There’s a really interesting discussion going on in the comment section of Bryan’s post – The More You Post, The Better You Rank.  Technorati released a report that found the top blogs post multiple times a day.   Bryan asked if readers prefer blogs with multiple posts or a single daily posts   The reaction has been mixed.   Some prefer multiple posts, some prefer one meaty post.

There’s an important parallel here with newsletters.  If you’re going to go through the effort of creating…

...continue to read "How to Write Newsletters That People Actually Read"

So many of the websites I see today are designed for the spontaneous – for those who just want to jump in and take action. They can get answers to their questions later.

But what about the methodicals – those who want their questions answered BEFORE they jump in and take action?

I found two different online dating sites with these two different approaches to getting visitors to interact with and sign up with their sites.

Match.com – Their home page is pure spontaneous…

...continue to read "Is Love Spontaneous or Methodical?"

One of the key things we teach in our Persuasive Online Copywriting course is how to speak to your customers, in their language, about what they care about.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson should have attended our course.   According to many analysts, he’s doing a terrible job of selling the bailout package to the American people.

MSN Money blogger Charley Blaine talks about the problem, and how he thinks, of all people, Jim Cramer has it right on how to put the bailout plan into…

...continue to read "Why Henry Paulson Needs to Attend Our Copywriting Course"

With so many societal advances, with men and women playing more equal roles (we don’t have equality yet, but we’re certainly closer than we’ve been in the past) I would have put down money on the fact that the gender gap was decreasing, or that women were taking on more male traits, certainly.

According to a New York Times article, the opposite is happening - gender gaps are widening.

When men and women take personality tests, some of the old Mars-Venus stereotypes keep…

...continue to read "Are Gender Gaps Widening?"

I’ve done a lot of research on male vs. female communication styles.  But apparently these gender differences aren’t limited to conversation, there are also distinct linguistic styles in texting.   This bit of linguistic difference even helped convict a man of murder.

Jenny Nicholl disappeared on 30th June 2005. A linguistic analysis showed that text messages sent from her phone were unlikely to have been written by her but, rather, were more likely to have been written by her ex-lover, David Hodgson. A number of…

...continue to read "Texting, Linguistics, Gender and Murder"

We all run contests – you know- giving away cool things, like a free pass to a conference.   But how do you announce the contest winner?   Brains on Fire came up with a unique, and I would guess viral, way to announce the winner of their Society for Word Of Mouth – SWOMFest ticket giveaway.

Check out the video.

Editors Note: While we are talking viral videos, have you seen possibly one of the best “experiential” ads online?

...continue to read "Now THAT’S How You Announce a Contest Winner"

Ying Cheng and I share one thing in common – we hate pink phones.

OK, actually, we share a few things in common.   But one of them is an interest in technology designed specifically for women.   Too often, we see big companies who want to reach out to the women’s market, so they simply take an existing product and make it pink.   We’re both members of the “no pink phones’ movement.  But the difference between Ying and I is, Ying actually took action and…

...continue to read "No Pink Phones – A New Twist on Technology for Women"

Move over Soccer Mom – there’s a new political label in town.   Hockey Mom.

While past elections focused on the key voting block of the Soccer Mom, now it appears there may be a new focus.  This year, we have a candidate who is a self-proclaimed ”Hockey Mom”.

As a marketing to women enthusiast, and a long-time researcher of Soccer Moms, this is one of those marketing insight opportunities that has me salivating.  How will this “Hockey Mom” thing play out with voters?

One of the main…

...continue to read "Hockey Mom Vs. Soccer Mom – Will It Win Votes?"

It’s an important and disturbing question.   There have been several studies done that show the negative effect of all these anorexic models on women’s self-esteem. But do those super skinny models actually sell more clothes?

Heather Strang at RetailDesignDiva.com has a fascinating article on the subject.  Here’s a sample:

Jeremy Kees, a business professor at Villanova had this quote to share: “The really interesting result we’re seeing across multiple studies is that these thin models make women feel bad, but they like it.…

...continue to read "Do Ultra Thin Models Sell More Clothes?"

Why is it that live chat icons always feature pretty girls with a headset?    Why not have a good looking guy with a headset?

Is the strategy that men will want to talk to a pretty girl?  And women may be more comfortable talking to another woman than a man?   I don’t know.   But a recent study might provide some answers.

Robert Dooley at Future Lab has a great post A Pretty Woman Beats a Good Loan Deal.  He looks at a case…

...continue to read "Can An Image of a Pretty Woman Boost Conversion?"