The Contrast Principle and how much you’ll pay for anything
We as humans tend to key on contrast and judge value by the relationship of one thing to another. If we can find a comparable, we always do. The way Starbucks got us to buy $4 cups of coffee (er, you,...
View ArticleThe Most Important Email Address on Your Website
What happens when I send a note of praise to your company? Does it get handled efficiently and effectively? Does it build my loyalty or destroy it? I usually refrain from nasty notes. In most cases, I...
View ArticleRBT Threadwatch 3 (Nov – Dec)
Most of this is old, but I got sidetracked and never posted. Still some good reads here. Google Fear: how much do people fear google? More than they fear the NSA! (on CNet) Links: 21 Link Building...
View ArticleRBT Threadwatch #2 (Sept-Oct, 2014)
Apple Maps now letting businesses verify From my friend Marc Harris on the Facebook WIMP group (Web and Interactive Media Professionals)… You can now verify a local business directly on Apple Maps...
View ArticleRBT SEO Threadwatch #1
In order to be able the share things I find around the web related to SEO with friends, family and colleagues… I might actually do a second, maybe even a third RBT SEO Threadwatch. Google is rolling...
View ArticleYou Know You Have a Problem When… (MySpace edition)
… your most viewed helpdesk question is “How do I delete my account.” I realized that I actually have a MySpace account, though I have probably only ever looked at it five times total and not for many...
View ArticleDoes Google Care about Custom Excerpts in WordPress?
I’ve always been a fan of “custom excerpts” in WordPress rather than either showing the entire post or letting WordPress make a teaser based on the beginning of the post. Recently a colleague called...
View ArticleObesity, Rap and the Google Correlate Tool
Okay, this is too weird. I recently started playing with the Google Correlate tool and it’s cool and all, but I hadn’t put in my own data yet. Then I started thinking about what correlations I might...
View ArticleThe Wright Brothers’ Kites: Why the Bacon Number Calculator is the Key to the...
John T. Daniels photo of first sustained and controlled powered flight, 17 December 1903 (public domain). Google just recently announced a knew knowledge engine that allows users to uncover an...
View ArticleUnsubscribe Fail: How to Piss of Your Customers in One Simple Move
Okay, I’ll admit, bad unsubscribe options are a bit of a hangup for me. If I deign to let you put me on your newsletter list, I’m going to expect a reasonable unsubscribe process. Preferably one-click....
View ArticleTestimonial Fail
I just loved the service on keyword airlines! Source: Skymall catalog on a recent Delta flight. I’m sure this testimonial is 100% legitimate. I mean, your typical loving family peppers their speech...
View ArticleYou Can Always Yell Later
When I was about ten years old, my mom and I ran into a problem at the ski area where were skiing. This problem was 100% the fault of the ski area and was the result of what might be called...
View ArticleAre you my friend? Social norms versus market norms
Social norms and market norms are separate and you must not mix them. Social norms prevail in social situations. For example, if two friends go out skiing and one friend gives the others some pointers...
View ArticleThe Most Important Email Address on Your Website
What happens when I send a note of praise to your company? Does it get handled efficiently and effectively? Does it build my loyalty or destroy it? I usually refrain from nasty notes. In most cases, I...
View ArticleRBT Threadwatch 3 (Nov – Dec)
Most of this is old, but I got sidetracked and never posted. Still some good reads here. Google Fear: how much do people fear google? More than they fear the NSA! (on CNet) Links: 21 Link Building...
View ArticleKeyword Fail Part II
This one is not as much fun as my Testimonial Fail post that earned a mention by Brad Geddes. This one comes from someone advertising on Weather.com. Obviously this is a cheap spammy ad no matter where...
View ArticleFarmers and Miners
You’ve all seen the bumper sticker: “If it ain’t grown, it’s mined.” I realized some years ago that this is a powerful metaphor for many things in life and I started to divide people into farmers and...
View ArticleSix Essential Skills Scholars Can Learn from Copywriters
I just spent the morning going through applications for my 2010 French paleography course. As I was reading the applications, it struck me how ignoring basic copywriting practice hampers so many...
View ArticleWhy You Should Start an Interview Podcast Now
Seth Godin says that everyone should keep a blog and write a post a day for two years. Most blogs won’t become hugely successful, but the simple act of thinking up an article every day for two years...
View ArticleTwitter for Writers
My friend Greg Crouch is writing a book which I think has bestseller potential. He’s an engaging writer and he has a great story about the pilots that flew the Himalaya in World War II. But like me,...
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