A video game pirate approaches! Photo courtesy of Jeff the Troja on Flickr.

When was the last time you saw an advertisement? I’d bet it wasn’t too long ago. Was it on a website? A 30-second pre-roll before watching Modern Family on Hulu?

On my daily walks through New York City I see buses vibrantly painted marketing a new TV show, buildings covered in “happy hands” watch billboards, and even chalk-written notes on the sidewalks reminding people to go to church. Whether we like or not, every day we subconsciously observe psychology in marketing, advertising, and selling.

Enter the Humble Bundle, a site that uses some excellent advertising to entice customers to buy “indie” books, video games, and music. Started about two years ago by the ever-forward thinking Jeff Rosen, the Humble Bundle has been a massive, massive success. In total, the Humble Bundles have generated about $19,500,000 in total revenue. In a field littered with piracy, how were they able to generate so much revenue? Read on as I break down eight different ways the Humble Bundle website pushes you to happily give them money (often more than you expected).

Dubbed as the “greatest threat to the gaming industry” piracy has overtaken the video game scene. Big-name companies like Ubisoft and EA spend millions of dollars a year protecting their intellectual property from illegal downloading. While the methods EA and Ubisoft enact to curb piracy (dubbed “DRM”, which is short for “digital rights management”) can be effective they often hurt customers who legally buy the game.

Hearing the frustration from legitimate customers, Jeff Rosen decided to take a step back and re-evaluate piracy. After chatting with his potential customers he stumbled upon a golden idea: if you make it as easy to buy the games as it is to pirate, people will typically opt to pay. So, he went back to the drawing board (as the old executives in the game industry likely looked on in fear) and only sold games that were DRM-free, created a simple payment system, implemented some great psychology tactics on his site (we’ll get to that in a minute), and made the entire process of buying games easier. Think about that for a minute: in an industry where most companies are panicking and loading their games up with DRM, Jeff did the opposite. Rinse and repeat the strategy for ebooks and soundtracks and the Humble Bundle has been an incredible success.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the persuasion tactics the Humble Bundle website uses.

Open up the Humble Bundle website and pay close attention to the psychological hacks the Humble Bundle is using on you.

• Time constraint: Notice the ticking clock in the upper right-hand corner. You only have a limited time to buy the offer, and the ticking clock reflects that in real-time. This helps push the user towards an “impulse” buy. If I don’t buy it now, then when will it be available next (if ever)? Better hurry before the offer’s over!

Related posts:

1. Psychology Behind Cold Reading: Why are Psychics Always Right?
2. How I Save 70% on Designer Clothes and Rarely Pay Full Price for Anything
3. The Power of Advertising: Why Do All Clock Ads Have “Happy Hands”?

Become your own boss and enjoy life as you want to. Image from user jay j wilkie on Flickr.

Your alarm clock goes off at 7:15 in the morning. You begrudingly swat at it to turn it off. An hour later, you’re in your car and on the way to a job you’ve done for way too long. You get to work, stare at your computer for a few hours, and dream about living in Costa Rica until the clock hits 5 pm. Is this really the way you wanted to live? Do you really want to do this for the next 20 to 30 years? Your eight-year-old self would be so upset you’re stuck in a cubicle all day and not off exploring space  or saving the world from bad guys!

Pam Slim is a lifestyle coach who helps people quit their 9-5 and create your own dream company. Her book, Escape From Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur is a wonderful breakdown of the steps involved in quitting a job and creating a business (think Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek, but with more detailed steps as to how to actually create your muse).

What’s the benefit of creating your own company? Well, for you, my fellow friends, it leaves you more time to sarge on your own schedule. In essence, you get to do things as you want to do them, without having to answer to all your crazy boss’ requests (how many more times can you hear you need to finish another competitive analysis by Thursday?).

Now, in full disclosure, this isn’t a cure-all book. A lot of you have the dream of walking up to your boss, telling him to jump off a tall building, and then, all of the sudden you’re sitting on the beaches of Costa Rica raking in passive income from your cat product business. Well, time for a rude awakening: Creating a business as Pam outlines takes effort. A lot of effort. As Pam says in the intro, creating a company is, “not all glamour” and is, “a labor of intense love and sweat and patience.”

However, while many of you may have the dream of creating a business, very few of you will actually do it. Why? Because a lot of you are nervous (which is totally normal!). There’s a fear of losing everything, or as Pam mentions, “living in a van down by the river.”  The first step Pam outlines is taming the wonderful beast of fear. How do we calm this fear? Pam offers a wonderful strategy: treat the fear as a pet lizard. Acknowledge it, be present in it, and become aware that you’re afraid (again, it’s only natural). In fact, Pam spends an entire chapter on breaking out of the mental cage of fear with some pretty useful exercises. As Pam says, “uncertainty is powerful and liberating!”

Unsurprisingly, however, there are risks of running your own business, which Pam goes over in detail in chapter five. Some keys to remember:

• Always pay attention to your life purpose and business goals, and re-evaluate regularly so you don’t waste time on unnecessary things (the business-savvy readers know this as preventing “scope creep”).
• Remember that passion is the ingredient to success, so if you’re working on something you’re not passionate about, think of something else!
• Get very, very focused with your idea — research and then research again to determine the who, what, how, why of your business and customers.
• As I briefly mentioned above, running a business takes work; you’re probably not going to successfully create a six-figure passive income business in the matter of a few weeks. Patience is a virtue!

It’s very, very important to remember that passion always doesn’t equate to success, however. As noted in chapter six of the book, an intense passion for something isn’t always a viable business plan. I have an intense passion for napping and laying on the beach. Could I make a business out of that? Probably not. It is OK, however, to initially fail as you determine which of your passions would make a good business. As Wayne Gretzky said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. In this same chapter, Pam also discusses how to shift from a vague business idea to a concrete goal (and how to sell to clients!).

While you scale your business up, it’s likely you’re going to need some help. As Pam points out, there’s no shame in seeking outside assistance, and, “you’re not weak if you need people.” She offers tips for finding mentors, recruiting your team, and growing your business into a successful group venture.

But what do you do once your business is scaled up, you have a team, and your business is a “success”? Well, you rethink your position within the company! Some of you may be familiar with Tim Ferriss (who I mentioned above), the popular life hacker who wrote a book that hinged on spending every waking hour effectively. Pam comes from the same school of thought, and offers words of wisdom on evaluating a location independent lifestyle. She also gives a great example of a successful business called Zen Habits that followed these principles.

The second half of the book really focuses on the ins-and-outs of running a successful business. Topics like, do I really need a business plan? (Hint: not necessarily, but Pam mentions that it’s vital to define your target market and niche so you know who you’re selling to.) How do I start with protoypes and samples? There are answers and exercises to dozens of in-depth, late-stage business questions. Truthfully, the later chapters are too detailed to be included in a review, and will likely only be useful when you’ve read (and completed the exercises) from the earlier chapters. However, there is very important advice that Pam mentions in chapter 15 that is relevant at the start of your business venture: take care of everything before you move into creating your own company full-steam-ahead. She gives a wonderful analogy: taking care of all the small things before you start your business is like backing up everything from your computer; it’s the best way to deal with “just in case.”

