By design, Lisa Bastian was an “early adopter” of writing/editing content for the Web, and methodically sought out online work to gain experience in this emerging communications channel. She continues to expand her skill sets to serve clients as a website content provider and sitemap developer. A natural speed reader, Bastian has visited, read and researched literally thousands of mostly business-oriented websites over the course of her career; this experience has greatly enhanced her ability to understand and appreciate “best practices.” Below are examples of projects from this slice of her career.
A national business magazine hired Bastian as a key contributor to its daily news feed about U.S. and global economic development expansion and relocation news. She writes/edits 12 to 15 online stories each week. 2011–
After creating a new site map, Bastian wrote and/or edited all the website content for Solera, a U.S.-based software company with offices active in 52 countries located across six continents. 2011
The International Assoc. of Business Communicators awarded Bastian with a metro Bronze Quill Award and a multi-state Silver Quill Award for writing the site map and content (and facilitating design work) of a national medical recruiting company’s website. 2008
A national business magazine hired Bastian to review and rate the design, functionality and content of economic development websites of the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, along with those of numerous international destinations and various utility companies. (These entities exist to help attract and retain companies–and billions of dollars of investments–within state borders.) The websites were rated in regards to: search function, sitemap, index, links section, contact info, mouse-over previews, business headings, content, and overall functionality. Up until then, no one in the ED industry had attempted to do this analysis. An business Internet “guru” at the time praised the groundbreaking magazine article. March 2001
Bastian contributed to the growth and understanding of a powerful new worldwide phenomenon that forever changed the workplace: Internet job recruitment. Between 2000 and 2001 she researched and wrote online-exclusive business stories for the bi-weekly online magazineof Ottawa-based E-Cruiter.com(NASDAQ: ECRU; annualsales: $500,000 – $1 million/year) .The company sold softwarethat automated the creation and maintenance of job postings, posted to multiple job sites (e.g., HeadHunter.net, Career-Mosaic and CareerMagazine), created job listings on the client’s corporate website, and automated the applicant screening process. Clients included The Toronto Stock Exchange, Compaq Canada, KPMG Canada, Bell Canada, Dell Computer, Sony Music Canada, and Home Depot Canada. The online magazine was a well-respected online resource for HR managers worldwide, providing groundbreaking insights about this exciting yet then-complicated new way to recruit talent. Topics covered were revolutionary at the time; and Bastian had to find and cultivate new “experts” on her own. Much of the info written about is still relevant to this day for those seeking to attract top-notch talent in the New Economy.
- Management Systems and Your Corporate Brand ~ Feb. 15, 2001
- Are Banner Ads Dead? ~ Feb. 1, 2001
- Finding the People You Need: Financial Services ~ Dec. 15, 2000
- Finding Information Technology Workers ~ Dec. 1, 2000
- Compensation for Information Technology Workers ~ Dec. 1, 2000
- The Costs of Recruiting ~ Nov. 15, 2000
- Internet Use in Recruiting ~ Nov. 1, 2000
- Visas: Ins and Outs ~ Nov. 1, 2000
- ABC’s of Developing a Website; Usability Factor Is King ~ Oct. 15, 2000
- Executive Search Recruiters Debunk Myth of Internet’s Superior HR Value ~ Oct. 1, 2000
- Secrets of Finding Qualified Candidates in a Tight Market ~ Sept. 1, 2000
- Where to Find GenX Grads on the Web ~ Sept. 1, 2000
- How to Keep GenX Candidates Interested in Your Company ~ Sept. 1, 2000
- Online Testing and Assessments Help Qualify Talent Quickly ~ Aug. 15, 2000
- The OnLine Application Process: What Works Best Now ~ Aug. 15, 2000
- Attracting Executive Ranks ~ July 1, 2000
- Traits of Companies Attracting Top-Notch Talent in the New Economy ~ June 1, 2000
Webgrrls International recognized Bastian as a “Webgrrl of the Week” due to her prolific and high-profile online editorial work. Established in 1995, its mission is to encourage women to learn about, embrace and leverage the technology and the tools of the Internet.
Well over 80 of Bastian’s national economic development articles have been posted online. A few dozen of them are still indexed at www.allbusiness.com. (One story featured interviews with consultants sharing how best to search for new site locations via the Internet.) Dozens of other news stories and features by Lisa have been published online by clients in the fields of travel, tourism, meetings, lodging, healthcare and general business.
Planetfeedback.com hired Bastian to write dozens of leisure travel “advisory” stories as editor/writer of its new Travel & Tourism section when it first launched in the 1990s. This website is the original, big-time community that solicits consumer feedback – positive and negative – about companies and their products/services, and posts it online.
Bastian contributed to the innovative creation of IABC/San Antonio’s new WordPress website: sa.iabc.com. This one-day event was coordinated by local and global IABC leaders and members; and became a model project throughout the global IABC network of 15,000 communicators. Bastian is a former two-term chapter president.
Three years after Bastian’s company website (first version) went live in 1999, it won a Golden Web Award from The International Association of Web Masters and Designers in recognition for having achieved “levels of excellence” in regards to its design, originality and content.
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