The other day, as I was gassing up the car, I noticed something on the pump -- a list of all the taxes that are added to gas, and their amounts. It added up to a pretty big chunk of the price of each gallon.

I don't know whether gas stations are required to list...
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It's well known that customers are more likely to buy if they believe that the product they're considering is scarce. Scarcity increases the perceived value of the product and prevents people from procrastinating their buying decision (which often leads to forgetting or changing their mind).

The internet marketing industry is infamous for the unethical use...
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In case you'd missed this (I had), YouTube has created a widget to help you get more subscribers to your channel.

You probably already knew that you can embed your YouTube videos on your website. That gets it viewed more. But if a viewer likes it, how do you get them to take the next...
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I'll keep this brief today -- just a comic and a quick comment...and yes, the license for this comic allows me to hot link to it. Click to see it bigger:

Rather than choosing completely random combinations of words, a strategy to make passwords easy to remember is to choose words that mean something togethe...
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Writing yesterday's post showed me one of the powerful side-benefits of Blog Riffing: it creates an archive of ideas to help you remember what you've learned.

As you read blogs and other sources of ideas, do you write down the thoughts they inspire? If so, maybe you don't need Blog Riffing -- at least not...
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Last October, I posted a review of the book "Made to Stick" (which I highly recommend reading).

Today, I decided to try applying a little of the Made to Stick Stickum to my business. So I opened up Google Docs and created a spreadsheet with seven columns. The first contained the names of all my...
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Some brands' value is all about their products. Others transcend the product. We all know which kind of brand we want: the profitable kind -- the one with the "mythological" aura.

Seth Godin wrote:

There are dozens, if not hundreds of entertainment mythological brands. James Bond and Barbie...

There's clearly a Google mythology and a...
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Two key things that affiliate marketers need are content for their websites and products to promote. One of the tools at Instant Affiliate Accelerator is the Affiliate Meta Search Tool, which enables you to search for blog, news and YouTube content, plus products from a variety of affiliate marketplaces, all in one place.

It gives...
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There are two ways to increase engagement with your audience: by surprising them and by getting rid of surprises.

Not very helpful information!

On the one hand, surprises -- violations of expectations -- are useful for shaking people out of the stupor of their daily routine. On the other hand, once someone has come to...
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It's time again for a report on which headlines got the most of my blog broadcast emails opened and click through last month. Where you see (+), (++) and (+++), that indicates that the headline in question was at the top of one of the other lists (with (+++) indicating the #1 position).

Highest Open...
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