The Best Decision vs. The Financially Smart One
“He paid the loan off entirely, all at once, despite my loud protests. Why? Because he hates debt. Like really, really hates it.”
…and…
“But I realized that he made the best decision for himself, even though it wasn’t necessarily the financially smart decision.”
Making a great decision is often based on what YOU think is best for yourself, given your personality, and your goals. If you hate debt, kill it off. If you’re looking for better returns and income, invest your money and pay the debt as you move along.
You can make good decisions for yourself AND your customers too. They should come first but that should not overshadow what you need for yourself or your organization. You need to profit to stay in business. That’s necessary or you can’t help your customers and your ultimate users.
From Data to Wisdom (Boxes and Arrows) — “I think of knowledge as a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid is data; the next layer of the pyramid is information; the next layer of the pyramid is intelligence; and the top of the pyramid is wisdom. I like to tell my clients that we’re in the business of giving them intelligence and wisdom, and if they want to collect data, or if they want to collect information and process it themselves, that’s their business.”
Very good interview. Speaking of interviews, I did of ton of them a while back. Go take a look around. (My deep apologies for all the broken links; I’m ashamed.)
Consuming Software — “The way I see it, software which doesn’t make you think and is as easy to use as a pencil really isn’t good software. If you want to sell pencils then go ahead and sell pencils.”
When should software be hard to use? Come on, we need some good examples here!
Usability for Developers — “If there’s one thing that’s caught my attention in the past six months, it’s an increase in the variety of web roles incorporating usability. I’ve noticed this across a number of areas: job posts, industry events, online discussions and personal tagging on social networking sites such as Web Connections.”
Presenting the ads in a way that misleads users — “Some usability maven at some point in the last 18 months suggested that publishers should place images around the Adsense that is displayed on a site.”
What “usability maven” said this? Usability specialists are a very ethical bunch of folks so this seems like a load of bunk to me. Maybe usability maven should be replaced with Mr. Adsense Black Hat.
I don’t really care too much about hair style or selection. I haven’t changed my hair style in years. I go to a barber and just ask to get a “regular” cut. Sometimes I answer a question or two: “Above the ears?” and maybe “Would you like that wet down?” The bottom line is that I don’t care about my hair too much.
Now, If I did care about my hair, and if I was curious about different colors and styles, I would definitely spend some time with the Hairfinder Virtual Hairstyles tool.
Very cool!
Here’s what the web site provides as a description: “Unique virtual hairstyles software to try more than 5000 hairstyles and 53 colors on a photo of yourself. Do countless makeovers on a photo of yourself and see exactly what you will look like before getting your hair cut or styled!”
If you care about hair, check it out. Even if you don’t care about hair, check out the interface. Excellent interface, in my opinion.
Design, SEO, And Usability Laws? (Kimberly Krause Berg) — “By all means, design for people. But, let’s figure out whom you are targeting and deliver what will work for them. Chances are good that what works for people also works for search engines, especially with accessibility.”
“My focus is collaboration over documentation, where the shorter is the better.”
Short, simple, easy…
I’ve published the Pet Comfort Newsletter 20 weeks in a row! The first issue went out on 16-July-2006 and I haven’t looked back. Here are some things that I’ve learned:
- Publishing on a regular basis makes it more likely that I’ll publish on a regular basis. There is inertia in publishing. Get the ball rolling and it’ll keep rolling. The longer is rolls, the longer it rolls.
- It is possible to increase subscribers with a couple of simple modifications. First, give readers motivation to subscribe. For example, I give people a free ebook when they subscribe. It’s a compilation of 10 expert articles. Second, it is important to sell your newsletter. Clearly explain the benefits, don’t just ask people to subscribe. Third, put an image on your subscription page. It makes it feel more real and warm.
- Proofreading is critical. Even more important, check every single link before sending out your newsletter. Click on every link and make sure they aren’t broken. If you are selling something or you are using affiliate links, like I do with the Pet Comfort Newsletter from time to time, then this is crucial.
I’ve learned a lot more too. My knowledge of usability has definitely helped me understand how to better sell. However, if you’re trying to sell, it is more important to focus on selling than usability. Put another way, usability will improve your product but usability improvements don’t improve sales too much. Marketing improves sales. Great headlines matter. Great copywriting is critical.
Here’s my sales pitch for the Pet Comfort Newsletter. For a limited time only, if you subscribe I will give you a copy of Insider Dog Training Secrets absolutely free. Immediately after you subscribe, you can download this free ebook. I’ll give you the link. That’s $17 in your pocket…
Subscribe now!
“This approach is so simple. Show people what is going on, demand excellence, provide encouragement and support, and then the magic happens.”
Data.
“Search is about structure and meaning, syntax and semantics. Search is all about sequential patterns of interaction. It’s about language. It’s about the words that we use. It’s a conversation.”
…and…
“Don’t try to figure out the search engines, try to figure out how people use the search engines.”
Keep reading…
Jesper Rønn-Jensen has posted a video of Barry Schwartz giving a talk on the Paradox of Choice. He highly recommends it. That’s good enough for me. I’m going to watch it later this morning and you probably should watch it too.