Pam Slim’s book is an excellent, detailed breakdown of what a reader can expect if they want to start their own business. Similar to Tim Ferriss’ 4HWW, it’s a look inside the life of those that want to be self-employed (which isn’t always glamorous). If you’re interested in starting your own company, I strongly recommend you read Pam’s book. After all, who wouldn’t like to live on a beach and run their own business?

QoD: Do you want to start your own business?

Related posts:

1. Book Review: The 4 Hour-Body (Plus a Free Giveaway!)
2. The New Age of Interaction: How to Improve Your Business’ Facebook Presence
3. How-To: Create Kick-Ass Facebook Ads and Grow Your Fan Page

A public address. From the user master alarm on Flickr.

There’s an old adage web marketers love to follow: “all attention is good attention.” In the marketing and advertising worlds, any attention to a brand is traditionally thought to help the brand out. After all, it brings the company into the spotlight, so more people hear about it and eventually buy their products… right?

We all know how dangerous assumptions can be. So, recently, I was able to test the aforementioned publicity theory. Last week, a television personality for one of the biggest news organizations in the world said something controversial on-air, and using publicly available data, I was able to track the sentiment and overall effect to his Twitter account. Because Twitter has become a central hub for the current generation to voice their concerns and complaints, it was a great method to understand how the general public felt about this news celebrity.

Now, the two main metrics that I wanted to track were new followers and mentions over a 24 hour period, starting when the person first made the comments. Whereas follower growth is pretty black and white (an increase in followers is good, a decrease is bad), mentions are a bit more of a grey area. Some of the mentions can just be people linking to articles about this person, others can be a upbeat show of support, while even more can be a harsh attack.

So, let’s dive in. On an average day, this personality gains approximately 30 new followers  and receives 30 mentions per day. Let’s discuss how they fared on the day of controversy.

On top of being featured in 400+ articles on Google News, reacted to by dozens of celebrites (including a powerful negative reaction from LeBron James), and becoming a worldwide social media trending topic for a little over 24 hours, this personality received strong responses on Twitter. Unsurprisingly, as is common practice nowadays, when people want to voice their thoughts and opinions, they take to the social web. Therefore, Twitter is a great way to track the sentiment and response to any big event or controversy. In summary, it’s a perfect test case for the old saying, “all publicity = good.”

With the back story covered, what were the results for this personality’s Twitter account?

On March 23rd, he received 6,086 new followers and 56,700 mentions. Respectively, this was a 20,186% and 188,900% growth increase compared to this user’s normal daily averages of 30 new followers and 30 mentions.

The public personality's Twitter statistics for his "good" day.

Strangely enough, the growth continued for a few days after the talk of the controversy dissipated. Check out the below chart to see the growth to this personality’s page starting on March 24th, the day after the controversial quote. As you can see–despite the large drop-off in followers on the sixth day–the growth was still well above the pre-hoopla averages of 30 and 30.

Now for the big question: While the follower growth was positive, was the effect entirely beneficial? That’s a more subjective question. Looking at responses to this user’s latest tweet, three of the five reactions were negative, with the other two being neutral.  Conversely, however, the user did gain a ton of followers, and the growth lasted for a few days.

QoD: Is all publicity good publicity?

Related posts:

1. How to Get Hundreds of Twitter Followers (or Improve Your Company’s Twitter Presence)
2. The Power of Defaults: How One Small Change Impacts 10,000,000 People (Plus Twitter’s New Home Page!)
3. The New Age of Media: 3 Companies and Their Exceptional Social Media Campaigns

How do psychics seem to know everything about us? Photo courtesy of newsusa on Flickr.

Have you ever been to a psychic? If not, I’m sure you can point to a friend who has. Furthermore, I’m sure you have a friend who is an extreme believer in the power of psychics. Whether it’s foreseeing our future, telling us how a deceased loved one is handling the afterlife, or detailing the mistakes we’ve made in the past, psychics usually tell us things we want to hear (and believe are correct).

Some of you who follow me closely on Twitter may have noticed I tweeted out an article on cold reading recently. The entire article is a fascinating look at the art of psychic cold reading, and furthermore, how all the psychics seem to know you so well.

So how do these psychics appear to be so familiar with the ins and outs of your life? The fact is, they have a trick. A very interesting, powerful trick.

A few years back, there was a radio personality named Betty who was the featured psychic on a national radio network. This is still a common practice today, but Betty was one of the more famous (and better) psychics.

Courtesy of Dennis Dutton’s amazing article, check out the exchange she had with one of the callers:

Caller: “Good evening, Betty.”

Host: “Good evening, Maureen.”

Caller: “Do you hear anything from my Mum?”

Host: “Yes, I can, [Betty gushes.] because I have the most smiling lady here beside me! You know, Maureen, she used to put her hands together in glee, didn’t she?”

Caller: “Yes.” [A note of hesitation.]

Host: “And she almost jumped up and down!”

Caller: “That’s right” [With more confidence.]

Host: “That’s what she’s doing at the moment! [Betty’s voice reaches a peak of excitement, and then becomes more serious.] Now, just as I was saying that, she was giving me a feeling — in the abdomen, not in the stomache — and it’s all tight. It feels emaciated but blown up. And she’s having trouble breathing — it must have been that way at the end”

Caller: “That’s right. Yes, yes, I was overseas when she died at home.”

Host: “Gosh, there is a crowd of people around her!”

Caller: “Is there? [Maureen is astonished.] Is Mum’s sister with her?”

Host: “Yes, exactly.” [Betty replies with casual confidence.]

Caller: “And my father?” [Maureen almost shouts with excitement.]

Host: “Yes, he’s there too.”

Caller: “And is my brother there?”

Host: “Yes, your brother is there too. And look [Betty’s voice is almost embarrassed.], I know this sounds funny, but there are five grandparents here!

Caller: “Oh…[Maureen hesitates.] Oh! That could be my Mum’s English friend!

Host: “And going back to that time, can we talk about a donkey cart?”

Caller: “Oh, yes!”

Host: “And the times that were associated with it — you can really feel the pleasure of that time.”

Caller: “That’s right.” [Maureen is emphatic.]

Host: “Now look — I”m being shown a row of houses, and they’re apartment houses.”

Caller: “Yes…” [Maureen hesitates.]

Host: “And there are about four of them…”

[Silence from Maureen, indicating puzzlement.]

Host: “Now bear with me here — and I’ve got a sort of red brick.”

[Longer silence]

Host: “Now, Maureen, this isn’t where you lived!” [Betty speaks firmly.]

