In this breakdown you will learn:

• How facial expressions of primates help determine our trust in others.
• How using stimulus-response relationships will build support.
• How the Golden Ratio applies to Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance.

I will only focus on the brand psychology, color theory, and nonverbal communication techniques being used on his website. If you would like to know about his political beliefs, please visit his website.

RickSantorum.com – 2012 Campaign

First impression: Light base colors. Polished in overall design, and easy to locate key calls to action.

Main colors: Various shades of blue (trust) and White (purity)

Section 1: Hero Images

Rick Santorum’s main hero image showcases a generally positive photo, a strong call to action, and a well thought out statement to further a stimulus-response type of relationship.

Each of which we will cover as we progress.

First, what I find interesting are his expressions throughout the home page. Specifically, his willingness to show his teeth.

In primates, showing the teeth, especially teeth held together, is almost always a sign of submission.

That may sound odd, but it says a lot about him.

His team wouldn’t choose a random image to influence your first impression with.

This stood out to me because Newt Gingrich’s website, the first breakdown in this series, doesn’t show any teeth throughout his website.

After looking over other candidate websites, I was hard-pressed to find anyone in a large focal image like this showing their teeth. Interesting.

What is the significance of this? You may be surprised.

According to an interview with Scientific America Frank McAndrew, professor of psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., has done extensive research on facial expressions.

In the interview he states:

In primates, showing the teeth, especially teeth held together, is almost always a sign of submission.

In the primate threat, the lips are curled back and the teeth are apart–you are ready to bite. But if the teeth are pressed together and the lips are relaxed, then clearly you are not prepared to do any damage.

Is it unrealistic to infer this behavior in humans? Think about it for a moment. When you smile, regardless of what caused the smile, what is your primary goal?

At a core level you want to show that you like someone or encourage someone to like you, right?

This ties into your brain’s classification instinct – is this a friend, foe, or sexual partner – you are constantly testing these boundaries. All with the simple act of a smile.

Initially, his smile is welcoming. You let your guard down. But why is he looking to the right? Does this symbolize his focus on the future?

Why is his mouth slightly open showing his teeth? Does he want to come off friendly, but subconsciously tell you he is willing to fight?

Keep this in mind, and watch carefully, as you see others smile around you. Nonverbal communication speaks more loudly than words.

The headline to his left reads “Thanks to you…” and competes heavily for our initial attention due to its size.

Even more important is the fact that the largest text on the entire page is a direct message to you.

Thanks to you, we’ve reached our goal.

You are being conditioned to repeat the stimulus in order to get the same response.

This statement is pushing two agendas. One by stating you are the primary cog to their election machine. Another by leveraging the usage of we and our to establish your part in a larger movement.

A larger group that is moving toward the same goal.

You + we + our + reaching goal = momentum created by your involvement in his campaign

Much like Pavlov’s experiments, which use stimulus-response relation as its building block, you get rewarded for completing an action. With each reward you are being conditioned to repeat the stimulus in order to get the same response.

In this instance, you are noticed and praised. Your action is making a difference. This encourages you to repeat the same behavior to get noticed more. Praised more.

Repeating the same behavior provides Santorum with prolonged momentum, continual financial support, and a solid structure of increasing advocates to spread his message long-term.

To increase the likelihood of you repeating this behavior, his website provides you with myopic focus toward your next action.

Rick’s eyes guide your attention to that single opportunity. Prolong this experience by clicking on the oversized red Donate button.

Conversion is not synonymous with red

There is a common misconception that conversion rates increase when you use the color red. This isn’t always true.

Brains are constantly analyzing this visual data for patterns.

Much like Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic architecture, it’s about the context and color theory of the entire surroundings.

How are you framing the content? How close is your call to action button to other elements? If you use a bold color like red, do you also use it on non-action items?

Whether your visitors realize it or not, their brains are constantly analyzing this visual data for patterns.

These patterns help their brain catalog the general experience and adapt their behavior to it based on experiences from other similar situations.

To put this into perspective let’s do a quick exercise.

First, open Rick Santorum’s website in a new browser tab.

Now, stand up and walk away from your desk.

Most of you probably walk about five feet away. Go further. Try ten or fifteen feet. Go ahead and try it now.

Done?

What three design elements (not photography) stand out?

1. Donate
2. Donate
3. Rick Santorum’s logo

Rick’s entire website is, for the most part, blue. Every interactive element on his website is powered by a high contrasting catalyst in red.

