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Now this really does feel strange. It's a Wednesday but I'm actually writing my Rated Hot column ... the one I usually write on Thursday ... today. I'm doing it today because tomorrow I won't be sitting in my office at all ... instead I'll be on the deck of a boat way out in the water playing with some huge whales ... and I'll be getting paid to do it.

Yep if you're reading this tomorrow I won't be here ... I'll be out whale-watching and getting a different perspective on life. There's something rather humbling about being on a large pleasure craft ... completely out of sight of land ... and have a huge whale swim under the boat.

If you look to the right you see its head and good part of its body and when you cross to the other side of the deck you can see a lot more of its body and its tail and suddenly you feel very small ... and very insignificant. You begin to realize that just one flick of its tail would probably destroy the boat your on and ... well its scary and awe-inspiring all at the same time.

So the next time you sit at your computer and feel totally bullet-proof and very important just remember that you're just a very small speck on a planet that's full of creatures that are far more powerful than you are.

For me that does change the way I look at things that were once so important to me ... now I hardly bother about them. I know that Steve feels the same way and the guy I once knew as a fairly sharp keyboard warrior never seems to let little things bother him anymore.

Like me, he'll offer advice and support but if people don't take it or rubbish what he has to say then he doesn't get upset anymore. He doesn't feel the urge to retaliate and get into a war that really is of no significance. If people don't want to listen to experience then that's their concern and if they crash and burn well ... too bad.

So what do you do when someone attacks you on a message board? Are you a keyboard warrior or do you just let it go?

I can tell you from personal experience that life is much nicer for those who don't get into pissing matches on webmaster boards. Nobody every really wins those fights and all that you end up doing is wasting time posting nasty comments when you could be doing something constructive like making money.

I know that staying out of them can be hard but there's nothing to be gained by getting involved in them and sometimes there's much to be lost.

Copywriting One of the jobs we've finished and delivered already this week was an important brochure for a client. My partner Steve is the guy in this business who does the copywriting and I have to say that I think he's quite good at it ... our clients certainly like what he produces for them.

On the other hand Steve thinks he sucks at it so it came as no surprise when I went into his office early this morning to find him reading an article on copywriting. A couple of points in the article that he was reading really resonated with me and they're worth mentioning here.

The first one that caught my eye as I read over Steve's shoulder stressed the importance of fixing your spelling mistakes. Why? Well they make you look dumb and no one ... not even people who want to buy porn ... are encouraged to buy something that's being recommended by someone who is dumb.

Not only that but if you're producing something for someone else they're not going to come back to you for more work if what you've done is full of spelling mistakes.

The second point that caught my eye suggested that we really need to let the people that we're trying to sell to that they're buying from another human being and not a machine. If you keep your language personal, friendly and informal you may just sell a whole lot more in this market than you would if you raved on like some sexually depraved lunatic.

There's a difference between hardcore language and coming across as a sexually depraved lunatic who really wouldn't know a porn site that delivered good content from one that didn't. After all, would you buy something from someone who sounded like they were crazy?

Now I'm off to charge up the camera batteries and get ready for a great time with some truly awesome creatures.