Meet Digital Marketer, Speaker, and Writer Meryl Evans

Bio
Social Media
Media
About meryl.net, the website
Not So Vital Info

Bio

Meryl Evans, digital marketer, speaker, and writer headshot I’m Meryl K. Evans, Digital Marketing Pro, and author of Brilliant Outlook Pocketbook and the co-author of Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites.

Since starting this digital marketing and writing business in 2000, I’ve written and edited for “Billiards Digest,” “The Dallas Morning News,” ECT News Network, Lockergnome, MarketingProfs, “PC Today,” O’Reilly, Pearson, Sams, Web Worker Daily, Wiley and WROX.

I’ve done copy for business ads, cars (from Porsches and Jaguars to Lexuses — or is that Lexi? — and Hondas) and games including Fib-or-Not? and Meet, Mix, and Mingle.

How your business benefits: Your businesses will build and maintain relationships with your clients and prospects using digital marketing tactics such as email marketing, landing pages, blogs, articles, and more. Whatever your digital marketing goals, you’ll achieve them with my help.

Email newsletters: Original Editor-in-Chief of Intel Solution Services’ “Connected Digest” and Shavlik’s “The Remediator Security Digest,” a popular newsletter on computer security that started with a few thousand subscribers and climbed to over 100,000 subscribers during my tenure.

I’ve been the editor of the Professional Service Journal — an email newsletter for business-to-business (B2B) professional services providers — for more than 10 years.

I’ve worked in education with New York University’s online graduate program where I’ve helped students with their theses. (Gentrification in Harlem was one of the more interesting topics.)

Past jobs include two Fortune 500 telecom companies, the federal government in Washington, D.C. and IT consulting. A native Texan, I live a heartbeat north of Dallas in Plano, Texas with my husband, three kiddos and two four-legged dogs where one thinks she’s human and the other thinks she’s a cat.

Why work with me? I have a reputation for providing high-quality digital marketing services and deliverables on time (usually early) that matches your company’s requirements. Most clients work with me again, some come back even after changing companies. Here are client testimonials.

Email me to discuss what you need.

Connect

Let’s connect.

Speaking

March 25, 2021: Bay Area Disability Inclusion Network: Why and How to Create Accessible Social Media and Website Content
February 2021: A11yATX: Much Ado About Captioning Videos
January 2021: Press This Podcast: “Creating Captivating Video Captions”
November 2020: Shattering Assumptions About Deafness
October 2020: Through the Eyes of a Deaf Person with Equal Entry
October 2020: WordCamp Los Angeles: “Much Ado About Captioning Videos for WordPress and Beyond”
October 2020: WordPress Accessibility Day: “Much Ado About Captioning Videos for WordPress and Beyond”
July 2020: WordPress San Fernando Valley Meetup: “Much Ado About Captioning Videos”
May 2020: AccessU: “No Autocraptions Allowed: Why and How to Caption Videos”
May 2020: A. Miroe Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD): “What’s Next in Digital Inclusion and Accessibility?“

