ExperienceBlogger

I'm in the process of launching my third start-up. I'm resurrecting this blog as a space to share the experience. Hopefully folks can learn from my mistakes...I've been doing this long enough to know I'm gonna make a lot of them :)

[katiewoodger-blog]

DISNEY HAVE STOLEN MY ARTWORK

I don’t know what to do. I am so upset. Can anyone help me?

My painting was created back in 2010, (see it HERE) and since then so many people have expressed their love for it, not just on tumblr, but in many places. At least 9 people had it tattooed on their bodies. It’s one of my favourite images I created at University and I was proud of it in many ways.

Disney have used it on a cosmetics bag HERE (look at the back) and they have produced a Tshirt HERE with a really similar design clearly modeled from my painting

I’m so mad because I have no chance at getting Disney to do anything about it. I had so much respect for the company and now I am just SO upset and disappointed.

Any help, advice or signal boosting would be amazing. And thank you so much to the kind person who messaged me about this.

[experienceblogger-blog]

Which Converts Better: "33% Discount" or "50% More!"?

"33% Discount" vs. "50% More [Product]" -- they're essentially the same.

However, our brains are hardwired to find one more appealing than the other.

Check out this article from Neuroscience Marketing to find out why >>

[experienceblogger-blog]

Do You Want 100 Customer Interviews in Less Than 4 Hours?

Getting out of the Building and speaking directly with your users & customers is the only way I know of to really succeed in business.

You can't find a successful product or marketing strategy by brainstorming with your team - you ultimately need to test your ideas with your customers.

So whether you're launching a new product or looking to improve on an existing one, conducting customer interviews is an essential and rapid way of making informed decisions.

Check out this amazing step-by-step process for conducting targeted customer interviews in only a few hours...without leaving your desk!  >>

[experienceblogger-blog]

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words...

...even when it has NOTHING to do with the words themselves!

A new study discussed on the Neuroscience Marketing blog talks about how including pictures in an article (or piece of marketing copy) makes the writing more believable...even if the picture doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the copy.

This is an important concept to remember when constructing landing pages.

Read the full article on "Persuading with Pictures" Here>>

[experienceblogger-blog]

5 Ways Your Customer Surveys Could Lead You in the Wrong Direction

This is a great post from a presentation Will Evans gave on how to conduct customer research and build customer personas.  

For me, the most interesting portion of the presentation was when Will talks about the various biases we need to look out for when we analyze survey data.  I know I've personally been guilty of all of them.

Here's Will's post on Customer Research and LeanUX Persona Development>>

[experienceblogger-blog]

How One Design Change Improved Conversions by 27%

This is a great reminder why we should Always Be Testing!  Even "best practices" may not work the best for your particular product, market, etc.

Read this article on how one design change improved conversions by 27%>>

[experienceblogger-blog]

One "Little Thing" That Could Change Your Business

This is a concept my friends and I have talked about forever.  

There are some companies that consistently go above and beyond for their customers.

Disney is one of those companies that designs an experience that goes way beyond the norm -- they raise the bar every chance they get through meticulous attention to detail.

We used to say that other companies, especially theme parks, design their sets right up to where the curtain hangs.  But Disney makes sure their sets are well designed 2 feet behind the curtain just in case anyone wants to take a peek behind it.

This post from 37 Signals is a perfect example of how Disney nails their customer experience...this one little detail might have created a lifetime, repeat customer and all it took was an extra 2 - 3 seconds of someone's time.

What are some "little things" you and your team can do to surprise and delight your users each and every day?

Read the 37 Signals Post on how Disney Surprises its Customers >>

[experienceblogger-blog]

Amazing Analysis of Free-Trial Landing Page

The folks at MEC Labs have a great post from a session at their B2B Marketing Summit.  It gives 4 actionable test ideas for a Free-Trial landing page from one of the attendees company's.  

The ideas are specific to this page, but the principles they cover are applicable to anyone!

Read more about "4 Test Ideas for a Free-Trial, Lead Gen Form Page">>

[experienceblogger-blog]

How to get 400 User Surveys in 3 Days

Great step-by-step plan for conducting rapid customer research:

Rapid User Research: How to Survey 400 users and Interview 10 in 3 Days >>

[experienceblogger-blog]

Landing Page Design - Rules of Thumb (Infographic)

[experienceblogger-blog]

RIP Bill Moggridge

[experienceblogger-blog]

The Psychology of Beer!

Not at all related to online marketing, but interesting nonetheless...especially because I'm Irish and this has to do with beer!

Read about The Psychology of Beer>>

[experienceblogger-blog]

The Psychology Behind Your "Plans & Pricing" Page

The link below goes over something we all sort of know to do, either through testing or by simply observing and copying other successful pricing page designs: make sure your customer sees your most profitable pricing plan FIRST.

For example:

Basecamp's old pricing page wouldn't list the Premium pricing plan first, but it was emphasized and therefore was probably the item that customers saw first.

This post on the Brainy Marketing blog goes over why customers tend to select the item they see first...it's a good read, check it out here>>

[experienceblogger-blog]

Lead Quantity vs. Lead Quality

This post from Marketing Experiments reminds me of a very important lesson -- all customers (and in this case, all leads) are NOT created equal.

Sometimes less leads and less customers create a more profitable business.  

Read this great post on how introducing friction into your lead gen forms can actually help you get BETTER leads >>

[experienceblogger-blog]

Shopping Cart Abandonment Stats

[experienceblogger-blog]

The old "Foot in the Door" Technique

I wonder how this could be applied to selling software or information products?

Get someone to do you a "small favor" and then get them to buy -- ideas?

Read: Make a Crazy Request, Close the Deal>>

[experienceblogger-blog]

You Can't Learn Until You're Ready to Be Taught

You’ve probably heard it said that someone can’t be taught until they’re ready to learn. I’ve heard it said that way too. It makes sense, and my experience tells me it’s mostly true. Why though? Why can’t someone be taught until they’re ready to learn?

Clay explained it in a way that I’ve never heard before and I’ll never forget again...

Read Jason Fried's post on his meeting with Clay Christensen>>