photo credit: Nessa Land

One of our life-mottoes here at Blue Duck is that relationships matter. In fact, we believe life is all about relationships, everything else is just fluff or icing on the cake. That doesn’t make us relationship experts, or even mean that we get it right all the time. It just means that we expend considerable energy on improving and maintaining personal and professional relationships.

For those who don’t already know, I’m in the process of getting my Master’s Degree in Psychology in my spare time. In my studies, we took a look at Carl Jung and his theory on personality development, and I wanted to share that experience with you.

In my former life as an RN, I was responsible for providing a monthly inservice for employees, and I often chose to present an overview of differing personality types. When reading about Jung’s theories, I was instantly intrigued by the similarities and differences in Jung’s views when compared to what I had taught. So, I took the Carl Jung and Isabel Myers-Briggs typology test to see how I would score according to Jung’s categories. I was shocked to see such an accurate depiction of my complex personality. (Less than one percent of the population has the same personality type as I do.)

Empathy

All too often, we tend to view the world strictly through the rose colored glasses of our own thoughts and experiences and fail to infuse our relational interactions with a modest amount of empathy. We are often incapable of seeing things from another’s point of view.

In order to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, you must 1) get to know that person beyond the veneer of social fronts, 2) understand the motivating forces directing that person’s behavior, and 3) often take into consideration the major life events that helped shape that person’s view of the world.

Empathy is a powerful tool, in both personal and professional relationships. It can help you analyze your own strengths and weaknesses (as well as those of your competition) and strengthen the quality of your relationships. Empathy can help diffuse a confrontational situation, provide a connection to a new acquaintance, and produce insight into the behaviors of those around you. It is a crucial component of healthy relationships.

One tool that can help you increase your level of empathy is personality typing, like the one provided by Jung. You can take your own personality test for free here: Carl Jung and Isabel Myers-Briggs typology.

Understanding your own personality is often the first step in personal growth and professional achievement. It’s one of those little nuggets of truth in life that should be taught universally, at least in my opinion. If you would like to learn more about personality types, a popular view is the Four Temperaments. And for those of you familiar with Jung’s theories, I am not supporting all of his views. As with many of the major personality theorists that shape our modern view of psychology, he produced some insightful elements and some wonky ones. If you would like to read more about Jung’s personality theory relevant to the MBTI scoring, PeopleMaps has a decent post about the subject.

If you are interested, I scored as an INTP. My personality is that of a Rational Architect. If you’d like to comment on your own MBTI results, feel free to drop me an email or start a discussion below. You may be shocked at what your test results reveal.

photo credit: Dr Stephen Dann

Now, I have no desire to acquire hordes of possessions, climb to the top of some corporate ladder, or become a rock star at 35. I think this is more of a spiritual nudging that I’m not living up to my full potential. I am capable of more; I was created for better things. YOU were created for better things, too.

So, where is all this borderline motivational drivel leading to, you ask? In my quest to plan out a course for achieving more, I found a wonderful little nugget of truth and wisdom, tucked away in a far corner of the Internet, and I’d like to share it with you.

You see, I have a small problem; I am not an entrepreneur by nature. Confidence and drive and persuasion do not come naturally to me. But I am an innovative thinker.

I’m looking for a new road map today. I’m planning a route for better personal and professional relationships, a deeper spiritual life, a robust education, and a solid, innovative, fulfilling online business. I’m doing a life make-over, an early mid-life crisis, reinventing the wheel- whatever it takes, and I found an excellent starting line today thanks to Sitepoint.com and WhitneyHess.com.

If you are looking for a starting point for your online business, or even if your focus has gotten a little hazy, this presentation titled Evangelizing Yourself will help set you back on track. Watch it more than once and take notes, because Ms. Whitney is about to provide your road map for success with a side serving of motivation and confidence.

If you read yesterday’s post about creating environments, this is a continuation of that concept. I’d like to take a look at presenting the wrong environment.

The Wrong Way

The best example I can find of this concept is ArticleAnnouncer.com. This program comes highly recommended by one of my best SEO clients, and I wanted to check out their website. When I got there, the word “WHOA” flew out of my mouth like a curse word. The header reads “Urgent, time-sensitive message” and the glaring red, over-inflated font screams “CHEAP INFOMERCIAL”. This is not at all what I expected to find when searching for a quality product priced nearly 4 times as much as its nearest competitor.

Now, the content reads like a typical, high-pressure, sales copy letter. “HURRY, HURRY, HURRY! Only three spots left. You must buy now because you can’t live without this product! The price goes up in five, four, 3 minutes!” And those types of ads have their place. (At least that’s what marketing experts say.)

