One sure way to get slapped by Google is having, crude, hand drawn arrows on a page with not much content. I love them because they work a treat. Anything that interrupts visually does. Google hates them because “they don’t …
Read MoreCategory: Uncategorized
How the wrong tone (plus a dash of illiteracy and a little overpromise) can kill your copy. And why I like recessions
Well, I had an excellent evening yesterday with Sarah Shaw Tatoun who used to be the pub critic of a Prague publication. The job of my dreams But before that I finished drafting a long interview piece for Australia’s Direct …
Read MoreThe blind leading the blind
Someone I never heard of just invited me to a “leadership development programme” starting with the usual bow to management-bollocks. “Engaged employees deliver constantly better performance in business”. What’s the matter with the married ones? More to the point, why …
Read MoreUriah Heap invades the kitchen. “Would you prefer your dish slimy, oily or just grovelling, Sir?”
Perhaps the first money I can recall making was cooking in my parents’ restaurant. I made pork chops stuffed with ham, sage and cheese. Very few deaths were reported. The restaurant which was above the pub was in the Good …
Read MoreResearch reveals yet another blinding glimpse of the obvious – if you know anything about selling,
My friend Michael Rhodes is the most diligent researcher into the weird and wacky world of the internet I know. Yesterday he sent me a piece headed “Mixed Feelings – How To Cultivate Emotional Engagement In Web Design” from a …
Read MoreWell, do you really give a f**k? This little graph, clearly based on years of rigorous academic study, may give you the answer
A friend from South Africa occasionally sends me stuff that brings a wry smile, a quiet chortle or even a joyous belly-laugh. But this particular fruit of his research brought me to the startling realisation that I really am very …
Read MoreDon’t know how true it is – but it’s bloody funny
Judy Wallman, a genealogy researcher in southern California, was looking into her family tree. She discovered that Senator Harry Reid’s great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Judy and Harry Reid …
Read MoreIs truth stranger than fiction? Here’s another dash of religious fervour – true this time
Curvin O’Riellly who used to work at Ogilvy and before that Y & R tells a true story relating to the one I posted earlier: This reminds me of something that happened years ago at Y&R. My creative director, Tony …
Read MoreA little religious enthusiasm from my friend George
A crusty old man walks into the local Catholic church and says to the secretary, “I would like to join this damn church.” The astonished woman replies, “I beg your pardon, Sir. I must have misunderstood you. What did you …
Read MoreWell, do you actually give a f**k? This little graph, clearly based on years of rigorous academic study, may give you the answer
A friend from South Africa occasionally sends me stuff that brings a wry smile, a quiet chortle or even a joyous belly-laugh. But this particular fruit of his research brought me to the startling realisation that I really am very …
Read More