When I was a young child, we sometimes played a game called “Whisper Down the Lane.” Five or six of us would sit in a row, and the first person would make up something and whisper it into the ear … Continue reading →

“Every company should have a corporate brochure,” advised Howard G. “Scotty” Sawyer in his book, “Business-to-Business Advertising.”  “A small company in order to become better know, a big company in order to give a clear picture of what has probably … Continue reading →

When I was the advertising manager for a process equipment manufacturer, one of my responsibilities was to serve as liaison between the advertising agency we hired to write our ads and product brochures and our staff engineers. The engineers, because … Continue reading →

When Dodd, Mead published my Secrets of a Freelance Writer in July 1988, I didn’t expect the company to go out of business four months later. (After all, it had been in business for 150 years.) People began complaining to … Continue reading →

You can easily adapt “positioning,” an advertising sales technique that will make submissions stand out on the editor’s desk–and in the editor’s mind.   When I worked as a technical write an industrial equipment manufacturer I decided to write a … Continue reading →

Many people who attend my book publishing semi­nars already have a book idea in mind. Others, however, have a strong desire to write a book, but are stuck on coming up with a suitable topic. If you fall into this … Continue reading →

You have a great idea for a nonfiction book. Your wife thinks it’s a great idea. Your parents think it’s a great idea. Even your neighbor who hates to read thinks it’s a great idea.   But will a publisher … Continue reading →

Here’s a question I’ve been curious about lately: should marketers add blogging to their arsenal of marketing tactics? Will it help sell more products and services? Or is it – as I suspect — an utter waste of time? A … Continue reading →

In a recent DM News column, I apparently offended a segment of the blogging community by suggesting that perhaps blogs might be “an utter waste of time … a pure vanity publication that won’t pay you back even one thin … Continue reading →

Ever since Volney Palmer opened the world’s first advertising agency in 1843, marketing professionals have been arguing, debating, and searching for the answer to the question. “What makes a good advertisement?” That this debate has never been settled is obvious … Continue reading →