The fact that you can stand fifteen feet away from your desk and still clearly see what his call to action is says a lot. In that regard, his website is a great example of design focus.

Can you do that with your website?

Section 2: Golden Ratio in Calls to Action

Rick chose to use a full width hero image. This pushes his secondary, prioritized navigation area into a much more traditional sidebar location.

This allows the structure of his entire design to fall in line with the Fibonacci sequence. Otherwise known as the golden ratio or the golden rectangle.

Remember when I mentioned that our brain is constantly analyzing visual data for patterns? Let’s expand on that thought.

Adrian Bejan, professor of mechanical engineering at Duke University, has published various papers on how our brain has evolved over time to interpret images using the golden ratio faster than any other method.

According to Bejan:

It is well known that the eyes take in information more efficiently when they scan side to side, as opposed to up and down. When you look at what so many people have been drawing and building, you see these proportions everywhere.

The golden ratio is best understood by dividing an image into thirds. In web design division is typically done horizontally. It uses relational distance between objects to help us analyze the data.

In the image below you will see an example of this.

Each rectangle is broken down into thirds. The main rectangle surrounds the composition: the hero image, content, and sidebar. It houses the entire spiral.

The sidebar, where the spiral arcs deeper, is exactly one-third the size of the content area.

As you follow the spiral you can see how the size of the sidebar, and where the icons line up, fall directly on the border of other rectangular thirds.

Like Bejan said, this allows your brain to process this information efficiently.

Processing information efficiently relaxes your brain.

Section 3: Standardized Web Design

Like I outlined in Influencing Customer Behavior with Interactive Psychology, using a standardized header, content, sidebar, footer structure lays the groundwork for initial interest.

It buys you a few extra seconds to present them with something of value. Something of intrigue.

When a user sees that standard structure, it relaxes their brain and puts it into a passive state.

Studies show that people in passive activities are much more open to the power of suggestion.

Rick’s entire website is a motivational tool for donation. He has a single goal. A single call to action. His suggestion is front and center.

How can you capitalize on this?

Find out what your users want and give it to them.

No games.

No gimmicks.

Effort only takes place after the perception of value is verified in our mind.

If you are immediately passive your defenses are down. If your defenses are down, you are more likely to be drawn in to sign-up for a newsletter, like him on Facebook, or even donate.

In contrast, if a user’s first experience with your website consists of confusion you’ve already lost the battle. You might as well throw in the towel.

Confusion implies effort is required to find information.

Information about someone they aren’t sure they care about yet.

In 1956, Leon Festinger, an American social psychologist, proposed that people have a motivational drive to reduce internal disagreement by altering their existing perception to create a consistent belief system. He called this cognitive dissonance.

Applying this to web design the core message is: don’t challenge a user’s expectations.

Effort only takes place after the perception of value, or suggested reward, is verified in our mind. Once you challenge expectations you open the door for a swift exit.

For Rick, that could mean losing donations and support that may ultimately change the course of his election.

How to Design with Instinct on Your Website

Rick Santorum’s website strategically uses our natural human instinct to create a long-tail support effect. It panders to our brain’s natural ability to organize visual data. Building a slow, confident momentum toward implied success.

But how do you trigger momentum in the first place?

How Rick used human nature to his advantage:

1. Through the use of standardized web design (header, content, sidebar) Rick was able to calm our senses immediately. His use of the golden ratio, or the rule of thirds, capitalizes on our natural brain function to organize and analyze visual data. Using this strategy puts important information where your brain expects it to be. The golden ratio is a blueprint for effectively placing call to action buttons.
2. He used a wide hero image that started with a direct message to you and ended with a request to donate. He continued this singular call to action throughout the home page. While there are other navigational items, it’s clear that donation is priority. It’s important to have one priority per page so that you can funnel visitors exactly where you want them. Remember the exercise you did standing 5, 10, or 15 feet away from your computer? Try it on your web design or branding materials.
3. A Pavlovian stimulus-response relationship was established immediately. If you are a supporter it shows that your involvement in his campaign makes a difference. If you aren’t a supporter it shows how important he views those that have already helped him gain momentum. Regardless of which you are, he encourages you to support him so you, as an individual and as part of his larger tribe, can accomplish more. It ties directly into our innate human nature. We all want to succeed. To win. To conquer.

His website utilizes core design psychology. It’s important you implement all of these on your website not only to build momentum, but to gain readers and encourage brand advocacy as a whole.

