical glitch and, most frustrating of all, sometimes very oddly written exam questions. (You need to pass a test after each lesson.)

But I learned a lot for my writing and even earned a cool certificate. And things in the SEO world are changing so rapidly, we are all really still learning.

I am writing an annual report for a nonprofit, my third time for this group. What makes it relatively easy, I realize, besides knowing the organization, is how they got ready for me:

• They told me in our initial meeting which activities they want to highlight for the year.

• They put together a notebook with press releases and media advisories, organized by topic and chronologically within each topic. Since I am paid by the hour by this group, their prep work not only made my job easier, but also saved them money.

• They worked backwards from their desired release date to develop deadlines for the draft and revisions.

Maybe you are not in such a fortunate situation. You have to write the 2007 annual report and have no idea where to start. My suggestions:

1. First think of the main highlight or two you want to emphasize. What do you want people to know about what your organization accomplished this past year?
2. How can you support your main messages? Don’t feel obliged to relate every activity and event–just the ones that are important to the message.
3. Much as I press for well-written reports, I recognize the power of the visual. Put out the call for photos and other graphics. If you don’t have any, my own opinion is that well-designed text, white space, charts, etc. are better than stock photos, but you may differ.
4. Make a resolution to start gathering materials now for the 2008 report. Just start a file into which you can put hard copies or notes to yourself, and be conscious of the need for photos.
5. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Draft report due today. Work spaced out over the past few weeks comes down to the draft to turn in. I have to include or exclude comments, tone down or emphasize them. If this were investigative journalism, perhaps my goal would be to include the most provocative comments possible. But sometimes, I realize, people say things that sound different out of context, or are said in the comfort of a small group of peers. So editorial restraint is often necessary, even if it makes the end product somewhat less zesty.

Meanwhile, 11:30 now. Want to get this sent, and off my desk, by the end of the day.