DISQUS

To be honest, when I saw that function a couple of days ago, I signed out of my Google account. It sort of freaked me out. I try to search "incognito" -- as if anyone really can.

<abbr>Dianna Huff's last blog post..Are You Having Conversations with Your Customers?</abbr>

Thanks for the plug! This is a great list of articles, too.

I used to be one of those who did not use the YP because I have a Google IV straight into my arm.

However, in the last six months I have needed a ton of services for my home . . . and the only place to find these people is in the phone book. (Many service providers in my area don't have a Website.)

I also use it to find companies that deliver pizza.

I keep the official YP from Verizon and recycle the others.

I'm with Sean -- I like dashes. I got into the habit of using them while in college after reading too much Laurence Sterne. Dashes give your copy energy and let you connect thoughts without having to come to a full period stop. I use them so much I have to weed them out of my copy.

My pet peeve is people who use a hyphen instead of a full dash - like this. Ack!

Mike,

Get LifeLock. I just signed up for this service. The CEO is so confident that your identity will not be stolen that he posted his SSN on the Internet and in an ad in the WSJ.

Plus, they guarantee you against any fraudulent activity up to $1 million.

I signed up my son, too.

www.lifelock.com

Mike, I don't mind when people wish me Merry Christmas. However, I do use "Have a nice Holiday" because not everyone celebrates Christmas. I do this out of respect for other people's observances, not because I'm anti-Christmas.

I can't write business copy to introspective music such as Yo Yo Ma. I simply have the radio on low in the background while working.

With my son in the house for years now, I've learned to write through TV, noise and other distractions.

Mike, I used to have to write a ton of product blurbs for those "advertorials" for print publications. The product blurbs always had word lengths -- i.e. 25 words, 50 words, etc. You learn pretty fast how to cut fluff. You also learn how to be ruthless when editing your own work.

Just last week I had to write a one page sales letter. To make everything fit, I had to cut, cut, cut.

It's the same for email subject lines -- it's a challenge to be pithy in 60 characters or less!

That should be "glad."

Michael, Gkad all is well.

Mike,

I'm glad you're ok. I've been worried about you.

Mike, you and your family are in my thoughts. Stay safe!

She's (?) making a classic mistake -- using her own preferences to determine marketing strategy. Bob Bly talks about this a lot.

Who cares if she never prints out white papers or never hands them to clients? Lots of other people do. Doesn't KnowledgeStorm actually track how white papers go through an organization? I bet they could prove her wrong in an instant.

Mike O, thanks for the nod. I'm honored.

Hands down: Web Ink Now by David Meerman Scott

I have the radio set to oldies (60s to 90s) rock. I have set low. I don't like music to be too loud because it distracts me.

Mike, Yes, I use this tip. It's a good one. Once I've written something, I print it out and then read it aloud while making all kinds of notes. I pace up and down the hall outside my office -- I can't sit and read aloud.

Then I make my edits, print the doc again, and do the process two or three more times.

Michael, great topic. (Sorry about the iPod.) What distracts me? Being tired and burned out -- which is what I am right now. Because I'm so tired, I have a very hard time focusing and feel like I am squeezing words out of my dried up sponge of a brain.

So, instead of writing I do what you do -- read other blogs, read Yahoo news, clean papers off my desk, and read reviews of The Bourne Ultimatum -- which I am seeing this weekend. (woo hoo!)

Thank goodness vacation starts next Friday. To quote Bourne -- I'm falling off the grid for 12 days. :-)

Carrie,

I use Blogger for a client and WP for my own blog. I don't know if anyone has created plugins for Blogger. Blogger is very easy to use. WordPress is too, once it's all set up. I did have to get a WP expert to set up my blog for me, do the template, and upload it to the Web hosting site.

It took me 10 minutes to get a Blogger blog up and running. It took a couple of weeks for my WP blog to be ready. It's a more robust interface. I now have the WP expert make all the changes to my blog -- I just find it's very difficult, especially since I don't know how the "backend" of WP works.

Anyway, you should be able to find Blogger plugins, if any exist, by typing "blogger plugins" into Google.

Mike,

I love, love, love my Now Reading plug-in. My newsletter/blog guru found it. It allows me to post the books I'm currently reading, plus those I plan on reading. Then, I can post reviews. It has its own separate "library" which visitors can view if they're so inclined.

Because I read so much, this plug-in is perfect for me.

I also love the Snaps -- those little balloons that show the picture of the linked site. I originally saw them used on TechCrunch.

Where do I find the stars rating you use?

Ed,

Those real estate commercials you see at 3:00 AM have kernels of truth to them. I have a real estate client and interview RE investors every month. So I've met quite a few who are *very* successful.

However, like every venture out there, you need disclipine to follow through, patience, hard work, a network, etc. etc. etc.

You can't just go out and be a successful real estate investor overnight. Ditto for freelance copywriting. ;-)

Michael, It took a bit of time. I started out very slowly because I was also "at home" with my son, who was 12 months old. In the beginning I worked maybe 10 - 15 hours a week. Over time I increased it to 20 (once he hit preschool). I didn't start working full time until he was five years old. He's ten now. So I would say it took me six to seven years (I've been in business since 1998).

Mike,

Great post. Here is my story:

I started my business the "wrong" way -- meaning I decided to go out on my own without any plan whatsoever.

I started without any clients or client list. I had just moved to the east coast so I had no network whatsoever. In short, I started from nothing.

I made a ton of mistakes.

The three things I did and still do which I believe make me successful:

I studied other people's writing and when people gave me feedback on mine, I listened. Then I worked to make it better.

I kept marketing myself, learning new things, and trying, trying, trying.

I read everything and anything.

Just the other day a guy I know (a non-writer) told me he wrote an 8-page brochure -- that day! It was due that day and he wrote it that day. My jaw dropped.

But will the customers like the product? I know, what a concept -- building products in response to marketplace needs.