Reading Time: 2 min“Gated content” on websites has historically been a great way to build an email list. I’m sure you’ve done it — there’s a great PDF that interests you like “10 ways to prepare your lawn for the fall”, and it’s free if you just give over your email address. Generally speaking, it’s a win-win situation; […]
Trust
We tend to trust the skills of automatic people
Reading Time: 2 minWhen it comes to sports, the best athletes are the ones that appear to do things without thinking — and it’s true. As explained in the book “Trying Not to Try“, the more automatically you can perform a task, the better you’ll likely perform at it. This is also why people often choke under pressure. […]
Do you want to be seen as trustworthy? Be trustworthy.
Reading Time: < 1 minTrust is one of the more important qualities you can build in life, whether for yourself or for your business. While there are some shortcuts you can take, they’re generally short-lived. In reading Edward Slingerland’s “Trying Not to Try“, he summed it up very nicely when it comes to building a positive reputation for your […]
Too much thankfulness can backfire
Reading Time: < 1 minIt would seem to reason that if you show someone gratitude for work they did, more gratitude and thankfulness would be a good thing. It might be, but not always. An example of this came from a recent post I saw on Reddit (though the image has since been removed). A woman received a very […]
The “truth” about that “great opportunity”
Reading Time: 2 minKevin Kelly’s “Excellent Advice for Living” had a lot of great snippets in it, and these two seemed to go hand-in-hand. First, he shared: Actual great opportunities will not have “Great Opportunities” in the subject line. I probably get 10 of these a day, with companies offering us a “great opportunity” to partner with them. […]
AI will lead to more synchronous communication
Reading Time: 2 minI’m a big of of asynchronous communication, where two people can talk to each other at different times, like via email where one party can respond to the other two hours later. It’s why many people, particularly younger ones, dislike phone calls. Phone calls demand your attention immediately, rather than giving a buffer like with […]
Negotiate with more questions
Reading Time: 2 minI always find it interesting when the data shows the opposite of what I expect. It could be something like Simpson’s Paradox, which is just so weird, or the idea that expert poker players fold 3x more often than an amateur player. In Adam Grant’s book “Give and Take” he shares a study from Neil […]
Lead with reputation and legacy, not business
Reading Time: < 1 minThere are a lot of situations where it feels you should quickly steer conversations toward business, but that’s almost never the right way to go. Even if you’re at a business-focused event, keeping the conversations more personal and other-focused will lead to better long-term results. Gary Vaynerchuk can be a polarizing person, but I appreciate […]
Responsiveness can be as important as price
Reading Time: 3 minPeople value money but they also value time, and if your service can be faster and/or more responsive customers are willing to pay more. Disney’s “Lightning Lane” (formerly “FastPass”) is proof of this — millions of people pay billions of dollars every year just to get in the park, and a huge percentage of them […]
Thank you for your time
Reading Time: 2 minIf someone invests time with you, whether it’s to help with a project, move a sofa, or just go to the movies, it’s appropriate to thank them for their time. They willingly gave of themselves, and deserve a bit of thanks for it. What if you steal their time, though? Can you still thank them […]