Caller: “No…no, it’s not.” [Of course it isn”t; but an awkward miss is being cleverly converted to a hit.]

Host: “But it’s where…ah…[Betty is groping.]…ah…a dear friend lived! Can you understand that?”

Caller: “Yes.” [Maureen speaks without conviction: she is trying to figure who the friend might be.]

Host: “Also, I’m being handed a little posy of flowers. They’re almost like forget-me-nots, but I’m not sure that they are — and she’s handing those to you.”

Caller: “My mother is?”

Host: “Yes, it is your mother.”

Caller: “Oh, how nice!”

Host: “And you know, Maureen, there’s an anniversary coming up soon — a time of memory. It was somebody’s birthday.”

Caller: “Oh, yes…”

Host: “And that one sends their love to you too.”

Caller: “And my brother [Maureen’s voice takes on a melancholy tone.], is he happy?”

Host: “He’s happy now, he’s telling me, and he’s stressing the word now. He says, “She’ll know — you don”t have to ask me more — she’ll know.”

Caller: “Oh, I know…I know.” [Maureen sighs.]

Host: “I’m having trouble keeping up with all of them here — they’re all crowding in — and they’re all happy.”

Caller: “Here’s one — a prickly one. Is my mother-in-law about?”

Host: “Yes, she is.”

Caller: “Is she happy?”

Host: “Yes, she is. She was a little bit of a discontented lady, she tells me.

Caller: “Yes! [Amazed.] That’s right!”

Host: “But she says, “Well, you’ve got to learn contentment, and there’s no reason we can’t have contentment here, because we have everything we need.”

Caller: “Isn”t that marvelous!” ….

Ready to hear the tricks the host used to get inside Maureen’s head?

Here’s the big one: notice how the show host (Betty) slowly works all the answers out of the caller (Maureen). There are slight guesses involved, but Betty–being generally knowledgeable about people– can pull from stereotypes and generalizations to make educated statements that Maureen views as psychic. For example, Betty can tell the caller was over 55 years old by her voice and her accent is Irish. This may not seem like much, but knowing that houses in Ireland 50 years ago were typically brick, families in Ireland during this time period were larger, and a common cause of death is lung/heart/breathing issues, helps Betty pinpoint a great deal about Maureen’s life.

Now, let’s check out a second example. One of the less obvious stereotypes is the “donkey cart” mentioned by Betty. Notice the wording Betty uses: the donkey cart. Not the donkey cart that belonged to Maureen, not the donkey cart that belonged to Marueen’s friend, just a donkey cart in general. Betty asks Maureen about it, and then lets Maureen fill it in herself which donkey cart it is. But how did Betty know Maureen was familiar with a donkey cart? Well, 40+ years ago, donkey carts were very common in Ireland, so it was a strong educated guess on Mareen’s part.

Essentially, Betty, our wonderful host, will give very ambiguous statements, and leave it to the caller to fill in the blanks themselves.

This is not just common in the world of psychics. Cold reading spans a great deal of areas. Think of a business person, looking to understand the wants and needs of his customers or stakeholders. Understanding stereotypes about a user, asking them open-ended questions, and getting them to fill in the blanks themselves can be a valuable asset.

QoD: Have you ever talked to a psychic? What was your impression?

Related posts:

1. 4 Life Improvement Blogs You Should be Reading
2. The Power of Advertising: Why Do All Clock Ads Have “Happy Hands”?
3. The Power of Defaults: How One Small Change Impacts 10,000,000 People (Plus Twitter’s New Home Page!)

A weight lifter getting prepared to deadlift 500 lbs! Image courtesy of Joint Base Lewis McChord on Twitter.

It’s been about a year since Tim Ferriss’ latest book, 4-Hour Body, came out. The book was released to a large amount of fanfare, and even today, hovers around the top 200 books sold on Amazon.

Although focusing on body/nutrition/fitness optimization, Tim’s book has important implications for learning anything. In essence, his message is: cut the fat and extra bull when trying to learn something new and you’ll be rewarded.

So, with that message in mind, let’s dive into Tim’s book. This book review will be a little different than the other ones you may have read. Additionally, below you’ll find a nice surprise — a content/giveaway I’m running.

Everyone talks about the sex chapter, so I’ll let you read one of the other 10,000 reviews for that. In the light of “big wins”, I’ve focused on only three aspects for this review — which are physical and mental improvements that resonate with me:

1. Weight/muscle mass gain
2. Sleep optimization
3. Fat loss/eating healthier

Video Review

Increasing Muscle Mass: Gaining That Muscle Weight

More (clean) food, more protein! That’s how Tim’s chapters on muscle gain can be summarized.

Overall, Tim recommends training less often than conventional wisdom suggests, but doing extremely challenging exercises with one repetition per exercise. Some of you may be familiar with the weight lifting term “one set to failure,” which dictates that you should only do one “set” of an exercise, but the weights should be heavy enough that you can’t do anymore than 10 reps comfortably. It’s additionally critically important to go slow when doing reps in a weight-resistance exercise. Too often, people flail three or four body parts around when trying to do dumbbell curls, for example. As a result, Tim prescribes lifting at a slower (5 second up/5 second down) cadence; a cadence which allows you to properly control the motion of the weight and properly isolate the necessary muscles.

As for monitoring food intake: I use DailyBurn.com to track my eating habits every once-in-a-while and make sure I’m on the correct path. I’ve always been skinny, and gaining clean weight is extremely challenging for me. However, the principles Tim outlines in the book (follow a Paleo type diet, follow a HIT exercise routine) should help everyone else in a similar boat. I’m eating more clean protein and fat than I ever have in my life, and I feel great!

Improving Sleep: Waking Up Ready and Refreshed!

Sleep is one of the most overlooked aspects of a person’s health. In the age of electronics, constant activities, and artificial lights, it’s hard not to stay awake. However, as anyone who has gone to work on a short night’s sleep can tell you, trying to do anything productive while exhausted is nearly impossible. Therefore, it’s important to pay attention to your sleep habits to improve your overall well-being.

Some of you may have seen my Wakemate review, which Tim mentions in his book. As a very light sleeper who constantly wakes up during the night, I’m in the constant pursuit of things that will help me sleep better. Tim offers some great suggestions, although I have yet to try them all.

So far, though, there hasn’t been that noticeable a difference in my sleep patterns. Suggestions of Tim’s I follow:

• I eat two scoops of almond butter about an hour before bed (I prefer Once Again organic raw almond butter — tastes delicious!)
• I stop using electronics one hour before bed
• I read anywhere from 10-30 pages of a fiction book with a dim night light
• My bedroom is dark and I utilize ear plugs
• I sleep for 8 to 8.5 hours per night on average

Slow-Carb Diet: Losing That Extra Fat

Tim’s slow-carb diet is very, very similar to the Paleo Diet (which experts like Loren Cordain, Robb Wolf, and Mark Sisson have been writing about for years). There are a few important differences, though:

1. Tim recommends milk for those trying to gain mass. For most Paleo-practitioners, milk is a no-no. A large percentage of people have a tough time digesting dairy, and it can cause problems (one of the more annoying ones being skin breakouts).
2. Tim recommends beans. Because of the nutritional makeup of beans, Robb, Loren, and Mark recommend to stay away from it. Tim’s rationale is that if you soak the beans in the water, the malicious effects are minimized.

