Wordrider

Comma Clash

2012-01-27T10:33:00.000-05:00

Harold Ross, editor of the New Yorker, was notorious for carpet bombing the copy with commas. James Thurber fought valiantly for readability over correctness. But Ross was the boss. And the commas continued.

This is not to say that Thurber championed sloppy language. On the contrary, he said,

Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair-trigger balances, when a false, or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.

Gracie Allen may have put it best, "Never place a period where God has placed a comma."

An ongoing discussion in LinkedIn's LinkEds & writers group: "Commas used in a series; has something changed?" has some members crying for a period. Enough already.

I offered my own humble opinion, but the battle rages on.

While many of us wish the Wicked Wolf would have spared Grandma and eaten Grammar, there is no denying the importance of proper punctuation. It is so important that the great Victor Borge invented a method of making speech as clear as writing by adding visual cues. He called it "Phonetic Punctuation."

Have you hugged a writer today?

2012-01-23T13:30:00.000-05:00

John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, shares some valuable suggestions on how to help your favorite writer:
30 Ways to Help a Book Author Market His or Her Books

They run from the most obvious:

Buy your friend's book. Encourage other friends to buy the book. Go to your local library or bookstore and encourage them to buy the book. Buy books as gifts.

To my favorite:

Pray. Prayer always helps. Pray for your friend and his book. If you're not into prayer, ask your favorite tree to help.

No SOPA, Radio

2012-01-23T10:56:00.000-05:00

Ding dong SOPA Is Dead

What is a "Creative"?

2012-01-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

As a hard-sell direct marketing copywriter, I never liked being called "creative." It suggests writing just to impress. I write to influence and sell. As I wrote before:

David Ogilvy said "I occasionally use the hideous word 'creative' myself, for lack of a better."
Too much of what passes for marketing is based on creative whim. General advertisers often shoot blind, trying to make "impressions" instead of targeting sales.
As they used to say at Benton & Bowles Advertising agency way back in the 1930s: "If it doesn't sell, it's not creative."

Steven Pressfield, a former advertising copywriter, has become a celebrated novelist. Pressfield is also author of The War of Art, a warrior's manual for to the inner battle with "resistance" to doing your real work. On his blog, Pressfield has a unique insight to "creatives" that makes me more open to the title.

See What I Learned in the Ad Biz, Part Two and let me know what you think.

Ringtone vs. Music

2012-01-13T10:26:00.000-05:00

When I took a freshman music course in Brooklyn College, the professor put on a record of a Beethoven concerto. He stood by the phonograph. clearly entranced by the music. Abruptly, he shut off the record, glared at two students who were talking and said,
"Beethoven is not for talking over. Class dismissed."
Yesterday, New York Philharmonic Conductor Alan Gilbert halted a performance of Mahler's Ninth Symphony because of a ringing iPhone.
Bravo!

Is Writing Dead?

2012-01-11T15:02:00.000-05:00

Bob Bly--author of 80 books and untold articles and ads--takes a grim view of the writing profession in his blog: The Death Knell of the Writing Profession.
He particularly dislikes the terms "wordsmith" and "content."
I respectfully dissent. See my comment.
What do you think?

"Takin' Care of Chanukah" by Avraham Rosenblum & The Baal Shem Tov Band

2011-12-22T17:44:00.000-05:00

Chanukah rocks!

Happy Chanukah!

2011-12-22T09:49:00.000-05:00

Who put eight great days in that little bitty can?

If they can't read it, they won't buy

2011-12-14T13:54:00.004-05:00

Pardon me while I rant. One of my pet peeves is Un-Readability. (What do you feed a pet peeve?)

I have already written about the need to write readable, simple copy. (See "No Nonsense Copywriting." Also read copywriter Ryan McGrath's interview with me. For geeky information on analyzing text readability, see Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula.)

But even if you write compelling copy, misguided design can make it impossible to read. And if they can't read it, they can't respond.

I've had pitched battles with brilliant graphic artists over layout and typography. I am not being sarcastic. In fact, the more brilliant and creative the designer, the more likely I am to have an issue. They tend to see words as design elements—rather than their design supporting the meaning of the words.

I come from a tradition based on the word, not on images.

I have nothing against pretty. But as direct marketing consultant Paul Goldberg used to say about beautiful ads, "Pretty is as pretty does."

What really rankles me is when some graphic genius takes my carefully crafted copy, words I sweated over a hot keyboard for—to entice and influence—and makes them unreadable by using reverse type, or all caps, or some exquisite typeface that is lovely to look at, but impossible to decipher. (Remember the 1960's undulating psychedelic posters of Wes Wilson? Just reading them was a trip!)

Seeing my copy trapped in illegible type, I'd rant and fume, waving a copy of David Ogilvy's rules of typography. Sometimes I'd win. The problem was that Ogilvy's rules were based on ad results, not Art awards. We live in a world where Pepsi Cola spent over $1,000,000.00 for a logo redesign that looks barely different from their old one. Pepsi declared the new logo "breathtaking" (I guess they were talking about the million dollars). In this atmosphere, any talk of ROI reeks of crass materialism. (I don't know anything about art. But I know what sells!)

Enter designer/typographer and journalist Colin Wheildon. In 1995, Wheildon published a study: Type & Layout: How Typography and Design Can Get Your Message Across—Or Get in the Way. Ogilvy was so impressed with the hard-nosed statistics backing his biases, that he wrote a foreword to the book:

If you write advertisements for a living, as I do, it is a matter of life and death that what you write should be read by potential customers. It’s the headline and copy that do the selling....The tragedy is that the average advertisement is read by only four per cent of people on their way through the publication it appears in. Most of the time, this is the fault of the so-called "art director" who designs advertisements. If he is an aesthete at heart—and most of them are—he doesn't care a damn whether anybody reads the words. He regards them as mere elements in his pretty design. In many cases he blows away half the readers by choosing the wrong type.

In 2005, Wheildon published a new edition, with practical advice. Type & Layout: are you communicating of just making pretty shapes?

Get smart. Read the book. Look good. But sell.

Mazel Tov Google!

2011-12-13T12:47:00.000-05:00

Read the first paragraph of these (otherwise) prosaic instructions on how to change your name on your Gmail account.

Change your username - Gmail Help

Could it be Mel Brooks is working for Google?

The Web Rebbe

2011-12-08T20:42:00.000-05:00

The old proverb in advertising was "Dress British and think Yiddish!" Now, along comes a dyed-in-the-wool Chasid who is an Internet marketing guru!

Let me introduce you to a new friend of mine: Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg. We were introduced by a mutual friend--copywriter and marketing consultant Shel Horowitz.

When I spoke with Rabbi Ginzberg, I asked him how does a Rebbeshe Einekel (scion of a great Chasidic dynasty) become a marketing guru?

"We have a family tradition of giving advice!"

So here is some Rebbeshe advice, based on a talk he gave at Google Headquarters in Israel!

Six Things I Learned Speaking at Google | Marketing, Strategy, Kosher!

Search me

2011-11-30T10:43:00.000-05:00

Knowledge in war is very simple, being concerned with so few subjects, and only with their final results at that. But this does not make its application easy.
General Carl von Clausewitz

You can say the same for Search. It's simple to "google" something and get the results you want. But what Google does and how it works is far from easy.

If you want to get look under the hood of how Google works, see this from Aaron Wall, author of SEO Book.

Drayton Bird Copywriting Seminar

2011-11-23T10:22:00.000-05:00

Drayton Bird is one of the pioneers of Direct Marketing--or as his partner David Ogilvy referred to it, "My secret weapon: Direct Response Advertising."

Ogilvy said Drayton Bird "knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world. His book about it is pure gold. His speeches are not only informative, but hilariously funny."

Now Bird is making an irresistible offer on his three-hour seminar on copywriting on DVD. (Disclosure: I am not an affiliate and get no commission from this. I'm just a fan.)

So get this while the getting is good:Drayton's Copywriting Seminar DVD

David Ogilvy on Direct Response Marketing

2011-11-22T19:24:00.001-05:00

In 1974 I bought a copy of David Ogilvy's Confessions of an Advertising Man in a used paperback shop in Jerusalem. I haven't been the same ever since.

Ogivly still has a lot to teach us. And, like Gandalf the White, the old Wizard of Direct Response Advertising returns--on YouTube--with plenty of magic to offer.

Thanks to Joe Polish for pointing me to this gem.

