Email is convenient, and it’s easy, and it makes pretty much everyone’s workflow easier, but it has its drawbacks as well, I think we’d all agree.

For one thing, it never stops. Email just keeps coming and coming. Minutes after you’ve spent a few hours going through your inbox, you walk away to have lunch and come back a half hour later to 20 new pieces of correspondence.

Sigh.

In addition to being relentless, email is also known to cause misinterpretations. Without facial expressions—like your big old smile to indicate a joke (or the attempt at one)—recipients can think a sender is upset with them when they are simply being silly with a quick thought or a snappy retort.

Because we all have to live with email, and we all do love it as much as we fear it, I wanted to step into the role of Emily Post for a moment on the topic. I happen to think she would agree with me on all the below points:

• Read your work before you hit “Send.” Make sure your emails make sense. Even though I’m an editor, I also am a former journalist, and I love email because it’s quick. Write it, whoosh, send it, done. That was my philosophy until I saw, more than once, how many typos I had sent out to clients in emails I had hastily composed. Doesn’t look good, coming from an editor. I had to learn the hard way to read emails over carefully and edit myself before I send, the way you would edit a letter you were printing to mail.
• Know when it’s time to pick up the phone. I learned from my colleagues, Ruth Griggs and Maureen Scanlon in The Creative, that sometimes, email is not the right means of communication. When concepts are complicated, for instance, or when you are discussing tender topics, such as contract negotiations, it’s always best to pick up the phone. Don’t take the risk that you might not communicate clearly via email. Don’t leave yourself open to misinterpretation when it matters most.
• Be responsive. A big pet peeve of mine is email corresponders who do not respond to email. I think of email as a conversation, so when you take the time to compose your thoughts—and sometimes that takes a good deal of time—and then you get no reply, it makes me cranky. If you’re too busy to craft a thoughtful reply in the moment, take a few minutes to say, “Got this and will offer a thoughtful response by Thursday,” for instance. Or, if all that’s required is a “Thanks, got it,” say that. Don’t just “walk away” from the conversation. Engage until there is proper closure. If you are someone who is often out of the office on business, consider an auto response that says, “I am out of the office frequently this week and will reply to your email as soon as I am able.” One of my clients, the young and savvy Mike O’Brien of League Legends, Inc., has this auto reply set up on his League Legends email: “It is our goal to reply within 24 hours but feel free to call or text Michael O’Brien at (413) 210-8823 or try the email address mobrien218@aol.com if you don’t hear back soon.” Nice.
• Don’t drag it on. At the same time, there’s no need for emails to go on and on and on. Here I mean follow-up emails with one quick thought in each: “Thank you.” “No, thank you.” “You’re welcome.” “Sure.” “Have a nice day.” Etc. etc.

If you have email etiquette thoughts to share with me, please do. I’m at janice@beetlepress.com, and I can assure you I will respond promptly!

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The collaboration, which launched in April 2013, is made up of Janice Beetle, principal of Beetle Press; Ruth Griggs, principal of RC Communications; and Maureen Scanlon, principal of Murre Creative. Together, they provide strategic marketing, messaging and design services; the trio is unique in that it provides flexible services to clients, combining forces to match clients’ needs and offering a full complement of agency services where necessary.

The Creative provides its clients with the opportunity for comprehensive marketing and communications services, including assistance with advertising campaigns, branding, public relations, print collateral, strategic marketing planning and fundraising campaigns.

For more information, call (413)-727-3354 or visit thecreativemarketing.net.

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HOLYOKE—Common Capital Inc. has created the new position of director for its Business Assistance Program and hired longtime business coach, advisor and entrepreneur Bill Horowitz to fill it.

Horowitz began on Feb. 1 in the new role at Common Capital, an innovative nonprofit that provides loans and consulting services to small business owners throughout western Massachusetts.

His mission is to enhance the Business Assistance Program by developing new offerings for clients and the wider community and serving as a liaison between clients and the contractors who provide services to them. Horowitz’s key responsibilities as head of the Business Assistance Program will be to assist businesses seeking funding, offer post-loan assistance and oversee Common Capital’s team of area consultants who provide services to clients.

Horowitz has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, business coach and advisor. He founded and has operated WRH Ventures, Inc. in Longmeadow since June 2009, offering business turnaround and crisis management advising.

Involved for many years in family owned businesses launched by his grandfather, Horowitz said he also has entrepreneurship “in his DNA.” He has served at Amerbelle Textiles, LLC of Vernon, Conn., as president and partner, and at Amerbelle Corporation of Vernon as president and chief operating officer.

“My role at Common Capital gives me an opportunity to continue using my skills and education to help privately held businesses,” said Horowitz, who holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from George Washington University and completed a special studies program at the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science, now known as Philadelphia University.

Through its Business Assistance Program, Common Capital connects its clients to services that range from marketing and communications consulting with The Creative of Northampton to financial consulting and accounting with Jen Turner of Belchertown.