In the News and Around the Web

17 February 2021: Concentration Fatigue via DeafBlind UK
December 2020: Web Histories
23 November 2020: Planning a Virtual Thanksgiving? 5 Ways to Boost Communication at Hearing Tracker
28 October 2020: Q&A with Meryl Evans, Digital Marketing Expert at Equal Entry
9 September 2020: Share This with Coach Deb — “Reach Millions More People with These Accessibility Apps”
27 August 2020: Captions 101: How Do Captions Work on Videos? at Accessly
13 August 2020: Podcast: Make It Real with Trisha Lewis
6 May 2019: Interview with Meryl, a digital marketer, and master of home office organization
17 April 2019: How to Caption Your Instagram Stories to Make Them More Accessible
1 March 2019: Podcast: Part of Me with Esi Hardy
27 August 2018: Bringing Your Remote Workforce Into the Fold
7 June 2018: The Art of Working Remotely Spotlight
29 May 2018: Dallas Morning News — Deaf and Music
27 February 2018: Your daily workout posts are driving your friends crazy
9 February 2018: Work-At-Home Experts Share Their Perfect Work At Home Office Set Ups
10 October 2017: Almost Famous: From “Average Joe” to Influencer Through a Focused Content Marketing Strategy
28 March 2017: 38 Small Business Marketing Tips from the Experts
January 5, 2017: 11 Words and Phrases You Had No Idea You Were Using Incorrectly via Bustle
3 December 2016: 43 Expert Tips on How to Future-Proof Your Content Strategy
18 October 2016: 42 Experts Tips for Creating Stand-Out Visual Content
28 September 2016: 25 Content Marketing Influencers You Should Be Following
12 August 2016: 45 Marketing Experts Share Their Authority Building Strategies
31 July 2016: 35 Digital Marketing Tips for Lead Generation
22 June 2016: 25 Content Marketing Experts You Should Follow on Twitter
6 June 2016: Fitness Profile: Meryl Evans
2 February 2016: 9 Expert Tips To Achieving Great Success with Content
12 January 2016: 46 Expert Tips For Creating Addictive Content
21 July 2015: 14 Real First Dates That Resulted in Marriage
6 March 2015: SeeDepth Masters interview
23 September 2010: The Invisible Mentor Interview (Part One) (Part Two)
18 December 2009: How to Listen at HungryPeople
09 December 2009: Gadget Gifts for Geek Girls: 15 Creative Ideas at IT World
16 November 2009: Blogger for Hire: Get Paid to Blog at WOW: Women on Writing
28 October 2009: How to use Twitter to save cash at BankRate.com
22 September 2009: How to Succeed in Today’s Publishing Industry at WritersDigest.com
3 August 2009: Should kids have cell phones? for SheKnows
08 July 2009: #smallbizchat guest and interview with Melinda Emerson.
08 July 2009: Featured Wild Web Woman Positive Role Model: WMT Interviews Meryl K. Evans For a Healthy Dose of Web Marketing Inspiration
3 April 2009: Career Apple Interview
1 February 2009: Blogger for Hire: Get Paid to Blog
05 September 2007: Smashing Magazine 50 Designers x 6 Questions
15 August 2007: Inkwell Editorial Interview (pdf)
12 April 2007: People in the Know Interview
29 May 2006: How to be a better blogger — and still keep your day job
01 November 2005: McVille.net Interview
01 May 2005: BBS: The Documentary
18 April 2005: Passing The Acid2 Test
12 May 2002: BBS: The Documentary video interview.
12 January 2002: LemurZone interview

In Books (as an editor, contributor or researcher)

Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions: Contributed personal story
102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less: Story on page 208.
The Well-Fed Writer: Story
Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites: Co-author
Brilliant Outlook Pocketbook: Author
Blog Schmog: The Truth About What Blogs Can (and Can’t) Do for Your Business: Resource
The Secret Power of Blogging: How to Promote and Market Your Business, Organization, or Cause With Free Blogs: Interviewee and contributor
CSS Cookbook: 2nd Edition: Contributor
What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting: Real-Life Advice from 101 People Who Successfully Leverage the Power of the Blogosphere: Contributor
The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right: Researcher
The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living: Resource
Weekend Entrepreneur: 101 Great Ways to Earn Extra Cash: Interviewee
Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer: Acknowledgments
The Well-Fed Writer: Back For Seconds A Second Helping Of “How-To” For Any Writer Dreaming of Great Bucks and Exceptional Quality of Life: Resource
Stories of Strength: Contributor
Sams Teach Yourself Movable Type in 24 Hours: Tech editor
Words You Thought You Knew: 1001 Commonly Misused and Misunderstood Words and Phrases: Contributor
Beginning Dreamweaver MX: Tech editor

History

Meryl first joined the Internet pre-revolution in 1992 with Internet in a Box.

Why the name meryl.net?

