Copywriting
Here Are a Few Samples of My Writings
Copywriting comes in many forms. Over the years I have had the opportunity to sharpen my writing skills in a variety of formats. This has included ad copy, newsletters, magazine articles, press releases, flyers, technical documents, brochures, and service announcements, to name a few. Click the icons to see some of my writing samples.
Interview Articles
One of my favorite forms of writing come from one-on-one interviews. They have often led to a great story and I’ve had the pleasure to meet a variety of very interesting people. Doing interviews, however, comes with some challenges – some people like to give short answers to questions. Being prepared with questions and learning how to draw out an answer are two key skills I had to learn.
Interview with Brian Obie
Article Title: SELCO's Member Business Spotlight, Fall 2011
Interview with Country Coach Owners
Article Title: Living Life By Land, Sea & Air, Destinations, Winter 2002
Interview with Student Housing Developers
Article Title: SELCO Member Business Spotlight: Anslow & DeGeneault
Newsletters
Over the years, I have written individual stories as well as developed all of a newsletter’s content. The following samples are newsletters in which I did both the writing and graphical design.
Closing Comments, Dec. 2001
Motorcoach dealer newsletter with feature story on new slide room hardware.
Conversion Corner, May 1999
Motorcoach dealer newsletter with feature story about the mechanics of an engine brake.
Conversion Corner, Feb. 2001
Motorcoach dealer newsletter with feature story on entertainment sound system.
Magazine Ad Copy
Writing for a magazine ad is more than just body copy. It requires the perfect mixture of identifying a key product feature, developing a concept that works both visually and with words, writing an eye-catching headline, and keeping the body copy as succinct as necessary.
Technical Materials
One of the most unique writing assignments I was given over the years was creating step-by-step assembly instructions for a furniture manufacturer. It required me to put myself in the shoes of my customer, who had just opened a box full of wood parts and loose hardware and just wanted to enjoy the bookshelf they had purchased. Learning this perspective and style of writing served me well at Lane Transit District. While serving as marketing technician, I developed a number of technical documents that established standards and protocols, provided step-by-step instructions, and established a user manual for our Outreach Bus.
Service Alert Manual
Documentation for publishing transit service alerts.
Snow & Ice Switchover Procedures
Documentation for protocols to switch LTD website into snow or emergency mode.
Outreach Bus User Manual
User manual for technical systems on the LTD Outreach Bus.
Tweets
Starting in mid-2015, I took over writing the service alerts for Lane Transit District. Our new website launched in June and afford us the ability to target these rider-relevant messages to specific routes through our real-time data feed that was consumed by our website, Google Maps and eventually Transit App. The LTD Twitter account was used exclusively during this time to parallel-broadcast a Tweet size version of each alert. The following are a few samples of the hundreds of Tweets I wrote. Click to see the Tweets live on Twitter.
Service Alert: Snow storm impacting service
(2/2)...allow, we plan to operate limited non-scheduled service for the following routes: 79x, 82. Before leaving in the morning, visit https://t.co/hDCBEOWe7o to see if your route is operating or on detour. For snow and ice route maps visit https://t.co/oMzUjakvvd.
— Lane Transit District (LTD) (@LaneTransit) February 28, 2019
Service Alert: Major traffic impact due to long-term construction project
(2/2)...as 20 – 30 minutes and have a ripple effect through the LTD system. Riders planning on traveling during this time should plan extra travel time. For construction and traffic details, visit https://t.co/vCxwqhtYAn.
— Lane Transit District (LTD) (@LaneTransit) May 17, 2019
Service Alert: Local college football game impacting service
On Sat. 11/30, due to the home game at Autzen Stadium, Rts 12, 66 & 67 will be delayed on detour and unable service certain stops. In addition, Route 13 will not serve the stops on MLK/Centennial between Coburg & Pioneer Pkwy. Details at https://t.co/hDCBEPdPvY
— Lane Transit District (LTD) (@LaneTransit) November 30, 2019
Service Alert: Construction detour with follow-up message connected as a thread
The detour for Rts 28, 73, 78, 81 and 98 has been lifted.
— Lane Transit District (LTD) (@LaneTransit) August 22, 2019