Salute to a Liberator

2011-11-08T23:32:00.014-05:00

This November 11th—Veterans' Day—Arnold Rist, of Nanuet, New York, will raise his bugle once again for his brothers in arms. Over the past 13 years, Rist has played Taps more than 1,300 times for fellow veterans—at funerals and for holidays honoring our armed forces. This past Memorial Day, a serendipitous encounter created the setting for a classic image.

It was a Norman Rockwell moment. At the Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 30, 2011, in Stony Point, New York, Times photographer Susan Stava caught three-year-old Thomas Cahill sitting next to a veteran in uniform. Fate and the photo have linked them forever. Even seated, a bugle in his lap, Sergeant Arnold Rist, of the 65th Armored Infantry Battalion, 20th Armored Division, seems to be standing at attention. Cahill, clutching a large flag in his little right hand, holds his left hand to his forehead — in what looks for all the world like a cherubic salute to the eighty-six-year-old veteran....

For forty years, Rist could not talk about the war—especially about the liberation of Dachau. For the rest of the story, read my article: "Salute to a Liberator," in the Inyan magazine section of this week's Hamodia weekend edition.

Read the article online.

It's Official: Google Indexes Comments

2011-11-08T10:11:00.001-05:00

A few years ago, I had an on-blog conversation with Bob Bly on the idea of marketing with blog comments. Bob was skeptical, but I had done it together with Steve O'Keefe.

Now it's official. Mequoda Daily reports that Google is indexing comments on blogs and Facebook posts. So add comments to your toolbox. And remember--Google is watching. So if you don't have something good to say, keep your comments to yourself.

Read the full story: Google Starts Indexing Comments – All of Them

Veteran's Day Salute

2011-11-07T11:00:00.006-05:00

Cover photo of Arnold Rist by Susan Stava

Read my profile of Sergeant Arnold Rist--one of the liberators of Dachau--in the magazine section of this week's Inyan magazine section of Hamodia newspaper. On sale Wendnesay, Nov. 9.

Why to hire a copywriter

2011-11-06T14:33:00.003-05:00

When I wrote my post on Mel Martin's Fascinations, I included a link to an article on Mel Martin by Denny Hatch, copywriter, direct mail archivist, editor, and author.

In another article, Hatch takes out after marketers who should know better, but still skimp on professional copywriting. He writes:

I once had a client...who thought very little of copywriters. "Just create some verbiage," he used to say with a dismissive wave. I was reminded of an old story:

"What do you do?" a guy at a cocktail party was asked.

"I'm a brain surgeon," was the reply. "What do you do?"

"I'm a writer."

"Ah," said the brain surgeon. "I've often thought that when I retire I'd like to try some writing."

"And when I retire," said the writer, "I plan to try a little brain surgery."

Read the rest at "Professional copywriters are worth their weight in gold"

Update Windows Now

2011-11-04T13:49:00.006-04:00

In the advertising business, they say you have to be crazy not to be paranoid!

You can say the same for using computers. Windows is a minefield. You must have antivirus software. (I use Microsoft Security Essentials.) But even more important than that--you have to update Windows regularly. Microsoft issues monthly security updates. But to get those updates, you either have to have Automatic Updates set up to receive them, or you have to manually update Windows yourself.

Go to Start, Control Panel, and double click on Security Center. See if Automatic Updates are set to load. That is Windows' recommended setting.

Now hear this—Don't listen to them. Don't let them take charge. For your own safety, you should control what Microsoft is installing. If you are comfortable tweaking your system, here's what to do: Change the setting from automatic downloads and set it to only notify you that you have updates ready to be installed. This is not the place for a detailed discussion, but these updates can sometimes cause more problems that they solve.

Windows Wizard Woody Leonhard has just declared it safe to update. Go for it now. Read MS-DEFCON 4: Patch everything except the Office 2010 Service Pack @ AskWoody.com

For more information on Windows updates see Automatic Updates. For more information on Woody's Microsoft patch defense system see MS-DEFCON System

If all this is Geek to you, just leave your machine on automatic updates. And pray. In fact, pray anyway. It never hurts.

Gary Halbert Teaches the Real Art of Writing Copy.

2011-11-04T03:39:00.001-04:00

In the hand of the late Gary Halbert, the pen was truly mightier than the sword. His newsletter was a valued resource of ideas and techniques. In a fit of generosity, Halbert put most of his archive online. In this episode (his letters were adventures, not just information), he gives a crash course in copywriting. He starts out:

Last month I promised this month I would teach you the real art of writing copy. I am now about to keep that promise.....

Read the rest on The Gary Halbert Letter

Woody Leonhard on Passwords

2011-11-03T03:42:00.000-04:00

Are you still using the Marx Brothers system for computer passwords?

Are you still using "password" as your password? Or maybe "swordfish"? Read Windows guru Woody Leonhard's true cautionary tale on passwords and take heed.

The thousand-dollar penalty for reusing passwords

Mel Martin's Copywriting Fascinations

2011-11-01T20:49:00.001-04:00

Lawrence Bernstein's Info Marketing Blog is an archive of copywriting classics. See how the masters did it--from Eugene Schwartz to Gary Halbert and more.

One of my favorites is the "greatest copywriter you’ve never heard of"--Mel Martin. Mel was also known as the "secret weapon" of Boardroom Publications. He and Gene Schwartz were the masters of "Fascinations"--the teaser bullets that forced you to open the envelope, and keep reading... right to the order form. Gems like "What never to eat on an airplane...."

Here, Bernstein analyzes the technique and includes source material: a free PDF of sample Mel Martin ads.

Targeting Your Ideal Prospects… Lessons from Mel Martin

Free vs. Fee

2011-10-31T11:39:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine is a computer wizard. He is an uber geek who has switched over to Linux, but does other people's Windows. He asked my advice about marketing a software product--giving it away for free, but asking for an installation fee. My first questions were:

What is your business model? How do you make FREE pay?
A corollary of 1, but from the customer's point of view: What's the catch? If it's free, how do you make money on it? And is it available anywhere else for free?
If it's free, why do I need to pay to get it installed? (Once you wave the FREE flag, you need to cautiously segue from free to fee.)
Can you make a value-added version of the free one that you can sell as an upgrade?
Can you add ancillary services or products for upselling or cross-selling? This sounds like a great introductory offer. But introductory offers are not where you make your money. You need to work the back end. As Bob Bly writes, "The bulk of your profits will be made on the back end (repeat sales to existing customers), not the front end (the first sale to a new customer). Therefore, creating and selling a single product with no back-end is almost never profitable." Terry Dean offers similar advice.
Maybe start with classified ads with links to a landing page.

What would you add?

Get It In Writing!

2011-10-16T15:35:00.000-04:00

If you do any kind of freelance or consulting work, stop what you're doing.

Yes. I meant STOP now!

Go now and download Get It In Writing! Free eBook from Solo PR Pro

Yes, I know. You already knew to get everything in writing. But we all forget it. And we should hang a reminder of it on our desks--right next to Murphy's Law. We've all gotten burnt by starting jobs without clear, written agreements. As Samuel Goldwyn didn't say:

A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.

So instead of smack-on-the-head hindsight, download the reminder and read the obvious you already knew. Thanks to Joan Stewart for the reminder. For more ideas and reminders, sign up for her seminar "60 Ideas in 60 Minutes."

Andy Statman's Old Brooklyn

2011-10-10T02:15:00.000-04:00

Andy Statman is coming out with a new album. Instead of my gushing about his music, just check out this sample: Old Brooklyn.

Here's some more Andy:

Moved email subscriptions from Feedblitz to FeedBurner

2011-06-26T14:29:00.000-04:00

You may have noticed that the blog has a new look and feel. Along with the new blog layout, I also moved my email subscription service from Feedblitz to Google's FeedBurner service. To prevent spam, FeedBurner does not allow importing existing subscription lists. So, if you're interested in continuing to receive Wordrider posts, please resubscribe. For the next month or so, I will maintain the old account, so if you get both FeedBurner and Feedblitz emails, just unsubscribe directly from the Feedblitz email. Or let me know and I'll remove your name:

Don't get me wrong. I love Google

2011-06-24T13:29:00.002-04:00

King Kong vs. Godzilla was kid stuff. The real battle of the titans is between The Lord of Redmond and The Masters of Mountain View.

