Sample files: New Camden Homes website

Posted on May 16, 2012 by

This Houston-area builder needed a website that pulled it out of the small-company custom-builder pack for potential buyers. Like many builders, this client felt the website just needed to show pictures of the home, lots of pictures.

My goal was to create an environment that began to create a brand while giving the company the much-desired photo showcase. The company focuses on quality construction that includes many current design trends while providing a lower cost-per-square-foot than many of its competitors.

The site is not fully executed, and there are many design tweaks remaining. The client went live with the site in March 2012. Revisions are underway with the design group.

What did I do? I wrote the copy, helped select the photos and worked on a basic site layout. Does the site do the job? It’s a work in progress, but it provides a professional footprint on the web, and that’s a good start. Visit the site here.

A Facebook page is in the planning stages.

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10 steps to your “next”

Step into what's next. (Caitlin McGonagle photo)

What do you want to do next? I don’t mean the five-minute next, I mean the next in your life.

Everyone has a next, no matter where they are in life. So, think about your next.

Maybe your next is a trip to France, or the Philippines, or Florida. Maybe your next is a new job, another degree, or your very first degree. Maybe your next is to work from home to be with your children, or make your children your only work.

Now hold it out in front of you, and ask yourself why you aren’t taking steps to make your next your now.

Notice I said “taking steps.” That’s how you make your next happen. Small steps, increments of change, sometimes so tiny, you can barely see them. small is fine, because change is hard and scary. Fear of change keeps us from moving ahead. Little steps keep the fear just out of sight, around the next corner, where we can barely glimpse it.

Today, take five minutes, close your eyes and see your next. Really see it. Hear the sounds of the ocean or see your child’s face as you push that swing. Smell the scent of your new office.

When it feels a little real, grab something to write with and make a list of 10 little steps you can take towards that new place. Don’t get yourself all the way there, and stop when the items start to feel impossible. Actually, stop before that.

Now you have 10 little next steps that aren’t scary or life changing in themselves. Tomorrow take on one of those steps. Then take on another, and another.

You see, little steps are so much easier than great big ones. What’s next for you? Pencils ready … begin.

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Sample file: Beautiful Home magazine article

Posted on April 15, 2012 by

Green living is a hot topic, and this article I wrote on designing a healthy home hits many of the green touch points. But, healthy home design is also about using natural products in their most natural state. Green home design and healthy home design go hand-in-hand. Click the thumbnails to read more.

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Sample files: Healthcare Professional Update magazine article

Posted on April 15, 2012 by
HCPU without borders1p.jpg

This gallery contains 2 photos.

I wrote this article about a Doctor’s Without Borders physician from Houston for Healthcare Professional Update magazine, a monthly publication targeted to the Houston medical community. In addition to writing the story, I came up with the story idea, pitched it to … Continue reading →

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Sample files: Skilled trades special section

Posted on April 14, 2012 by

The Hire Houston section, a Houston Chronicle Jobs special section, made its debut in March 2012. First, a bit about what I did. What you see above is the cover. You can find pages two, three and four at Scribd. What … Continue reading →

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Leap

Posted on April 3, 2012 by

Image courtesy of Barefoot Venus

When was the last time you took a leap? Was it

  • a new job?
  • a new relationship?
  • a new hobby?
  • a new friend?

If you have done it lately, you know it isn’t easy. In fact, it’s downright hard. It’s scary. There’s that free-fall part before the chute opens … if the chute opens. There’s the moment where you’re not sure your foot will touch the other side soon enough. There’s the second right after you leap where you swear you didn’t mean to do it, and you would take it all back in a minute if you could.

But you can’t.

That’s the thing about a leap. It makes things happen, whether we want them to or not.

  • We grow professionally.
  • We find a new passion.
  • We find a new love.
  • We find a new strength.

Sadly, sometimes a leap feels more like the fall that comes after you’ve been shoved. It happens too soon.  It’s not in the direction you had planned. You weren’t done with your research. You weren’t done with that part of your life.

The thing about life’s leaps is the opportunities they give us. When we land where we hoped, we get to flourish and shine.

When we land where we are afraid, we discover where our character lives, and we have to be brave, maybe for the first time in a long time.

When we land hard, we have to find a way to repair the damage and go on. Sometimes people literally put us back together. Sometimes we have to do that hard work on our own. Sometimes we find deep friendship. Sometimes we find God. Sometimes we just find ourselves, the best parts and the icky bits, too.

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