Writing Tutorials

Cross This Line and You’re Dead and Other Writing Tips

My first writing job was for a small small publishing company that published magazines for consumer electronics and major appliance retailers. Writing for trade magazines is not as glamorous as writing for consumer magazines but the pay is a heck of a lot better. It was one of those places where the writers did the work of two times as many people. We pounded copy like crazed monkeys including nights and Saturdays when deadlines were on top of us. I wrote my ass off and I learned a lot, thanks to... learn more

Today’s Pet Peeves

Does anyone know what notoriety means any more? Notoriety is a synonym for infamous (usually a bad thing). It does not mean famous (usually a good thing). John Wilkes Booth was notorious for assassinating President Lincoln. His notoriety was widespread. Brat Pitt is famous. His fame is widespread. He hasn’t done anything to make himself notorious, at least as far as I know. If something pisses you off, you’re irritated, not aggravated. If you pick at the scab on your elbow, you’re aggravating... learn more

More Linking and Less Talking

Like most people, I need to practice more and preach less. For example, I need to verify that I’ve done all I can when I create internal and external links and spend more timing chasing inbound links to my sites. It’s hard for me to find the time. I have to visit my rich aunt every day at the nursing home to make sure she signs the will I drew up. She likes to talk a lot. Google reminded me not long ago that I should pay more attention to my links. The Big G ran on its Official Goggle... learn more

15 Things Writing for eBay Can Teach You about Writing for the Web

Do you ever sell stuff on eBay? I used to be an eBay fool. I sold everything in my house I no longer wanted. I sold stuff I inherited but couldn’t use. I sold leftover motorcycle parts when I was building my 1977 Honda CB750 cafe racer. I even sold two cars. Over about 5 years, I completed 715 transactions. My feedback rating is 98.9 percent, which is better than most sellers’ when you start getting into high numbers of transactions. Heck, eBay gave me a purple star, but I forget what... learn more

How to Decide what is Newsworthy for Your Press Release

I’ve embarked on a series of posts on press relations and so far, I’ve covered the benefits of writing press releases and how to format them. What are the potential topics you might consider for your press release–what is newsworthy, in other words–is today’s topic. I’ll tell you soon on how to write and shape copy for your press release for maximum exposure online. What’s newsworthy is often common sense but it can also be subjective. It’s something... learn more

12 Things You Should Know about Formating Press Releases

How many times have you gone to your mailbox, flipped through the envelopes and tossed the junk mail in the recycle bin unopened? All the time, right? Journalists do the same thing with most press releases they receive, whether sent by snail mail or email. As I wrote the other day, I’m planning on writing a series of posts on how to put news about your business into press releases, how to get people to read them and (one hopes) to act on them. I’ve already written about the benefits of... learn more

Journalism’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’ Helps You and Your Clients

I was collaborating with a designer friend a couple of weeks back on a Web site for a small, but ambitious, client. The client’s primary interest was presenting his business in the shiniest possible way–no surprise there. But I raised the point with him that although we could build an awesome-looking and functional site for him, there was a lot more to think about than the site’s look and feel. Content matters, as we all know. My point with this client was that he needed to put... learn more

How to Get More People to Do Business With You

If you’re like me, you get at least a few newsletters a week. You might even get some every day, like I do from NewEgg, a digital merchant that I have come to rely on for good deals and fast service. (No, I don’t have stock in the company. I’m just a happy customer, so I’m willing to let them spam me every day during the holiday season.) You’re selective about the newsletters you get, because if you opted into everyone that came along, you’d spend more time opening... learn more

The Federal Government’s Secret on How to Write in PLAIN English

If the major mortgage lenders, home buyers and Wall Street had heard of PLAIN, and had gotten rid of the fine print and mishigas in their contracts, we might not be in the economic mess we find ourselves. PLAIN is short for Plain Language Action and Information Network. A number of federal government agencies formed PLAIN almost 15 years ago with the aim of promoting the use of plain language for government communications. The big idea was that by using plain language, federal agencies would save... learn more

When you try to please everyone, everyone goes home unhappy

When I do Web work–whether solo or in collaboration with a Web designer–I’m always mindful that we need to keep things simple. Sometimes keeping things simple forces us to compromise more than we would like or generalize in the interest of time and money (for us and the client’s). Ironically, when you tend to over simplify, that’s when many situations tend to get really messy. Most Web sites are tailored to a specific audience–business or consumer. How to structure... learn more

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