In general, Tim declares a war on all white carbs and processed food. Yes, that includes McDonald’s, all bread, rice, pizza, and breaded food (fried chicken wings, etc.). It might seem difficult to do, but the benefits of being anti-grain far outweigh the downsides. I rarely eat processed food and carbs (focusing instead on free range/grass-fed meat and healthy fats, such as macadamia nuts).

Summary

While Tim’s book isn’t revolutionary (as mentioned above, for example, Loren, Robb, and Mark have been covering low-carb diets for years and their books have much more detailed information), the 4-Hour Body offers a great first-step for users aiming to improve their physical makeup.

There’s enough information in the 600+ pages of the book that even if you’re familiar with the Paleo Diet and one set to failure/HIT methods, you’ll still be interested in the other topics. In addition to chapters on the Slow-Carb Diet, improving sleep, and increasing muscle mass, you also have the infamous sex/increasing testosterone chapters, chapters on reducing the impact of injuries, and strategies to improve running skill.

If you’re interested, check out the website for the book here. The website includes a free preview of the book, the book’s “trailer”, and some more details about what you can find inside.

Contest: I have an extra hardcover copy of The 4-Hour Body lying around (MSRP $27.00) and I’d love to give it away to one of my readers. All you need to do is click the “Subscribe” button above and subscribe to my newsletter (100% clean, spam-free emails; I’ll only email you when I write a new post or I have a big announcement). All my current subscribers, as well as everyone who subscribes up until February 20th at midnight ET, will be automatically entered in the raffle. I’ll ship out the book to the winner via USPS Priority Mail.

Related posts:

1. Can You Create Your Own Business? (Pam Slim Book Review)
2. 5 Free Programs to Make Your Computer Run Better Than Ever
3. Following Our Ancestors: a 30 Day Experiment on the Paleo(ish) Diet

Default options shape how people behave. Photo courtesy of janicebriggs3350 on Flickr.

Defaults are incredibly interesting. Behind every default choice on a major website is an angry room of people yelling at each other. “Why can’t we move the image up two pixels?!” a Product Manager may say while pounding her fist on the table. “We should move the image down two pixels!!!” a Strategy Analyst may counter. Then chimes in the VP of the Digital team, “why do we even need an image?”

For sites like Facebook and Twitter, defaults aren’t just interesting, they’re the lifeblood of the entire company. What a user first sees when they navigate to a website channels the user’s behavior and interaction with the site. In some instances, 95% of users don’t change or configure anything; they leave the page or application identical to how they found it.

Therefore, when Twitter launched their new homepage (their second homepage change in the past year), I was interested to examine the differences at a microscopic level: what changed, and what implications does this have for users navigating to twitter.com? Furthermore, an understanding of defaults may have dramatic effects on how you interact with pages online! Twitter isn’t the only company that does this: some of the most popular website you use–like Facebook, Google, ESPN, and Wikipedia–test defaults all the time. A lot of times they do this without you even noticing.

So, let’s dive in and explore the new Twitter homepage and see what’s changed.

Old Twitter

We’ll take a look at the “old” Twitter homepage first. There are two cases when a user will see this page: after they navigate to the site for the first time, or after returning to the site while logged out (screenshot of the page below).

The old welcome screen for Twitter.com

Unfortunately, I’m unable to see the exact date ranges for this Twitter.com (http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.twitter.com), but according to some news articles I dug up it was rolled out to the public in early April 2011 (eight months ago).

There are a few things you should notice on this page.

First, pay close attention to the text copy:

Follow your interests. Instant updates from your friends, industry experts, favorite celebrities, and what’s happening in the world.

Notice the wording: “instant (emphasis mine) updates from your friends, industry experts, favorite celebrities, and what’s happening in the world.” Having “instant” access to unfiltered content is one of the strongest selling points of Twitter and they make no mistake of mentioning it immediately.

Now, observe the difference between the login boxes and the registration boxes. The registration box area is prominently displayed, with bright white backgrounds in the text boxes and a bright yellow button drawing the user’s attention. Conversely, the login area is hidden and more subtle. What does that say? Twitter is more concerned with attracting new users than having users return.

Also pay attention to the languages at the bottom of the page. Twitter lists the languages extremely visibly, as if proudly beating their chest and proclaiming how people from many people of different walks of life use their website.

New Twitter

Now, we can move on to the brand, spankin’ new Twitter homepage. For those of you with a careful eye, you’ll notice a couple things–and some very important differences between this page and the old Twitter homepage.

Once again, notice the text copy, which gives us the direction of the new homepage:

Welcome to Twitter. Find out what’s happening, right now, with the people and organizations you care about.

First, notice the headline. “Welcome to Twitter”. Compare this to the previous headline (“Follow your interests”). What was Twitter like eight months ago? Why the difference.  Well, Twitter had less traffic and had to convince users to jump on the service. Unlike the current Twitter, there was a lack of name-brand recognition. Whereas in the past, Twitter had to grab the user’s attention with a why (“oh, neat, I can follow the stuff I like on Twitter?”), now users are familiar enough with the Twitter service to want to sign up without a descriptive headline.

Secondly, look at the registration and login boxes. See something different when compared to the old twitter.com? The two boxes are now the same exact size! In older iterations of the homepage, Twitter was more concerned with getting users to sign-up versus sign-in.

However, the headline and registration/login boxes–while important–are likely not what you noticed first: the background and image are probably the most obvious aspects. Having refreshed the home screen a few times, I saw a few different background colors and headline images (taking a page out of Flickr‘s book, perhaps?), as seen below.

The new welcome screen for Twitter.com

A second homepage redesign of Twitter.com. Only differences? The background color and image. It's like Twitter is taking a page out of Flickr's book.

So, we have the login/registration boxes, the background color and image, and the text copy changes. There’s one last thing. Notice it? I’ll give you a minute…

…

Find anything yet?

…

The language and bottom (footer) links! The text at the bottom of the page is much more subtle and blends in with the color scheme. The language is now a drop-down menu in the top right-hand corner of the page. With the language and footer much less obvious, it leaves all the attention to three things: the main image; the login box; and the signup box.

In summary, it’s fascinating to see the changes Twitter has made. While many people will glance at the page quickly and sign-up or sign-in without a second thought, there are strong psychological factors in play. As we’ve talked about, the button placement, text copy, and overall layout are incredibly important.

QoD: What do you think of the new Twitter homepage?

