Monthly Archives: October 2019


Beware of fake statistics 1

Some research I recently did for an article turned up a statistic that would have made a nice centerpiece: 60% of small businesses that experience cyberattacks go out of business within six months! If I were a hack writer, I could just have run with it; it’s “confirmed” on plenty of websites. But it smelled phony.

First, what exactly is it counting? It doesn’t even say “successful” cyberattacks. Let’s assume it means that, though. Almost every business falls victim to some malware. The consequences can be small or huge. It might contact a server that no longer exists and do nothing. It might attempt to encrypt files for ransomware but fail. It might mine for cryptocurrency, send spam, or try to enlarge a botnet. Those are all bad but won’t usually destroy the business.

Second, how much of the correlation is causation? Small businesses have high mortality rates in general. It just isn’t plausible that cyberattacks are wiping out huge numbers of small companies.
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Medium’s new payment model

Just as I thought I was starting to figure Medium out, they’ve completely changed the payment model. This is what they’ll be doing, starting October 28:

1. We will calculate earnings based on the reading time of Medium members.

2. We will include reading time from non-members too, once they become members.

3. Your earnings will be updated daily, not weekly.

4. Your story stats will show new metrics to explain your earnings.

For more information, please read our blog post here. [no link]

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A while back, I got a solicitation from a Dan Marzullo saying, “I run a small copywriting firm and I’m looking for another writer to add to the team.” I didn’t respond, since it felt like mass marketing. Since then I’ve learned that he’s contacted other writers I know and may not have represented his conflicts of interest accurately. I recommend not dealing with him. Inadvertently violating your existing agreements can really mess up your business.


Constant Content spam

Lately I’ve been getting unwanted promotional email from Constant Content, even though I haven’t written for them or logged in there in at least two years. When I tried to “unsubscribe” (which would imply that I had ever subscribed), their website told me I wasn’t on their list.

I’ve seen indications from other writers that they’re getting spammed too. If Constant Content has started spamming its inactive writers, that suggests desperation.


I’m on Medium.com

I’ve started posting articles on Medium.com. Please follow and clap if you’re so inclined.

Here’s the link for the RSS feed. It works in the Leaf reader, but the WordPress sidebar widget doesn’t recognize it, so I can’t add the feed on this site. You can try bookmarking it in your favorite feed reader; let me know if it works or doesn’t.

My latest article, as of this post, is “Remembering the Salem Witch Executions”.