For me, these pushy in-your-face ads are insulting. They assume that I buy things from late-night infomercials. They assume I can be convinced to part with my hard earned cash in exchange for their brand of trash. They assume I am naive and gullible. (My four year old wants to buy everything from every commercial and infomercial. I think I’m a harder sell than that, and I think most consumers are as well.)

Why Use It?

So why use this tactic? Because it works in some cases. For those consumers who are not immediately put off by the flashy-trashy sales pitch, it creates an air of mysterious value, the urgency of impulsive buying, perhaps the promise of untold wealth, popularity, or happiness. Deep down, people want to believe these sales pitches. It works on a select target audience.

Most of us, however, are smart enough to see through the smoke and mirrors. But can your target audience?

The Competition

In comparison, let’s take a look at a different product that promises the same benefits. Article Announcer’s semi-competitor, ArticleMarketer.com, does a nice job of presenting the opposite environment. Their header reads, “Massive Backlinks and Search Term Domination. Article Marketer.” They present the benefits to the consumer up-front, and tie in their product name for better imprinting. The website is clean, easy to navigate, and has a wonderful graphic of a door opening that reads, “Come Inside to See How Easy This Is.”

Think about which product you would buy. The one that comes highly recommended, has a huge price tag, and an obnoxious website, or a similar product with a smaller price tag (but an added monthly subscription), a quality website, but fewer consumer praises?

Which would your customers buy?

“I am so glad you came! Come in, put your feet up by the fire and have some coffee. I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to!”

“The lobby’s that way. We’ll call you when it’s your turn. There’s a vending machine down the hall.”

All three of these interactions occur everyday in businesses all around the world. They could even describe the same situation, such as waiting for car repairs, interviewing for a job, or buying your first home. However, there are distinct differences between these environments.

They each create a distinct expectation.

Setting the Stage

Creating the right environment is crucial for any business. Consumers seek out goods and services that meet a particular need. Often, that need is purely emotional. They want to feel good about themselves, they want to purchase a product without feeling guilty, they want to feel important, popular, loved, or beautiful.

Figuring It Out

What motivates consumers to buy? What impression do your customers receive when they first visit your website or office? What are your customers looking for? If you don’t know these answers, you are hurting your business.

Creating the Right Environment

Why should you bother with creating an ideal environment for your customers?

1. If your customers receive what they are looking for emotionally, they are more likely to return, and will recommend your business to others.
2. You can charge more for the same products or services because of the implied value created by the right environment. Don’t believe me? Go read about Lance and his dentist.
3. Creating the right environment can significantly increase your ROI.
4. Customers are more at ease in the perfect environment, placing them in an optimal position for buying.

Do customers pay more for the right environment? You bet they do. Ask any Web designer.

The Lobby or the Lounge

Do your customers want to spend time in a lobby or a lounge? Does your website present this optimal environment? Who is your target audience, anyway?

If you don’t know, ask. Men With Pens offers Drive by Shooting Sundays, where they provide a professional evaluation of your website, complete with recommended changes, for a small fee.

Read up on marketing and sales. “But I’m not a salesperson! I hate sales.” Well, if you are in business to make money, you are a salesperson. Even if you are writing your first novel, you are peddling your words to an agent or potential readers, even as you put those first words on paper.

Go read Graham Strong‘s post on the Art of Perception. He has some great tips and insight into what helps create that optimal environment.

Be smart about crafting your business. Your competitors are.

In compensation, I’m leaving you with a link to Michael Martine’s guest post about How to Pitch Bloggers and Actually Get Through (without bugging them). Although it’s actually written for PR people, I think most of the article applies to fellow bloggers as well.

Read the post, put on your favorite Perry the Platypus hat, and go undercover.

My Reservations

What’s my biggest reservation about Twitter? I’m afraid it will kill my productivity. Email eats enough time, now I’ll be tempted to check Twhirl every 2 minutes, too. I estimate that Twitter will eat at minimum an hour each day. That scares me.

Despite being referred to as a “blogging butterfly”, I tend to buck the usual social norms. I like to think for myself. I don’t define myself by popularity status or the ability to conform to the latest fads. I like swimming upstream. I value unconventionality. Great achievements in life come from those who are not afraid to be different and dive deep. That’s how I want to live.

The Allure of Twitter

So, why did I do it, you ask? I love people. Not just people who think and act like I do – all kinds of people. I like to be spurred to bigger and better things. I need to learn from others, both professionally and personally. I revel in finding a new blog of interest. It’s like getting an unexpected present when your birthday is months away. Twitter has the potential to provide what I need.

