NOTCOT—a model for success

http://www.notcot.com/, a site dedicated to perpetuating creative thought via design references is a great source for what's what on the hipness front. In a universe of great ideas/less-great execution, it is a successful example of serious collaboration. So many sites are built on the foundation of an untested idea and someone who can get stuff up on a website.

Read NOTCOT's background and you get a feel for the level of dedication it takes to build, grow and maintain a spark of creativity. The marketing model is basic—anyone could do it. The success is the team behind it and their constant attention to detail and their adherence to their mission.

The answer to the question, "What has this to do with tips and tricks in the marketplace?" is, if you want a full-time salary plus profit from a web endeavor, be prepared to work as hard as this group has. There are no concepts on the web that simply go viral with no effort.

copywriting for the net

SEO, search engine optimization, has been the golden fleece of internet marketing. Capture it and you realize your prophecized quest for success. Good copywriting suppports good design. The two must work hand in hand to turn SEO into revenue. This site's glossary is an easy-to-absorb list of pertinent net-writing terms as they relate to your site's search engine success.

http://www.searchenginewriting.com/glossary.shtml

Best proofreading method on the planet

I talk big because I like making monumental generalizations from obscure ideas. My proofreading's superiority claim has been backed up in the May, 1987 issue of "Gross Generalizations" magazine. I wrote a letter to the editor thanking them, but they never printed it. On to the meat of the post.

Assuming you have just written or edited some copy - read it word for word forward twice. Once out loud helps. This gives you a chance to test the flow, grammar and syntax. Next, read it backwards, one word at a time. Out of context, misspellings stand out, making them easy to correct prior to publication. While this deprives readers of that smug sense of superiority they get catching you in a typo, it gives you the warm glow of keeping your act together and depriving them of that satisfaction. Let them read this and get their own typo fix.

Many people rely on spell check. But it can't differentiate words with two spellings and divergent meanings. So if your typo happens to be a real word, you REALLY look foolish to savvy readers. To not-so-savvy readers, you leave them scratching their heads.