Author Archives: Karen Hendricks

About Karen Hendricks

Professionally: HendricksCommunications.com For Fun: OfftheMerry-Go-Round.com

Make a List!

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By Karen Hendricks

Want to write a catchy blog post? An article with high readership? A press release that gets picked up? Write it in list format!

That’s right–write it in list format and be sure to include a number in the headline. It’s one of the most successful formats today because the number helps to grab our attention. Who doesn’t have time to take in 5 tips, 10 strategies, 7 ideas?

It’s important that the “tips” be written in a succinct style for easy readability, with the information sumarized in a handful of sentences. It’s the perfect style of writing for today’s quick-paced lifestyle and our short attention spans.

This marketing concept has carried over into a lot of my freelance writing lately! See which headlines grab your attention:

40 Smart Resources for Adult Classes: Learn how you can further your education into adulthood, Susquehanna Style, August 2018

Adams County’s Top 10 Wedding Trends for 2018, Celebrate Gettysburg, May/June 2018

Dine Around the World in 35 Local Restaurants, Susquehanna Style, May 2018, Susquehanna Style, April 2018

25 Hot Spots to Dine Out(doors), Susquehanna Style, April 2018

20 Ways to Go Wild in Central PA: Discover adventure at any age in local nature centers, wildlife sanctuaries and more, Susquehanna Style, April 2018

Happy reading–and list-making!

If you need help with your business’ writing–starting a blog or maintaining it, writing and sending compelling eNewsletters, or skillfully writing and planning social media campaigns, we are here to help!

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Duo treks AT in memory of uncle, first thru-hiker

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By Karen Hendricks – This article was originally published in the Gettysburg Times, June 16, 2018

In April 1948, York County native Earl Shaffer set out to do what no man had done before—hike the Appalachian Trail’s (A.T.) 2,000-some miles in one continuous hike. His motivation was to “walk off the war” and his experiences serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Not only was he the first person to successfully “thru-hike” the longest hiking-only footpath in the world from Georgia to Maine at the age of 29, but he went on to do it two more times, hiking in reverse from Maine to Georgia—and being the first to do so—in 1965; and commemorating the 50th anniversary of his first hike with a 1998 trek at the age of 79.

Last month (May 2018), during this 70th anniversary year of Earl’s first hike, two of Earl’s relatives launched their own A.T. adventure to pay homage to the legendary trail figure.

The father-daughter pair, Dan and Kim Shaffer, who called Earl their uncle and great uncle respectively, began hiking the A.T. at Pen Mar Park, Cascade, Maryland, heading north, Continue reading →

Get out–really. Connect with nature for greater well-being:

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NYC’s Central Park: One of my favorite places on earth

By Karen Hendricks

When your mother told you to “Go play outside,” she may have been laying the groundwork for a lifelong healthy habit. Continue reading →

Wellness: In Mind, Body & Spirit

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Wellness is all the rage: It’s a $686 billion industry–and growing. The global market for health and wellness is expected to swell to $815 billion by 2021, according to Euromonitor International.

The buzzword “wellness” can be defined as “the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being” (World Health Organization).

Going one step further, Continue reading →

Gettysburg’s Growing Culinary Scene

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New: Ribeye breakfast sliders marry breakfast and lunch on mini croissants at Christine’s Cafe, Gettysburg

“The most famous small town in America” is gaining a reputation as one of Pennsylvania’s new culinary hot spots. Gettysburg not only boasts a thriving downtown restaurant district, but an abundance of outlying, rural restaurants dotting the surrounding agricultural landscape.

Gettysburg’s growing reputation as a mecca for foodies is thanks in great part to the talented chefs locating to the area. I had the pleasure of interviewing two of the newest chefs in town, for two magazine articles, both published this month (October 2017).

Bon appetit!

At the Crossroads of American Fusion: Christine’s Café in Gettysburg, Susquehanna Style, October 2017 – with photography by Jen Foster, The Premise Studio

 

The Parrot: A Colorful History & Bright Future, Celebrate Gettysburg, Cover Story, Sept/Oct 2017 – with photography by Casey Martin, Casey Martin Photography

Continue reading →

Introducing TheBurg

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Harrisburg, PA

By Karen Hendricks

Central Pennsylvania is one of the most unique media markets in the country. That’s because unlike most markets geographically focused on one city, the Central PA media market combines four cities clustered together, along with additional medium-sized outlying towns. Often called “Hilly,” for its acroynm of HLLY, the area encompasses the capital city of Harrisburg, along with Lancaster, Lebanon and York.

Each city has its own unique personality, yet together the cities of HLLY form the heart of central PA–a region where urban landscapes give way to rolling farmland, where technology and tourism merge with manufacturing and agriculture to form the top industries.

My career, geographically speaking, has come full circle. I began my work in the HLLY market by living and working in Harrisburg in 1993; a recent move back to the Harrisburg area after 22 years in the York/Adams region feels like a homecoming of sorts.

So I consider it an exciting honor to begin writing for a Harrisburg-based publication that I’ve admired for its quality of writing and journalistic integrity for a long tme, TheBurg.

I hope you enjoy reading my first two pieces for TheBurg, with links below:

Born to Run: Fred Joslyn takes his love of running around the midstate, across the world (TheBurg, August 2017)

Hoppy Trail: Best of the West Shore featured in the Cumberland Valley Beer Trail (TheBurg, July 2017)

Al’s of Hampden in Enola

 

Susquehanna Valley Staycations

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By Karen Hendricks

A “staycation” is defined as “a vacation spent at home or nearby,” according to Merriam-Webster. Here in the Susquehanna Valley of Central Pennsylvania, there are infinite possibilities for summer staycations, saving traveling time and shrinking vacation budgets, with the added benefit of seeing our hometowns in a new light. In fact, some of the state’s top tourism destinations are right under our noses. Continue reading →