There was a good article in Sunday’s New York Times by Steve Lohr, called “Slow Down, Multitaskers, and Don’t Read in Traffic”

“Confident multitaskers of the world, could I have your attention?

Think you can juggle phone calls, e-mail, instant messages and computer work to get more done in a time-starved world? Read on, preferably shutting out the cacophony of digital devices for a while.

Several research reports, both recently published and not yet published, provide evidence of the limits of multitasking. The…

...continue to read "Tell the Truth: Have You Ever Read Email in Traffic?"

Phony & Plastic! Are you that company? The one that claims they are the… #1!, leading!, premiere!, fastest!, greatest!, smartest!, most dynamic!… blah blah blah. All that chest-pounding translates into some anemic saccharine sweet copy. The tone is in sharp contrast to today’s customer demands for greater transparency and authenticity.

Customers want the real deal. Your customers want to to know “what is in it for me?” HOW DOES YOUR COPY MEASURE UP? Care to find out?

Let’s take a look at…

...continue to read "How to Measure Your We We"

Joel Stein of the Los Angeles Times says in his column that he doesn’t care.

“Here’s what my Internet-fearing editors have failed to understand: I don’t want to talk to you; I want to talk at you. A column is not my attempt to engage in a conversation with you….” read the rest of his column

I admire his courage.

I do care. What do you think about what Joel Stein has to say in his column?

...continue to read "Have Something to Say? “I Don’t Care” says Joel Stein"

Some kids grow up wanting to become president. But if you really want your child to make something of their life, they’ll say “When I grow up, I want to be a copywriter.”

Hey, there are only so many president posts open. But according to Yahoo!, copywriter is one of 2007’s hottest professions. Thanks to Tom Chandler at the Copywriter Underground for picking up on this, by the way. If you’re a copywriter and not reading Tom Chandler, you are seriously missing…

...continue to read "Persuasive Online Copywriting Course 4/17/07"

Mike Mindel was recently interviewed by Perry Marshall. You can listen to the interview on the WordTracker blog or download it to your iPod for future listening. In this interview, they cover a broad range of topics including:

Why are keywords important? How to mine under-rated keyword gems in the hyper-competitive Pay-Per-Click marketing space. How Wordtracker generates their keyword data: Where it comes from and how to use it. How to identify fast-moving opportunities using keyword trends. What competition indicators like KEI mean…

...continue to read "WordTracker’s Mike Mindel with Perry Marshall"

Sliding, expanding, unfolding, cascading, fancy-pants hovering, animated navigational elements on web sites are the programming equivalent of pencil-twirling. Some people might say it’s cool, until they actually have to find something on the site. Then it’s just annoying and distracting.

I have an old friend who is a twirler. Mostly pencils, but I’ve seen him twirl knives, forks, plates, food, even sofa cushions. He’s the kind of guy who would walk across a college campus twirling a textbook on his knuckles.…

...continue to read "Fancy-Pants Navigation and Pencil Twirling"

I have four kids that range in age from 4- to- 13. I must confess, sometimes being a marketing consultant feels too much like my nagging daddy role.

Anyone with kids knows the routine when you impart your wonderful child with a bit of wisdom.

“Son, do you want to get hurt?” “No, Daddy” “Then please don’t jump on the bed!” “Ok, Daddy”

Simple, right?

Then, about 8 minutes later, comes that ear shattering scream. Your son is curled up on the floor, clutching…

...continue to read "Thick Heads, PPC, B2B Demand Generation, and Converting Visitors"

Barry Schwartz reports that Google has just launched Pay-Per-Action ads.

According to Schwartz:

Google Pay Per Action will allow advertisers to create ads that cost only when a desired action is triggered. The advertiser sets the price per action; for example, an advertiser can decide to pay $5 per lead acquisition, as opposed to paying per click or per impression.

The New York Times ran an article on the subject entitled “Google Tests an Ad Idea: Pay Only for Results.”

Says Times reporter Miguel…

...continue to read "What Price Will You Pay for Action at Google?"

Would you describe yourself as Methodical, Competitive, Spontaneous, or Humanistic? Which of these terms would your friends, family, and co-workers use to describe you? Does your behavior online sometimes find you acting like more than just one of these types? Do you sometimes operate in different modes, depending on the site you’re visiting?

Over on the Lightspeed Venture Partners blog, Jeremy Liew insists that, “Broadly speaking, there are two types of internet user: Time Rich…and Time Poor.”

Time Poor people use the internet…

...continue to read "Are You Time Rich, Time Poor, or Both?"

Spending a few hours helping the “Mrs.” set up her new iPod Shuffle this weekend made me realize how slack I’ve been at downloading and listening to all my favorite podcasts (Sorry Jaffe).

Here’s what I’m listening to this week:

1) Harvard Business Review Ideacast: Episode 34 (iTunes link)

Tom Davenport and Jeanne Harris, co-authors of Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning explain how more and more leading companies are building their strategies around data-driven insights.

(Haven’t read their new book, but…

...continue to read "What’s New on Your iPod?"