This is a guest post from Sappho.  If someone told me the world was going to end and I could only save a dozen of my favorite people, Sappho would be first amongst the list.  She’s unbelievably smart but the truth is that her intelligence is not the reason I’d bring her along with me.  When I say she’s quick-witted, we’re [...]

I tried to place an order from Nordstrom the other day.  (I won’t even begin to bore you with the details of how they DUMPED MY FLIPPING CART AFTER LEAVING THE SITE FOR EXACTLY SIX MINUTES.)
 
This is what I got when I attempted to check out. (God only knows who wrote this copy. I thought Solzhenitsyn was dead.)
 
 
 
This is the type [...]

Beth Kotowski asks: “Why are you so obsessed with exit pages? No other consultants ever talk about them.  Are you behind the times or do you see value in them that others don’t?”
Good question.  I know they are not sexy but exit pages are still one of the very first things I look at before I do a site critique.  Why?  Because they’re [...]

The other day, while I was debating whether or not to report father-to-be, DJ Waldow, to Child Protective Services for FUTURE neglect*, a funny thing happened. 
I was standing in a very busy, noisy, 50-floor, city office building, impatiently waiting for one of the two (out of eight) elevators that were working.  EVERYONE was on their phones  (in fact, most of us had a [...]

Do you remember the first time you kissed?
What about the last time?
Ok, now tell me about all the ones in the middle. 
Yes, you heard me….  Talk to me about every kiss you’ve ever had.
Don’t remember them all?   Hmmm….  Why?
In the past couple months, I have started several speeches and webinars with the “kiss” question.  Everyone can tell me about their [...]

Ann Kennedy says: “Please tell me, Oh Web Goddess Extraordinaire, why do sites like Craigslist do well?  They’re butt ugly and that’s on a good day.  I just don’t get it.”    
First, I like the greeting.  I’m hardly a goddess – more like a jester – but since it’s the nicest thing I’ve been called in days weeks months, I’ll [...]

This is a guest post from Dave Cleveland, a copywriter, graphic artist and marketer from Woodstock, VT.   I’ve worked with Dave since I was knee-high to a grasshopper (read: a very, very long time)  and he’s unequivocally one of my favorite people on the planet.  Despite his alarmingly bad taste in politicians, he’s one of the sharpest, most creative people you’ll ever meet. 
In a [...]

“I want to go to the Nuggies Store and NOT the scary people store.” Anonymous ordered, as if he had the one and only vote.
Anonymous is three and a half but he stirs up trouble like no boy — or man — I’ve ever met.
“And what store is that?” My brother asked.
“The store where Amy takes me.” The Diabolical One [...]

Did you see the movie, Ratatouille?
I am a firm believer that the premise — anyone can cook — is true…   Although I must say, three of my closest friends constantly try to prove me wrong.
Cait’s idea of “cooking” is putting Cheez-Wiz on a Ritz cracker with some salami or “whipping up” Suddenly Salad or whatever that godforsaken pasta-in-a-box-WITHOUT-vegetables concoction is [...]

Have you been to time-out as an adult?  (No, not Time-Out, the trendy restaurant in Dubai, the place in the corner of your house or on the stairs.)
I was there just yesterday and although I can’t say much for it as an effective disciplinary tool, it did get me to think…  But first with the story…
I was at my brother’s house with my [...]