How to make money from plagiarism

This should be a simple story. When Monica Gaudio wrote a history of apple pie, she owned the copyright. When Cooks Source magazine copied it, edited it and published it without anyone’s permission, they violated the copyright. Or  maybe not? Here’s the response when Gaudio contacted the magazine: “Yes Monica, I have been doing this […]

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November 4, 2010 Read the full post →

How to get ready to fail

Last week I was listening to Doug Hall motivate the MaineBiz Momentum Convention to innovate and strive to be meaningfully unique. There was a lot of good stuff there. While Doug was explaining how fear of failure got in the way, I got a text from the Pittsburgh Steelers that said: “Emmanuel Sanders is AFC […]

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November 2, 2010 Read the full post →

It’s your First Follower who does most of your work

I picked up this cool piece of SWAG at the MaineBiz Momentum Convention last week. It’s plastic holder of tiny sticky notes. The strips come in seven colors – which should appeal to the organized labelers out there. It appeals to me because I’ve taken to using the tiny sticky strips as bookmarks for business […]

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November 1, 2010 Read the full post →

Put down the holiday cliche, and no one gets hurt

I agree there should be some sort of law against starting the holiday shopping season this early. But it’s still not too early to work up your holiday marketing plans. While you’re strategizing and crafting material, I want you to keep something in mind. There is one phrase I want you to remember: Tis the […]

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November 1, 2010 Read the full post →

This dancing baby is defending fair use on the Internet

Basically, copyright law says you can’t perform a song without paying royalties. There are fair use provisions that say you can use portions in transformative works. What fair use means is one of the reasons why there are intellectual property lawyers. It’s a fuzzy concept. That fuzziness gets exploited by infringers and copyright holders. Perhaps […]

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October 30, 2010 Read the full post →

Why I want you to put your content behind a paywall

If you like reading newspaper and periodical content for free, read as much as you can now. At least that’s what a publisher of a niche publication told me this week. It’s crazy to be putting it on the Web for free when they expect readers to buy the paper versions. And the aggregators are […]

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October 29, 2010 1 comment Read the full post →

How to make blogging easier

Chris Brogan has some of the most useful advice for bloggers. A recent post addresses how to keep coming up with ideas: Topic ideas usually come up from thinking of what will be most useful to your readers and audience. For instance, my audience is heavily comprised of marketers and small business entrepreneurs, as well […]

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October 28, 2010 Read the full post →

How to pick a great name for your startup

I got some great tips for picking a name for your new business. These tips are worth reading for one simple reason: Entrepreneurs regret. One more reason why spending calories on picking a great name is important: It’s a one-time cost to get a great name — but the benefit is forever. Conversely, if you […]

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October 18, 2010 3 comments Read the full post →

How to make sure you’re getting the right projects

Good steps for establishing a process that will help you win worthwhile projects: Take Control. Determine the Problem to Be Solved. Learn More About the Prospective Client. Learn More About the Work. Check for Budget. Avoid Jumping Through Hoops. Ask for the Work. via 7 Secrets to Winning Better Projects — Faster | FreelanceFolder.

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October 15, 2010 Read the full post →

Track and listen to your loyal customers

Apparently there’s a lot more to customer loyalty programs than offering 10 percent off. According to a study conducted by Bain & Co., although 80 percent of companies believe they offer a superior customer experience, only 8 percent of their customers agree. Based on a recent study of 200 companies worldwide, we’ve identified six steps […]

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October 15, 2010 Read the full post →