Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Allen Zwicker.
Denise, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After receiving my bachelor’s degree in journalism/English (double major), with an emphasis on advertising, I worked for 18 months in the National Advertising Department of The Houston Post and another 18 months as creative director of Cummings Advertising before striking out on my own, as a freelance writer, at age 24.
I was fortunate to receive regular assignments from editor Bill Schadewald at Houston Business Journal, and they often were front-page stories. When I called on potential clients to show my portfolio of work, I could point to the current copy of the Journal, which often was lying on their coffee tables, carrying my byline on the front page. It was great for giving them confidence in my work, and soon my little business was off and running.
I called on potential clients regularly (mostly Houston creative directors, corporate communicators and graphic designers), and soon I had regular clients who hired me for project after project: ads, brochures, articles–soon expanding to annual reports, speeches, and scripts for the multiple-slide-projector shows that were the “new thing” at the time.
I joined the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), attending the group’s monthly meetings, where I quickly made more connections and began winning awards for my writing. Before long, I was attending other professional marketing-communication groups as well–and winning more writing awards, which helped to build my reputation.
Today, I regularly attend not only IABC and its Entrepreneurs Strategic Interest Group (ESIG), but also American Marketing Association (AMA), Business Marketing Association (BMA), Houston Ad Federation (HAF), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Houston Interactive Marketing Association (HiMA), and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). I occasionally attend the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and Houston Media Alliance (HMA). All of them help me stay current in my field, contribute to my industry, and network with my peers.
Has it been a smooth road?
Mine has been a smooth road for a freelancer. My workload and income fluctuate more than I’d like, but I’m used to it now. After a short, but pronounced, downturn in 1986, I rocked along until the Great Recession. Just when I was recovering from that, the price of oil plummeted in 2014, which depressed most Houston-area businesses. And just when things were looking better, Hurricane Harvey slammed full force into the Houston economy. I’m looking forward to a better 2018!
Some people who freelance have trouble adjusting to working from their homes, but I never had a problem with it, even after I gave birth to my children in 1987 and 1990. (I had a full-time babysitter/housekeeper when they were small.)
It’s always nerve-wracking to live from project to project, and I have envied other freelancers who have monthly retainers with long-term clients. Although I get a lot of repeat business and referrals, only recently have I worked on a large, regular project: a 50-page internal magazine for a large corporation. I write or edit the entire magazine, interviewing employees (by telephone) from around the world, sharing the success of their best practices with the larger organization. I’m getting ready to begin my sixth biannual issue.
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Denise Allen Zwicker, writer story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a freelance business/marketing writer. Most of my writing has a marketing reason for being: websites/blogs; brochures and other collateral materials; articles for company, trade and business publications; scripts for videos; annual reports; advertising copy; and speeches.
I write mostly for the businesses categories that dominate Houston: energy, health care, high technology, finance and real estate. I write business-to-business and business-to-consumer copy.
Sometimes people describe me as a technical writer, and it’s true that I’m comfortable writing about technical subjects. I laugh and say, “I don’t mind asking lots of dumb questions until I understand the subject well enough to describe it to a lay audience.”
I have written about almost every aspect of the oil and gas industry: upstream, midstream and downstream. Whatever a company’s product or service in this category, I likely have written about something similar.
I especially enjoy writing about health care–because it makes such a clearly positive difference in most everyone’s lives.
And I LOVE marketing: that business of connecting a potential buyer with the product or service that will help him or her solve a problem or reap a reward.
My clients tell me that I am very easy to work with, and I am especially proud of that. My commitment is to work on the copy I write until it meets my clients’ requirements. I say, “My job is write for your audience, keeping in mind that the copy I write must be approved by your boss and/or others, such as your legal department.”
Above all, I strive to be clear. My tagline is: Making concepts clear with copy.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Marketing communication has changed dramatically with the advent of digital and social media, and those changes continue. Target audiences change as well, and those changes are happening faster than ever before.
Our goal as communicators is to never waste a moment of our audience’s time. My job as a writer is to win readers’ interest with headlines, subheads and photo captions. Or, in the case of scripts, with those first few words they hear.
Pricing:
- I prepare an estimate (in the form of a price range) for each project.
- My hourly rates range from $150-$190 and average $180.
- I typically ask for a retainer, another payment when I deliver a first draft and final payment when my part in the project is complete.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DeniseAllenZwicker.com
- Phone: 281-265-0050
- Email: Denise@DeniseAllenZwicker.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/denise.a.zwicker
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DAZwriter
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniseallenzwicker/
Image Credit:
Gabriel Tran Photography (vertical shot, holding glasses)
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