I racked my brain to come up with a name that would stick. Alas, nothing came. Ironically, I love to read about names and the meanings behind them. I’m even a professional namer! Yet, I couldn’t name this electronic baby.

I never had a nickname, a big hobby or a way for making up a creative name using my name. For example: If your last name was Boot, then a good Web name would be “Reboot.” Although I had a handle from my BBS (pre-Internet) days, I was embarrassed for ever having used it. Considering “meryl” is so uncommon considering the lifetime of misspellings and mispronunciations, I used it thinking a better name would come later. No brilliant idea ever came. So, meryl stuck.

Not So Vital Info

Bio: The cool version

I’ve been hanging out on the pre-Internet aka BBS since 1986. (I appear in BBS: The Documentary, which landed me my own IMDB.com page. Color me shocked.) I met the Internet in 1993. In digital years, that would be the 1800s. I fell in love with it at first text.

I’ve written for anything and everything relating to Web design, technology, content marketing, writing, automotive and buffaloes (not kidding).

I’m the president, CEO, CIO, CMO, CFO and founder of meryl.net, writing, editing, digital marketing, content marketing, email marketing, social media, tech fixer-upper, and all that extra stuff services.

I’ve blogged about living life as a deaf person. You can find this southpaw in the Lone Star State … not wearing 10-gallon hats.

Stats

Sign: Cap-Aquarius (some say Capricorn and some say water bearer).
Birthday: January 20 – Inauguration Day.
Myers-Briggs: ISTJ, ISTJ, ISTJ. (Every single time since taking the first one in ’90.)
Birth order: Da youngest, but practically only child.

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

I have a good stable [of contributors] — but not as many true writers who also know marketing, which is where I’d put Meryl.

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer

MarketingProfs

Frank R. Sobyak, founder

Meryl is a recommended and an endorsed resource for timely, relevant, and actionable content creation. We’ve worked together and I’ve recommended her to many colleagues over the past 15 years. Most recently she supported our digital marketing team at Park Place Dealerships with the creation of new model year overviews for over a dozen automotive manufacturer brands.

Meryl is always interested in a positive outcome, and in delivering an exceptional result. And, she will recommend improvements or enhancements as opportunities for them arise. For this she is a trusted advisor.

She always delivers good work on time that meets objectives, while at the same time providing exceptional value. For this, she is a reliable and viable resource.

Meryl will delve into your brand to help promote it in a way that engages the reader and is creative as she weaves together her storyline. For this, I find Meryl to have great enthusiasm and creativity.

Plus, she understands search engine optimization and can craft content that ranks for keywords that will drive clicks, views, and shares. Bottom line, great person who delivers a great product at a great value.

Frank Sobyak, founder

Dealership Partners LLC

George Tatar, CEO at Akruto, Inc.

I was fortunate to work with Meryl for several years on blogs and social media for my company. Meryl went above and beyond in every aspect of her work. Meryl’s writing is well researched, always targeted to the right audience and, importantly, interesting to read. Meryl has always been proactive to maintain an open communication and to make sure we achieve all our previously set goals and objectives. She even shared creative business ideas well beyond blogs and social media. I highly recommend working with Meryl.

George Tatar

akruto.com

Jillian Fortin, communications director

Meryl is whip-smart, highly energetic, and incredibly captivating speaker and advocate. We invited Meryl to speak at our annual accessibility conference in 2019, and our attendees loved her so much, we had to invite her back for 2020! Meryl really takes the time to really get to know her audience and assess what their needs are, which helps ensure that she delivers relevant and helpful content each and every time. I loved working with Meryl and look forward to working with her again!

Janet Roberts, editor

Meryl K. Evans is one of those rare people who can explain the most mind-numbing technical topics in such everyday terms that even nontechies like me can understand.

Janet Roberts, editor

Nate Hoppe, editor

Meryl Evans has been an outstanding freelancer for PC Today Magazine. Her understanding of mobile technology has made her one of our go-to writers. Not only that, she’s extremely prompt and professional. It has been a pleasure to work with her.

