In the USA, today is known as Independence Day, remembering the struggles beginning in 1776 for freedom. Other countries have a similar celebrations of their own history and the foundation for their modern society. In the American case (perhaps others, too), the purpose and the mission of the struggle was well-defined in advance. They were going to, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, “pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” to the overthrow of tyranny. They saw freedom as being worth all the risks involved. Their goal was freedom, in all its... [...]

In our industry, there seem to be a lot of them. Just remember what Will Rogers said, “The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it in your back pocket.”  [...]

From the November 2018 edition of Reader’s Digest: Tired of boiling water every time you make pasta? Boil a few gallons at the beginning of the week and freeze it for later.  [...]

What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?  [...]

The European Union has a directive requiring media companies such as Google, YouTube, and Facebook to avoid having materials with copyright protection on their sites without explicit permission from the copyright holder. Indeed, all websites are required to follow the same rule; it’s just that the major sites that allow the general public to post media are at much higher risk due to the volume of content and the wide variety of people uploading that content. Historically, the rule had not held media companies liable for copyright infringement, provided that upon notification of a violation,... [...]

Last year, Google announced that it was raising the importance of page speed in its ranking algorithms. It had determined from user research that Page speed was becoming increasingly important to Google search users, so Google took action on these results: 1. In January, 2018, it made page speed a top ranking criterion for desktop searches. 2. In July, 2018, it made the same change for searches done on mobile devices. You can read the official Google announcement here: Google Page Speed Update. Webmasters and site owners need to adjust their site’s design to improve the speed or the site... [...]

I was up late last night writing the advertisement for the new video creation software, Create by Vidello. I was forgetting that I needed to wake up on time to go to my physical therapy appointment. In the end, when my Alexa alarm woke me up, I only had about 4 hours of sleep. When I woke up, I was in the middle of a vivid dream that I still remember in its outline. A friend and I, both of us musicians (he, a banjoist; I, a singer), had found two guitar players and were performing in concert at some venue I don’t recall. I announced to the band that we would perform “You are my Sunshine”.... [...]

Don’t think of e-mail as old news. If done well, it can contribute to any marketing campaign. In fact, effective email marketing can change your business outcomes. “Aye, there’s the rub,” as Hamlet said. Knowing what it takes to make e-mail effective is the challenge. It requires designing and sending: • The right message in • The right format to • The right person at • The right time. In other words, you need to understand what your audience is interested in, what devices they use to read your message (so your format is compatible), choosing the target... [...]

There are several Captcha engines available with technologies such as solving an equation, copying a character string or the one invented by Google, checking a checkbox. On the question and answer site, Quora, recently someone asked, “Why can’t bots check ‘I am not a robot’ checkboxes?” You have seen those boxes. We all have checked them from time to time. On Quora, someone took the time to give a detailed answer to the question, and the extent to which Google goes to assure that robots don’t sneak through is amazing. It’s worth 5 minutes to understand... [...]

We need: ► clicks, ► page views, ► bigger and more engaged mailing lists, ► sales. Of course we do, but is this all? What about ► a healthy life ► a positive relationship with our clients, ► a chance to have fun with families and friends, ► peace of mind, ► satisfaction, ► a reason for living? We are people, after all, and we need the things that people need. We just came across this classic article by Tony Schwartz in the Harvard Business Review. Think about the implications for your marketing and for your life. 30 Things We Need — and 30 We Don’t Harvard Business Review  [...]