An image of printed pages, stronger than ever.

Why Print Lingers: And why your content strategy MUST still include print.

What did they say when the “information super-highway” was first launched? Oh yeah. “Print is dead.” At one point, it seemed like print had ...

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

God, Darwin, Philosophers, and Apologists

Faith vs Science? Why do we have to choose? What's really behind this struggle? I just watched the 1960 film Inherit the Wind, directed by Stanley ...

Outsourcing as a Productivity Tool

There are sound economic reasons for outsourcing, but management experts advise caution. The ebb and flow of economics always play havoc on ...

content for niche markets

Content writing to move your niche market.

Basic concepts for content writing that anyone can master. This tutorial will help drive audience engagement and interaction for any niche ...

heavypen - end of seo cheats

The Google Endgame and how it killed SEO Cheats.

Why is Google so aggressive about fighting SEO cheats and shortcuts? Why do ‘white hat’ strategies and tactics produce better payoffs at the ...

man standing on a rock by himself

The Sisyphean Torture of Writing an Unfinished Novel

I don't know how many journalists I have met who have said, "I'm writing a novel." Maybe it's like being a waiter who aspires to be an actor or ...

rewrite edit text on a typewriter

How to search for a freelance writer for your project.

Take a shortcut and start with a “heavypen.” If you’re reading this, you’re looking for a freelance writer for a marketing communications ...

What is Love

What Love Is

Or what love isn't. Considering Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Ever wonder what God intended for us to do through Love? Paul Simon ...

working the angles

Working the Angles of Content Creation

Agonizing over content creation for your website? Don't drive yourself nuts. Learn the angles and repurpose old posts into new ones. Cynics say that ...

the geometry of content creation

Guerrilla Geometry for Content Creation

Guerrilla Marketing is not about working cheap. It's about building smarter strategies for content creation and marketing - with a little help ...

A Policy for Science

A Policy for Science

Our technological advancements are evidence of a vibrant culture of science and research. Why is science left out of the public policy-making ...

More foolish art

Meet the Chief Executive Fool

Nuclear disasters, record-breaking oil spills, financial meltdowns? What can a fool tell us when smart people have failed? There are all kinds of ...

photo-by-rosan-harmens

Advice for the Fearful Blogger in a 3-Part Plan

Time to get over your fear of blogging. It's easier than we think: getting over fear. Good thing, too. While fear is the very thing that stops us ...

Photos by Tracy Thomas and Jason Rosewell

Content Strategy amid Multichannel, Multiscreen, Content Consuming Craziness

Do we fight or join the media madness? I admit it... I am a social media voyeur. I enjoy watching how people react to the latest news and bombshell ...

photo-by-mayur-gala

Is Your Free Will God’s Will?

The bigger question for free will is, what's its purpose? Of course, we have free will - it's the source of humanity's greatness and its worst ...

5-Point Silo Strategy for SEO and SERP

5-Point Content Silo Plan that will help you Boost Your Search Results Strategy

Build a Content Silo Strategy that stacks up SERP-focused content rich with relevant and tightly targeted search terminology—and triggers the ...

the temptation and peril of spam

The Temptation (and the perils) of Spamdexing

Tempted to “fix” bad website ranking with some SEO tricks? Confessions from a former Spamdexer. First, full disclosure - I am a recovered ...

Age of Pericles

Is America Experiencing a Leadership Crisis?

People complain that our leaders aren't what they used to be. How about We the People - are we blameless? These days, it feels as though the the ...

David Bowie sign

David Bowie: The Last of the Young Dudes – RIP

David Bowie has died. Finally, I can say that my youth has gone. The ultimate YOUNG DUDE has passed away today. RIP David Bowie. Am I being too ...

Modern Journalism in a Modern Democracy: Who watches the Watchdogs?

Three things that everyone can do to shed opinion bias. Adrian Vore of the San Diego Union-Tribune echos a long-held opinion among some that ...

Confessions from a Failed Screenwriter

An old friend posted a photo on his Facebook page. The image was of me, Peter Burke, and Steve Werblun hamming it up during a break. My first ...

UFO?

Thank you Endeavour

Caught a glimpse of the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it flew very close to my house today. The clip is quite short - but I was able to catch a few nice ...

Negotiation-satiety

Moderation in Negotiation (without the blood)

Achieving a sense of satiety and balance by creating sustainable agreements. Continues "Negotiating Without Bloodshed" Ideally, ...

How to Survive a Negotiation, without the Bloodshed

The Measure of Success is not how many bodies you rack up.  An old guy once told me that negotiation was like two men getting into a wagon. ...

Punch Rhodes Colossus as a symbol of business ventures abroad

Ready to Handle Business Abroad?

