writing

Farewell to an employer and friend

By Theresa CassidayJune 6, 2019in Catena Creations, Proposal writing, Web design, writing

This week I said goodbye to a friend who was also an employer. Charles E. Peterson Jr. died May 24 at the age of 92. His funeral was June 4.

I met Chuck in 1993 when I started working for TransEquity, which offered corporate relocation management services. It was a partner company of Byron Reed Company.

I worked for Eileen Segan, the vice president of marketing, and was a backup to Chuck’s secretary as well.

TransEquity is where I learned to do proposal writing. Chuck and Eileen taught me how to review a proposal, how to collect and edit the responses, how to format it and put it all together to meet the guidelines, and how to get it shipped on time.

TransEquity also is where my web design career started. I had left the company in July 1995 and had stayed in touch with Eileen. One day in spring 1997 she called and said, “Come back and run our website.” They were in the process of designing their site but needed someone to finish it and manage it. I returned in June, and that’s when I became a web designer.

Polishing up a software website

By Theresa CassidayFebruary 4, 2019in Catena Creations, Web design, writing

Sometimes, the cleaning service manager needs to call in a cleaning service. In the case of MaidEasy Software, the company’s WordPress website needed some polish and shine.

Catena Creations had the pleasure of redesigning the MaidEasy Software website this fall. The redesign launched the first week of December 2018.

Owner John Schwery has been working with my partner, Annastasia Webster of Webster Digital Marketing, on search engine optimization and website management. Stasia referred him to me to update the site and make it more visually appealing and modern.

John and his wife, Brenda, used to own a Merry Maids franchise in Lincoln. A few years after they sold the franchise, some of their previous customers asked them to come back to the cleaning business. When they started Maid to Please, Brenda started looking for software to help her manage the business. She couldn’t find anything that was industry-specific. So MaidEasy Software was born.

As Catena Creations addressed John’s concerns about the look of the site, we also discovered a need to rewrite the copy to change the focus.

When Catena Creations designs a website, we talk to the client about who is most likely to use the site. From that information, we create a “persona” that represents each type of typical customer for the business. Then we design and write to meet the needs of those personas.

New year, new direction, new website

By Theresa CassidayJanuary 19, 2018in Catena Creations, photography, print design, Web design, Web site, writing

Every business owner knows that it’s important to look back and see where you’ve accomplished, as well as look ahead to see where you’d like to go in the future.

One of the hazards of freelancing is the temptation to do ALL the things you can do just because someone asks for them. On the surface, it seems like you’re offering good service to your clients. But over time, you risk becoming a jack of all trades, master of none.

After evaluating the services we’ve been offering, Catena Creations has defined a new direction for 2018. Our core services will be:

Website design. First and foremost, we design great websites.We use WordPress to make sure our sites are user-friendly, secure and fully functional. We also make sure our websites have search engine optimization (SEO) techniques incorporated as we build our websites so our clients can be found online once their sites launch.

Offutt focus takes Halloween Candy Buy Back to new heights

By Theresa CassidayNovember 8, 2012in Catena Creations, DDS, Emergency Dental Care USA, Halloween Candy Buy Back, photography, press releases, writing

Catena Creations once again managed the Halloween Candy Buy Back for Emergency Dental Care USA. For the third annual event, this year we partnered with Offutt Air Force Base to collect treats for two units stationed in southwest Asia.

Cash for candy The partnership took the event’s success to new heights. We collected 177 pounds of candy on Nov. 1, the day of the event. But we were far from finished.

A better way to build a small Web site

By Theresa CassidayApril 13, 2012in Journey: A Better Weigh, Omaha Area MPN Resources, print design, Web design, Web site, writing

Not every business needs a full-sized website, especially when it’s just getting started. One of the many reasons Catena Creations uses the WordPress content management system to set up a Web site is that it provides an ideal solution for starting small and scaling up as a business grows.

That solution involves setting up a blog/website on WordPress.com, the blogging site. This offers a number of advantages:

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