As usual, we’ve been scouring the web to bring you a few can’t miss content items. Here’s this week’s selection, and feel free to add your own in a comment!
We love Jedi mind tricks here at Neuromarketing, and here are nearly two dozen that might just change your life! Some we’ve written about, others we haven’t (yet). Find them in 23 Genius Hacks For Your MIND That Will Get You Ahead In Life. Viral Nova (@ViralNova) helps you understand people through their body language and lots more. These are quick hits with little background detail, but sometimes bite-size is good.
Are you smart enough to be a Jeopardy champion? Probably not, but IBM’s Watson is. How The Second Machine Age Will Transform Marketing at Marketing Land (@Marketingland) suggests that major machine intelligence may soon invade the marketing space. “Tough competitor” for $800, Alex! Or should you pick “Big Opportunity” for $400?
Read any book, article, or blog post about how to be productive and get organized, and you’ll likely find “Make a to-do list” as one of the major recommendations. That conventional wisdom is challenged, though, by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania. This most common organization tool has a downside, as reported in That ‘To-Do’ List May Lead to Stress and Risk.
I always look forward to the weekly Which Test Won? (@WhichTestWon) challenges, in which they show you two different ads or landing pages and ask you to predict which performed better. I got this one right, and if you read Brainfluence, you probably will too – see how good you are in this A/B Test. Can you guess which version increased sales by 10%?
Whether we hae free will or not sounds like a question mostly relevant to philosophy majors and their professors. But, it’s very relevant to marketers, too. Neuromarketing for Dummies author Steve Genco (@stevengenco) discusses a major Atlantic article by Paul Bloom in Do nonconscious processes make consumer choice an illusion?.
The folks at MarketingProfs know at least two things: how to write a great headline, and how to make websites perform. Matt Gagnon‘s Is Your Website Dead or Just Sleeping? A Vital Six-Point Checklist for Your Site covers both of those bases.
My Stuff
You’ve been told forever that first impressions are important, but you probably weren’t told that you have just 100 milliseconds to make that impression. In my Forbes post First Impressions: Incredibly Quick To Form, Slow To Change, I describe several research projects that describe not only how quickly they are formed, but also how they persist even in the face of contradictory evidence.
I first met Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) years ago at SXSW, but I had my longest and most interesting conversation with Chris when we taped the latest episode of The Brainfluence Podcast. Listen online or grab the transcript at Episode #7: Chris Brogan on Freaks, Owners, and Entrepreneurs. We cover lots of ground, from why there are bats (the furry, flying kind) on the cover of his new book to whether some would-be entrepreneurs should just stick with their day jobs. We even hit why the most important thing in dieting isn’t the diet. Don’t miss this one!
If you are a marketer trying to make your way in the new world of complete transparency and digital engagement with your customers, you need a guide. A great starting point is Spin Sucks by Gini Dietrich. Gini introduces us to a new concept of public relations and marketing communication that avoids spin and focuses on your brand’s story, told with honesty and transparency. Gini Dietrich‘s (@ginidietrich) talks content, community, and more in a straightforward, action-focused manner.
Just in case you missed last week’s best stuff from around the Web, check The Perfect Landing Page, Story Power, More… You’ll find a totally different selection of eclectic but (mostly) relevant content.
Weird and/or Wonderful
Here’s something to think about… deeply! Brain imaging researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) recently released a new study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. This paper talked about How Different Types of Meditation Affect the Brain. Via PsychCentral (@PsychCentral).
Remember, we continue to buck the trend of turning off comments – you are welcome to add your own great find below!
Will be checking out that podcast! Great stuff.. I’ve been looking into different neuromarketing techniques and always been alittle scared off.. It seems pretty heavy! Do I need a PHd to get this? lol..
I’ll be following this blog, see if I can’t pick a few tricks up..