I got a newsletter the other day from Paul Myers warning of the financial tsunami heading our way from the seismic shift caused by Google's latest algorithm change. Then I read Dianna Huff's analysis of the new Google: The Panda Update: Unique Content Rules, People

An hour or so later, I read in the Wall St. Journal: "Feds to Launch Probe of Google."

Where are we heading?

My favorite line in Lord of the Rings is when Treebeard sees the destruction Saruman has wrought preparing for battle, and he says:
"A wizard should know better."

Interview With “Junk Mail Junkie” Morty Schiller

2010-11-12T11:26:00.002-05:00

Ryan McGrath interviews me:

What I really like about Morty is he’s been in direct mail for 37 years and is still going strong. He’s not just a student of a particular medium – direct mail, Internet marketing, etc. – he’s a student of human nature.

In other words, Morty is a salesman first and foremost, whether with ink on paper, or words on screen.

Read the whole interview…

A salute to our veterans

2010-11-11T14:41:00.005-05:00

Some years ago, I wrote a piece for the Postal Commemorative Society. I decided to focus on one particular stamp that said it all.

I thought it would be nice to share it with you on Veterans Day.

Click on the images to see them full size.

Alice Dancing Under the Gallows

2010-10-28T11:50:00.003-04:00

This has nothing to do with writing or marketing. But if you can spare 10 minutes, watch this.

Alice Herz Sommer is the world's oldest Holocaust survivor. She played piano in Theresienstadt. And she never stopped playing. She is full of music, laughter and love.

Serial Killer Turns Himself In

2010-10-26T19:32:00.007-04:00

An editor sent me a frantic email:

Nobody cares about the comma but us.
So it’s up to us to decide.
I am editing and I just don’t know what to do. I want the comma, but I don’t want the pieces either of us edit to be inconsistent.
For other editors, I can always overrule their comma preference, but I respect your opinion on the sequential comma.
So what will it be. Sequential comma or no?

My gut reaction was to say no to the sequential comma. I always took it as a rule that the last comma in a series was superfluous.I checked my Strunk & White. Sure enough, they say to leave out what they call the "serial comma."

Rule #2:

In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.
Thus write,
red, white, and blue gold, silver, or copper

He opened the letter, read it, and made a note of its contents.

This comma is often referred to as the "serial" comma. In the names of business firms the last comma is usually omitted. Follow the usage of the individual firm.

Little, Brown and Company Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette

Still, after such a plea, I thought perhaps I shouldn't be so hasty. And on closer look at Strunk & White's examples, it sure seems to me that those did use the serial comma.

I googled a bit and I found that most authorities (except for AP and other journalists) say to use the serial comma. I was also surprised to discover that the sequential or serial comma was also known as the "Oxford comma."

The Oxford label gives the serial comma a whole new aura. Kind of like the scarlet cap and gown Mark Twain wore at his daughter's wedding.... the same cap and gown he wore when the Degree of Doctor of Literature was conferred upon him by Oxford University.

I wrote the editor that I am guilty: a serial killer of commas. I turn myself in to the lexicographic authorities.

But, in case I start backsliding, I advised that she keep a box of commas on her desk and pop one in whenever I leave it out.

Sol Steinmetz, Expert on Language, Dies at 80

2010-10-26T13:00:00.001-04:00

William Safire called Sol Steinmetz a "lexical supermaven." My favorite comment, though, comes from Jesse Sheidlower, the editor at large of the Oxford English Dictionary:

“He never had a bad word to say about anyone. And he knew a lot of bad words.”

12 Top Direct Marketers You Might Not Know About, But Need to Study by Ryan McGrath

2010-09-17T11:49:00.004-04:00

I just got a lovely note from Ryan McGrath alerting me to a post on his blog:

Just wanted to let you know I mentioned you in a recent blog post titled "12 Top Direct Marketers You Might Not Know About, But Need to Study"...

You can read it here --

http://theryanmcgrath.com/2010/09/12-top-direct-marketers-study/

Thank YOU for all you generously contributed online to the science and art of direct response!

Ryan McGrath

Thanks Ryan. I am honored to be on your list!

Dianna Huff tells it like it is

2010-05-11T09:47:00.004-04:00

If you're wondering why your website isn't getting traffic, please read this.

I never met Dianna Huff. But we're friends. Not Facebook friends. Actual friends. We virtually "met" when I was hosting a blog "show" for IAOCblog. Since then we've kept in touch. I guess that proves she's right about the need for social media. (Disclosure: Dianna still hasn't gotten me to actively use Twitter. But eventually I'll wind up there... kicking and tweeting.)

Dianna really lays it on the line in this blog post on el cheapo websites: Your Website is Worth More than a Cup of Coffee. If you have a website or are planning one, read it. But don't read it while you're drinking your coffee. You might spill it.

Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green for less green

2010-04-30T09:33:00.003-04:00

Shel Horowitz--copywriter, ethicist and frugal fun expert--has combined all three in his new book: Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green

The book has only been out a few months, and already sold Italian, Turkish and audio rights. It has more than 50 endorsements from prominent marketers and environmentalists.

And if you grab it now, you can get it at a huge discount. Shel says (with typical candid transparency):

If you've read a different Guerrilla Marketing book, this is completely different. If you've read my 2003 book Principled Profit, there is quite a bit of overlap, but also a whole lot of new material, especially on the environmental side.

Visit http://amzn.to/bASN7D

(then register your purchase on my site to get $2600 worth of bonuses: http://bit.ly/cjQLG0
). Yes, the aliased Amazon link is an affiliate link. After all, I don't see anything more from the publisher unless the book earns out its advance, so the few cents I'll get from Amazon.

Get it now while Amazon is "giving it away."

Still Learning from David Ogilvy

2010-03-03T15:42:00.008-05:00

I cut my advertising eye teeth on Confessions of an Advertising Man. I was never quite the same after reading that book! I still fight graphic designers who use reverse type, but I don't win as often ;)

I just came across this video clip of elder statesman David Ogilvy pitching an account. Powerful stuff. Especially the humility in admitting his error of decades before: He turned down an account because he never heard of the company. It was a new business machine company with a strange name: Xerox!

Thanks to Drayton Bird for posting this:

A lesson in selling from David Ogilvy

Fake UPS Delivery Notifications

2010-03-01T23:42:00.001-05:00

Just when you thought it was safe to go to your inbox, the loonies come up with a new threat. I've gotten a few of these already. Spam is bad enough. Some of these are infected. DON'T open them. And if you have some kind of spam filter, report the messages as spam. Especially if you use Gmail, that helps protect others.

New Wave of Fake UPS Delivery Notifications

Pope calls for mercy for killer Martin Grossman as execution nears - St. Petersburg Times

2010-02-16T13:20:00.004-05:00

The Pope has joined in a last minute chance to save a life

Unless enough people do something now, a man will die tonight.

Some people think Martin Grossman deserves to die. He brutally murdered Margaret Park. And I believe in capital punishment. But I also believe the case of Martin Grossman is unique.

Grossman is no Jack Abbott. He is not a hardened criminal who is a danger to society. Yes, he committed a horrendous atrocity. He can never "pay for his crime." Just as he cannot bring back Margaret Park. But taking Grossman's life will bring only a Pyrrhic victory for the justice system.

Grossman's was 19 in 1984 when he committed the crime. He was strung out on drugs, and borderline retarded (77 IQ). The years and his behavior and remorse since that day... add up to a new situation. He is not the same person who murdered Ms. Park. And Florida Governor Crist would be effectively executing a different man.

Ms. Park's family needs closure. But that closure can be achieved without killing Martin Grossman. Please ask the governor and other officials to stay the execution and request the sentence be commuted to life imprisonment.

Online petitions aren't effective. And my own email to Governor Crist bounced back as deleted without being opened. So please call all of these offices and leave messages if you can:
Governor's office 850-488-4441
Clemency Office: 850-488-2952 and https://fpc.state.fl.us/ExecutiveClemencyContact.htm

Ms. Alex Sink, CFO (850) 413-3100, http://www.myfloridacfo.com/aadir/contact.htm

COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE
Charles H. Bronson (R)
Phone 850-488-3022

Ask for a stay of execution for Martin Grossman.

For more information see:
http://thejewishstar.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/editorial-he%E2%80%99s-a-cop-killer-but-unfortunately-he%E2%80%99s-our-cop-killer/
and
http://www.youngisrael.org/pages/index.cfm/Appeal-to-Save-Martin-Grossman-from-Capital-Punishment

You might be a spammer without knowing it

2010-02-14T13:44:00.010-05:00

If you use email to keep in touch with customers and prospects, watch out! You might be a spammer and not even know it.