If you only take one thing away from this article, make sure it’s this:

Prioritize your message.

Do you want me to help you and evaluate the design psychology behind your website? Learn about UX Triggers

Related Articles:

1. Great Website Design: The Golden Ratio
2. What Newt Gingrich’s Website Can Teach You About Influence
3. Influencing Customer Behavior with Interactive Psychology

Distributing Democrats & Republicans together throughout the room leads the general public to infer major success w each cheer. #Psychology

— Joshua Garity (@iamlucid) January 25, 2012

You have to admit, that’s pretty clever. It made wonder what other ways each of the candidates were utilizing similar strategies, if any, to build their own campaign momentum and establish their brands.

During the 2012 Republican Presidential Primaries and Presidential election I will break down the web branding for Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Barack Obama.

I will only focus on the brand psychology, color theory, and nonverbal communication techniques being used on his website. If you would like to know about his political beliefs, please visit his website.

Newt.org – 2012 Campaign

First impression: A very traditional, conservative approach to web design. It’s easy to navigate.

Main colors: Dark Blue (trust) and Red (power)

Let’s dig deeper and break down the psychology of his website’s design.

Section 1: Hero Image

Studies show that the first things we analyze are facial features. So, focus is naturally drawn to Newt. Instinctively, we see that his eyes are focused on something to the right side of our screen. This makes us subconsciously follow his gaze; which leads us to the main call to action buttons (which I break down in Section 2).

Also note that his much smaller photograph, located just below Section 1, is looking in the same direction. That doesn’t happen by chance.

A single exposure to the American flag shifts support toward Republicanism.

His featured image represents two-thirds of the main content area of his landing page, falling in line with the golden ratio in web design, but he himself only covers about 30% of that image.

In the background a strong presence of the American flag. Which may seem commonplace to you for a Presidential candidate, but it’s actually much more psychological than that.

According to a study done by Travis J. Carter at the Center for Decision Research, a single exposure to the American flag shifts support toward Republicanism up to 8 months later.

Seem unreasonable and far-fetched? Take a moment to click on the thumbnail of Barack Obama’s website.

Look how small the flag is. If you’re not looking for it, it’s pretty easy to miss. Coincidence?

Ok, back to Newt’s website. Back to his photograph.

Look at the perspective of the photograph itself. He is above the assumed eye-level of the audience and by implication, us. But he isn’t looking down on us.

He stands broad-shouldered with open palms and arms outward from his body. The direction of his arms are pulling focus to his vital organs: the heart, and his stomach. He is telling you through nonverbal communication that he sees you as a friend and is not concerned about you attacking him. In turn, it triggers a response in your own mind that he is not a threat to you.

His choice of tie color is also very interesting…the color itself represents royalty

Without you realizing it, your brain analyzes this body language and categorizes it influencing your perception of him.

This is a reason that most politicians, and public speakers, have very similar hand gestures while pushing main talking points.

His choice of tie color is also very interesting. What color is it? Purple. Not only is it an amalgamation of red and blue, which is a direct reflection of both Republican and Democratic symbolism, but the color itself represents royalty. Not only did he break the boundary between party lines, in a very subtle way he told your brain to see him in higher office.

Next time you are influenced by someone, take a look at what they are wearing. You  may be surprised.

Now, the badge he has created states “21^st Century contract with America”. Without knowing anything about the political purpose, the most common approach would be to relate the word contract with jobs.

The dominant color of his website is blue, the color of trust.

Although the core take-away from the word contract may imply corporate involvement, contract does represent work for those involved. It’s a dual statement that aims to get the interest of the CEOs or investors, as well as the working middle-class.

The red element below “America” suggests that we are moving from the background, a confined past, toward the foreground, a more wide-open future.

Section 2: Calls to Action

It’s very clear what the goal of this website is: donate money. This is a great priority action item and serves his needs effectively.

The “Donate Today” button’s red color and slightly larger design in relation to the other navigation draws your immediate attention.  Even more oversized are the “Join Now”, “Donate” again, “Get Gear”, and “Learn More” tertiary, vertical buttons below it.

People need to know what the end result of their purchase is before they can realistically finalize any sale. You should never confuse customers.

His statement, “Join Now to save America” on the first call to action is semantically bold. It triggers a sense of urgency. As if America is on the verge of total destruction and it’s up to you to save it.

It’s a great call to action, but I have to wonder why they didn’t use “to save America” under the “Donate today” heading to read: Donate today to save America.