Related posts:

1. The Power of Advertising: Why Do All Clock Ads Have “Happy Hands”?
2. How-To: Create Kick-Ass Facebook Ads and Grow Your Fan Page
3. Is All Attention Good Attention? (Or, How One TV Personality Increased Their Twitter Followers 20,000% in 24 Hours)

Image of the New York City billboards (thanks to Adrienne Jean Fisher on Flickr)

Advertising is the lifeblood of online content.  How does Google manage to stay in business?  Online ads.  Mashable?  CNN?  That random blog you frequent?  The vast majority of the digital world is paid for by advertising.

With hundreds of millions of people accessing the Internet daily, it’s no mystery why: there are a lot of eyes looking at web pages and, therefore, a lot of opportunity to earn money.

With 750 million users, Facebook is the second largest website in the world.  Because the opportunity to appeal to such a large demographic is rare, Facebook knows that advertisers lick their lips at the chance to be in front of so many eyeballs. And thus, the Facebook Ads platform was born!  You pay money to advertise your fan page, website, or application on Facebook.  As a result, you (hopefully) get people clicking your link!  If done properly, Facebook ads are beneficial for Facebook, and you, the advertiser.

Because Facebook Ads are so new, very few people know how to fully unlock the potential of the platform. After this how-to, dear reader, you’ll be one of those super lucky people.

This guide is split into six different sections, starting with the basics (e.g. what are the different types of Facebook ads?) and ending with a full run-down of how to create (and maintain) a successful campaign.  The article is filled with examples of my experiences with Facebook advertising (including how I managed to blow through a few thousand dollars in less than 72 hours!) so you can learn from my mistakes.

So without further ado, let’s dive in.  Come on, I promise it’ll be painless.

Section 1: Overview of Facebook Ads

Section 2: Benefits of Facebook Ads

Section 3: How-To Create Facebook Ads

Section 4: Example Facebook Ads

Section 5: Results of Facebook Ads

Section 6: Downsides to Facebook Ads

1. Overview of Facebook Ads

Some of you may be familiar with Google AdWords, the advertising platform that brings in a large percentage of Google’s revenue.  In essence, Google charges advertisers money to appear in specified slots on search pages.

See the screenshot below for an example.  I highlighted the ad areas on the page:

As you can see, it’s often difficult to distinguish between the ads on the page (especially that top ad which looks just like a normal a search result!).  These ads result in a massive amount of clicks, which means a hefty amount of income for Google as they charge the advertiser to appear on these pages.

Following in Google’s footsteps, Facebook has an advertising platform that mimics some of the behavior of Google AdWords.  You may have seen these ads in the right rail of your profile page, as seen below:

Specifically, because that screenshot is from my profile page, the ads are called “Premium Ads.”  Premium Ads run in the most popular locations on Facebook including your own profile page (and, as a result, they’re the most expensive type).  Roughly 90% of a user’s time on Facebook is spent on their own page, so users are more apt to pay attention to ads displayed there.

While there are a few other Premium ad types, most of them will be out of a normal person’s budget.  If you’re still curious, you can read the Facebook Product Guide for more information.

So, for now, let’s move on.

Now, in general, you have two options with Facebook advertising.  You can:

1. Send users to external pages (i.e. you want to send a user to a non-Facebook URL, such as your site)
2. Send users to Facebook pages (i.e you want to get more users and likes to your fan page)

Outside of Premium Ads, there are Marketplace Ads (also commonly known as “Regular” ads).  These are more commonly used, are cheaper than Premium Ads, and as a result, a better way to get started in the world of Facebook advertising. Primarily, we’ll focus on the Marketplace Ads in this how-to.

There are four types of Marketplace Ads:

1. Standard Ad
2. Like Ad
3. Event Ad
4. Application Ad

You can see all four in the screenshot below, straight from the Facebook Product Guide.

There limitations of the Marketplace Ads, which you can find in the Facebook Product Guide, but the general rules are:

• The title can be a maximum of 25 characters (with a few exceptions for the Like and Event Ads)
• The body can be a maximum of 135 characters
• The image can have maximum dimensions of of 110×80 pixels

2. Benefits of Facebook Ads

Now that we have the basics into squared away (quick quiz time: what are the four types of Marketplace Ads?!), we’ll explore some of the benefits of Facebook advertising.

As you’ll learn in the next section, there are a few neat things you can do with Facebook advertising.

1. Target users based on location.  Ask any businessperson who their target market is, and, indirectly, you’ll learn two things very quickly: 1) Their business is doing well; 2) They won’t have a business much longer.  A huge mistake people make (often first-time entrepreneurs) is not narrowing down their target market.  Think it’s a good idea to try and appeal to everyone?  Think again. People are too different, and “everyone” is too broad of a category. Well, Facebook ads are no different.  You have the ability to target by country, state, city (or multiple values of each) to niche down your audience and appeal to someone more specific than “everyone.”
2. Target users based on current connections and interests. While narrowing your search by location is a great start, picking specific user interests help you niche your audience even more.  Pretend you’re creating Facebook ads to get users to attract more people to your scuba diving fan page. Now, imagine two scenarios for people you’re trying to attract:
1. You create an ad for all males in the United States, 18-34 years old.  After all, the estimated reach of creating this ad is 41 million people!
2. You create an ad for men and women, aged 25-40 in Florida, California, Hawaii with an interest in “scuba,” “divers,” “diving,” “scuba diving,” “snorkeling” who have at least a college education. The maximum reach for this ad is 48,000 people.

The answer: although you’re appearing to less people, option “b” is better.  With “b”, you’re attracting users who are more likely interested in your page.  The ads are slightly more expensive when niched down (recommended range between $2.15 and $3.40 for option “b,” while the estimated cost per click is between $1.54 and $2.42 for option “a”), but the users that click “b” will be “stickier” and more likely to become fans of your page.  Money spent more intelligently!

1. Help your fan page or website grow!  The main rationale behind using Facebook Ads, of course.  You want your business or page to get more qualified users after all, right?!

3. How-To Create Facebook Ads

Let’s break down the creation of a Facebook ad!  In the screenshot below, you’ll see the page you’re directed to when you click the green “Create an Ad” button on https://www.facebook.com/advertising/.

