Craft breweries, bottle shops and pubs from around the Eugene/Springfield area came together in 2012 for the 2nd Annual Eugene Beer Week. With over 40 events happening during a one-week period, a lot of information needed to be listed on the event website and publicized through social media.

Through meetings and regular check-ins with key figures, I was able to curate event information and post content to Eugene Beer Week’s WordPress-powered website. I also maintained the event’s Twitter and Facebook profiles, updating both in-the-moment and scheduling updates to strategically promote events.

The end result? Area craft beer fans knew exactly where to go to be in the know for all things related to Eugene Beer Week. Event information motivated attendance and had the details people needed to get to the right place at the right time. We built greater momentum and awareness around the event, to establish Eugene Beer Week as an anticipated part of the area’s craft beer scene.

Website: www.eugenebeerweek.org

Project Date: 2012

Client Comments

“Eugene Beer Week brings together people from all over Oregon to celebrate a week of all things craft beer. With more than twenty participating breweries and venues and over forty events, it would have been impossible for me to maintain adequate web presence on my own. Anthony kept our website and other social media tools current with time-sensitive content. Anthony was key in updating our Twitter feed and Facebook page with relevant, engaging updates. He did a kick ass job! I look forward to working with Anthony again.”
— Mike Coplin, Eugene Beer Week Founder and Founder/Owner of 16 Tons Taphouse & Cafe

New beers. Expansions. Events. For today’s craft brewery, the beer never stops pouring, and there is always something new to tell customers about. Founded in 2006, Eugene-based Oakshire Brewing had a company blog and maintained presences on Twitter and Facebook. However, the company was entering a new phase of growth, and they wanted to be sure that their online marketing was keeping pace.

I focused first on Oakshire’s social media presences. By increasing social media posting and bringing new content to the company blog, we increased customer engagement and appealed to new customers. Behind the scenes I also worked closely with the brewery’s internal team, developing templates and guidelines that they could use not only to guide operations, but that they could scale up as their business continued to grow and change.

Oakshire continues to be a major player in the Oregon craft beer scene. Combined with their blog and social media presences, they now have a guiding strategy and foundation on which they can continue to find new customers and engage their devoted fans.

Website: oakbrew.com

Project Dates: 2012

Client Comments

“Anthony laid a foundation that Oakshire could build on for our next phase of website and social media marketing. His recommendations for best practices on Twitter, Facebook and our company blog continue to help us engage our customers and build excitement for our brand.”
— Amanda Pence, Oakshire Brewing

When promoting graphic design services, a graphic designer’s work can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, those compelling visuals are what you want to appeal to the client. On the other hand, you also don’t want the client to base their decision solely on work you did for someone else.

When working with Oh So Graphic’s Janelle Frazier on the copy for her new website, we focused on bringing across her working style and personality, combined with select details about her projects. By combining designs with context, prospective clients gained not only a sense of design style, but an understanding of what it would be like to work with Janelle.

The end result? Told with the right mix of visuals and content, Janelle’s website paints a bigger, sharper, more compelling picture that brings in new customers.

Website: www.ohsographic.com

Project Dates: 2012

Client Comments

“I just had my first potential new client email me, clearly after reading my new contact page. She wrote out nice details about the project and even included a bit about why she’d be the perfect client. I was so happy to have detailed information right there in the first email… it really got us off on the right foot, right away. Nice! I feel like this is just a hint of how my new text is going to make things better for my overall workflow.”
— Janelle Frazier, Oh So Graphic

When your time is dedicated to working remotely and on-site with clients all over the United States, how do you keep your website current? How do you stay in touch with customers and prospects?

Those were the questions First Responder Grants was trying to answer. We examined their services and products, and discussed where they are now and where they want to go with their national public safety grants consulting firm. From there, I revised content for their main services and classes, developed an evolving email strategy and launched social media presences on Twitter and Facebook.

The firm continues to move their initiatives forward, and they have seen growth in classes and services customers nationwide.

Website: firstrespondergrants.com

Project Dates: 2011-2013

Client Comments

“Anthony has performed miracles for us. Since we started working with Anthony, our website copy, marketing collateral, articles, emails and other materials have taken on a professional look that is gaining us the attention we have been seeking in the market. New customers and long-term clients have all been working with us more.”
— Margaret Stark, First Responder Grants

“Anthony is a consummate professional and one of the best web editors I have ever had the pleasure of working with. He was almost totally responsible for taking our requests and fashioning them into web material for our website, which has been rated as the #1 website for public safety grant information in the U.S.

“Anthony was quickly able to grasp our concept and brought an intimate undrstanding of our specific target audience and could hit the bullseye everytime, in putting forth the information we needed to give our clients in a concise and informative format, which was easily understood by the client base.”

— Kurt Bradley, Senior Grant Consultant, First Responder Grants

As Oregon’s largest organization for writers and authors, Willamette Writers maintains local chapters throughout the state. In 2011 I joined the Eugene-based Mid-Valley Chapter, where I started a WordPress-based chapter website and eventually took over management of the chapter from a long-time chair who had decided to step down. I served as co-chair until September 2014.

As co-chair of Oregon’s second-largest Willamette Writers chapter (after Portland), I managed the chapter finances, posted content to our website and engaged with area writers via Twitter. Once a month I also worked with my fellow co-chair to run monthly member meetings where a presenter leads a discussion on a current topic related to writing, editing, marketing or publishing. We used our website to engage new and current members by sharing news about upcoming meetings, member announcements and area literary events.

