WebProNews

Using Google Docs to Work on a Book

Currently, my editor Brian Jepson and I are collaboratively writing the book (tentatively titled) Google Office Hacks by O'Reilly using Google Docs. I wanted to outline the process we came up with, and maybe it's helpful for you too for certain needs.

Writers May Have Some Trouble with New Word

Have you had trouble opening Word files lately? If you’re like me, you get these Word docs that end with .docx and can do nothing with the file. This makes it real hard to operate as a writer or editor of white papers. For the first time in many years, it seems that Microsoft if forcing those of us with older versions of Word to upgrade. What gives Bill?

Paying Writers Based on Traffic

It may be a new year, but we’re still talking (well, some of us are anyway) about an old issue: namely, the idea of paying writers based on the traffic they get. The focus of the debate right now is Gawker, where Nick Denton has apparently started paying his bloggers based in part on how many views their posts get. This one has been around for awhile, but now it’s official thanks to a memo on (Gawker-owned) Valleywag.

The Importance of SEO Copy Writing to High Rankings

In this MSNBC interview the Snr. V.P. of Network Solutions covers what any business needs for page one search rankings. 

Knol: Google Coins A New Word

Most of the techie blogosphere can tell you a knol is a unit of knowledge, now that Google has informed us it is so.

Writing For Leads Is Bad Business

Recently I re-read a business book (written by some PhD's who counsel people to improve their careers), and each chapter struck me as salesy -- as if it were primarily crafted to speak to the 1% of readers who might be likely to follow up as consulting prospects.

Profitable Niche Publishing Business Models

Via TC, I discovered IBM released a report on how the they think the $550 billion global ad market might change in the coming years. The predictions look bleak for most ad agencies and traditional media gatekeepers, but good for niche publishers who have a solid stream of attention:

The Secret of Writing Good Copy

It would be annoying for me to link to grokdotcom every day, so I don't. But if you don't have it in your regular rotation of RSS feeds, what are you waiting for? Here's a great example—a post that pulls together over a dozen great articles on writing winning Web copy. It's taking some of us a while, but we're finally figuring out that Web marketing can really depend on your words.

Say Goodbye To Ye Olde Editorial Process

There may always be a place for paper. This isn't about that – the likelihood that print is on the verge of extinction – but rather how a new generation of editors and writers present the news in a digital world. The new format for news – there must always be a standard eventually – is evolving, as dinosaurs wheeze and choke.

Hey, Shakespeare! Nobody Cares; Web Writing Tips

Writing for the Web is tricky business because there is no audience more diverse. Writers, especially purist writers (I'm pointing at myself both accusatorily and guiltily), are stubborn, especially ones honed in a print world where the appropriate audience finds you or rejects in distant silence, and writers (secretly) want you to bask in their brilliance.