September 20, 2023
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June 30, 2010
Over two decades, my grandfather built two houses. They weren’t just houses. They were homes, for he and my grandmother, built out of an unwillingness to trust contractors and the lure of a low-cost solution. And because these homes were built from scratch, an intense pride of ownership developed. My grandparents took meticulous care of […]
June 29, 2010
With search testing comes the need for original, unrelated words. The goal, of course, is to make sure a Web site’s search function works. You throw unrelated words in, of course, so you can search for them. And while the standard “SearchTest” will bring up a series of specifically coded pages, that word is boring. […]
May 26, 2010
A project is made up of smaller parts. Each smaller part is developed on its own. The success of the project depends on the smaller parts, working together, doing their smaller part thing and being of general use to everyone involved. A Web site or a marketing campaign or a book or anything creative – […]
April 12, 2010
When you cross the line from general to specific, you also cross the line from tolerant to expectant. In other words, you’ll be given a pass if you’re talking in generals and leave something out. The second you cross into expert territory, though, you’re running with the big wolves, except these big wolves have specialized […]
April 7, 2010
It’s old (well, SIX MONTHS old, which is, like, a BILLION YEARS in Web time) but I stumbled across a great quote from the illustrious Karen McGrane that sort of sums up why I’m so goofy excited about the idea of words – and other content – getting some real mainstream attention on the Web […]
April 5, 2010
One of the most frustrating aspects of the Argus Leader’s Web site – and let’s be fair: this is probably not an Argus thing as much as it’s a Gannett thing – is the issue of page navigation. Exhibit 1: Underlines = Links As you can see, the page I’m currently on (page 1) is […]
March 31, 2010
All it takes is a serious dive into the concept of information architecture – or, for those who aren’t mired in the seemingly over-technical terms used in Web development, the organization and structure of information – to see it everywhere you turn. It’s in the music I’ve compulsively organized on iTunes, in the lists I […]
March 24, 2010
Resolution: BMOWP 03-2010 – Declaring This Day and Every Day: “Make Awesome Content Your Goal Day.” Whereas: our Web sites are no longer cluttered with clanky weasel words and business-ese, instead replaced with real language that real customers might use in real situations. You know, because those customers want to talk to a person, not […]
February 22, 2010
ate·lier Pronunciation: \ˌa-təl-ˈyā\ Function: noun Etymology: French, from Middle French astelier woodpile, from astele splinter, from Late Latin astella, diminutive of Latin astula Date: 1699 1 : an artist’s or designer’s studio or workroom 2 : workshop Great word, though this only hints at the way it was used by Jeffrey MacIntire from Predicate, LLC […]
January 11, 2010
I know – and, I assume, every copywriter worth his or her weight in legal pads knows – that the days of living solely on print copy and television scripts are waning. And while there may be a few that can continue spitting out inspired old-media copy for 40 hours a week, whether because the […]
