OGLCC

What is your primary product or service?

Content solutions. Every piece of communication—whether an email or a website, a promotional flyer or a catalogue, a sound byte or a million dollar corporate video—starts out as words on a page. And though every business depends on effectively targeted communications to draw and retain customers, writing is often the first thing that gets overlooked in preparing a communications strategy. I help my clients translate their passion for their products and services into language their customers can relate to. I also translate from French into English.

How long have you been in the business of writing?

I've been writing my whole life. I started business writing and marketing communications nearly 20 years ago.

How did you get started?

In the early 1990s I lived in France where I wrote promotional brochures aimed at drawing British tourists to the Western Loire region. That was my professional initiation into localizing content to a specific target audience. Since then, I've helped businesses—ranging from travel insurance providers and history museums to major international airlines—with their communications needs. I've had to stand in a lot of different shoes in order to effectively communicate with specific demographic and niche markets, including students, seniors, insurance brokers, luxury business travellers, and, of course, the GLBT community. I've worked as both a freelancer and as a full-time, in-house copywriter for businesses both large and small.

What makes your business or service unique?

My diverse international experience, combined with my sharp critical eye, gives me a unique perspective. With a large range of intercultural experience, I'm able to quickly put myself in the shoes of the specific audience my clients are trying to reach to ask the same kind of tough questions the customers will be asking. Anticipating the concerns of your target audience is one of the keys to effective communication.

Who would be a good client for you?

Any client who recognizes the importance of solid writing in acquiring and retaining customers and who is willing to make a solid investment in strengthening their written marketing and communications. Also, any client who needs French-language materials professionally translated into English and adapted to a specific market.

What does being a member of the OGLCC mean to you?

Meeting other members of OGLCC has been empowering. I've learned a great deal from both those who've started their businesses from the ground up as well as those who've worked as employees of larger companies and who come to OGLCC events for the opportunity to network.

You can find Don Bapst on his website.