“This is what differentiates Common Capital,” Horowitz said. “It is not just a source for funding but also a resource for helping businesses grow and succeed. We help business owners meet their challenges. You’re not going to get that type of assistance from an online lender.”

“We’re trying to broaden the scope of what’s offered,” Horowitz added, noting Common Capital is looking to add legal and retail consulting to its slate of offerings, as well as programs that will benefit the business community at large, including a monthly Business Owners Roundtable and Business Education Webinars.

Horowitz said the feedback it receives from clients points to successes that range from income growth to improved quality of life. A veterinarian in the region recently emailed at midnight to say, “I’m so appreciative of the help you’ve offered,” he said.

Claudine Gaj, a chef who founded The Magic Spoon Catering in Munson in 1998, is another grateful client.

Gaj has received two Common Capital loans, one in 2013 to buy kitchen equipment for her facilities in Monson and one in 2015 to expand the kitchen. She said the added value of being a Common Capital client was that she also received marketing and accounting services.

Gaj worked with The Creative in Northampton—a collaboration of Ruth Griggs, marketing strategist; Janice Beetle, copywriter; and Maureen Scanlon, designer—to enhance her branding via menus and business cards, and to create a marketing enewsletter. Griggs met with Gaj, did a marketing and communications assessment and then developed a marketing plan, bringing in Scanlon to provide the design services.

“The approach taken by The Creative, and their expertise, are a winning combination for Common Capital to help businesses align their marketing activities with the owners’ goals for success and help them grow their revenues,” Horowitz said.

Gaj also worked with Jen Turner to get bookkeeping processes and procedures in place.

“The value is there,” Gaj said. “Whatever I’ve paid in interest on my loans, I’ve gotten back twofold. Common Capital follows through with the people they lend to. They help support them as well. It’s not just a one-way door.”

Common Capital’s seven essential goals are to: create and retain jobs in Western Massachusetts, provide an opportunity for low-income businesspeople, provide essential community services, rejuvenate neighborhoods, develop sustainable environmental practices, support businesses with local ownership and recirculate local dollars.

For more information on a loan from Common Capital, call (413) 420-0183, extension 100. For more information on investing locally through Common Capital’s Community First Fund, contact Michael Abbate, Common Capital’s chief operating officer at (413) 420-0183, extension 102, or mabbate@common-capital.org.

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I knew I would learn more about Beetle Press, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I would learn. Turns out I gained experience in public relations, being a professional writer and being a confident person.  Here are some specific learnings:

Staying Organized. One of the greatest gifts Janice bestowed on me was responsibility. I was given a wide range of projects, articles, interviews and blogs to craft over the semester, and knowing that Janice trusted me with them made me realize that I was capable of doing a great job. But with different tasks came planning. When I was working on different projects for Beetle Press and The Creative, I had to be aware of what was what. I kept my planner close by, making note of interviews and deadlines for my tasks. Janice amazes me because of all she takes on—and I was happy to help take on some of those projects, too.

Expect the Unexpected. No job or internship is perfect, and I ran into multiple obstacles with my projects this semester. Whether it was bad timing, unexpected events or hesitation on my part, some interviews may not have gone so smoothly, and some pieces weren’t written as perfectly as they should have been. One of the most important things I learned was to expect the unexpected and make room for those little interruptions. I again found that planning was key. I remember when Janice and I were about to post one of my first blogs for The Creative, but there were details that needed to be addressed. It made me realize I needed to be more on top of my drafts for the rest of the semester.

Remember What You’re Writing. A student of communication can tell you that there is a difference between a hard news story and a feature, just as they both differ from a press release. I struggled to stay in those designated lines a few times this semester. One of the most important things about writing anything for a newspaper is attribution. I love to flourish my writing with images and details, but I needed to remember when it was okay to do that and when it wasn’t. Though I’ve taken multiple classes on these forms of writing as a communication minor, having the actual experience was valuable. Creating this content was real and it needed to be corrected if it was going to be printed or published.

I Can Do Anything I Want To Do. I spent most of my adolescence in a confused haze about my future. I knew I didn’t need to know what I wanted to do, but I never thought it was that important. This resulted in a lack of self-confidence that made me think I wasn’t very good at anything. After interning with Beetle Press for about a month, I sat in on a meeting with The Creative business partners: Janice, Maureen Scanlon and Ruth Griggs. I was inspired. These three women work for themselves and are happy and successful. I have been very lucky to always have been surrounded by strong women in my life, but the ladies of The Creative drove the fact home: I can do anything and be whatever I want to be.

Truly, in my time with Beetle Press, I learned a lot about things I already knew. I know that the specific experiences I had were valuable because one day, I might reflect back on them if I’m in a similar situation. I love to write, and I’m excited to begin a career within public relations. Some might see it just as writing the same things, day in and day out. But I always concentrate on the different people, their stories and the details of their lives that will make a regular story into a great one. I think I can thank Beetle Press for that.

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