I was at Chapters a little while ago, and while browsing through one of the isles, when something struck me. There were two books, both bestsellers, both featuring bald heads on the cover. A coincidence maybe? At first I thought so but then I began to wonder if there was more it, if i was on to something? I took another look through the Amazon bestseller lists, and was able to come up with a few other books featuring bald authors on the cover. These books obviously do well as a result of the quality of thought and writing, but the pattern seems just too compelling to ignore. Some of the bestsellers I came across included:

• Jim Cramer’s Stay Mad Life
• Total Money Makeover - Financial Fitness
• Many of Seth Godin’s books (Permission Marketing, Unleashing the Idea Virus, All Marketers are Liars)

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Almost everybody thinks that marketing is easy, that just about anybody could be a marketeer if given the chance. People figure that because time watching TV and scrutinizing ads in the subway that this gives them a qualified opinion on the subject. Unfortunately, not everyone can be a marketeer they spend a lot of because having on opinion on marketing isn’t the same as marketing.
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Never talk about your product.

Not ever, not even once.

Talk around it, talk over it, talk under it but never talk about your product.

Why not talk about your product? Simple. You’re too close to it. No one will believe you. So talk about what other people are saying, experiencing and sharing about your product instead.

I’m not talking testimonials here either, I’m talking about real stories about real people with real experiences. Stories in their own voices.

It’s what people say about a product that speaks, not the the product.

I was recently looking for a bit of the history behind the Government of Ontario logo and in the process discovered a fabulous blog called “The Canadian Design Resource“.

The site features logos, brands, and other elements of Canadian (often nostalgic) design and identifies the year/designer/company behind them when available. It also allows you to contribute your own commentary and help fill in the back story to each of the pieces. A great resource and a fantastic reminder of the work behind many of the signs, logos, and items that most of us Canadians probably take for granted. I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you are a fellow Canadian marketer or designer.

Have you ever read a disclaimer or a condition that comes with a a marketing offer and wondered what the $*%# does this mean? Well so have I, and after figuring these things out (the hard way), I’ve decided to spare you, my dear readers the same agony by putting together a little translation guide. So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are the real meanings behind ten of the most insidious marketing lies. Read more »

When was the last time you told your mobile service provider that you love them or the maker of your cell phone?

There is nothing a company wants more than to cultivate a love affair with customers. Now what’s wrong with that sentence? Well nothing really, besides the fact that its usually a LIE, and a pretty brazen one at that.

Sadly, most corporations only preach this without actually practicing it. They prefer to behave like detached creatures that loathe closeness and recoil at the slightest twinge of customer affection. They prefer “customer adoption” and “customer retention” to customer affection. They shrink back from the warm embrace of their most ardent fans.

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It’s been a while now since I’ve done the whole sending around the resumé thing, but I was talking over the weekend with a friend recently went in search of a new job. The resumé’s been around for a while now with relatively few changes to reflect the integrated skill sets of today’s employees (e.g. contacts and resources available through informal social networks) . Over the next week or so we’ll be taking a look at the Resumé (or CV) from some different perspectives. First up? The Skills and Experience Section. Read more »

We’ve just upgraded to Wordpress 2.3.3 which seems to have broken a few things. Please bear with us as we get things back in place.

Update: Everything should be fixed now. Let us know if you notice anything not quite right. 

Looking through our traffic analytics, there’s no denying the sheer amount of traffic that StumbleUpon can bring to a site. But there’s one thing that’s stood out about Stumblers over other sources: their lack of return visits.

StumbleUpon visitors seem to be a lot like those heading out for a pub crawl. They’ll visit a few bars, have a few drinks (posts), maybe talk with friends, and have a good time. But by the end of the night (day), several sites later, they’re stumbling around, probably with little clue as to where they are. The details of the last few bars are hazy; but you’re having a good time.

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I was at a local breakfast chain (Chez Cora’s) over the weekend and there was a table with two children literally hanging off the wall and climbing anything they could, as children are apt to do. It was apparent that, aside from the food (and the colouring pages), there wasn’t much of anything for the kids to do but climb around their seat. For some reason this made me think that if only there was something that would capture their attention and keep them seated, if only long enough for their parents to relax a little and have a nice breakfast.

Then it came to me. Themed booster seats! Read more »