I also acknowledge that Twitter is here to stay. Sure, in 10 maybe 15 years it may be replaced with something new, but it’s growing by leaps and bounds and people whose opinions I respect are singing its praises. I know enough to listen up when the E F Huttons of Blogopolis speak.

Twitter Away

I have as of yet to tweet anything other than a thank you to direct messages. I’m still lurking, trying to get a feel for the Twitter tide. I’ve done some reading on Twitter, and I’ll be doing much more before the week’s end. Darren Rowse has some terrific Twitter wisdom, and I’m sure I’ll be stumbling upon more in the next few days.

I came across this Twitter T-shirt in my blog travels this week. It just shows how big Tweeting is. So, if you’re a Twitter addict, kill two birds with one stone and get your own personalized Reactee.

If you have any tips you’d like to share, I’d love to hear ‘em. If you’re already on Twitter, look me up.

I am greatly disturbed by the number of websites I find that tout Content is Not King, become a millionaire in 3 months, or 10 SEO rules to get #1 ranking in all three search engines. My first reaction is offense.

That an author would write such drivel, expecting me to swallow it hook, line, and sinker, is like a slap in the face. I have a brain and I’m not afraid to use it. I don’t buy things from late-night infomercials, and I see through the poorly-veiled garbage you are peddling Mr.  or Ms. Get Rich Quick.

My second reaction is very near to disgust. At the risk of sounding old-fashioned, what ever happened to a job worth doing is a job well done? These “high paid” bloggers clog the Internet with their poorly written, painful to read, no nutritional value content. They are the reason when you search for desired information, you leave disgusted because all you find are penis enlargement ads, porn advertisements, the same article reprinted in 20 ways, and two unique sentences about the term you were searching for to begin with! (OK, that borders on a rant.)

The Pork Rinds and Cotton Candy

These bloggers claim that anyone can write their own website content. They preach spelling, grammar, and even information are unimportant, as long as you include the right keywords, market your blog, and buy their latest product teaching you how to make buckets of money and retire to some tropical island, all before your 21st birthday. The truly sad thing is that these bloggers seem to have collected a loyal following of Kool Aid drinkers who hang off their every word.

Can you play the system and get higher page ranking, more traffic, and your own gang of worshipers? Evidently so. Does that mean you should? Well, that depends on your values. If you value a job well done, desire to contribute to society, or take pride in your work, the answer is a resounding NO.

If you’re looking to grab the next shiny bauble dangling in front of your eyes, or make a quick dollar with no plan for tomorrow, sure, go for it. Add “blogger” to your long list of failed occupations and move on with your life. When you’re serious about building a business that offers a valuable service or product to the public, go visit websites like Men with Pens, Copyblogger, Zen Habits, Remarkablogger, or Freelance Folder.

Bad Advice

This rant post began after I read a blog that recommended submitting your articles to a service that “spins” that article and submits it to several directories to market your content. I asked the author to clarify if he defined “spin” as rewriting  the same content in 5 different ways and posting all of this duplicate content in various nooks of the Net.

His reply was immediately defensive, and confirmed that spin does indeed mean to produce duplicate content disguised with synonyms. He name dropped “John Reese” as an proponent to support his recommendation. Who is John Reese, I wondered and why should I listen to him, or you Mr. Thomas?

(I ran an Internet search for John Reese, and Google returned several links to websites that spoke unfavorably about Mr. Reese’s marketing methods and products. It appears that Mr. Reese is in Internet marketing. I am not saying Mr. Reese is anything but an honest business man trying to make a buck on the Net, neither do I ever intend to purchase his products.)

Balance is Best

What ever happened to balance? You cannot sacrifice quality content for the sake of marketing, nor can you create quality content and expect it to reach your intended audience without marketing.

Are You Improving the Internet, or Trashing it for Everyone Else?

Churning out duplicate content is not an acceptable marketing technique in my book. When you are looking for information, do you want to find 10 websites that say the exact same thing only in different words, or do you want to find 10 differing viewpoint and facts on the same topic? Duplicate content is a lot like junk mail, read it once and there’s no need to open any more just because the envelope is pink or yellow, or has smiley faces on it.

The Solution

If you are going to use this technique, at least rewrite your own content, then add something of value that was not included in the original. Your readers can’t live on cotton candy and pork rinds, they need meat and potatoes. Business ethics apply to online business, too.

Your words matter. Raise your business to the next level. Create responsible content; words with value, not just fluff.

My Apology

To make up for my whining rant disagreeableness, here’s Chuckie singing Meatloaf.  I am sorry for being a downer today, but I feel it is too important to leave unsaid.

“I would do anything for reader love, but I won’t do that.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_imAA0rkxT0[/youtube]