Or, to be more precise, you might be labeled a spammer and get your mail blocked.

Case in point: I was working on a campaign to reactivate a client's old customers. Out of the entire customer list, we had 551 email addresses.

I knew I would have problems sending an email blast through Outlook, so I sent it with GroupMail--a program I had used for another client's newsletter. Only this time, none of the emails were delivered. They all bounced back instead.

As it turned out, the company's own ISP blocked the emails. They have a policy not to allow any email to be sent if it is addressed to more than five recipients! Any more than five, they consider spamming!

OK, so I tried it from home. So what happened? None of the test messages and seed addresses in the group were delivered.

Where are they? I wish I knew! But I did find out why they were not delivered. My home ISP (Verizon) includes the following in its Anti-Spam Policy:

Limitations on Sending E-mail
You may send a single e-mail message to a maximum of 100 recipients in one mailing, not to exceed 500 recipients within a one hour period. All single e-mails sent to over 100 addressees will not be delivered. No notice will be given to you in this case.
If you send e-mails to more than 500 recipients within a one hour period, your ability to send ANY e-mail messages is suspended for 24 hours. You will receive a Notice regarding this action.

More than likely, your ISP has a similar policy. So what can you do?

I still like GroupMail and they have excellent customer service. But make sure you can use it with your ISP. Otherwise your email will fall into a black hole. You could use Google Groups or Yahoo Groups, but those are more for discussion lists. If you are sending one-way messages and want more control, the best option is to use one of the email marketing services, like Constant Contact, Aweber or MailChimp.(Note: I was using another service, but just switched to MailChip. Too early to judge, but they do seem to be user-friendly and just plain friendly.)

Even with those services, though, you may have to jump through hoops trying to prove you aren't spamming. To fully comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, the services have their own rules requiring you verify that your list is kosher (not Spam). (I had a devil of a time trying to prove my client's list of 551 names was legitimately acquired because his customers had never signed an opt-in form. The fact that they were bona fide customers wasn't good enough for the Spam police!)

Bottom line: Don't even think of spamming! If you want to send bulk email, don't try it yourself. Use a service. And it's not enough to be honest. Be prepared to prove it.

As with locks, Anti-Spam laws only keep honest people honest. And annoyed. Real spammers are way ahead of the posse.

(Update: I'm wasn't happy with MailChimp. A friend recommended I try Mad Mimi instead. If you've had experience with them, please let me know what you think. Stay tuned...)

Google in your Face and all a Twitter

2010-02-09T15:15:00.002-05:00

I just went into my Gmail and got a notice to add "Buzz."

I just blogged this. I didn't post this to Facebook or Tweet it. I guess I'm just an old fashioned guy. Read all about it: Google to Add Social Feature to Gmail - WSJ.com

Next, Big G smashes Windows.

Free Public Relations Book

2009-12-02T13:42:00.002-05:00

Ashley Wirthlin of Public Relations Blogger is giving away a free 85-page Public Relations ebook. The book includes helpful tips on everything from press releases to social media.

Get yours at PublicRelationsBook Just fill in name and email for an instant download.

Brooklyn PC Help Desk at your service

2009-10-19T14:40:00.006-04:00

You heard it here first.

After helping family, friends and coworkers solve their computer problems for 20 years, I've decided to go public. I am now launching a guerrilla geek service for troubleshooting PC's.

For problems with Windows, Office, email, Internet and more, go to Brooklyn's own PC help desk: Just click the HELP! key at left for Flatbush Computer Solutions

My Grandfather

2009-07-02T22:49:00.004-04:00

I went on the Staten Island Ferry yesterday with family. As we passed by the Statue of Liberty, all I kept thinking about was my grandfather running from the Czar to America in 1900.

And I tried to feel what he must have felt as his boat passed that Lady in the Harbor.

I just want to say thank you. And Happy Birthday, America.

The 10 Commandments of Copywriting

2009-06-02T21:27:00.006-04:00

Bob Bly's newsletter offers this gem from G. Lynn Sumners, How I Learned the Secrets of Success in Advertising.

The 10 Commandments of Copywriting

Over half a century ago, G. Lynn Sumners, who created the classic Harry & David Fortune magazine ad ("Imagine Harry & Me Advertising Our Pears in Fortune!"), put forth these 10 rules for writing winning advertisements – all of which are still applicable today:

Learn all about your proposition before you write anything about it.
Organize your material from the viewpoint of the buyer's interests, not yours.
Decide to whom you are writing.
Keep it simple.
Use meaningful words and phrases—words that stir the emotions, make the mouth water, make the heart beat faster.
Don't try to be funny. Remember, the most serious of all operations is separating a man from his money.
Make your copy specific—names, places, what happens to whom.
Prove your points.
Make copy long enough to tell your story—and quit.
Give your reader something to do and make it easy for him to do it.

Workers Comp Expert Says NY Times Articles Neglect the Other Victim--Employers Who Get Overcharged

2009-04-05T11:42:00.002-04:00

Last week, the NY Times ran a series of articles on Workers Compensation. But, as usual, the Times only published some of the news that's fit to print.

The picture of fraud and abuse they paint is grim, but what the Times overlooks is the other victim: The employer. The employer always loses. Whenever there's a claim, the employer gets stuck with inflated reserves the insurance company sets aside to cover the costs of the case.

And claims are only a small part of the problem. As much as 40% to 60% of employers get overcharged on their premiums. The overcharges often come to tens of thousands of dollars. Sometimes much more.

Here is a response to the Times: Workers Compensation Expert Says NY Times Articles Neglect the Other Victim--Employers Who Get Overcharged

How-to Guide for Businesses on Getting Refunds for Overcharges with No Effort

2009-03-19T13:56:00.007-04:00

If you are in business in NY or NJ...
If you have a payroll...
You need to read this

If you are paying for Workers' Compensation for your employees, chances are you have been overpaying for your premiums.

Like most people, I never really thought about Workers Comp. The only time I remember using the phrase was about 20 years ago... when I broke my finger at work. Not much of a case, either. Turns out writers don't really use their pinky much.

But now that I'm involved, I have a new perspective. I'm working with Compensation Refund Co., a group that gets employers refunds for overcharges on Workers Compensation insurance premiums. It's a recession-friendly business: Every company or organization should want to try to see if they're eligible for getting money back at no risk. It's like getting your own stimulus package!

Most people, though, don't even think about Workers Comp after paying the bill to the insurance company.

But you should think about it. If you have a payroll, most likely you have a refund coming to you!

Compensation Refund Co. doesn't sell insurance. They just audit the auditors, investigate the errors and get back refunds. How big are the refunds? See for yourself: How-to Guide for Businesses on Getting Refunds for Overcharges with No Effort

Copywriter's copywriter makes history

2009-02-08T23:05:00.006-05:00

Sig Rosenblum, the copywriter's copywriter, keeps insisting he's retired.

But writers--especially the great ones--never retire. As Sol Stein says, "a writer is someone who cannot not write."

Now Sig has turned his hand to writing histories and mysteries, such as Assignment in Antibua. And he's not waiting for some publishing house to print and distribute them. He's got them in Kindle editions on Amazon. And he's got them on Mobipocket too. So you can get fresh electronic editions.... before the books become history!

And that's not all....

Now Sig even has his own Amazon blog!

Yeah. Retired.... Kenahora. Keep it up Sig... until 120!

Before you send another email--read this

2009-01-11T21:58:00.002-05:00

If you do email marketing. Or even if you just send photos to your friends and family. Read this post from Seth Godin before you send another email: Seth's Blog: How to send a personal email

The Spiritual Manager

2008-12-29T19:07:00.002-05:00

Ted Demopoulos has warned about the taboo of writing about religion on your business blog. So I won't mention "religion." Let's talk about what I'll call "Hasidism and the Art of Business Management."

I've written about Moshe Kranc and his book The Hasidic Masters' Guide to Management before. Think Peter Drucker meets the Baal Shem Tov! Now Kranc has started a new blog he calls Hasidic Management. He will be posting sections from his book, as well as new stories and insights on Jewish ethics-based management. In today's anything-goes world of business, we can use some spiritual guidance.

Which reminds me of a story.