Nate Hoppe, editor

Sandhills Publishing

Ayana Cavelle Quackenbush

I recall quite clearly that it was coming down to the wire; I was just completing my thesis and the due date was impending. To be honest, I was barely able to review my paper or correct the grammatical and structural errors in my paper. Luckily, Meryl was recommended to me by a professor. I required that my paper be edited – approximately 100 pages – with a 3 day turnaround. I was surprised when Meryl accepted the task and was able to accommodate my request with such grace and calm. She was very thorough and the changes that she suggested made complete sense. Meryl, thanks, you played a major role the acceptance of my thesis, returning high quality work to me in a timely and orderly manner given the strict guidelines of the department and the short time I gave you.

Ayana Cavelle Quackenbush

NYU MSIS

Sue Lemm PMP®

Meryl provides an awesome menu of digital marketing to helpfirms. The thoroughness of Meryl’s work is what reallyimpressed me – quick turnaround, corrections and in addition – sheprovides the Why behind the suggestions that really open up theconversation. Loved the process!

Jeffrey Zeldman, author, founder, and publisher

Meryl Evans is a seasoned Internet professional and, dare I say it, unicorn, with a gift for social strategies and fluent, natural-sounding copy/editorial/SEO that advance her clients’s business interests and help them connect more deeply with their customers. I’ve known Meryl since the mid-1990s, when she was already an experienced web consultant and gifted writer. Her insightful early articles for my magazine, A List Apart, helped chart its course and establish it as one of the more thoughtful web design and development publications (which I hope it still is).

Jeffrey Zeldman

A List Apart

Yury Uskov, CEO at iSpring

We are excited about Meryl’s work for us. She is a very talented person and content written by Meryl reflects our company message with her own unique style. It is a delight to work with Meryl. She is a true pearl in the sea of freelancers.

Yury Uskov

iSpring

Molly Holzschlag, author

Meryl K. Evans is not only a great editor and writer, her love for the Web and its denizens is apparent in all her activities. Whether keeping up with design and development issues via her own blog or other venues, Meryl is a leading voice in the cry for sensible, contemporary, and standards-based design.

Molly Holzschlag, author

Fred Diamond, president and co-founder of IES

Meryl has helped grow my organization, the Institute for Excellence in Sales, by effectively positioning it on multiple social media properties most notably LinkedIn and Twitter. She’s very attuned to getting attention on those properties and is also very proactive in helping her clients post frequently and optimally. She also has brought many fresh ideas to our organization, helping us achieve attention from prospects and new partners we didn’t know even existed! We made a great decision hiring her to help us.

Fred Diamond

Institute of Excellence in Sales

Kyle Thompson, owner of Big Fish Consulting

I’ve been through at least a dozen writers prior to finding Meryl.She’s the only one we use now and my entire team loves workingwith her. She writes for a variety of clients across multiple topics. Inhundreds of pieces, I’ve had zero complaints from my clients. Her lightning fast turn around helps me stand out.

Kyle Thompson

Big Fish Consulting

Hank Stroll, founder of InternetVIZ

Meryl Evans is one of the reasons why InternetVIZ is in business today. Without her, the first overload of business would have sunk us. She has also made me aware of the need of clear and concise written communication. She has an accessibility and directness that is wonderful. Her intuition is great. I consider her a ‘trail blazer’. Finally, her work with eNewsletter Journal and The Remediator Security Digest are outstanding.

Hank Stroll

Publisher, InternetVIZ

Ann Fields

I highly recommend Meryl Evans as a professional writer and content maven. I worked for several years with Meryl in the telecommunications field. She was an analyst in the Process department and she served on many key projects with much success.

As an analyst, she was responsible for the creation of technical requirements documents, test plans, and process flow charts. She facilitated cross-functional conference calls and hosted team meetings to initiate and execute key work initiatives. Meryl has many strong skills that are applicable to any industry. She has a keen attention to detail, a thirst for all things technical, an analytical mind for design, and a commitment to meeting deadlines.