Clicking on the button to “save America” only takes you to a basic newsletter sign-up page. “Donate today” encourages you to contribute to his campaign and sign-up for his newsletter. That seems like a waste of an incredibly strong call to action.

Also, when you do actually click to donate you are presented with an introductory sentence that states, “Please consider a secure contribution to the campaign to help guarantee that Newt has the resources to spread his vision for America. Victory begins with you!”

Again, his bold statement of saving America is pushed aside for a more conservative, “Please consider a secure contribution to…spread his vision for America.”

The power behind words is uneven from one page to the next. Sometimes aggressive. Sometimes passive. It’s not consistent and makes me wonder which version he actually is; which is a problem.

People need to know what the end result of their purchase is before they can realistically finalize any sale. You should never confuse customers.

Wait a minute…customer?

Whether you choose to accept it or not, you are about to potentially pay the brand of Newt to provide you with a service. The Presidency.

Your money (customer) + his service (provider) = a transaction

How to Build Trust with Your Website

It’s clear that Newt has a team of digital marketers that at least understand the importance of standard web structure and an appropriate level of visual appeal.

In a study done by Gitte Lindgaard et al, it was determined your brain creates strong correlations between visual appeal and trustworthiness of the brand within the first 50 milliseconds of landing on a website.

You can influence an incredible amount of action once you have established an initial amount of trust. Once your brain makes a decision, you subjectively look for information that supports it.

How did Newt build upon that initial trust?

1. The dominant color of his website is blue, the color of trust. Many financial institutions and social networks like Facebook use blue as a primary brand color. It subconsciously suggests that we can trust them with our money or private information.
2. The main photograph on the website showcases him with open arms revealing his vulnerable chest, and stomach area. This establishes an instinctive response showing you that not only is he not a threat to you, but he doesn’t view you as a threat to him either. By doing this he influences your brain to categorize him as a friend instead of an enemy.
3. He encourages you to “save America” by joining his campaign, which makes you feel part of a larger tribe. Like animals, we instinctively go through life looking to be stronger as a group. If we know others are involved, we are much more likely to join them instead of taking more time to make our own decisions.
4. Social sharing also piggy-backs on the concept of group mentality. That’s why he shows you that 275,000 other people have liked this campaign page before you. This also implies that 275,000 people value what he can provide you as part of a group.
5. Without scrolling down on his website, you do not see him use his last name. Not even in his logo. This is an attempt to show you he has a personal relationship with you. Through that it’s easy to infer that he cares about your needs and will listen to your concerns.

If you can distill three of those examples into your own website, you have successfully supported your visitor’s first impression.

With that trust you have established they will let down their defenses and begin to browse to find more detailed supporting evidence.

Capitalize on each page by repeating three different trust triggers and one call to action.

What design strategies are you using to build trust in your brand?

Do you want me to help you and evaluate the design psychology behind your website? Learn about UX Triggers

Related Articles:

1. Designing with Instinct: Santorum’s Website and the Golden Ratio
2. Great Website Design: The Golden Ratio
3. Switching from Thesis to Genesis: Chris Brogan’s Influence

Do you tell yourself you could be so much better at your job, your relationships, or even your health with better time management?

Good. This is for you; a new perspective on achieving success with less effort than everyone else.

Let’s begin by ignoring the delusion of waking up earlier, going to bed later, and working harder. It’s a downward spiral to burning out. It may seem productive at first, but the end result is even less productivity and quality than where you began.

Time as we know it does not exist

Time is only a number. It holds absolutely no significance beyond the mathematical means to define the the length of our day. Did you know that our days are not actually 24 hours long? Go ahead and Google it, I’ll wait.

We’ve conditioned ourselves to be prideful in the act of being busy. There is no pride in that.

Think about it this way; if time is a constant length then why does it seem to bend so carelessly? Why does staring at a clock seemingly make time stand still? Why does the anxiousness of running late eat away at time so quickly? If there were any solidarity to time, it would be reliable and never in question.

Time, unlike any other mathematical formula, is governed entirely by perception.

How can we plan for the future on such unstable ground? Isn’t that simply setting ourselves up for failure?

Most of us only budget by time because we lack a better way to plan. We dread the alarm clock that tells us when our day begins. We submit project estimates based on times that are completely fabricated. We submit timesheets for paychecks that valuate our time in an overly casual way.