Reb Meir Premishlaner would hike daily up an icy slope to use the Mikvah (ritual pool). Despite his age, he seemed to make the trip with great ease--a feat which prompted a group of youths to attempt the difficult trip themselves. They, however, were unable to make the trek, and returned to the town bruised and sore. When asked how he managed to make the trip, Reb Meir replied,

"One who is tied above does not fall below."

Bob Bly is giving it away

2008-12-23T12:18:00.004-05:00

Bob Bly has been a friend and mentor of mine for over 20 years.

He's always been ready to help new and old writers and copywriters (and more "normal" people) succeed. For the past few years Bob has been focusing on Internet marketing of information products. Now he's putting his money where his mouse is with an open invitation to join his Internet Information Marketing Club for a FREE 10-day membership "test drive."

"Get Almost Everything I've Ever Written or Said About Making Money with Internet Marketing Absolutely FREE for The Next 10 Days"

Get it while it's hot.

My profile on LinkedIn

2008-12-22T14:15:00.007-05:00

OK, I'm no Barrymore, but with a little help from my friends, I've finally got a presentable profile on LinkedIn. (Any suggestions for improving it? Please email me. I'm a work in progress!)

Frankly, I have been accused of being "anti-social." I don't assign a high priority to sites like MySpace and Facebook for B2B marketing. I once stunned a staff meeting when the CEO asked me to promote the company on MySpace and I said, "No!" Everyone just stared at me. I politely explained that I didn't think MySpace was the right place to put his time and money into promoting enterprise software. It's a virtual singles bar, not the place to attract industrial clients.

On the other hand, I have become convinced it is worthwhile setting up a profile on LinkedIn. To oversimplify, LinkedIn is for business networking, rather than "Hey, look at my cool pictures."

But it's not enough to sign up with LinkedIn and set up a profile just quoting your resume. If you want to make LinkedIn work for you, the indispensable guide is I'm on LinkedIn -- Now What???: A Guide to Getting the Most OUT of LinkedIn by Jason Alba. Both the book and the blog .

Also get the free ebook, Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales? by Jill Konrath author of Selling to Big Companies. (Not surprisingly, her first piece of advice is to get I'm on LinkedIn -- Now What???)

Free Pollard Now

2008-11-25T18:48:00.003-05:00

Disclaimer: This is not a political or "religious" blog. But even a direct marketing copywriter can have a heart and soul.

Whether Jonathan Pollard was guilty or not is no longer relevant. His continued imprisonment for over 23 years--totally out of proportion to those convicted of similar crimes--has turned into cruel and unusual punishment.

Please help. Write to President Bush to Free Pollard Now

Is Print Dead?

2008-11-19T17:40:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know. Prophets of doom (and those who stand to profit from doom) have predicted the end of print for decades. Two years ago Bob Bly proclaimed print alive and well.

Today, though, BtoB Magazine (online!) announces: Ziff Davis Media to shutter print version of ‘PC Magazine’

Is this an omen?

I doubt it. It's only natural for PC wonks to go online for their info fix. The premature print funeral reminds me of the famous "death" quote from Mark Twain. According to some sources, the original version went like this:

"James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness; the report of my death was an exaggeration."

The Whistler

2008-10-06T14:38:00.005-04:00

My annual re-run of an old tale.

As we go into Yom Kippur, let me wish you a sweet year of health, happiness, peace and prosperity and nachas.

Jewish or not, New Yorkers know about Yom Kippur, or as Mickey Mantle once called it, "Yom Koufax." Public schools are closed. The centers of commerce and finance wind down to a halt. There's a sense of new hopes and beginnings.... and even a certain gritty spirituality in the New York air. Some 250 years ago, a little boy in Medzhybizh, Ukraine learned about Yom Kippur in a most unusual way.

For the story, see Whistling at N'eila.

Blogging for Business: An example of great writing

2008-09-24T20:15:00.001-04:00

Ted Demopoulos offers Blogging for Business: An example of great writing.

Should I be coy and not tell you the writer is me?

While you're at Ted's blog, make sure to sign up for his newsletter, and nab yourself a free copy of the new ebook version of "Secrets of Successful Blogging: 101+ Tips for Blogging more Effectively, Efficiently, and Effectively" plus a bonus audio download of "What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting."

TinyURL down and out?

2008-08-22T11:36:00.002-04:00

If you've ever tried to cut and paste a web link that runs two or three lines long, you know why so many online writers use TinyURL for shortened links.

Since yesterday, though, I have not been able to open any pages at TinyURL.com, including their home page. I thought it was just me, so I systematically disabled all my security software (want a list? too long for this post...). And I still had the problem. Then I found this post from Marshall Kirkpatrick:

TinyURL Outage Illustrates the Service's Risks - ReadWriteWeb

Frankly, I think his take on it is too harsh. TinyURL is a free service. And they have been more dependable than some expensive software I use. Even Gmail has gone down (with no warning or explanation to users). We expect everything on the Net to be free and reliable. Is that fair? What do you think?

Strategies to Increase Sales Now — Free Ebook

2008-08-12T20:46:00.002-04:00

Postscript to my last post on how to get more traffic to your website -- Download this free ebook from Dianna Huff (no registration required). It's a marketer's field guide to the unnatural wildlife of YouTube. Twitter. Blogs. Podcasts. White Papers. Search. Direct Mail. Trade shows. Webinars. Networking. TV commercials. Prints ads. LinkedIn. Facebook and Digg.

So download this ebook and get out there.

Five B2B MarCom Strategies to Increase Sales Now

Quick tips to increase traffic to your website

2008-08-11T22:02:00.006-04:00

"Prospective clients can’t call you if they don’t know you or your Website exists," says B2B marketing expert Dianna Huff. So she put together a handy primer for getting traffic to your website. The quick start guide includes tips on SEO, Viral Marketing and more.

Once you get them into the tent, Dianna offers advice on how to keep them there, with "content that answers their unspoken questions" and increases trust. Read it here: How to Increase Traffic to a B2B or Consultant's Website

Best Websites and Software for Writers

2008-08-01T12:20:00.004-04:00

The the annual Writer’s Digest list of 101 Best Sites and their Guide to Software for Writers are always worth a look. If you're a working writer, most of it won't be new to you. But there's always something worth looking at. For some reason, they don't have links for the Software page. But it's easy enough to google the titles.

How to Win Customers and Influence People

2008-07-18T11:55:00.004-04:00

It's back: the How to Win Customers and Influence People Newsletter.

Subscribe now to get yourself a free Copywriting Checklist before your next copywriting assignment. Read it and prosper! Subscribe at right below (under the "ShareThis" link). Or go to the Newsletter Archive

Book Review: Marketing Maven Magnanimously Mixes Morals and Money

2008-07-13T19:52:00.006-04:00

I first discovered Shel Horowitz with his classic Marketing Without Megabucks: How to Sell Anything on a Shoestring.

That book is no longer in print. But not to worry. He completely updated and expanded it into his newer book: Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World. It is a comprehensive from-the-trenches field manual on marketing. If you sell anything you should get this book.

Shel understands marketing and he understands writing. So it should be no surprise that he has also produced a manual for every writer who kvetches "You mean I have to market the book too, not just write it?!" For those of us blessed (or cursed) with the need to put words on paper Shel has now published a guide specifically for writers: Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers. It covers basic marketing truths and new innovations for those who understand (or need to understand) the reality that printed books don't sell themselves.

I good-naturedly sparred with Shel on IAOCblog about blogging ethics. And if there is anything that characterizes his work--in books and for clients--it is a dedicated commitment to ethics. Not all of us are blessed with this commitment. And even many of us who are could benefit from a reminder. Shel provided a gentle reminder in what he seems to consider his magnum opus. Not in size, but in significance. In Principled Profit: Marketing that Puts People First Shel forcefully and convincingly makes the point that you don't have to be a hustler to be a successful marketer. And he backs up his message with a guide to moral marketing.

You don't have to be religious to love Principled Profit. Give it a try. You may never go back to three-card Monte.

Dianna Huff's MarCom Strategist: CYBRA Uses Humor and Video to Sell the Sizzle of Bar Code Software

2008-06-06T11:25:00.002-04:00

Dianna Huff has followed up her blog post CYBRA’s “MarkMagic” Videos Deliver Humor Plus Product Benefits with a detailed case study in her newsletter the "MarCom Strategist."

Dianna interviewed your humble servant. She wanted the whole nitty gritty story: the whos, whats, wheres, whys and hows... so she could give her readers enough information to plan their own viral video campaigns.