Now, a breakdown of the options:

a. You can create an ad based off of an existing creative.  This is useful if you’re creating a large batch of advertisements and you want them to be similar.  In that case, it’s easier to create one ad, clone it, and then make small adjustments. Much easier than re-populating all the fields.

b. You can input an external URL, or tie the ad into a Facebook fan page, app, or Facebook Place you’re an admin of.

c. If you choose an external URL, you input the URL in this box. Otherwise (in the case of a fan page, for example), it’s grayed out.

d. Space for the ad title, which, as mentioned above, is limited to 25 characters. It gives you a real-time counter while typing to keep track of the characters left.

e. Space for the body text, limit of 135 characters. Again, you’re given a counter to keep track of characters used in real-time.

f. The option to attach an image to an ad.  Facebook scales this image automatically.

g. A preview of all your work from points a to g. The preview is updated in real-time.

h. You can limit your ad by country, state, province, and city. You cannot do a worldwide ad, however; the least granular you can get is listing one country.  A relatively new targeting option is by zip code, which  is especially handy in major cities with multiple zips (NYC, I’m looking at you).

i. Want to target by age and gender?  You can in this box!

j. Targeting by specific interests is an option. For example, I could target users who are only interested in “2pac”, “bowling”, or “New York City”.  Additionally, I can switch to more broad categories and target Facebook pre-populated lists like “Sports”, “Retail/Shopping”, or by family roles such as “Parents”.

k. Appearing to “friends of friends” is easy when targeting by connections. For example, if you run a few fan pages, you can target users already connected to one or two specific pages and/or not already connected to specific pages. So, let’s say I work for Anderson Cooper on CNN and want to create an ad for his fan page. It might be (and probably is) more effective to target users already connected to other CNN pages since they’re part of my niche demographic.  In essence, targeting by connections typically increases the chances your successfully leads to clicks and connections.

l. It’s possible to specify users based on relationship status and sexual preference. As an example of its benefit: how many guys are interested in women’s dresses? Best to target women only on that one.

m. Advertising to users in defined education brackets and companies is another way to funnel your audience.

n. If you have a few different campaigns, you can create campaign names. What’s the benefit? Going back to the CNN example, you could create campaigns for “CNN Money”, “CNN World”, etc. so you know exactly which type of ad is placed in each (and you can compare between the two campaigns). Budget is the amount of money you’re willing to spend over the life of the campaign.

o. If you set a time limit it spends the budget you allocated in the time frame you defined.

After an ad is completed it goes through a (usually quick) manual review process by someone on the Facebook Advertising team.  So, your ad will not show up immediately. Just be patient!

4. Example Facebook Ads

Now that I’ve shown you how to create a Facebook ad, it’s time to look at the ads in practice.  I had the opportunity to run a few different campaigns recently and tested the exact practices I mentioned above.

In total, I made hundreds of variations before I ever hit the “publish” button, but the end result was only 5 different ads.

Now, I know a lot of you are going to panic when you see the amount spent.  However, don’t worry: Facebook ads are scalable with any budget.

As detailed a couple sentences back, there were many more than the five ads at the beginning of the flight. The ads had slight variations in body text, images, and/or title text copy. When I had a good idea of what I thought would work, I published the five ads you see noted above. However, I didn’t stop editing the ads once they were live! As the ad flight continued, I saw nearly real-time updates of how the ads were performing and paused and adjusted the ads as necessary.

By the end of the flight, the end result was what you see above: five ads of varying effectiveness.

Now, there are a couple more metrics to define before we discuss the performance (metrics that can be seen on the screenshot above):

1. Reach. The number of unique people that saw the ad (different than impressions because impressions can count the same person more than once).
2. Frequency. The average number of times a unique user saw the ad.
3. Social Reach. The count of people who saw your ad, and saw a friend who “liked” that specific ad.
4. Connections. The most important stat of the bunch if you chose to send a user to an internal, Facebook URL: how many new fans did you get to your page?
5. Price. The average price per click (or 1,000 impressions). This is different from a “bid” in the sense that a bid is the max price you’d pay for a click/1,000 impressions, and the price is the average cost of the actual click/1,000 impressions.

With those definitions noted, let’s look at two ads from the list above: the most effective, and the least effective, and let’s break them down.

First, the least effective as defined by the uber important metric “connections.”  Below is the “Pirate” ad listed seen in the screenshot earlier.

Let’s first take notice of something I did well: the targeting. I niched down the ad to a very select audience (those who have “English (Pirate)” as their language, live in the United States, and aren’t yet connected to my page). Additionally, I used an attractive picture to that demographic and used a body text copy that I thought would resonate with the user.

Now, for the bad: Why the heck would people who have Pirate English set as their language be interested in my page?!?! Sure, I picked a niche, but it was the wrong niche.  There were no similarities between the user in this ad and the normal fan of my page.  And, the results proved this: this ad only received 8 connections (500 lower than the second-lowest) and had the lowest click-through rate (0.012%).

Onto the good news: breaking down the most effective Facebook ad I ran:

You’ll probably notice two things immediately: this ad targets more than ten times the amount of users of the “bad” ad, and it’s suggested bid was much, much less.  While niche is great, there are two things to consider:

1. As noted above, it has to be the right niche
2. Too niche can be a bad thing

I did a few things well on this advertisement. First, I targeted heavy users of the Internet (as defined by the age group), and used a bright red and blue icon to attract them.  Secondly, I targeted users who had friends already connected to my fan page.  Social proof!  Since their friends are connected to the fan page, there was a higher chance the user I was targeting would be interested in the fan page as well.  As a result of this ad alone, my fan page received nearly 2,500 new Facebook “likes” in less than 72 hours.  That was nearly double the second place ad.

5. Results of Facebook Ads

Everyone will have different assumptions and hypotheses to test, but here are a few I tested with my ad flights.

Assumptions Tested:

1. Facebook ads have a cost per fan acquisition of about $1/fan. I noted this after hearing a Facebook representative mention this at the Facebook L2 Clinic in NYC a few months back.
2. Facebook ads grow stale extremely quickly.  In essence, you need to run your ads over a very short amount of time because users lose interest at an alarming rate.  In part, the thought behind this is probably due to users seeing the same ad on their profile page, their friend’s profile, and other right rail areas over and over and ignoring them.
3. It is absolutely necessary to have a Facebook Ads campaign if you want to grow a successful fan page.  Advertising on Facebook is an integral part of a social media presence.  Mentioned during a L2 Clinic speech by a Facebook Advertising team member (probably with a bit of a vested interest).

With the hypotheses in line, it was time to record some data!  Before the ads ran on Facebook, I recorded the fans on the soon-to-be-affected fan page.  To stay consistent, I recorded these numbers at 11 am ET every morning.

After the base reading for all three days without ads was recorded, I started the Facebook Ads campaign.  The flight began on 4/19 at 10 am ET and ended at 11:45 pm ET on 4/21 (less than 40 hours!).

The results before and after are in the chart below:

As you can see, we saw some nice fan growth using the Facebook Ads platform when compared to the normal day-to-day growth.  To put the details into specifics, without the ads running we saw a 0.9% increase in fans on our page daily.  However, with the ads running, we saw a 3.1% fan increase daily.

As the graph below shows with one glance, 2.2% is a significant difference.

Here, then, are the results to the hypotheses tested above:

• Cost per fan acquisition is less than Facebook’s claimed average: average is $1 per fan, I managed to average $0.87 per fan during this ad flight.
• Facebook ads go stale extremely quickly; over a 60 hour time span we saw our social percentage drop 20 points, and our CTR drop 66%.
• While not integral to a successful page, Facebook Ads do help grow your page.  Whether it’s worth the money is a page-by-page decision.  Facebook Ads can save people and companies a lot of time and effort to gain fans the ol’ fashioned way, but $0.87 per fan acquisition is still expensive if you’re looking to gain a lot of fans.

