Navient COVID-19 email: not just vacuous, but deceptive

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Are you helping your customers right now, or screwing them? Like so many other companies, Navient, a student loan servicer, sent a vacuous, unhelpful email about the COVID-19 pandemic. You could easily ignore it, or just give it a cursory read. But because of changes passed by Congress, many borrowers don’t have to pay anything … Continued

If you can’t sell right now, you may as well be generous

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Coronavirus has frozen your business in place. Nobody’s buying. Nobody’s even able to buy. What should you do? Be generous. Give stuff away to your customers. It’s simple. The only real asset you still have is customer relationships. You also have workers — unless you’ve let them go — and those workers are used to … Continued

Coronavirus reveals the schmuck deficit

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Have you been good to your customers? They will stand by you now. Have you been mean? Then don’t be surprised when they desert you in your time of need. That’s the schmuck deficit. Payback is a bitch. Many of the companies, large and small, that I deal with regularly are hurting right now. I’m … Continued

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan takes a step in the right direction on privacy

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As we all try to work from home, Zoom videoconferencing has become the hottest company on the planet. It’s also at the center of a firestorm of criticism on privacy and security. Yesterday, CEO Eric S. Yuan tried to address the problem. His post is a good first step, but now Zoom has to follow … Continued

Join me Monday 6 April, 5pm ET, for another author checkin

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Your warmth sustained me in our last checkin. I want to return the favor. I’ll start with a comforting reading from the greatest nonfiction book I’ve ever read, Hegarty on Creativity, by John Hegarty. Then warmth, support, and answers for any of your questions about books, writing, and life. Mark your calendar for 5pm ET … Continued

How authors can work with a cartoonist

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I’m currently editing a book that will include cartoons. Cartoons will make the book much more enjoyable, even as they drive home the points in the chapters. And I’ve never had this much fun working. Today: what it’s like to work with a cartoonist. This isn’t my first book with cartoons. For Marketing to the … Continued

Reflections from five years of “Without Bullshit”

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On March 26, 2015, I launched this blog and my freelance business. In this moment when we’re all looking forward in terror, I’m looking backward and reflecting. Maybe there is something to be learned from my last five years — and if you’ve been suddenly thrust into freelancing, perhaps it can help you. Before I … Continued