Get rid of your cultural stereotypes. International Business - words that provoke simultaneous mental eruptions of mystery, myth, and fear. And for ...

Don't axe your most valuable asset

Marketing Budgets: Don’t cut your most valuable asset

Control your costs. Trim your budgets. However, before you cut your marketing program, consider Cost-of-Acquisition as a valuable asset, and act ...

Writer’s Journey: Plagiarism, Ethics, and Stealing

Some smart guy once said that “familiarity is the breeding ground of all contempt for the law.” Maybe it was Machiavelli. I believe that it also ...

A tribute image for the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The Ache in My Heart is Japanese

The stories from Japan couldn't be more grim. The earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, was devastating - on a magnitude that was very hard to ...

The Revolt of the Masses

PART II: "Mass Man" and Kinetics Following Part I, my review and reflections of Jose Ortega's seminal book "La Rebelión de las Masas" (tr. The ...

The Revolt of the Masses

Part I: The scary stuff I have a thirst for philosophical discussions about human communication: how we communicate, why we bother, and to what ...

I Report for CNN

Cynical about Political Cynicism

I have grown weary of whiny journalists and pundits who have such a limited understanding of history and narrow appreciation for what it takes to ...

Coffee Drinkers have Rhythm

I'm a habitual coffee drinker, and I have people around me (doctors, mostly) poking at me to curtail the java for fear that I'll develop some ...

Well Rising

Well Rising

Can Poetry Save the Earth? I was rummaging through some notes and rediscovered this wonderfully written poem called 'The Well Rising' by William ...

solar-power-systems-for-government-military

“Net Zero” for the U.S. Military

This is a headline that stopped me completely: The U.S. Army's New Solar Power Plant Reflecting on the US Army's constant need for energy, I ...

photo-by-hannah-wei

Reality of the “Creative Class”: Outsourced and Outbid by Mediocrity

Led by cost-drivers and faulty notions of management, businesses abandoned the Creative Classes with hand-over-fist outsourcing. They discovered ...

photo-by-jordan-mcqueen

Optimism: Acceptance of the Past; Mindfulness of the Present

The optimism I learned from Buddha, grows in my heart with Jesus. First, a little background. My father was a professed atheist. A smart man, but ...

snyder faith story

Peace and grace be with you Snyder, wherever you are.

How a chance meeting changed my mind about how we find faith. I was driving a 24' truck filled with props for Anaheim Ballet's annual performance of ...

Photo by photo-Rodion-Kutsaev

My Green Hedge on Inflation

Why a 'green hedge' on energy inflation works and makes practical sense. No matter where you are in this discussion philosophically or politically, ...

So very very pretty…

I've been bragging about my solar panels. I suppose it's time that I show folks what they look like. By the way, those panels are from First Solar - ...

How the profits stacked up – Nov. 2, 2009

CNN MONEY: How the profits stacked up - Nov. 2, 2009 Good solid news for the economy. On other online venues, I'm known for my high optimism ...

marijuana plant

One State At a Time: Marijuana Prohibition is Ending

Looking forward to the end of a senseless prohibition. Back in 2009, Times Online writer Andrew Sullivan speculated the end of "senseless ...

Photo by Kamesh Vedula

Yet Another Email Scam

I received an email today announcing that a defunct magazine that I once edited has won the "2009 Best of Laguna Beach Award" in the graphic arts ...

doc-with-gloves

Distorted Facts on Distorted Demand

The chief cause for the American health care crisis isn't the cost – it's the debate. I do not enjoy enthusiastic politics. I don't join parties. ...

Heavy Homework is no fun

Heavy Homework is Good for Kids

A million kids groaned when researchers from the University of Nebraska announced their finding earlier this month: homework is good for you, the ...

Now, I’m getting serious…

I am a freelance public relations professional, writer, marcom specialist, social networker and expert communicator. But alas, I'm also a frustrated ...

Roasting Chestnuts

Cue: Perry Como, "The Christmas Song," otherwise known as the "chestnut song." Do you hear the smooth tones dribbling over easy ...

roasted chestnuts

The Joy of Chestnuts, the Pleasure of the Roast

About this time of year, it's Perry Como who takes me back to the happier days of my childhood. Specifically, Como crooning about the long tradition ...

half-opened-macbook-laptop

Have You Had Your Wake Up Call for Security: Are you protected?

My Hard-Won 6-Step Security Checklist Tell me if you've experienced any of these security events: You've noticed a spike in email from various ...

Heavypen website logo

Very Heavy – Since 1997

My journey began with this website. Heavypen.com was my first website. I launched it in 1997. The pic on the right is as the site looked around at ...