You can read the issue online here (don't forget to subscribe!): Dianna Huff's MarCom Strategist: CYBRA Uses Humor and Video to Sell the Sizzle of Bar Code Software

Direct to Consumer aka Social Media Releases. They work!

2008-06-06T10:15:00.003-04:00

One of the methods I have found most effective lately is what David Meerman Scott calls "Direct to Consumer News Releases." It relates to the core message of David's "New Rules of Marketing and PR." Check out the book and the free ebook.

The idea is simple enough. Today people are just as likely to google for information as pick up a newspaper or magazine. With increasing sophistication of search tools, it has become possible for everyone with something to sell or something to say to become a publisher. It's the pamphleteer's dream come true!

With services like PR Web and Business Wire, you can optimize a news release for specific keywords related to your product (or service or idea). Then you can post it to where it can turn up in a search on Google--side by side with mainstream media articles on the subject.

People reading your release care about the content. Not what publication it appeared in. As David says, "On the Internet, you are what you publish." See David's earlier discussion about the concept of D2C releases at IAOCblog (which I was hosting at the time).

On a similar note, some call Direct to Consumer releases "Social Media Releases." Same idea, similar technique. See this article from MarketingSherpa: How to Create and Distribute a Social Media Release

And the Winner is...

2008-06-02T12:59:00.007-04:00

Mazel Tov! I have just won the Pulitzer Prize.

OK, not really. But this is close enough (for now). Jason Alba in his JibberJobber Blog has declared Personal Branding Winner of the Month - Morty Schiller!

Mark Twain said, "It is very difficult to take compliments. I do not care whether you deserve the compliments or not, it is just as difficult to take them.... I do not make any pretence that I dislike compliments. The stronger the better, and I can manage to digest them." So, please allow me to indulge in quoting from Alba's complimentary thunderbolt:

...not that there aren’t other experts in the space… but Morty’s websites (the main site and his blog) help me (a) find him and (b) trust him. Here’s what I like:
The personality… and sense of humor. As you read through his stuff, he is simply a likeable guy… non-threatening, approachable, etc. This is not a cold, clinical sales pitch… you can actually feel like you know Morty.

The competency. Check out his blog posts… these are smart. They are on-brand… related to wordsmith stuff. For example, Don’t use these words and The death of words are two posts that let me feel his passion for his trade, and help me know that he deeply thinks and cares about current issues in his area. It makes me think subject matter expert, and/or though leader.

The simplicity. There isn't noise here… no Google ads, no widgets, etc. Well, a little noise on the right side of the blog, but really, it’s quite clean and not distracting.

Thank You Jason!

Advanced Internet Publicity session a Top Seller

2008-06-01T15:40:00.005-04:00

In cased you missed it, or just want to hear it again, PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association has released recordings of the 2007 PMA University sessions. I was especially gratified see that the session in which I participated with Steve O'Keefe of Patron Saint Productions and Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts was one of the best sellers. The session focused on advanced PR techniques, through author tours and blogging.

The recordings, available through AVMG Media Store listed our session as

***TOP SELLER*** 4A. Advanced Internet Publicity: Online Author Tours

Let me know if you order the CD and have any questions. I'm working on a guide to Blog PR and would appreciate your feedback. Disclosure: I don't get any commission from sales of the CD. Just a nice warm feeling.

Pre-Test your Press Releses

2008-05-30T13:42:00.001-04:00

David Meerman Scott reports on a free application from HubSpot called the "Press Release Grader." Just pop your release into the machine and it evaluates your press release and provides a "marketing effectiveness score."

Give it a whirl. And let me know how it works for you. Hey, I sneered at word processors. But I'm willing to try it....

The death of words

2008-05-27T20:37:00.001-04:00

In an article in today's Wall St. Journal, Global View - Homeland Security Newspeak Bret Stephens talks about recommendations on "Terminology to Define Terrorists," a nine-page, "Official Use Only" memo issued in January by Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

He compares the Homeland Security terminology to George Orwell's 1984, in which

George Orwell famously created Newspeak, "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year." How things haven't changed. The Homeland Security memo begins by declaring that "Words matter," whereupon it proceeds to suggest that some words matter so much it's best not to use them at all. Instead, the memo proposes a "strategic terminology" to dictate the utterances of public officials regarding the so-called Global Struggle.

The article called to mind a poem my brother wrote some 40 years ago:

A Eulogy for Words
by Rabbi Nota Schiller

We have come here today to bury these words
Our words once
Today
Everyone's, no one's
There has been a war
They have served
Nouns, verbs and adjectives,
The adjectives they went first -
Here lies Peaceful
Over there Courageous with
Patriotic right alongside
And here, the maimed and bloodied bodies
Of a family
The Lovings -
Freedom-Loving, Truth-Loving, and
Peace Loving
Concepts lie crippled and homeless
Feeling crushed and paralyzed
In this mangling of language
Meaning dripped and spilled all over
Young ideas and old truths
Exploded together
Under heaps of shrapnel
Torn and ripped syllables
We found Sanity and Truth
Arm in arm,
Seems one tried to save the other -
Which we'll never know
Are there words that still live on this earth?
Are there plasmas of meaning under, above
Or on this ground?
Dear wordless peoples of the world
Widows of simile, orphans of metaphor
Choked by hyperbole,
How our hearts hurt for the handsome
Young wounded words
Dying and dead
In silence Lord
Dear Lord of Sound and Sense
With thickening dumbness Lord
We are bereaved.

CYBRA's “MarkMagic” Videos Deliver Humor Plus Product Benefits » B2B MarCom Writer Blog

2008-05-18T18:31:00.002-04:00

Dianna Huff takes a look at B2B viral videos... and gives two thumbs up (don't you hate that expression?... sorry, it was too tempting!) to "The MarkMagic Chronicles."

See her post at CYBRA’s “MarkMagic” Videos Deliver Humor Plus Product Benefits.

Also see CYBRA Goes Viral on System iNetwork, news and more for IBM AS/400, iSeries, and i5 Pros. And listen to the podcast Top Concerns, i for Business, PowerVM, and a Dancing Programmer by Chris Maxcer, news editor for System iNEWS and the System iNetwork.

From hard-sell mail order copywriter to software MarCom

2008-04-17T17:51:00.014-04:00

Thought I should tell you... I've gone over to the "other side."

After freelancing for CYBRA Corporation for seven months, I was invited to come onboard. So I've gone from consulting to client side. Have I hung up my guns? With apologies to Shane -- you can't break the mold. There's no going back from being a Killer Copywriter. Right or wrong, it's a brand, a brand that sticks. There's no going back.

But I have made a strategic shift. I've moved from hard sell adman to online communicator. A case in point... CYBRA asked me to write a video script. As you might expect, I originally wrote a problem/solution commercial that had all the charm of Rosser Reeves's 1950's Anacin hammers-in-the-head ad.

Everybody loved it. Except... they wanted funny. I objected... insisting that funny doesn't sell. But then CYBRA president Harold Brand headed me off at the pass. He sent me an article from the Wall St. Journal on using humorous YouTube videos to expand your business. And the article quoted David Meerman Scott, reigning maven of viral video marketing. So there I was: facing down the boss... and the man who wrote the rules.

It was a marketing standoff.

So I made my move. I wrote a new video script. Funny. Everybody laughed. But it was too long. Then, working together with Sheldon Reich, CYBRA VP for Solutions, we turned it into a series of six videos!

So, let me introduce you to 2K…

No, not the millennium. This 2K is only 80 years old... barely five foot tall. And, he loves to dance.

"The MarkMagic Chronicles," features 2K -- "the 2,000 Year Old Programmer" in CYBRA's new series of YouTube videos created to promote the company's award-winning MarkMagic Bar Code Labels, RFID Tags, and Electronic Forms Software for the IBM System i.

Midrange veterans -- from AS/400 to POWER Systems -- will recognize 2K's costume as the gear of many a programmer over the last 20 years of industry conferences. Granted not every code warrior carries a spare Twinax balun in his back pocket, a card deck in his shirt pocket, or a spare 8.5" floppy. But System i insiders will find 2K a hoot... from his patter to his vintage campaign buttons, propeller beanie, and pocket protector.

See the YouTube videos in the player below, or click on the video while it's playing to go to the YouTube page. If your office blocks YouTube, you can see the videos at MarkMagic.com.

