Worst Postcard Design Ever – How I Got a Spammer to Design a Really Bad Postcard
Nigerian 419 Scam Turns into Comical Lesson on How to Prepare a File for Print Sometimes opportunities just fall into your lap. In this case, a spammer using a classic Nigerian 419 scam ends up providing the perfect example of how NOT to prepare a design for professional printing. The first email arrives with a […]
How Webmasters Fake Their Google PR – Avoiding the Fake Google Page Rank Link Exchange Scam
Beware of “Too Good to Be True”Link Exchanges with High PR Websites Once your website establishes a decent PR you’ll start to attract some very shady people. Among the worst are the fake Google PR scam artists. Besides being deceitful, they also put a black eye on the entire SEO industry, so I take it […]
Plagiarism Sucks – Stolen Content and The Sad Tale of My Popular Bio
Plagiarism Shmagiarism Plagiarism is a huge problem on the web. People tend to treat anything they can access through a browser as “free”. Not free as in “I don’t have to pay to enjoy it”, but free as in “finders keepers”. The problem is kind of invisible until it happens to you. One form of […]
Resell Hell – Why I Don’t Resell Web Hosting, Printing, or Design and Programming Work by My Outsource Partners
Shhhh, It’s Our Little Secret I know I’m supposed to do it, but I just can’t. Everyone tells me to do it, and my entire industry encourages and promotes it, but it just feels wrong. Even my clients expect me to do it. But I just can’t. It makes me feel dirty and cheap. I’m […]
Social Media Myths – Why Your Blog Will Suck, Facebook Won’t Make You Money, and No One Will Read Your Twitter Posts
Hurry! Don’t Be Left Out of The Social Media Revolution! Blogging is Fun, Easy, and Profitable and in the Future Everyone on the Planet Will Have a Facebook and Twitter Account. It Might Even Be Required by Law! Sure sounds great, huh? The social media marketing hype machine is in serious overdrive. The biggest promoters […]
I Hate Bon Jovi – Branding, Marketing, Design, and The Tyranny of Personal Taste
I Hate Bon Jovi. I Mean I Really, Really, Really Hate Them. If hating Bon Jovi was a medical condition I’d have to carry an injector with me to keep me from going into anaphylactic shock every time “You Give Love a Bad Name” came on the radio. I don’t hate the members of Bon […]
How Designers Really Work – The Down and Dirty Logo Design
This Ain’t Art School and You Can Toss Your Graphic Artists Guild Handbook Right Out the Window. This is the Real World. Sure, it would be nice to have three months and a $75,000 budget to design a logo but the majority of us will never be in that situation. Most of the time the […]
Copywriting Secrets – Tips for Writing Killer Ad Copy That Sells
I Could Tell You the Secret to Writing Great Ad Copy That Sells… But Then I’d Have to Kill You! Well, maybe just maim you. Bust a leg or something. Nothing life threatening. You say you don’t care? Just give it to you? Ok, here it is. Wait for it. Wait for it. There, you […]
Flat Fee Versus Hourly Rates – How to Charge for Your Web Design or Graphic Design Services
How to Get Paid What You’re Worth by Using the Psychology of Pricing and Focusing Your Clients on Value Received. Doc, it Hurts When I Go Like This… A woman goes for a routine checkup. After the examination the doctor tells her to sit down and pulls up a chair next to her. “I’ve got […]
SEO Scams – SEO Marketing Hall of Shame
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee – I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee – that says, spam me once, shame on – shame on you. Spam me – you can’t get spammed again.” – President George W. Bush Are any of these SEO companies legit. Who knows? Personally I don’t care. I just […]
