With a sub-title of, “The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything,” the book makes a big promise, which might make a doubter out of a reviewer. Note that “starting anything” refers to a business, not a career, school, or hobby. Obviously, it’s impossible to create a comprehensive book of business best practices because every … Read more
Those familiar with Calishain’s ResearchBuzz know of her expertise with search engines, Google especially. Her previous book is Google Hacks. This is a book of a different nature and doesn’t focus solely on Google. Anyone who uses the Internet to do searching and research will find this book valuable. I’ve been using operators and special … Read more
If you wish you could be a famous actor like Wil Wheaton, after reading this book you might understand that being a famous actor is not all cracked up to be. This is a guy who has had a hit movie and a hit TV show. Not many actors can claim one of each, and … Read more
Jennifer Niederst follows her recently released Learning Web Design, a book for those just starting Web design, with an updated Web Design in a Nutshell that takes novice to intermediate designers to the next level and is also useful as a desktop quick reference. Many buy such books and end up never opening them or … Read more
The book is based on Land’s Web site of the same name, spamletters.com, which I discovered a few years ago and submitted a letter. The spam letter in question is about hydrogen peroxide and it’s included in the book (p. 112). The original letter is presented along with Land’s creative and hilarious reply to the … Read more
That guy is hot! That guy is cool! Hot and cool are opposites, yet they mean the same thing when talking about that guy. My Polish grandmother is going to polish her silverware. Amazing what a difference a capital P makes. The knight rides at night in the rain and gets pneumonia. Here we go … Read more
How’s this for irony? I watched The Shipping News a couple of days ago before reading this book. One of my favorite parts of the movie was the main character learning how to write strong headlines. Instead of the dull “Horizon Fills with Dark Clouds,” his co-worker suggested, “Imminent Storm Threatens Village.” The main character, … Read more
We encounter politics in our lives daily, and it’s not just the kind we see in Washington, DC. It’s handling delicate situations in just the right way with the right words and the right actions to avoid making it worse or more uncomfortable. It can be a simple case of the harried volunteer who can’t … Read more
Draw your customers in with a handful of powerful copy. No, no, you don’t have to go to college to make it happen nor do you have to buy a doorstopper-sized book, which gets dusty before you muster the strength to crack it open. Are you like me? A kid in a candy store when … Read more
Godin’s previous book, Purple Cow, presents examples of how to stand out from the herd. Free Prize Inside shows how to make that happen. It answers questions of “How do you create a Purple Cow?” “How do you make something sell itself?” When we buy cereal, especially kiddie cereal, what’s the best part? The free … Read more