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My favourite Neuromarketing blog has come up with another fascinating study – this time about the use of mirrors.

It appears that if you strategically place a mirror where people can see themselves they are more likely to be honest and less likely to steal, litter or carry out anti-social behaviour. It seems that people are less willing to face themselves being bad and mirrors reflect back this behaviour.

This could be a low cost solution to help businesses with issues of theft, shoplifting or graffiti.

There is some suggestion that mirrors can also be used for good – that people like to see themselves doing good things. So mirrors near tips cups, charity donation areas and recycling bins may be a useful addition. Energy practitioners have long promoted the use of mirrors near cash-registers – looks like they were on the right path with their recommendations.

I don’t know about you, but I’m off to plaster my fridge in mirrors to see what effect that has on late night snacking!

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO copywriters

Following on from my post the other day about re-using Powerpoint, here are some of my top tips on how to maximise your Powerpoint Presentations.

1. Think about if you need to use it at all! To be blunt, in many cases Powerpoint is a pain the butt. It distracts people from what you are trying to say. Unless you are doing it well – don’t use it!  If you must use something then consider old fashioned flip charts where you draw as you go. This engages more of the viewer’s senses and involves them in your journey.
2. One concept per slide. If you are going to use Powerpoint remember it is not a replacement for your speech – it is to only highlight a thought or idea. One SHORT concept per slide is the rule of thumb. This can be just a single word and an evocative image – but keep it simple. You are alluding to a point rather than painting a detailed portrait in oils.
3. Brand your design. You need to ensure your presentations are branded with your colours and/or images.
4. Limit your slides. We have all been to sessions where the presenter had 50 + slides that they spoke to for about a second each slide. Boring!  Keep the numbers of slides down and the impact up.
5. Call to action/the BIG idea. Presentations are another form of marketing. Be clear what is your call to action. Make sure your BIG idea stands out – what message are you trying to convey. Go back and re-read your slides and make sure your call to action and your big idea stand out.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO copywriters

You know that I love re-using and repurposing information – articles become the foundations for books, talks become the foundations for articles and so on.

As I was checking out the Pink Heels blog I found another great way to reuse your data – you can now put your Powerpoint presentations up on the net using Slideshare.net. It is a free place you can upload your Powerpoint presentations and then embed them into your website. You can also add in audio and create your own webinar. Think YouTube for Powerpoint and you get the idea.

You can also check out everyone else’s presentations – great for research as well as brilliant to help you get ideas for the design of presentations that are not deathly dull and boring.

You can search for presentations by topic to help you find what you are looking for – I did a search for marketing and came back with an impressive 14 022 presentation results.

I have a couple of presentations I am doing to industry groups in the coming months so will certainly give Slideshare a try. How can you use it for your business?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO copywriters

Way back when I was at school we had to do a subject called “Grooming and Poise” (yes I am showing my age again). During this course we spent one whole lesson on how to give a handshake.  There was a real science to it – not to be limp wristed, to apply firm but not overwhelming pressure, a solid “up and down” action, to look into the other person’s eyes and to smile when you said hello.

Researchers at the University of Iowa have studied the importance of a good handshake and found that potential candidates that rated higher on having a good handshake were also rated as more employable.  They were seen to have greater social skills and greater extroversion.

This was supported by Paul Zak, officially Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California and Professor of Economics and Neurology who found that touch increased the level of trust. A good level of touch increases the level you trust someone. In this study they found a 243% increase in the amount of money a person was willing to part with after touch.

I can remember reading a study (but I can’t remember where), where coffee shop attendants received greater tips if they touched a customer via a handshake or in some other non-threatening manner.

So what does this mean for business? Well – if you want to be trusted, to be seen as competent and socially skilled you need to brush up on your handshake technique.

I am pretty sure you can’t find a Grooming and Poise class these days, but you can practice on your family and friends. You can also put “How to shake hands” into Google and come up with any number of online lessons and articles to help you polish up your skill.

You also need to consider when you meet people whether you should reintroduce the handshake – such as meeting a new customer, at networking events and at social occasions.

You may be surprised at what a little friendly touch can do for your relationships and your business.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony -Freelance Copywriters

In this week’s newsletter we take a look at copyright and whether businesses own their business logos and marketing words. It is not as simple as it sounds!

Continuing with that theme here is a rather scary view of copyright in relation to Myspace, Facebook, Linked In and Gmail.  Ignore the plugs at the beginning if you choose … but the information is pretty fascinating!

Makes you kind of want to cancel all your gmail accounts doesn’t it!

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriter

When I was checking out EP Designs blog post about shop counter bells it reminded me that one of the oldest debates in art and creativity. Whether form (the beauty of the piece) is more important than the function (the purpose of the piece). Her post had a pile of gorgeous shop counter bells that not only worked well, but looked stunning in the process.

The form vs function debate is alive and well in our business. We see it a lot with the websites we work with to improve their web words – where the design is beautiful but it is not functional in that it has no SEO optimisation … which means it won’t be found in search engines.

We also see the reverse – purely functional sites that are very boring to look at. Unfortunately there are very few web designers who seem to be able to do both!

For language we see it with words that are flowery and beautiful to read – but sell nothing, compared with words that have heavy sell but no art to them.

The optimal balance of everything in business is a balance of form vs function. Are you in balance?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copwriters

Following on from my discussion of deep soul longings, over the past few days the world has been thrown into turmoil as the US economy teeters on the edge of collapse.

In times like these, the thing that people crave more than anything else is certainty. They look for certain answers and truth, clutching at life-rafts of certainty in their every day lives.

What this means for business is that headlines screaming “get rich quick” will not get the same response as a few months ago. In these times, people will look for greater proof – trusted experience and proven track records.

This is the time for businesses to be polishing up their testimonials and looking for ways to make things more straightforward for consumers by giving them certainty over things such as timeframes, costs and outcomes.

It is the time to boost your guarantees, increase consumer choice and giving them greater options for solutions to give them greater control.

For yourselves, it also means you could be buffeted by your own uncertainty about your business. You may find days when your self esteem has taken a battering and you can’t stand confident.

On those days regain control through little actions – take control of the mess on your desk or your email in-box, take control over your health through eating better or exercising more, take control of your relationships by stopping work early and spending time with your family.

The biggest truism for the stock market is the greatest money is to be made when the markets crash – because that is when the canny investors find real diamonds that are undervalued because of lack of confidence and then invest in them for when confidence returns.

This is true for business. The biggest opportunities for business come when the market is flat, as that is when you find creative and innovative solutions you wouldn’t have found if things were cushy.

I know this is very true for my business. The times of greatest hardship were the times of my greatest growth – and the greatest foundations for the future. Embrace the challenge, look for your solutions and never give up (no matter what the market is doing!)

Remember – take control over the things you can control, gain certainty over the things you can gain certainty over and leave the rest to a higher power.

One thing I know for certain is that everything always always works out for the best.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO Copywriters

PS: A quick word of celebration to indicate that recession is only a state of mind. One of our favourite clients, who are just one small part of an iconic Australian travel brand, referred us on to their head office without our knowledge.  Head office checked out our work with our client and this week presented us with a massive ongoing contract to produce the web-copy for all 4 companies within the household name company.

This is due to the brilliant work of our Heart Harmony writers quietly working in the background  – thanks a million Melinda, Emily, Donna-Marie, Katherine, Rebecca, Penni and Uellan!  You have all done an exceptional job and I feel privileged to work with you.