Some of Our Clients

A little about some of the projects we’ve done….

DePaul University’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center

Shortly after DePaul founded its entrepreneurship center, we developed and managed three marketing campaigns for CEC: a new identity campaign in 2006, a campus awareness campaign in 2007, and the Breakthroughs Symposium in 2010.

What We Did –

  • Strategic Positioning & Identity Development
  • Marketing Material
  • Copywriting
  • Project Management: hired and managed multiple graphic designers
  • Social Media Marketing: for Breakthroughs Symposium

“I’ve known Rickey for many years, and she has consistently demonstrated her marketing capabilities in several ways. She has the unique ability to think strategically and tactically; she grasps the entrepreneurial marketing challenge of squeezing the most “lemonade from the lemons”; and she understands that marketing should be about generating sales. She’s done great work for the Coleman Center and our clients.”
Raman Chadha, Executive Director & Clinical Professor
DePaul University’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center

Nancy Krause Floral Design & Garden Antiques

Nancy Krause hired us to promote the opening of her fabulous flower shop in Lincoln Park. The creative gurus at Crossover Collective were reponsible for graphics and web design.

What We Did –

  • Strategic Positioning
  • Public Relations
  • Social Media
  • Initial Website Copy (culled from the Fact Sheet we wrote)

We got the shop opening week coverage in Daily Candy and Domestica, followed by placements in SalesCheck, CS Interiors, Chicago Social, the Tribune and more.

Chicago Canine Concierge

My clever entrepreneurial daughter, Tracey Gold, founded Chicago Canine Concierge, a one-stop referral service for pet services and products in the Chicagoland area, in 2010. Her website was developed by web whiz Stern Data Solutions and designed by iris b branding & communications, who are now my partners in What A Great Website.

I loved the clean, bright, easy-to-navigate functionality of the site and the copy Tracey and I wrote as a mother-daughter project. Tracey eventually sold Chicago Canine Concierge, and the new owner has built her own site. But I still love the old one and like to show it as an example of our work.

What We Did –

  • Strategic Positioning
  • Copyediting
  • Consulting
  • Art Direction

Nettelhorst School

Nettelhorst School was my neighborhood public school when I lived in East Lakeview. But few area children went there until 2003, when a small group of parents, working with a dedicated principal, Dr. Susan Kurland, decided to turn things around. I was fortunate to be involved in the turnaround. From 2003 – 2009, I served as the school’s “PR Department”. Incredibly rewarding. A tad more time-intensive than I anticipated (for a pro bono gig). But we got media coverage across the country, including the New York Times. And today, Nettelhorst has a waiting list and is a model for public school change nationwide.

The story is told in How to Walk to School: Blueprint for a Neighborhood School Renaissance (which even includes some of my photos).

What We Did –

  • Strategic Positioning & Identity Development
  • Public Relations
  • Media Training
  • Marketing Material

“Rickey Gold is the driving force behind Nettelhorst in the news.”
Rod Homes, Nettelhorst Dad

Free Spirit Yacht Cruises

We helped this family-owned company sail through the recession by developing and focusing on their USP — the most inviting yachts on Lake Michigan, along with consistent messaging and optimized web copy. Then, we (my What A Great Website team) built them a new website and updated their marketing material.

What We Did –

  • Strategic Positioning & Branding
  • Copywriting: website, newsletter, blog, collateral
  • Public Relations
  • Miscellaneous Marketing

“We love Rickey Gold! Rickey has been working with Free Spirit Yacht Cruises since Joe and I took over in 2007. She is a master copy writer and excellent marketer.”
Angela Motola Donofrio

ShopParty

irisB Communications hired us to write copy and collaborate on positioning for this oh-so-fun website. We worked with shopping passionista, Bonnie Kaplan, to showcase her services….which could probably be about the most fun job ever! Why? Bonnie produces “best day of your life” Chicago shopping adventures.

What We Did –

  • Strategic Positioning
  • Copywriting: website, newsletters, direct mail, ads
  • Consulting

Shellé Jewelers

Shellé Jewelers  had a website they didn’t like. It was dark, didn’t do justice to the beautiful custom jewelry the company designs and sells, and the copy was bland. We were brought in on the project, along with Steve Stern of Stern Data Solutions, by iris b branding & communications (yes, the three of us again)! The website has since been redesigned again. but kept us busy for several years writing copy for their marketing material.

What We Do –

  • Copywriting: website, ads, flyers, postcards

VNA Foundation

View Website.

VNA Foundation is a grantmaking organization serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Their old site was dated, busy, and copy heavy. Visitors had to dig around to find out what VNA did. We worked in collaboration with web developer and project lead, Steve Stern, of Stern Data Solutions and Iris Marreck of iris b communications (now my partners in What A Great Website) to create a new site that’s fresh, intuitive, info-laden and engaging. Now it’s a no-brainer to see what this organization does.

What We Did –

  • SEO & Copywriting
  • Collaborating with the rest of the team on those what-where-how elements of building a website that works

Altomonte Advisory Group

View Website.

Lou Rossignuolo spent over 30 years as a Federal Compliance Auditor and Special Agent working financial investigations and developing guidelines and controls for the Federal Government. In 2019, he left and launched Altomonte Advisory Group to assist companies with financial fraud and corruption. I was hired to work with developer Lindsey Savoie of Heron & Oak Marketing on their new website. This was an especially nice project since it was a referral from Lou’s wife, Jenny, whose website Lindsey and I had collaborated on a few years back (Urban Source).

What We Did –

  • Positioning
  • SEO
  • Copywriting

”Working with Rickey was an outstanding experience. She was able to establish our positioning and create content for a site that we love and our customers find easy to navigate. If you are looking for a content developer/copywriter, Rickey is highly recommended by the Altomonte Advisory Group!”
Louis Rossignuolo, Director
Altomonte Advisory Groupr