Author Archives: Tom McKay

Freelancing is more than a way to make a living — it’s a way of life. Working Today surveyed over 2,800 freelancers last spring and discovered that most are creative, independent and fiercely dedicated to their lifestyle. Their free report, The Rise of the Freelance Class, looks at how they (we) are doing. A few […]

“I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.” (Mark Twain) Twain was right. Spelling’s not important — unless you want people (customers, clients, bosses) to take you seriously. It’s not that spelling is all that important. It’s just that spelling mistakes undermine your credibility. As a copywriter […]

Web advertising continues to roar. $3 billion was spent in 2Q alone — a whopping 26% increase. 40% of that was for paid search listings, 20% for banner ads and 8% so so-called “rich” media. More here.

Most marketing makes one major mistake. It focuses too much on YOU, your company, your services, the bells and whistles on your nifty new 2006 model widget. It’s not about YOU — it’s about your customer. Information marketing takes a more consultative approach. The main focus is on your prospect: their needs and wants, and […]

Real estate investors do it with houses. Entrepreneurs do it with businesses. Should you do it with Web sites? The “it” is buying, fixing up and selling properties — in this case, underperforming Web sites. Yaro Starak of the Entrepreneur’s Journey blog has just published a detailed explanation of how (and why) you might consider […]

Find a need and fill it. Find an aggravation and fix it. That’s the kind of thinking that drives a small army of independent Firefox developers. These imagineers continue to improve the Web browsing experience with their innovation. They see problems or irritations, then create small, simple, often-elegant solutions (called extensions) that fix or eliminate […]

What’s the goal of your business? To make money, right? Actually, that’s misguided, says the wise former Apple “evangelist” Guy Kawasaki, now a venture capitalist. The first thing I learned is that the people who change the world—the people who really make a difference—aren’t motivated by money. Instead, Kawasaki notes, they want “to make meaning […]