6. Downsides of Facebook Ads

Well, the benefits are clearly visible in the previous section.  The fan increase is obvious, and the overall ad flight is extremely quick so you do not have to spend months maintaining a group of ads.

However, there are are a few downsides to the Facebook Ads platform.

1. As mentioned above, the ads are expensive can get you’re looking to gain a significant number of fans to a fan page.  To find out the rough estimate for you, multiply $0.87 (the cost per fan of my experiment) by the number of fans you’re hoping to get.  If it’s too expensive for your budget, perhaps you should use Facebook Ads in tandem with good social media practices (or just don’t use Ads at all!).
2. The ads aren’t as effective as compared to Google AdWords and other online advertising platforms.  My highest ad only had a CTR of 0.114%?  That’s pretty pathetic by general advertising terms (but, rumors have it that Facebook ads average only about 0.05% CTR!).

So, with that wrapped up, what are you waiting for?! If you think Facebook Ads warrant a closer look, head over to Facebook Ads website and start creating!

QoD: Do you ever look at the ads that display while you’re on Facebook?

Related posts:

1. The Changing Face of Advertising: An Experiment with Facebook Ads
2. The New Age of Interaction: How to Improve Your Business’ Facebook Presence
3. The Power of Defaults: How One Small Change Impacts 10,000,000 People (Plus Twitter’s New Home Page!)

A full bookshelf in every home, a book in every hand!

I was once told by a friend that books are one of the greatest investments one can make.  Where else can you find years of someone’s knowledge for less that $15, this friend casually mentioned.

I completely agree.  Books are an incredible resource to gather insight and experience from someone who has immersed themselves in a field for years.  Over the past 10 months, I’ve tried to read one new book a month based on different interests.  The books didn’t have to be long, overly scientific, or elitist.  I just read books on a topic I found interesting! Although difficult to do at first (it took away from my Internet time!), the knowledge I’ve gained has been well worth the initial cost and time investment.

So those of you who stopped reading over the years can easily jump back into the game, I’ve created a list of some of my favorite recently released books.  Now, when you run into your second grade teacher and she asks if you’re still reading as much as you used to you can (emphatically) say yes.

This is shorter and sweeter than most of my previous posts, so enjoy!

I want to learn how to better manage my finances and become filthy rich.  Pick up a copy I Will Teach You to Be Rich! The author, Ramit Sethi, instructs the reader to an automated financial system in six weeks. Why automated? Because, while a lot of people mention the word “budget,” it often doesn’t work. The more automatic your system is, the better.

I re-read Ramit’s book every time my income or expenses change (big raise, bonus, or I move to a more expensive apartment).

From the best credit cards to use to how to set up your Roth IRA and 401(k), Ramit’s step-by-step six-week program makes the process from a clueless over-spender to a financially savvy whiz simple.  Want to know how much money you’re losing if you don’t start investing in your 20s?  Ramit calculates that out for you, too.  Loss aversion is a powerful technique to get people motivated!

I want to eat healthier, lose fat, and gain muscle. I’m an avid fan of the Paleo Diet, and the book that best describes how to follow it (and the Paleo health benefits) is Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint.

Using the fictional Grok and Korg families to emphasize the differences in past and present nutrition, Mark breaks down the benefits of our ancestor’s diet and exercise and how it compares to the modern high-carbohydrate diet.

Throughout the book, Mark gives step-by-step instructions to live a healthier life.  From supplements to take (hint: omega-3 is really, really good for you), to food to avoid (hint: grains are bad for you), Mark keeps the Paleo principle simple enough for everyone to understand.

My life is boring, I need change, and to read a book that pushes conventional wisdom. Check out the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. I first read this book while studying abroad in London and it completely shifted the way I think about everything I do.

Tim questions general societal goals and expectations throughout the book: why do we work 9-5?  Why is it accepted we retire at age 67? And, perhaps most importantly, how can we actually do things we want to do and still make a living?!

Using Tim’s time management techniques, I became more efficient and effective in daily tasks (I use Tim’s “batching” rule regularly, which is vital for keeping my sanity while checking work email).  Some of the other principles Tim touches on is how to stop wasting time on meaningless tasks, separate yourself from your cubicle, and break down barriers to travel to places you never thought possible.  At a higher level, Tim gives the reader insight into how to accomplish things they never envisioned were possible.

I want to be well-prepared for a bunch of different possible disasters. Emergency by Neil Strauss is an incredible collection of how-tos, tips, and best practices for doomsday scenarios.  Some of you may be familiar with Neil because of his national best-seller The Game, in which he becomes a pickup artist, travels from country to country, and meets some of the most beautiful women in the world.

Emergency focuses on a completely different subject: how can you survive natural disasters, worst-case scenario events, and live life without modern conveniences?  Although this is more focused on being a guide, Neil creates a great side story about his path from scrawny, electronics-dependent city dweller to a survivalist well-equipped to face any issue that arises.

I’m interested in space and astronomy, but I don’t know much about it! Philip Plaitt’s Bad Astronomy is a great intro to the wonderful, crazy world of space.  Phil ran a spectacular blog independently for a while (which can still be found here), and now has a blog that’s wrapped up under Discover Magazine.  Phil’s book corrects some of the biggest misconceptions about astronomy–including some that stick with a majority of people today.  Why is the sky blue?  Why do tides occur?  Is astrology really believable?  Phil answers these questions (and more).

My favorite part of Phil’s book is his ability to explain things to a non-technical audience.  I’m not a rocket scientist, and Phil doesn’t try to throw buzz words at me to show off his knowledge.  Instead, Phil gives easy-to-understand definitions and explanations of various astronomy-related events and phenomenons.

QoD: What books have you been reading recently?

Related posts:

1. Skinny to Lean: How I Gained 30 lbs. of Muscle Working out Once a Week
2. Can You Create Your Own Business? (Pam Slim Book Review)
3. How to Automate Your Finances and Earn Money While Partying

The beautiful East Village/Lower East Side at night. Photo courtesy of Andrew Mace on Flickr.

“My God, I shouldn’t do this!” I remember saying as I was calculating the finances for my move. “I can barely afford this. Really, I should not be doing this,” I whispered to myself over and over. But it was settled: I was determined to live in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It had everything I wanted: big music scene, great bars, and some delicious restaurants. Even if I had to cut costs on everything else in my life, it was where I wanted to be. Now, 10 months into my lease, there’s no where else in New York City I’d rather live. As a result of random Tuesdays, Sundays, and Fridays exploring the area, I’ve created a definitive list of the lesser-known places to eat, relax, and party in the Lower East Side.

