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 first and last kisses but after that, folks quickly start drawing blanks.

Is it because there are too many?   If I asked you to only tell me about ALL the memorable “middle-kisses” – could you do it? 

Probably not.  Sure, you could name some but you’d leave others out and likely, you wouldn’t tell me them chronologically.

Interesting, huh?

Strangely enough the same brain that processes stuff like that is also the brain that makes your buying decisions.

Over the next few months, we’ll talk more about the different brains and how they work together as well as the buy buttons (yes, everyone has them.)  In the meantime, let’s concentrate on the fact that the “brain that buys” likes the beginning, it likes the end, and it gets kinda-sorta mushy when it comes to the middle.

What does this mean when it comes to your web site? 

• The first 2 seconds (yes, two) are critical.  Everyone knows that.  What folks often underestimate are the last two.  What are you doing to get the users to stay and/or come back quickly?  If the secret formula to your web success is your first impression — and your last impression — what are you doing to make them special (read: aggressive?)
• Deadlines work because they create urgency and they cause people to focus.  They are especially effective on the web because they combine the user’s need for speed and the self-service aspect of doing anything online.
• Use more action directives.  Action directives (aka embedded commands) tell people what they are supposed to do on your site – click here now, proceed to checkout now, sign up for our FREE newsletter/webinar/podcast/white paper now, and so on.   A lot of consultants will tell you that you do not need them – that users are so sophisticated now that they don’t have to be told what to do – that’s completely bogus (and only said by folks who clearly have no understanding how the brain works.) 

Figuring out how to get your user to do what you want them to do isn’t rocket science, it’s neuroscience.  There’s  a very BIG difference. 

P.S. Want to see another example of how good your brain is when it comes to beginnings and ends? Click here now.