When co-workers ask for help on projects, friends and family text, call or email, your time becomes their time. An ever growing Venn Diagram where their equal overlap becomes the steady majority. Eroding away any chance of productivity that is surely within your grasp.

Imagine the invigorating power of not planning your day around time, but planning around specific action.

Action Management

Do not create a to-do list for your day. Most people set themselves up for failure by planning for ideal situations.

If you can accomplish your action list in 4 hours, why would you try to fit more work into your day?

Let go of the fear that you may miss an important email, phone call or text. Once you react, their priorities become yours.

Electronic communication is only convenient for people that want something from you. Everyone else knows that you’re busy and understands your delayed response.

Repeat that paragraph. It’s important.

Now, pick three things that you will accomplish today. Don’t estimate how long each action will take. Just do them.

For consultants or business owners it may look like:

1. follow up on pitch/meeting/phone call
2. reach out to five new prospects
3. finish specific task on a project

For bloggers it may look like:

1. brainstorm five new blog post topics
2. research and write a new blog post
3. comment and share posts from five other bloggers

That’s it. If you think this is too easy, it is. It’s very easy. Accept it.

Time Management has failed us

We’ve conditioned ourselves to be prideful in the act of being busy. There is no pride in that. Don’t try to give 100% all day, every day because it’s impossible. Ignore the cliche motivators that do more harm than good. Just finish what you start.

If you can accomplish your action list in 4 hours, why would you try to fit more work into your day?

Once you try to do additional work, your brain will begin to compare how much you have accomplished today with previous days. Possibly even against your most productive day. If, by comparison, you accomplished less you will feel like you’ve failed.

Start setting yourself up for success instead of failure.

Working less has been proven to result in higher quality work. For that very same reason, major corporations are shifting focus to this mindset. Burying the timesheet and implementing value pricing in a results only work environment (ROWE).

Customers do not buy our time. They buy our knowledge and the value we provide them.

If you can provide the same value in five hours of time versus pretending to work for forty, shouldn’t you be able to make a similar salary?

If you get paid for an hour of work but your proposed solution to their problem only takes five minutes, should you only get paid for those five minutes?

This was part 1 of the Essential 5-part Productivity Guide series. Read Part 2: Stop Planning for Tomorrow

Related Articles:

1. The Business Manifesto of Now: Dedicated Focus and the Suicide of Impulse
2. Stop Planning for Tomorrow
3. Crossroads: Making Life Changing Decisions

UnGeeked came at a turbulent, and complex, time for me on a personal level. I was buying into what someone previously close to me was paltering. They made me question myself a little too much, and that doubt ate at me from the inside constantly.

I was originally set to lead a break out session about interactive psychology on day one. In it, I would provide direct, actionable techniques for a handful of attendees and their interactive projects.

This platform is second nature to me as I do it on a daily basis for Fortune 500 corporations and start-ups. The break out session was well within my comfort zone.

A week before the event, Cd Vann, Founder of unGeeked, offered me an amazing opportunity. Speak, and lead discussion, on influencing behavior through interactive psychology and color theory in front of all attendees as an unGeeked Elite.

My session would lead in to Olivier Blanchard’s forty-five minute block. Olivier is a phenomenal brand strategist that I have always had a great deal of respect for.

As exciting as this was, I hadn’t spoken to an audience like this in over five years. It wasn’t even for the same industry.

But I couldn’t say no.

Seize the opportunities that life brings you

I often talk about allowing for opportunity in life; whether that be personal or business. The future cannot be planned for; only prepared for.

Momentum ebbs and flows with each moment and it’s important you take advantage of opportunity. Even if that means jumping out of your comfort zone and trusting the faith that others have in you.

If you do not step out of your comfort zone you are already at the apex of your life as you read this. You made a conscious effort to cease the growth of you, as an individual. Is that really what you want your life to be like?

On day one we went around the room introducing ourselves. At that moment you realize you are in a room full of friends and a sense of comfort comes over you. When the mental connection is made between the online avatar and a more tangible person it can be an amazing experience.

I will never forget the reaction from Paula Lee Bright (@Almost60Really) as I announced my Twitter handle (@iamlucid) and the banter that came afterward. It’s the closest feeling I will ever have to being a celebrity and I will forever be humbled by that moment.

What makes unGeeked different?

The sessions provide a great source of education and inspiration, but what sets unGeeked apart is the level of true engagement. It’s an open forum for passionate, respectful discussion. You choose to be engaged at the level you find most comfortable.

