Archive for October, 2009
Let Newspapers Die
My initiali gut reaction upon hearing of the silly Newspaper Revitalization Act about a month or so ago was, “Man, I’ll miss them.” Then I realized, I’ve already “missed” newspapers for years. I haven’t really picked up, let alone read, a traditional paper in all that time.
Video SELLS!
I remember when videos on the PC were, well, were not. PCs couldn’t handle them. Heck, they couldn’t handle anything but the simplest of graphics and animation way back when. Now, I bet hardly a day goes by where we don’t see at least a short video clip on our computer screens. For someone like me who’s watched it evolve, the ride’s been quite fascinating and impressive.
Thing is, I’m not particularly fond of them as a medium for delivering information. Sorry, that’s not entirely accurate: In that information delivery role, in many cases, I dislike them immensely.
The Best Book Publishing Companies to Work For
Interesting info. Do with it what you will…
Book Business magazine has just released the latest installment of its annual “Best Book Publishing Companies to Work For list (the link is to a PDF ranking its top 10). You could say it’s about the industry’s happy employees, where they are, and where they happen to be happiest.
A “Whiteboard” for Really BIG Ideas!
Is mapping out story or business ideas on the computer screen or retro paper too restricting? Do you need to work with a lot of space to really let your creativity gush out tsunami-like? Then you may find this product productively liberating.
The Consumerist Just Spat on Our Copyrights
Considering the kind of work we do, articles and news that revolve around copyright issues, even if they’re not directly about written creations, usually catch my eye… as long as they’re not boring heavy on the legalese. (Really, anyone with half-a-brain can decipher a legal document; the trick is trying to stay awake long enough to get it done.) So no surprise that a post titled “Copycat Company Sues Original Artist to Void Copyright Claims” would draw my attention.
Excellent Simple Online Sales Promotion Technique
Here’s an online sales promotion technique that’s easy to implement and even simpler in concept. It’s not even new — you’ve likely seen it around at least a few times before…
Quick-and-Dirty Domain Name Pricing
Buying and selling domain names is a good way to make a few bucks (or maybe lots of them). But pricing them is usually tricky. Here’s a free online tool that could help.
Free and Easy Custom Favicon Creator
A favicon (short for “favorites icon”), as you may know, is like a logo of sorts that’s visually associated with your website/blog. It’s tiny — at least 16×16 pixels — and it’s used by modern browsers, displaying it next to your site’s or page’s name on tabs and bookmarks. Thing is, they’re not the easiest things in the world to create.
Collection of Killer Writing Tips
Just going through my notebooks. I seldom, if ever, give actual writing advice. So I’ll let others do it. Here are a few I think you’ll find particularly helpful, in no particular order.
Top 50 Sites for Net Professionals
From Website Magazine, its list of top 50 sites that will likely “impact your Web enterprises’ bottom line.”
How-to Launch Your Own Indie Journalism Site
Seen @ Mashable. If journalism’s your thing, here are some invaluable tips from “five former mainstream media reporters” on building and running your own news site. Covers a heck of a whole lot: Startup Costs, Advertising and Sponsorship, Tech and Design, and more. The kind of stuff you’d actually expect to be paying for, but here it is for free.
How to Write a Book on Any Topic in 4 Weeks or Less
The B&N nook eBook Reader
FYI, Barnes & Noble has announced the upcoming release of its nook eBook Reader, which may just be a Kindle-killer. or at the very least, really stiff competition.
Pure speculation on my part, of course, since I’ve never used nor have I actually even seen the nook. And its speculation based on little more than a minute or two of not-much-thinking, glancing quickly through the nook’s sales page, and what I know of the Kindle after having owned and used one for only a few weeks. On the other hand, although it’s true that I’m now “invested” in the Kindle, time-wise I’m not yet quite married to it, which may give me the kind of perspective a more lengthy and devoted Kindle owner may be more reluctant to allow.
How-to Design a Coming Soon Page
If you’re like me, you’ve got lots of little “website/blog projects” in various states of completion. Here, from Line25, are a few excellent tips on how to design truly useful (not to mention cool) “Coming Soon” pages for those projects.
How-to Build a Strong Personal Brand
From the Personal Branding blog, 10 “rules” to help you achieve success through personal branding.
How-to Pitch the Blogosphere
From ReadWriteStart, five (5) basic PR and media relations tips for your startup.
Is Your Mind Holding You Back?
From Dumb Little Man, five (5) ways your mind is keeping you from achieving what you can achieve… and, of course, how to deal with them.
Writing vs. Reading
Recently Tweeted by Jay Lake, author of Green, Escapement and many other sci-fi and fantasy novels and short stories:
Read the rest of this entry »
21 Untapped Traffic Sources
From self-confessed “traffic addict” BuzzBlogger, here’s a very detailed article describing 21 ways to generate traffic to your blog/site, most of which in all probability you didn’t know about.
Away for a Few Days
Talk about timing.
After neglecting this site for a while (and really, there is no other word for it, whatever the reason), I finally decided very recently to truly and absolutely do at least a post a day.