Watts Consulting

More than you ever wanted to know about Alabama native Joe Watts

Work

Deadlines and Saturday Mornings

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Monthly newsletters really sneak up on you if you aren’t careful. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that I finished the January issue of this newsletter, but here I go again, finishing another. I’m starting the third year of doing the newsletter for the Alabama Sierra Club and really enjoy doing it quite a lot.

Having monthly newsletters helps to even out the amount of work I can expect in any given month–I’d suggest it for anyone doing the kind of work that I do. Of all the projects I work on, I think newsletters are my favorite–it is always fun to piece together the dozens of bits of information and decide on headlines, pull quotes, photos and graphics and then plug it all together.

Getting positive feedback helps too!

It seems that I’m almost always wrapping up this particular newsletter on a Saturday morning.

An Ad For American Mining Insurance

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I’ve been working for 3 days straight  finishing up the website for American Mining Insurance Company–hopefully, I’ll have something to show for all the work by the first of next week. I did take a couple of hours out of that schedule yesterday to put together a quick ad for a trade magazine.

The ad will run in Utah’s Enterprise Magazine. They have a special issue focusing on mining.

I took two of the photos in the ad–I usually wind up using photos I’ve taken from the two trips I’ve taken to document AMIC’s mining tours. Going into an underground coal mine really gives you pause and makes you thankful that you aren’t doing it (I don’t have the strength or the nerve to do it). Here are a few photos from the two trips I’ve taken: www.joewatts.com/mining

Another Newsletter–for the Alabama Byways Program

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Seems as though I’m working on lots of newsletters these days. This is a newsletter I’ve intended to put together for a long time and just haven’t gotten around to it. This is the first newsletter for the Alabama Byways Program. Future issues will have more topical information  including grant deadlines, tips and more, but for the first issue, it seemed a good idea to send out basic information about exactly what the program is.

I’ve been working on byways in Alabama since I took a job at Scenic Alabama back in 1999. I’ve long since left Scenic Alabama, but really fell in love with the byways program. It is one of those really great concepts that lets small communities around Alabama (or, in larger terms, around the country) band together to create something bigger than any of them can create on their own.

Growing up in rural Alabama (I’ve always referred to it as the edge of nowhere because people have actually heard of the middle of nowhere), I’ve always had a love of rural life and the small towns that exist nowhere else. The byways program is my chance to work with these communities. (I’ve also managed to work with Alabama communities on some other projects, too. More on that in another post on another day.)

To read the newsletter, just visit the Alabama Byways website: www.alabamabyways.org/news.htm.

And, in case you are wondering about the seagull, this was taken in February of last year along the beautiful Coastal Connection Corridor that runs from north of Orange Beach over to Dauphin Island and beyond.

Old Articles Die Hard

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I’ve been poking around the net today looking for interesting articles to go in an upcoming newsletter. I had forgotten that I wrote this article back in 2000 for Backpacker Magazine. I remember it was astonishingly hot when I went to hike this trail (seems like it was Summer of 1999).

We hiked it (Jonathan Merkle was with me) in sections and went back into Anniston, Alabama to eat pizza at a place called, I think, Matas. It was really good pizza, the place was a total dive. backpacker.com/gear/562. Here’s the link in case anyone’s interested!

Monthly Newsletters Come Due Quickly

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I can’t believe it, but here comes another newsletter for the Alabama Sierra Club. I am just getting ready to gather information and get started. I really enjoy working on newsletters in general, and I particularly love working on this one. Everyone that I work with on the Sierra Club project is so nice and appreciative. I got a very nice Christmas card and beautiful Sierra Club 2008 Calendar in the mail the other day. The card said:

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your hard work to make our newsletter such a success. I also appreciate your good humor…
Peggie

It really means a lot to me that my clients are also friends and truly appreciate the work I do.

Newsletters, newsletters, newsletters

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One of my favorite project types is newsletters. They are fun to put together. They are interesting (usually) and also provide a steady source of work. I do a fair number of newsletters now:

Most of these newsletters are online only. A couple are print. I really enjoy working on both types. Print newsletters are great, because everybody gets exactly the same experience–if you choose a font, you can be sure that it will look the way you want. If you choose a layout, nothing will mess it up. Web newsletters are fun, too, though, because you can plug loads of information in, you can make them “clickable” so people can access even more info.