Beauty Isn’t the Message

A recent blog post by Seth Godin called, “Beauty as a signaling strategy” had this to say: “Human beings have adopted this signaling strategy with a vengeance. I know a woman who is going to spend more than $9,000 having her hair styled in 2009 (hey, that’s less than $200 a week). Entire industries are [...] Read more »

Sending Powerful Messages: The Three Factors of Signal Strength

The Six Currencies of Credibility is an operating system designed to manage the signals your actions send. This is a valuable marketing tool since a strong signal can slice through the clutter of ad-speak; boosting your company’s credibility and persuading truth-thirsty customers to take the action you’d like them to take. But a word of [...] Read more »

Elevating Trust With Signaling

Because trust understands a language that does not rely on words, your customer’s brain operates on autopilot; scanning the horizon for unbiased, non-verbal clues it can use to reduce uncertainty, avoid risk and the pain of loss. Which means, your customers are skillfully programmed to avoid buyer’s remorse. And many of the non-verbal clues they [...] Read more »

What signals do your decisions send?

“Actions speak louder than words.” If you’re a business owner or marketer, I promise you’ll be hearing more comments like this in the future. But to be clear, customers aren’t telling you actions are more powerful than words. No. That’s just not the case. Saying the right thing has never been more important in gaining [...] Read more »

The Stotting Gazelle – Practical Applications of Animal Signal Theory

Sensational copywriting brings sizzle, sparkle and shine to your advertising. The best marketers know this. Words cut with clarity. Words flutter the heart. Words awaken a slumbering imagination. But words without cost lack believability. And this lack of believability represents the dark side of our linguistic abilities. Speaking is a hallmark of human nature. No [...] Read more »

The Six Currencies That Buy Credibility

Little white lies never hurt a soul. Hmmm. Sounds like the justification of a charlatan, doesn’t it? In business, ad-speak is the kissing cousin of little white lies. Seemingly harmless. Swarming all around us. “We’ve got the lowest prices and best selection. Guaranteed.” “Service with a smile. Service you can count on.” “Trust us. We’ve [...] Read more »