And check out the news story Four Hundred Stuff--CYBRA Goes for i's Funny Bone with 2K, the 2,000 Year Old Programmer from Alex Woodie, Senior Editor of IT Jungle publications.

Enjoy... and share! Email the playlist to your friends.

Steve O'Keefe Rides Again

2008-01-15T13:45:00.000-05:00

After a brief hiatus, Steve O'Keefe returns to IAOCblog with a FREE Internet Public Relations Class!

You heard it right. This is the real thing--not some hype-filled webinar or overpriced resort cum lecture. It's a full 10-week class in Internet Public Relations conducted through IAOCblog.com and Skype Public Chat. And it's starting Feb. 1.

Sharpen your pencils and go to IAOCblog.com now for the details.

It's not enough to be online

2008-01-04T10:41:00.000-05:00

Ted Demopoulos's new ebook tells you how to have an Effective Internet Presence.

Get it free here.

Don't use these words?

2008-01-03T10:45:00.000-05:00

Lake Superior State University hit on an innovative way to get the word out: They proclaimed a Banished Words List.

Here are some banned for overuse or simply muddy thinking:
Organic, Random, Surge, Authored.... and a list of others from the silly to the absurd.

But I question some of the choices:
Decimate originally meant to reduce by 1/10th, but today it is understood to mean mass destruction. Words and their meanings evolve.
Webinar is a useful and popular term for an online seminar. It's no worse than such portmanteaus as motel, smog and brunch. Maybe we should do away with the word "blog"?
Wordsmith is widely used to mean a word maven... or a writer who works in words the way other artists work in oils or clay. You can call me a wordsmith if you like. I won't be insulted!

What's in a name? II

2007-12-16T13:50:00.000-05:00

Apropos of my last post, see this article in Folio Magazine Blog on naming and tagging magazines.

What's in a name? Everything for books and blogs!

2007-12-12T17:56:00.000-05:00

Ted Demopoulos is running a series on blog names and quotes an almost famous marketing sage:
Blogging for Business: Treat Blog Names as Seriously as Book Names: Morty Schiller

Book titles, and I suppose blog names, are what sell the product... (maybe) even more than the content. Book business guru Dan Poynter says in Beware of Working Titles

The title must be easy to remember and easy to say. It has to grab the attention of the potential buyer and it must project an image the buyer can relate to. Authors and publishers often argue over titles. Authors may be closer to the subject matter and publishers may be closer to the buyers.

And he quotes book marketing pioneer Nat Bodian:

Authors, as a rule, are poor judges of titles and often go for the cute or clever rather than the practical.

Bodian, in How to Choose a Winning Title, takes it even further (maybe too far!):

"Choose a title for your book at least as carefully as you would select a given name for your first-born child."

Bottom line: When you're blogging for business, beware the curse of cleverness!

Seth Blogs About: Ham for Channukah

2007-12-06T15:48:00.000-05:00

I sent Seth Godin an email I got with a new twist on truth in packaging. It showed some chunks of Ham with a label "Delicious for Chanukah." Seth, who's got a keen eye and ear for truth and insanity in marketing, blogged it at Seth's Blog: Ham for Channukah.

OK, it might actually be delicious. I wouldn't know. But I wonder... is this testimony to the trivialization and Hellenization of Chanukah? Or has marketing supplanted tradition as the core of American society?

(My, my Morty. How philosophical we're getting! Must be something in the Chanukah lights....)

Why Seth Godin Gives it Away For Free

2007-11-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

I have commented and questioned Seth Godin and the whole "Idea Virus" concept of giving away stuff for free. I have also asked Seth (and other marketing mavens) about it offline. The answers range from pragmatic to oracular.

But now, Seth spills the beans. In a Thanksgiving post, he tells why he doesn't "monetize" his hugely popular blog:

I tried to sum it up like this: Not only can't I imagine charging for my blog, I'm practically in debt to the people who read it. I ought to pay them, not the other way around.

And he goes on to give thanks to his readers for giving him their time.

You're welcome, Seth.

The right way to write an email message

2007-11-20T18:31:00.000-05:00

Yes, even with something as simple as email, there's a right and a wrong way to do it! Do it right and you get results. Do it wrong and you get ignored... or snagged by a spam filter.

Thanks to David Teten of The Virtual Handshake for pointing me to a good summary of the rules: Write a perfect email.

Read them over before you send your next email.

Writing by Hand?

2007-11-06T01:55:00.000-05:00

This post is a supreme act of hypocrisy. I am blogging about Writing by Hand!

Here I am... tapping away at my keyboard. But the Luddite in me is telling me I've gone soft and should go back to real writing.

OK, I'm not alone. Emmy-Award winning scriptwriter Robert Avrech told me he writes with a fountain pen. But he writes his (also award-winning) blog on his Powerbook!

Copywriter Robert Stover writes:

Want to start writing better copy - instantly?
Then perhaps you need to throw out your computer and pick up a pen.

This insight comes from writing teacher Shari Wilson.

She noticed that her student’s writing transitions, flow and idea sequencing was better on handwritten in-class essays over those they worked on outside of class with a computer.

I've done some of my best writing in spiral notebooks... on the Subway! But I find it hard to give up the luxury of the word processor at home. The problem is the computer and the Net are recalcitrant tools. A #2 pencil doesn't distract you as much from your subject matter. Mark Twain anticipated this with his essay on the typewriter.

How do you write? Do you write a first draft with pen or pencil and only then fire up the computer? Or do you write your drafts on the computer?

Does SEO copywriting make for good copywriting?

2007-11-01T12:15:00.000-04:00

The battle rages on at IAOCblog. SEO expert Dianna Huff throws down the gauntlet with Why Marketing Copywriters Make Great SEO Experts

Do you agree?

CEO Blogs

2007-10-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

Ted Demopoulos closes his show today on IAOCblog: Will CEO Blogs Ever Take Off?

Ted stood tough on some tough issues. If you're thinking of blogging for your company, check out his posts for this week. You may be scared off... or you may just become a better blogger!

Looking Bullish on Web copywriting

2007-10-24T09:51:00.000-04:00

In the brave new world of Web marketing, sometimes a thesaurus just isn't enough. Here's help from the web economy bull generator.

Thanks to my friend and colleague Aryeh Zev Narrow for pointing me to this.

Is It Okay to Get Paid to Blog?

2007-10-12T11:50:00.000-04:00

How do you start a blog fire? Rub bloggers the wrong way!

One surefire way to get an argument going is to mention hired gun bloggers. And what about ghost riders... um I mean ghostwriters? Are they good, bad or ugly?

Is blogging a profession? Tune in to IAOCblog.com next week for blog expert Dave Taylor's Blog Show: "Is It Okay to Get Paid to Blog?"

Should CEOs Blog?

2007-09-26T11:51:00.000-04:00

Mosey on over to IAOCblog.com for a Sneak Preview of a Blog Show with author/blogger Ted Demopoulos on the pros and cons of CEO blogging.

A Yom Kippur story

2007-09-20T21:49:00.000-04:00

In case you missed this last year... or even if you didn't.... The best stories are meant to be told over and over. You learn that from your children. We can learn a lot from children.

As we go into Yom Kippur, let me wish you a sweet year of health, happiness, peace and prosperity and nachas.

Jewish or not, New Yorkers know about Yom Kippur, or as Mickey Mantle once called it, "Yom Koufax." Public schools are closed. The centers of commerce and finance wind down to a halt. There's a sense of new hopes and beginnings.... and even a certain gritty spirituality in the air.

Some 250 years ago, a little boy in Medzhybizh, Ukraine learned about Yom Kippur in a most unusual way. For the full story, see Whistling at N'eila.

How to deal with clients to don't pay

2007-09-17T02:34:00.000-04:00

Peter Bowerman gives some advice in his WELL-FED E-PUB newsletter on dealing with deadbeat clients.

He quotes me, with an offbeat suggestion. Bowerman refers to it as "levity." I guess is is funny, in a way. But it just might do the trick. At the time, I couldn't say for sure where I read or heard it. Later it came to me that the advice was from none other than Milt Pierce, everybody's favorite copywriting and direct marketing mentor. One more thing to thank "Uncle" Milt for!

Peace in 5769

2007-09-12T11:14:00.000-04:00

Here's wishing you -- whatever your belief or disbelief -- a year of peace, health, prosperity and joy!

Is all fair in love and PR?

2007-09-11T09:41:00.000-04:00

There's a lot of self-righteous talk about honesty in PR. Some of it is even honest.