It doesn’t start and end with each session; everyone is there to help each other grow as a whole. I still talk to quite a few of the attendees on a weekly basis.

It’s been said that our minds, our creativity and our passion for life is at its best while in the presence of those that encourage and understand us.

I’ve spent the last ten to fifteen years of my life building a brand around my perspective on business; something that cannot be entirely recreated by anyone else on the planet. Because of this, there is a lot of vulnerability in letting my guard down and welcoming open discussion for 45 minutes.

My ability to inspire discussion and offer uncommon perspective encouraged a lot of people to get involved. I was also the only discussion leader focusing on color theory,  and utilizing design to guide user focus to increase engagement.

The amount of genuine curiosity in what I do made me fully realize the value of what I provide people on a daily basis. I felt validated. Respected.

Attendees of the session still reach out to me, months later, to learn more about design psychology, color theory and influencing behavior of customers.

The most important experiences are not about business or opportunity

There are great moments that I will never forget. Friendships that were established that I hope to be lifelong. Those experiences will always surpass the business opportunities, book deals and partnerships that originated from simply being part of unGeeked.

Here are a few of those moments:

1. Amanda Hite‘s passion for making the world a better place. For inspiring a room to help someone achieve their dream through #unGeekedLove
2. Peg Fitzpatrick finding her voice and establishing herself as a social leader. She has since begun blogging, and launched the highly successful #MyBookClub.
3. The #tapas movement and the incomparable Katie Felten.
4. Olivier Blanchard’s expression when I answered his question about using design psychology to influence social media engagement with a well designed profile image and a little color theory.
5. Sharing great conversation with Jen Howver over duck tacos while our waiter tried to get us to leave every five minutes.
6. Troy Janisch trying to convince everyone I was throwing a kegger in my rented dorm room.
7. Sam Fiorella hounding me for not buying him coffee.

It’s important to follow the momentum of life. Without stepping out of my comfort zone none of these opportunities, friendships or memories would have ever existed.

I would be a different man at this moment had I not been part of unGeeked.

It’s a powerful thought.

Photo credit

Related Articles:

1. Crossroads: Making Life Changing Decisions
2. Google Plus: Color Theory of a Global Takeover
3. Best of the first 6 months. Articles, comments and a newborn.

With clear focus you can bypass the entire fight or flight mechanism.

You can tap into these instinctual responses by standardizing the approach to your website layouts. Our brain goes into autopilot when it quickly locates the navigation and primary content. The same way you understand, without any active thought, that the steering wheel of every automobile turns; the gas pedal accelerates and the brake stops. It all becomes second nature.

Think of it this way; how many websites look like Chris Brogan’s website? How many websites use the Thesis framework? Not only is it fast to launch but it also simplifies the experience of your user.

Studies show that people in passive activities, like watching television, are much more open to the power of suggestion.

Meeting the needs of your visitors

Users typically access your website with one goal in mind. Once that need is met they are open to influence through impulse triggers. This is why online stores feature similar items on product pages. The initial need has been met. Now your brain is open to suggestion.

Another example is the use of the color red in clearance, or high priority, sales. Red excites our brain. Not only does it direct our attention, if used properly, the result is similar to caffeine. And, if you didn’t know, when you drink caffeine you make more impulsive decisions. Buy things we normally wouldn’t buy. Remember that next time you pick up a CD at your local Starbucks register “on a whim”.

Users want to believe they made the right decision

Even if you don’t sell a product or service it’s important that you still view your visitors as potential customers. By establishing your value they will buy into your brand and then look for additional information to support their decision. Users want to believe they made the right decision. Engage them with the resources they are looking for up front. Each time you peak their interest they browse your website a little longer.

With clear focus you can bypass the entire fight or flight mechanism. Which is a fancy way of saying don’t throw a ton of scary information at your visitor right away. This is also why many websites don’t list the price of their service on the front page. They sell you on it first. To sell more disconnect the association between price and value.

Look at the snapshot of the Kitchen Table Companies website. They sell you on the value. They don’t hit you with the price until you are already invested.

Finding the real focus of your website

I say “the real focus” because many websites try and push certain products, or services, on their visitors. Force feeding does not work if you value your customers and their outlook on your brand.

The best way to find the real focus, and greatest value, is by acknowledging your visitor’s actual behavior. Dig into your website’s analytics and look at which three pages are being accessed the most. Pull focus to those three areas across your entire website and unify your goals to build a stronger web presence. A stronger web presence is the first step to providing a successful user experience.

