I rarely check out videos because chances are high that it won’t have captions or subtitles. But I bit on this Lenovo-produced video comparing its ThinkPad X300 to the MacBook Air [link: Dave Winer]. It presents a powerful visual message without using words. But not one to let commercials sway me without research, I wondered how [...]
Noticing another (the first being the gray text on white background) trend and it ain’t good. More and more newsletters require you to click a link for the full newsletter. To make the situation worse, some of these are in — ack! — Acrobat pdf format! I like Acrobat files, but not for e-mail newsletters. E-mail [...]
For freelancers and solopreneurs, making a mistake on a task compares to a corporate employee receiving bad performance review. Facing mistakes — no matter how small — as a freelancer comes harder than those made as a corporate employee — and I’ve worked on the other side. The other side includes working for the [...]
When people say they don’t get Twitter — it’s because they need to be more proactive. Twitter doesn’t work if you lurk, post updates, and do nothing else. What I’ve learned after using Twitter for a month: Follow unto others as you would have them do unto you. @comment others [...]
I have a few clients in which the engagements are open-ended. This means helping them with their ongoing content work. As a result, it’s easy to let something drag on without completing it. For example, a client may ask me to revise the Help documentation and write entries for blogs. Rather than just letting it sit, [...]
Here’s a great example I ran into that proves audience matters when writing content and designing Web sites. Audio expert Penny Haynes asked: Is the term “Technically Challenged” a positive, negative or neutral marketing term? I’d really like to hear from people who are NOT comfortable with technology to ascertain if using that term to reach them [...]
Read an interesting tidbit in cairril.com’s Sparks newsletter, which references a Post-it(R) Note Persuasion: A Sticky Influence study [pdf file] at Social Science Research Network. Sending out a survey or business solicitation letter? Research shows that including a yellow sticky note with what looks like a personal greeting increases response rates. And it’s not enough to [...]
Over at Bionic Ear, we often discuss the lack of captions in online videos, which has recently surged due to the writer’s strike. John Erskine of Project readOn pointed to a press release: Study finds companies benefit from removing IT barriers for people with disabilities and boomers. Since everyone is talking about yesterday’s Super Bowl — [...]
19 Best Ads I Have Ever Seen: Wow. Impressive collection. [Link: Kottke] 100 Books Every Child Should Read: Grouped into three types: early years, middle years, and early teens. Mostly focused on British stuff. After all, it’s from a UK site. My third grader loved The Twits, [...]
The wizard in The Wizard of Oz and the guy behind the curtain pretending to be him have different personalities. Which one would you rather listen to? The wizard who comes across as larger than life and unreachable, or the guy hiding behind the giant green face, a person like us? Companies that publish newsletters without [...]