To mark the occasion, we celebrated with a team lunch, taking a few minutes to think about what we’ve learned over the last year and make a resolution for the year to come.

1. Don’t panic when all of the projects come in at once!

As contractors, we are at the mercy of other people’s timelines. We can sketch out a project schedule that fits perfectly around our other projects, but if one deadline slips by a few weeks, the domino effect that it can have can wreak havoc with our stress levels.

But, we’ve learned to breathe. We remind ourselves that, with three of us, we’ve got this. We’re expert planners and have years of experience juggling projects and working to timelines. After all, our ability to load-balance between the three of us is one of the benefits of hiring us!

2. Not all business relationships are about drumming up business.

We had a great time chatting with people at September’s Communitech TechJam. We knew that most companies were looking for developers, not writers, but many companies were happy to talk with us, too. That’s what’s so great about the Waterloo tech community: everyone is supportive of local businesses, no matter what your talent is. We learned more about some of local tech companies and made some great connections. And, if those connections bring work in the future, we’ll consider that a bonus.

Outside of the tech community, we found that the small business community is just as supportive as the tech community. We sincerely enjoy the weekly WRTalk Twitter chats and the quarterly in-person meetups, where we find out more about the amazing small businesses in Waterloo Region. Without those connections, we wouldn’t have discovered businesses such as Shawerma Plus supporting Syrian refugees – not to mention discovering their awesome shawarma!

We’ve also connected with professionals in the area who can enhance what we do. When you work for a big company, it’s easy to insulate yourself within it. When you’re a contractor, there’s nowhere to hide. But there are a number of fabulous marketing, UX, and graphic design professionals in K-W. We’ve learned that it’s helpful to have a network that you can trust if work comes up that doesn’t fall within your area of expertise.

3. Know when to say no to an opportunity that isn’t right.

We love what we do and with our experience and knowledge, we know that we can help our clients. Sometimes, however, the best way to help them is to say no. That might mean saying no to the first request, but after further discussion, uncovering what they really need. We’re very good at asking questions. And, with the right questions, we can find out what the client is really trying to achieve and guide them towards a solution that will meet that need.

Rarely, saying no means saying goodbye to a potential client and pointing them in the direction of someone who is more in line with what they are looking for. But, it can happen, and we’ve learned that it isn’t the end of the world. It’s another reason to have that network of excellent contacts to point people to. It’s better to have a good relationship with a contact than a bad relationship with a client.

Our resolution: keep the awesome coming

We’re proud of the work that we’ve done for our clients and excited for the work that’s ahead of us this year. We’re busy doing what we love, with a fantastic team and a supportive network. Thanks for following along with us on our first year. With so many amazing companies in Waterloo, we know that we can keep doing what we love and having a good time while we’re at it.

The content gets a bad rap – it has a reputation for being dense and confusing, with its complicated and detailed language. That language seems necessary – insurance paperwork, for example, should be specific about what is covered. But, believe it or not, even this content can be complete without being complicated.

Today is International Plain Language Day. For almost 30 years, the plain language movement has championed clear communication using clear language. The goal is to get your message across the first time that it is read. It doesn’t mean that you need to “dumb down” your content, but that you tailor your content to suit your audience.

Plain language has some obvious benefits. If users understand your content the first time that they read it, it saves them time, reduces their frustration, and builds their trust. You can avoid misunderstandings, errors, and, even costly customer support calls.

Where do you begin? Here are six strategies that you can use to apply plain language to your content:

• Understand your audience: Ask some basic questions to understand who your audience is and what they know.
• Organize your content: Focus on what’s important to the audience and omit what isn’t necessary.
• Develop your content: Keep paragraphs to a single idea and use short sentences where you can.
• Consider your tone: Be aware of the implied tone in your writing. Make sure it’s what you want.
• Consistency, clarity, and conciseness: Revise your content. Look for inconsistent wording, eliminate unnecessary words, and use words familiar to your audience.
• Use the active voice: Brush up on the difference between passive and active voice. Use the active voice when you can.

Converting your content to plain language can take planning, when you consider how much content you have. Everything from website content to social media posts to product collateral can benefit from plain language. You can phase it in over time, but you risk giving users a disjointed message. Or, you can try to time it with a particular event – a product launch or refresh, for example. That approach is better for the user, but puts a lot of pressure on writing resources.

At Spark, we’re passionate about plain language and can bring out the best in your content. With our knowledge and experience, we can take complicated consumer communications and apply these plain language principles. The end result is clear, complete content that readers can understand – without the extra complications.