Providing less options will simplify the decision making process. Our brain has an innate ability to categorize and understand options presented in threes. This is why you see many websites, and landing pages, break down their benefits into three columns.

3 simple actions to implement on your website right now:

1. Determine what your visitors want by reviewing usage trending through software like Google Analytics. It’s important to do this often.

2. Remove unnecessary information and focus your efforts on the top three resources / pages / products that you found

3. After your visitor finds value pull them deeper into the website (suggested items, pricing structure, newsletter, etc).

Photo credit

Related Articles:

1. Great Website Design: The Golden Ratio
2. Crowd Sourcing Customer Reviews: Kmart’s Success and Angie’s List Fail.
3. Better Client Retention and Relationships through Customer Appreciation

Google has pulled the psychological rug out from underneath all of us.

What caught my attention was the drastic change in their color theory and overall branding. Google is known for their relatively clean layout and navigation. Previously their tool bar was a very passive white. With time it slowly progressed to a gradient white to grey background. Now? A bold statement powered by a near black with a red line signifying your current location.

While most of us may see this as a trendy approach to a top navigation bar during a public relations push; those of us rooted in the influential world of color theory see something much more significant.

On a basic level the near black navigation represents power and authority. The red highlight is associated with energy, strength and power. Starting to see a trend in their decision making?

Google’s new universal navigation is set against their traditional stark white background forcing even more focus on their core set of products and services. That is what sets Google+ apart from its competitors; I use the term competitors loosely as no one is in direct competition. This isn’t a new service. It’s an extension on a worldwide brand that we all know. This gives them immense freedom in how they influence our decision making through color theory.

What color is predominantly used for social media branding on large, well known, networks? LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (even MySpace when they were relevant) featured extensive use of the color blue. What type of companies in the offline world use blue as their key color? Banks.

Whether you realize it or not both sell us a very similar business model. They provide a service of trust. We trust them with our security. Our private information. Our money. It’s no coincidence that the color blue represents just that; trust, stability and truth.

When a company can claim ownership of enchantment on that level the restrictions that hold other services back are non-existent.

While social networks continue to try and leverage, and sometimes struggle with, their ability to protect your private data Google has pulled the psychological rug out from underneath all of us. It doesn’t need to gain your trust. Google already has you hooked through their amazing library of free services. Many of which we all use on a daily basis. When a company can claim ownership of enchantment on that level the restrictions that hold other services back are non-existent. The digital world is theirs to re-brand, re-shape and re-invent with their methodical positioning in recent years.

Google isn’t being coy with their goals. They didn’t send us to a landing page with a big colorful button to encourage action. They relaunched a global brand in the last twenty-four hours; re-branded with colors that represent power and strength.

Others need to take notice.

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The strength of that bridge will grow over time and everyone will benefit.

Employee moral has taken a devastating blow in recent years due to drastic changes in our economic outlook. Even when employed, hot button topics such as hourly rates and benefit packages are forced into top of mind and can heavily affect productivity. How can we, as business owners, ensure that our employees are happy and remain loyal to our brand?

Share, Grow and Learn Together

It’s important that we move away from the mindset of a ladder system in business. Where new employees are viewed as less valuable than management from day one. In today’s society, where new hires are typically overqualified, that process of earning empowerment could quickly dissolve any true job security. Not only from a business perspective but from an individual’s as well. Help them transition smoothly from where they are and where they want to be. The strength of that bridge will grow over time and everyone will benefit. That bridge may even support you one day.

That being said, it is crucial that both company and employee work toward a shared experience as well. Your end goals will fork at some point in the road but even short term can be defined in years. Empower them with the knowledge you have learned through first hand experience. Make them better by sharing your mistakes. It will help your company as you are only as good as the team you surround yourself with. Make sure that the best of them want to stay with your company.

Give them freedom to grow and excel in their field.

Providing employees with a passion project they can pilot will help them feel invested in the company. Every employee should have this opportunity regardless of job title, pay scale or length with the company. However, the level of freedom they are given can be directly related to previous success. This approach encourages strong work ethic and establishes commitment to your brand. A reward system in place for those that want to take advantage of it.

The employee draws the blueprint and builds the house. You simply invest the time and provide support.

Staging an open house for co-workers and guests to showcase the passion projects could become a regular event. Attendees could vote anonymously on different categories like more traditional award shows. Grand prize could be additional vacation days, submission of the project for national awards or an engraved plaque. The business may also submit a light-hearted press release to local news channels and share the story on social networking sites.

