The Copywriter Underground

Maybe it doesn’t quite eclipse the presidential race in the news cycle, but I learned (via Dave Alston) that Google’s External Keyword tool now offers keyword search volumes.

This handy little addition allows you to do simple keyword research, though serious researchers will continue to use services like Wordtracker.
Still, “Free” has a certain pleasing quality all [...]

Courtesy the inspiring Writer’s Almanac, served daily by Garrison Keillor and American Public Media:
Larry Brown said, “There’s no such thing as a born writer. It’s a skill you’ve got to learn, just like learning how to be a bricklayer or a carpenter.”
You become a better writer by reading great writers, and putting a lot of [...]

I’m on a two-week fly fishing trip in Montana, and in the Interest of seeing Ubuntu Linux perform on the road, I brought my work laptop with me.
Not many posts? I’ve been spending my time here.
The results have been instructive, if not always thrilling.
First, let’s talk wi-fi access.
While Ubuntu glommed onto my home wi-fi [...]

I’m a week into my Linux test flight, and Ubuntu is working largely as advertised.
It seems its reputation as a hard-to-use/hard to install OS is outdated – at least for Ubuntu. (For an amusing look at Bill Gates’ take on Windows XP usability, go here).

Over the last few days, I created and shipped a pair [...]

My six year-old HP laptop has never failed me. But lately, it has been making me wait.
It’s running Windows XP, and even after a clean install – once its 512K MB of RAM was burdened with service packs, security updates, anti-viral software and a modern browser - it becomes the Little Laptop That Can’t.
At least [...]

As Web 2.0 fanatics, we’re always searching for our next online time waster, and Wordle might be one of the best.
You cut and paste text into the box, and it generates a “word cloud” based on word usage (often-used words are shown bigger).

This next is the Wordle of my most-read post — my Value-Added Copywriter [...]

While they’re only paying $10/hour, this MediaBistro ad tells us Mahalo’s looking for writers who:
Candidates must be excellent writers capable of writing perfect copy at a fast pace. Familiarity with online research, journalism, and wiki markup language are all definite pluses.
It’s always heartwarming to see an American tech company attempting to pay offshore prices for [...]

Garry Kasparov is the greatest chess player the world’s ever known. While few of us can replicate his impressive mental powers, we can leverage the methods he used to achieve the chess world’s highest ever rating.

His secret?
He played the game backwards.
A Strategy For Success
Most chess players view a game’s current position as a starting point, [...]

As a writing techno-geek of the worst kind, I admit to a fascination with the tools we use to write.
That’s why I’ve added an interesting new writing blog to my RSS Reader: The Writer’s Technology Companion.

Articles about PayPal, podcasts, interesting new word processors and other technology mingle with industry information and plenty [...]

I just finished a conversation with a client who wanted to send me money. Sadly, they expect me to perform a written act of marketing before sending a check, and they wanted a project estimate.
Long ago, I made a rule to never give off-the-cuff estimates on complex projects.
Perhaps I do it badly (perhaps everyone does), [...]