But you gotta like a PR pro who comes up with a hustle like The Great Hotel Book Hoax of '07

Kurt Vonnegut on how to write with style

2007-09-09T18:21:00.000-04:00

Copywriters should also learn to beguile with style. Kurt Vonnegut gave some useful pointers:

Newspaper reporters and technical writers are trained to reveal almost nothing about themselves in their writings. This makes them freaks in the world of writers, since almost all of the other ink-stained wretches in that world reveal a lot about themselves to readers. We call these revelations, accidental and intentional, elements of style.

Read the rest of the article: How to write with style

Tools for writers and other word freaks

2007-08-08T19:42:00.000-04:00

Like most writers, I'm a dictionary and thesaurus junkie. (If you ever want to bribe me, a set of OED would be nice.)

I use good old weighty tomes like the Random House Unabridged (a favorite of Kurt Vonnegut's) and the lighter weight, but no less authoritative Oxford American Dictionary. I'm also partial to Webster's Collegiate.

My Roget's International Thesaurus is still my favorite because I love the way it organizes words by concept... not alphabetically. It helps trigger new ideas and better word choices (like finding noun and verb substitutes for adverbs). But a rival newcomer has some nice features and tools for finding the right word: the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus.

I don't stop at dictionaries. I also refer to usage mavens from Fowler to Strunk & White, to Safire.

More and more, though, I find myself checking online dictionaries. Mainly for convenience and speed. But I don't just use them to check a definition. In minutes I can consult a symposium of wordsmiths until I zero in on the exact word I want.

Three I use constantly are 1-Click Answers (from Answers.com), WordWeb and CleverKeys (from Dictionary.com). All three work inside any application. You may never use Word's anemic thesaurus again!

While you're at it, pick up a few of these:
Onelook.com -- More dictionaries than you can lift... all on one page. And don't miss their Reverse Dictionary -- not your father's thesaurus!
Bartleby.com is an entire reference library on one site.

And here are two Swiss Army knives for all kinds of research and reference:
Refdesk.com and the home page of savvy journalists: Reporter's Desktop

What are your favorites tools?

Some useful Websites

2007-08-05T12:25:00.000-04:00

Writer's Digest has its annual 101 Best Web sites for Writers.

Now Bootstrapper offers a similar list for business bloggers: The Business Blogging Toolset: 100 Resources for Entrepreneur-Writers

Usability lessons in Writing for the Web

2007-08-02T00:09:00.000-04:00

Steve Krug is a self-effacing guru of web usability who practices what he preaches. His book on how to unconfuse people who visit your website is a model of simplicity and utility... with charm. It also has one of my all time favorite titles: Don't Make Me Think!

Now Krug recommends a book that does for Web writing what his does for Web design: Letting Go of the Words, by Janice (Ginny) Redish .

In his email newsletter, Krug says he's reluctant to recommend anything because there's no accounting for taste. But he cautiously sticks his neck out on this one:

In many ways, it's a spiritual "cousin" to Don't Make Me Think. (In fact, at one point Ginny wanted to call it "Don't Make Me Read." Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.) So if you like "Think" I have a high degree of confidence that you'll like "Letting Go."

Direct Marketing crash course

2007-07-19T08:44:00.000-04:00

Seth Godin offers sage advice on when (and when not) to use Letters, brochures and email

Pin this one over your desk!

Is blogging a waste of time?

2007-07-12T19:07:00.000-04:00

Hoo boy! Now I'm really going to get in trouble with the blogerati! But you have to read this one.

Is it a waste of time to try promoting yourself by blogging?

Seth Godin sees blogs as the Electronic Grail. But usability expert Jakob Nielsen is also an Internet force to be reckoned with. And here's his advice to those who want to be recognized as experts and thought leaders:

To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers.

Read Nielsen's whole article: Write Articles, Not Blog Postings Then let me know what you think. (I can just see Bob Bly nodding his head!)

I have my own ideas about the value of blogging. But I'm saving them for an article ;)

Creative Writing Challenge to Bloggers

2007-07-04T12:04:00.001-04:00

Answers.com is running a Creative Writing Challenge for bloggers.

They are offering prizes for "creative writing genius": writing a story or poem using ten words/phrases they randomly choose. Prizes include Amazon gift certificates along with blog mentions on Answers.com and link love.

Click here for the submission details.

OK Morty, so who wrote it already?!

2007-06-19T13:26:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, here's the moment you've been waiting for....

Yesterday, I quoted a futuristic vision of interactive, consumer-based marketing. And I challenged readers to guess the writer. I expected people to guess Seth Godin or Doc Searls. The actual guesses ran from Al Ries, to David Ogilvy to "...it certainly wasn't Lasker or Hopkins."

Ladies and gentlemen, the writer of those words first learned about marketing delivering chickens for Izzy's kosher butcher shop in the Bronx.

He invented bound-in subscription cards in magazines. He changed marketing history by putting a little gold box in record club ads and getting people to hunt for the "buried treasure." (Did I hear somebody say "Interactive"?!)

Those words were written in 1996 by the "Father of Direct Marketing": Lester Wunderman!

What is Mr. Wunderman doing these days? Don't look for him in a shuffleboard game! Retirement isn't his style The king of mail order is still guiding the Wunderman agency. He also started blogging! And in his very first blog post, he said

The Industrial Revolution is behind us, and The Information Age has matured. Many of the old mass media are losing ground as we begin to provide information to smaller groups and even single consumers. The Internet has brought to the forefront the idea of interactive marketing. Millions of sellers and buyers are now involved in an increasingly personal dialogue. Marketing objectives are achieved not only by what we know but more importantly the increasing number of ways that we can use that knowledge.

Keep an eye on this guy. He's going places!

Traditional Advertising vs. "Post-Present" Advertising

2007-06-18T16:11:00.000-04:00

Who wrote this?... And when?

Traditional advertising flowed "downstream" from advertisers to consumers and never the other way round; it was a statement from one to many. In the post-present, much of that will be reversed. Consumers will go "upstream" to access each advertiser as a database for the product information they want. Federal Express has provided Internet access so that customers can see where their packages are at any time. And virtual communities will be created by consumers who want to go "sidestream" to chat with their global neighbors.

Tune in next time for the surprising answer...

Seth Godin gives away bestseller secrets

2007-06-14T01:48:00.000-04:00

Hey, Seth, does being bald really help you become a bestselling author? (I am losing my hair...)

See the interview: 10 Questions with Seth Godin, author of Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, and The Dip

Digg-ing up dirt: Does social bookmarking still work?

2007-06-12T11:03:00.000-04:00

The new ring to grab on the marketing merry-go round is social bookmarking.

Tags and Digg started out as elegantly simple ways of sharing information online. But just like folksinging in the 60's, folksonomy has gone from the folk to big business. And the pool of information has gotten muddy.

For an eye-opening look at what's happening to Web 2.0 see Digg Dirt: An Ongoing Examination of Social Bookmarking on IAOCblog.

Ted Demopoulos on Blogs and Marketing

2007-06-04T11:37:00.000-04:00

When I saw Ted Demopoulos's post Blogging for Business: Blogs and Marketing: Do they work and what about metrics?, at first I thought of what Oscar Wilde said:

Ah! Don't say that you agree with me. When people agree with me I always feel that I must be wrong.

But, in Ted's case, I have to make an exception!

Bob Bly wonders, "Does blog marketing make sense?"

2007-06-01T11:49:00.000-04:00

Copywriting maestro Bob Bly has long been skeptical about the marketing value of blogs. Even on his own blog! Now he brings Bad News for Blogging Evangelists that...

According to an article in Internet Marketing Report (5/25/07), 52% of U.S. adults never read a blog, and 16% don’t even know what a blog is.
The article concludes that investing a lot of your marketing budget in blogging “doesn't make a whole lot of sense.”

But to me, going by the numbers alone is like choosing a book by how many pages it has. I care about what is inside, not how much. J.K. Rowling's books sell in spite of how much they weigh... not because of it.

Can the value of blogging be measured purely in numbers of readers? I would say it makes a lot of sense to reach 100 readers who are likely to buy and then tell their friends about your product. Especially when the cost of reaching them is minute compared to other media.

Not only that. The real reach of blogs is far wider than the reported "readership." Google immortalizes the information on blogs. Searchers (read "buyers") for your product will find you. Get tagged and you're it!

Get a ringside seat at the slugfest on Bob's blog.