The Mid-Valley Chapter continues to grow and gain new members, in part because of our active website and Twitter presence. Many members tell us that they heard about the chapter online, and the website is a way to keep members engaged with the Willamette Writers community throughout the year.

Website: willamettewriters.com/mid-valley

Project Dates: 2011-2014

Client Comments

“When former chair JoJo Jensen asked for help to set up a simple WordPress wesite for our Mid-Valley Chapter, Anthony stepped up and made it happen. As they worked together, JoJo also decided he was a good choice to be her successor when she stepped down in 2011. Anthony expertly helms the chapter as Co-Chair in an efficient, professional manner. In his capacity as a Board Member, he wears many hats—from managing the bookkeeping and finances to regularly adding quality content to the chapter website and maintaining a visible Twitter profile. He is always on hand for an encouraging word and valuable advice as members work toward their writing and publishing goals. I’m thrilled to have him on the team. It makes my job easier knowing that our chapter is in his good hands.”
— Val Mallinson, Board President, Willamette Writers

With a new design for 2015, the ESMA website is this music studio’s primary way of reaching and acquiring new customers.

When families sign up their children for music lessons, they aren’t just signing up their children for music lessons. They’re demonstrating their trust in the teacher. They’re saying that they’ve found a good match of personality and temperament that won’t just make for better music-playing, but that can help their children be better people.

The ESMA website’s original design. In April 2015 it was replaced by a new, responsive design with a fresher, brighter template that works across all devices and displays.

As co-owner of the Eugene Suzuki Music Academy (ESMA), I help director (and my wife) Jodie St. Clair market our Suzuki music lessons and early childhood classes to the people seeking the kind of environment and instruction ESMA offers. By maintaining the studio’s website, developing email campaigns, posting to Twitter and Facebook, and constantly evolving our marketing strategy, ESMA has been able to expand staff, add classes and operate a full music instruction studio.

ESMA continues to look at how it will build on its successes. And I’ll be there to make sure the studio’s website content and online marketing continue to evolve to meet the needs of the studio and its students.

Website: eugenesuzukimusic.com

Project Dates: 2009-Present

September 2013 Anthony St. Clair Newsletter

Travel Fiction, Craft Beer & Social Media

• New travel fiction/ urban fantasy novel
• Eugene craft beer
• 2 pluses of Google+

All this info and more is available in the Anthony St. Clair September 2013 Newsletter »

Google’s own powerful social network deserves more social media attention from you and your organization.

In August I attended the Willamette Writers Conference in Portland, Oregon. My goal this year was to continue evolving my marketing chops, especially when it came to the not-really-new, ever-more-important, still-not-really-understood Google+.

Boy howdy did I come away with some knowledge.

Google+ is powerful, growing and engaging. Plus, you know, it’s Google. Here are 2 reasons to give Google+ higher priority in your marketing:

1. When people say they want your content, you don’t have to pay for them to actually see your content (unlike a certain social network whose name rhymes with “took”)
2. The quality of features and conversations is like bringing in the best attributes of Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, etc., all within the sphere of Google, the most important search company on the planet for your organization.

No matter how shallow or deep you want to dig in to Google+, I recommend this excellent guide from Martin Shervington. Videos and blog posts guide you step by step through every facet of this powerful social network:

What is Google Plus? A Complete User Guide »

BTW, you can follow me on Google Plus at +Anthony St. Clair

HootSuite is an essential content marketing and social media management tool.

Whatever your field, you need good tools. A carpenter needs a hammer. A cook needs a chef’s knife. And if you do anything related to social media, you need HootSuite.

HootSuite is a service and app that helps you manage, schedule and monitor your social media presences. Have a Twitter account and Facebook page? You can view those streams, and post content, all from one simple interface. (Bulk uploads are available too, if for example you wanted to load a series of updates targeting an upcoming event.) Collaborating with team members on a marketing campaign? Everyone can use one simple dashboard. Have hashtags you need to monitor for your brand? Set up a tab with any search term or hashtag you need to follow.

HootSuite currently supports these social networks:

• Twitter
• Facebook (Profiles, Pages and Groups)
• Google+ Pages
• LinkedIn (Profiles, Groups and Companies)
• Foursquare
• WordPress.com blogs
• mixi

This is a recent copywriting and website project I did for my dad’s company, and it’s the newest part of my online portfolio.

When your business is built on 60 years of excellence, you have that same expectation for your website.

Terry St. Clair, the owner of Jack St. Clair, Inc. (JSI), is also my dad. I grew up around dump trucks and excavators, long deep ditches and the smells of diesel and dirt. When it came time to update the JSI website, I dug into code and copy to give my dad’s business the online presence it deserves.

The JSI site was in need of new content and a new look. I put together fresh copy, current and historical photos, client testimonials, and extensive details on the company’s services for a website with a clear message, powered by a new, responsive template. Now the website clearly communicates to prospects why JSI is the right company for the job.

Website: jackstclairinc.com

Project Dates: 2014–2015

Client Comments

“We had put up a basic website years ago, but it was outdated, needed a redesign, and didn’t have enough content. Anthony provided fresh content and a new template that looks good even on today’s smartphones and tablets. He also worked with us to make sure technical details about the business were correct, while also getting to the heart and history of who we are. I’m so happy with the site, and am glad we have such a stronger online presence now.”
— Kelly Proffit, Vice President