Ah, New York City. Your diversity is incredible, and you truly never sleep.

Without further ado, here’s the list of a few places I’ve loved during my time in the LES/EV thus far. These were found by exploring the area, asking people for recommendations, and going on random hunts for enjoyable spots!

Landmark Sunshine Cinema: The Village Voice newspaper declares it, “the hippest theatre in NYC…by a mile.” With a focus on pre-releases and indie films, this spot right on East Houston Street and Essex Street separates itself from all the AMC Loews in NYC. Waiting for ‘Superman’ before it was nationally released? Check. Classic scary movies during the Halloween season? Check. The Landmark Cinema shows the movies you’ve seen get insanely high scores on Rotten Tomatoes but don’t play in major theaters.

The Landmark Sunshine Cinema in East Village.

Professor Thoms: New England sports fan? Syracuse University college sports fan? Fan of the TV show “Lost”? I’m obsessed with all three of those things, so Professor Thoms is my ideal bar. Every Thursday they play Lost re-runs on their TVs, and their happy hour runs until 7 pm on every weekday. The bar has a nice layout, and doesn’t get overly crowded outside of big Boston sporting events.

The Local 269: One of the neatest parts about the Lower East Side is its music scene. Inhabitants from all over the city travel to Essex Street, Avenue B, and Rivington Street to see up-and-coming musical acts live. Jimmi Hendrix, The Who, Pink Floyd, The Beastie Boys, and Lady Gaga are some of the artists that regularly performed in the area. The Local 269 is home to a lot of smaller, indie bands (and has some great jazz during the weekends).

The Local 269 -- an underground music fan's heaven.

El Maguey y La Tuna Mexican Restaurant: Great Mexican food with a free (and extremely strong) frozen margarita or sangria. The food is simple and extremely inexpensive, but tasks great. Plus, the wait staff is always friendly and free chips and salsa is always a bonus.

Parkside Lounge: Right next door to El Maguey y La Tuna, Parkside Lounge is a great dive bar filled with games, a large bar area, and some great seating. The crowd is relaxed, the bartenders are friendly, and someone’s always willing to play a game of foosball.

The Parkside Lounge sign lights up the night.

The Bean: Located on E 3rd St. and 1st Ave., The Bean is a great coffee shop. Cheap prices, friendly staff, and outdoor seating make it a smaller, homelier version of Starbucks. During the day and early evening, you’ll see people inside typing away on their laptops while others sip their coffee on the outside. The shop is always crowded, but always enjoyable.

The Library: A small dive located right next door to the more popular Nice Guy Eddie’s, The Library is quieter, nicer, and more enjoyable (although the lack of food is a knock against it).

QoD: Where you live, what’s your favorite spot to hang out?

Related posts:

1. 5 Continents in the Past Year: How I Traveled and Saw the World
2. How-To: Create Kick-Ass Facebook Ads and Grow Your Fan Page
3. Studies in Weird Human Behavior: How to Create a Better Craigslist Ad

The fun preparation of moving.

Moving is always a hassle.  When the summer heat comes to the northeast, so do the increased rent prices (which makes renting out an apartment a pain!).

But, as with most things, there’s a way to beat the system.  After reading Nudge, I was inspired by the examples of little changes that produce huge results.

Thankfully, the perfect opportunity arose. Recently, I decided I wanted to move from my apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan to an apartment in a different area with a good friend.  In order to move from this apartment, though, I needed to find someone to take my place.  Anyone who lives in a large city knows what a pain getting rid of an apartment can be. However, in order to separate myself from the million other people trying to leave their place, I decided to test some ad variations. Below, you’ll see the four different advertisements I ran, the results, and the funny unexpected result to this process.

Before placing any advertisement on Craigslist, I had an idea about the perfect person I’d like to take my place:

• Male
• Between the age of 18 and 28
• No shares (i.e. their girlfriend can’t live in the place with them)
• Clean, well-mannered, respectful of the other two people living in the apartment
• Could pay his share of the rent on-time for June, July, and August

Requirements that, while I thought would be easy to fill, ended up being more difficult than I imagined.

So, shooting in the dark to describe my aforementioned wants in a listing, I made the first advertisement.

Details for ad numero uno:

Title: LES/East Village – Great Partially Furnished Room Available
Published: On a Tuesday, 28 total responses, 3 day run time
Notes: Made no reference to start date
Result? No one matched my criteria.

As noted, I made no mention of the start date. Because this ad was published in late April, roughly 90% of the people that contacted me asked to move in immediately.  It also took a considerable amount of time to respond to everyone and ask if they’d be interested in renting the place for the summer–and it was especially defeating when no one was!  So, what I learned from ad one shaped how I created the copy for the second advertisement.

Details for the second listing:

Title: LES/EVillage: Summer Interns, Perfect Apartment (Incl. ALL Utilities)
Published: On a Thursday, 9 total responses, 1 day run time
Note: All responses were qualified date-wise, ad ran for less than 24 hours
Result? A kid named Ryan gave me an offer to live at the apartment.

A screenshot of the advertisement:

The first advertisement--testing without direction!

Mentioning the start date and leveraging bullet points (while keeping the listing concise) held the user’s attention.  Additionally, noting that all utilities were included in the title attracted users who were just scrolling through the housing listings. Presenting relevant information cleanly is especially important on Craigslist because a user is probably looking at 10-20 ads for a very short amount of time whenever they log on.

Despite the success, I wanted to err on the side of caution and garner more interest in case the agreement with Ryan fell through.

So, I posted a third listing:

Title: LES/EVillage: Summer Interns, Relaxed Apartment (Incl. ALL Utilities)
Published: On a Thursday, 25 total responses, 5 day run time
Note: 50% of requests for more apartment information were from women
Result? No one matched my criteria

Perhaps it was the mention of a “relaxed apartment” that grabbed the high percentage of women? Typically, women associate with emotional words more than men do, which may have been why we saw an increase in female interest.

Third advertisment. Lots of female interest.

While I was receiving more valuable interest than the earlier ads, roughly 50% of my emails asked if males or females lived in the apartment. Since my roommates were only interested in living with another male, I decided to make one last adjustment…

The final advertisement:

Title: Summer Interns, Laid-Back Apartment (Incl. ALL Utilities)
Published: On a Wednesday, 13 total responses, 7 day run time
Result? Received an offer from a second candidate, Christian

The final advertisement!

By making mention of two other males living in the apartment and slightly tweaking the adjective in the title I cut down on female responses by about 30%. Additionally, I received an offer from a second candidate who fit the description I was looking for.

So, what was the end result?

Although I learned about the psychology behind posting an effective Craigslist ad, ironically, we went with none of the candidates.  It turned out that one of my current roommates has a cousin who’s moving to the city for an internship, so the void was filled!

QoD: What other ads would you like to have seen me try?

Related posts:

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2. How-To: Create Kick-Ass Facebook Ads and Grow Your Fan Page
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