"Wow - those marketers really understand me!"

Our Research Director, Laurie Pollock, brings us this insight into how we really see ourselves. It sure works for astrologers - marketers please note.

In 1948, psychologist Bertram R. Forer gave a personality test to his students, and then gave them an analysis supposedly based on the test's results. He invited each of them to rate the accuracy of the analysis on a scale of 0 (very poor) to 5 (excellent) as it applied to themselves: the average was 4.26.

He then revealed that each student had been given the same analysis:

"You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.”

Forer had assembled this text from horoscopes.

Later studies have found that subjects give higher accuracy ratings if the following are true:

* the subject believes that the analysis applies only to them
* the subject believes in the authority of the evaluator
* the analysis lists mainly positive traits


Source: Wikipedia

Result: Booked Solid!

Remember the film director from our post in December? He had let his TV commercials business lapse for some years while he wrote and directed a feature (lots of star power, theatrical release, DVDs etc).

Now he wanted to get back to doing some advertising work while he was getting more films off the ground. I helped him do just this. Here is what he wrote me:

"I want to give you an update. Since we [worked together] in the late fall I have not stopped working. I have been booked solid. I shot nine new spots in the last eight weeks.

Being able to shoot with the confidence of knowing my strengths has been a great pleasure. I have never had a run this strong.

I would like to do more work together, both commercially, but for my film career as well. Your insights have been a great focusing tool."

Congratulations to him - we love to hear these success stories of people getting to where they want to be.

Pop Quiz

1. What is your company’s most successful piece of communication?

2. Who was it aimed at?

3. What did you want them to do when they received - saw/heard/read/smelled/felt it?

4. Did they?

5. What makes it successful?

Now here is the question that really counts:
What can be learned from the answers to questions 1-5?

Pricing tip (thanks to Calvin Klein)

A wonderful and insightful story from Ingrid Sischy’s portrait of Calvin Klein in the latest Vanity Fair.

Apparently as a child, Klein used to visit his dad’s grocery store. He noticed that there were grapefruits in two different bins – one lot priced at 29c a pound and one lot priced at 49c a pound.

He asked his father what was the difference between them. His father apparently just shrugged and said, “Some people like to pay 29 cents and some people like to pay 49 cents.”

Is your "News" up to date?

When I look at the website of a company, I almost always look at the "News" section. Don't you? If there is recently posted news, then we know the company is active and alive.

I looked at a site earlier today - in the news section was an announcement that their next newsletter would be posted in June 2007. They are already 9 months late! Is there anyone at home?

Last week I noticed that the site of Desedo, an innovative NY production company, was way overdue for a news posting. I mentioned this to the multi-talented Michael Hastings-Black who runs the firm. Within hours they had put up an excellent news post that showed lots of activity in the intervening months - completely explained the gap. Great energy and serious signs of life.

See their post here.

Is your news up-to-date?

How to price your services

There's a wonderful story in Ingrid Sischy’s Vanity Fair portrait of Calvin Klein. As a child, Klein used to visit his dad’s grocery store. He noticed that there were grapefruits in two different bins – one lot priced at 29c a pound and one lot priced at 49c a pound. He asked his father what was the difference between them. His father apparently just shrugged and said, “Some people like to pay 29 cents and some people like to pay 49 cents.”

Hard time getting things done?

When you have a hard time getting something done – getting started – getting things just right – take a step back. Instead of beating your head against it, try to identify the obstacles to your success. What is stopping you from getting what you want? It could be something someone else is doing to get in the way, or it could be some habit of yours, or it could be something small and concrete. Spend some time figuring out what the obstacle is and understanding it. Learn where it comes from and how it prevents you from success. Understanding the obstacle – as a separate entity from the thing you are attempting – is the surest way to finding a way around it or past it.

Imagination - blessing and curse

Creative people have imagination. It’s what helps them see in fresh ways and come up with things the world hasn’t had before: solving a problem, or make something happen, or just because.

They are always wishing they were doing something else. Their imagination is working all the time whether they like it or not: conjuring something else - maybe better, maybe just different. So they either get unhappy because they are not doing it, or they off and do it and enter the next exciting cycle of discovery and imaging the next new thing.

So it goes.

That is the curse and the blessing of imagination.

Taking the first step

"If you are having a hard time getting started on something, maybe the first step is too big."

Think about it. Wish I'd said that.

Michael Pollock on TV!

CurrentTV asked me to do a promotion for current.com as part of their New Icons series. Here is what they showed - edited from my webcam account of what I saw on current.com.


Note that my affiliation is shown as The Cyrano Project - this is the nonprofit that I work with. Check it out.