The word “Troll” is defined in the Urban Dictionary 256 times. Generally speaking, an Internet Troll is a member of an Internet forum who continually harangues and harasses others. One who posts a deliberately provocative message (generally attacking another person) with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.
Writing for the web became a marketing specialty several years ago as Google was first asserting its dominance over other search engines. Observers who closely followed the company began to piece together the algorithm riddle. Many of us who were training to write for the web found Google was the driving force to perfecting the search function. (more…)
Are you thinking about exchanging that new smartphone for the one you really asked Santa for? Have you done your research and decided which platform you want to be on? (more…)
It’s been a busy updating season for Google and SEO. In late September, it released an update to its Panda algorithm, which may not affect you very much if you’ve been playing by Google rules and not trying to get away with black hat or spammy practices. Moreover, Panda gives local businesses a good reason to revisit their content because it came after another update, Pigeon, which focuses on searches for local businesses. (more…)
Eugene Schwartz was a copywriter that many in my field consider to be the greatest ever (and trust me, most of us think we’re the greatest ever!). Schwartz, who died in 1995, specialized in direct mail marketing and shared his insights in about 10 books, including a classic called Breakthrough Advertising. ShockMarter.com provides free downloads of it, which is in the public domain. At least, we hope so.
I like Schwartz because he didn’t overthink, which is a problem for many writers and students. Whenever I find I’m out of ideas, I use one of his very useful techniques to get my imaginative mojo back on track. The best one asks: what kind of copy should we write? (more…)