Plus, Meryl has strong interpersonal and negotiation skills…and a great sense of humor! Needless to say, her writing skills and technical knowledge far exceed the average. Again, I sincerely vouch for Meryl’s professional skills and abilities and would welcome any opportunity to speak on her behalf.

Ann Fields

SBC Communnications, Inc.

Paul J. Krupin, author

Meryl’s work brings your writing to a level of real time real world readiness that enable you to reach your full potential with your target audience. She is a word master par excellence — a go to the mountain guru of the written word, who is capable of making your words, skills, and talents really shine, and propel them into greatness.

Paul J. Krupin, author and founder

Presari

Janine A. Schindler, founder and owner

Working with Meryl has been a pure delight! I had so many ideas of what I needed and wanted to say and in so many versions – I didn’t know where to begin. Meryl sorted through the all the twisted and tangled threads and wove them into a masterful dialogue that is proudly displayed on my website. It’s great to know that Meryl is there for all my writing projects. An international company contacted me because of the web site content she wrote.

Janine A. Schindler, founder and owner

JAS Leadership

Sara Oblak Speicher, founder and president

I have to say that working with Meryl has been one of the best experiences one can ask for! She is an excellent communicator (although we only use email), very clear on what is expected and she is always two steps ahead in the process, pointing out potential setbacks before they even occur.

Meryl has been highly recommended by another client and now I know why! The value she adds to my business and my clients with her writing and editing expertise is impossible to express with words (unless you’re a content maven like Meryl is). Most importantly, she’s very personable and responsive, and her attention to detail is remarkable. Thank you, Meryl, for all that you do!

Sara Oblak Speicher, MBA

VBM Pro, Inc.

Chris Pirillo, head geek and founder

Meryl has passion, personality, and a persistent personal voice. She isn’t just followed by our subscribers, she’s adored. When they don’t hear from her after a while, we’re sure to get a few “Where’s Meryl?!” emails.

Chris Pirillo, head geek and founder

Lockergnome

Todd Marks, author

Meryl’s thoroughness and attention to detail have been key ingredients to the success of the book projects that we have worked on.

Todd Marks, author

Dustin Sullivan, Senior Site Content Manager, InformIT

Meryl is an important asset for our website. She is able to sort through a large volume of industry news and break it all down into pithy and interesting weblog entries for our readers, all with a writing style that is a perfect mix of technical and conversational. She is a dependable contributor; I know not only that she’s going to get her assignments in on time, but that they will be well-written and useful for our audience.

Dustin Sullivan, senior site content manager

InformIT

Kim Beasley, owner

I recently used the services of Meryl to rewrite the text of a couple of my websites and I love the results that I received. She is very customer-oriented and able to understand your needs while at the same time fulfill them beyond your expectations.

Kim Beasley, owner

Agap3 Business Services, LLC

Louisa van Vessem, Workflow Virtual

Meryl is inspirational, she’s had such a positive influence on theworld of LinkedIn. She’s transformed the way people think aboutvideos, making them realise the importance of captions and how touse them effectively. Her approach and the way she articulates hermessage demonstrates how awesome she is at what she does.

Louisa van Vessem

Workflow Virtual

David Strom, writer and speaker

Meryl is a joy to work with, whip smart, delivers her work on time and exceeds expectations, and is a great all-around person too! She has written several articles for a new Web site and takes pride in her work. I highly recommend her for this type of work. She truly is a content maven.

Top qualities: Great results, good value, on time.

David Strom, writer and speaker

David Strom, Inc.

Karla Quick, director of clinical marketing

Working with Meryl Evans was always such a great experience. She has this innate ability to promote whatever it is you’re trying to do/sell/share. Her language is always professional and comes across very natural. She helped our company grow our social platforms and did it with such ease! She helped us connect with physicians and potential patients, all while ensuring our messaging was clear and inviting! I thoroughly enjoyed working with Meryl and her collaborative approach to the success of our company.

Karla Quick

Jeff Forester, executive director

This is a site that even I understand, so I know my members will also. I can’t believe how much you guys did in such a short amount of time. Unlike my original web developer, you listened to what I wanted and gave it to me without hassle. Thanks! (On setting up a business blog.)

Jeff Forester, executive director

Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates

Stine Holmgaard, CEO at A.Miroe

I had the pleasure of hosting Meryl as a panelist and speaker for the Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2020. During preparation for this online event, Meryl proved herself to be an incredibly helpful and thoughtful professional. She was also very well prepared for the presentation and her eloquence and insights at the event contributed to a relevant and valuable event for the participants as well as fellow panelists and speakers. I give Meryl my warmest recommendations.

Stine Holmgaard

A.Miroe

Howard Sherman, Chairman and CEO, Malinche Entertainment

Meryl’s down-to-earth and insightful advice can transform any website from a money-sucker to a money-maker. Pay no mind to the get-rich-quick snake oil salesmen populating the Internet; the path to riches on the Internet is a long road that must be traveled slowly. There are few people better equipped than Meryl Evans to make that journey smooth and satisfying.

Howard Sherman, Chairman and CEO

Malinche Entertainment

Bill Moore, CEO of Zello

Your work is super and you are responsive and dependable. I wish we could clone you. Meryl is also talented, fast, smart, reliable, a good communicator, and honest. A precious combination.

Bill Moore, CEO

Zello

Steve Kayser, marketing and media relations pro

When I think of “professional writer,” I think of Meryl.
When I think of “personable” writer I think of Meryl.
When I think of a “Git’er Done” writer, I think of Meryl.
When I think of a truly caring and sharing person, in business and life, I think of Meryl.
And … When I think “it doesn’t get much better than that,” I think of Meryl.

Steve Kayser

Kayser Media

Janet Johnson, marketing pioneer

We are fortunate to have been able to rely on Meryl to augment our internal resources here at Marqui. Recently, she was instrumental in helping us craft a white paper on blogging that helped us not only capture the spirit (through tone and manner) of the subject perfectly, it provided welcome entertainment along with technological enlightenment for our readers.

The paper has been (so far) downloaded more than 1600 times from our web site. And it is a testament to our collaboration that we’ve received compliments like this one: ‘Finally. A white paper not written by committee. How refreshing.’ Thank you, Meryl.

Janet Johnson, marketing pioneer

O'Johnson Partners

Judy Schramm, CEO of ProResource, Inc.

It is a delight to work with Meryl. She delivers high quality work with great turnaround. I recommend her highly!

Judy Schramm, CEO

ProResource, Inc.

Heidi Medina, business coach/LinkedIn trainer and mentor

Meryl is a firecracker who knows how to get what she wants out oflife and she KNOWS what she’s doing. If you’re looking forsomeone to help with your digital marketing and content writing,then you want Meryl helping you out. She’s professional, shows up, and gets the job done.

Heidi Medina

Talk to Heidi

Nick Finck

Meryl Evans is the hardest working Managing Editor I have met. She is very proficient at her job and always meets if not exceeds my expectations. If I needed to hire a freelance editor, I would hire Meryl before anyone else.

Nick Finck

UX pro

Debbie Weil, founder and author

In addition to being an accomplished writer herself, Meryl is a researcher supreme if you need someone knowledgeable about all things. She is fast, responsive and always ‘gets it’ with a minimum of communication. I recommend her services highly. She is a pleasure to work with.

Debbie Weil, founder and author

Wordbiz LLC

Tracy Haver

I worked with Meryl for a number of years at SBC. I appreciated her professionalism and valued her work products. As a peer, I utilized the documentation she created, and I always found it to be accurate and of high quality. Meryl is a valuable professional with excellent communication skills, creativity, and polish. I recommend Meryl highly.

SBC / AT&T