Not only does this build an adequate stage for employees it also suggests a deadline for their project. Although they are piloting these initiatives your goal as a company is to encourage growth. Not a means to pass the time. Give them freedom to grow and excel in their field. By not allowing this “free time” you potentially negate the ability to keep current on trends, technologies and strategy. What works well today may not be relevant tomorrow. Sheltering your employee from growth does not breed loyalty.

The level of pride, trust and loyalty you build with this employee empowerment will create a sense of allure that will not only keep current employees but to attract high quality co-workers as well.

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What happens when we see an opportunity? When the energy of excitement and potential ignites us with opportunity to succeed. A doorway to success without a five step program and twenty five plus years of our life to prove our worth.

There are two types of people in life; those who sit back and talk about doing and those who take action. Those who deliver.

Stop planning for tomorrow and deliver today

The problem lies within the mindset that we must follow a certain path to gain respect.

Some of the most talented people I have ever met followed the outdated blueprint for success.

Each of them had college degrees, were honest and respectable people, hard workers for the most part, but they waited their turn politely. They didn’t open their eyes to the opportunities speeding by them. They didn’t take control.

The only thing that held that back was themselves.

They may never realize their dreams because they took the long road to success with blinders over their eyes like Kentucky Derby horses.

You may have the seed of an idea that has the potential to grow into something life changing, possibly revolutionary, but the only way to find out is by pushing it further.

Build it. Create it. Finish it.

Get your idea out there for public consumption. Tomorrow can never be planned for. You never know what tomorrow will bring. You only have today. This moment. Right now.

Archaic structure expires with innovation

The problem lies within the mindset that we must follow a certain path to gain respect. To be viewed as successful.

That color by numbers mentality doesn’t innovate. It doesn’t allow for complete freedom of thought or unexpected events in our lives that may take us off course. Where is the excitement in that?

We are destined to repeat a cycle of decision making without asking the all-important why. Why do we need to realize our dreams a certain way? Why do we need to work 40 hour weeks? Why do we even need to go from Point A to Point B? We don’t. And this shift in the social status quo is changing the world we live in every day.

Don’t get left behind by a road map that worked best decades ago.

It doesn’t matter what age you are or if you have a college education. It doesn’t matter if you have been at your job three months or thirty years. Do it and do it now or someone else will.

It’s that simple.

Plan for today. Take action today. Succeed today.

This was part 2 of the Essential 5-part Productivity Guide series. Read Part 3: The Business Manifesto of Now

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Buying into our abilities is a leap of faith

The customer assumes we will provide the best quality work for their hard earned dollar. That our history of projects, clients and testimonials are an adequate barometer of what they can expect of us. They buy into the end result before seeing progress on their own project. Based on that the customer is willing to sign contracts, shake hands and trust our abilities to perform. At best, it is an educated leap of faith.

Many customers are even willing to compromise against their own expectations to see actual results. We operate under the mindset that it is reasonable to expect customers to provide content ahead of schedule or pay early. Expect that the customer go beyond expectations we already outlined for them. If you failed to go beyond the customer’s expectations would you refuse payment? Discount your rates?

If the customer gave you an objective would you go above expectations to raise the level of the end product? Imagine that you delivered ahead of schedule, under budget and to their liking even though it wasn’t up to your own standards. Do you still charge the full price? Do you put in extra effort to respect your own work when your customer may not even notice?

As business owners we are so quick to take action when a client fails us. When do we become equally responsible for our own work?

A real world example

Last week Gil Meche, a Kansas City Royals’ pitcher, retired early leaving a guaranteed salary of $12 million unpaid this year. A guaranteed contract is a remarkable opportunity that traditional business models cannot emulate. Its salary is paid to you regardless of performance or health.

In an interview with the New York Times Meche said, “Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad. I was making a crazy amount of money for not even pitching. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I didn’t want to have those feelings again.”

Not only did he go against the archetype of major league sports, he went against our own human nature. He walked away from money that was his if he wanted it. If you were guaranteed an annual salary for the entire year regardless of health or performance what would motivate you to deliver a quality product every day?

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Maintaining your audience’s attention

Whether it is as grand as speaking to a large crowd at a conference or a relatively mundane task such as writing an email; being successful stems from knowing what to say at what moment. When done well it becomes an art form.

In the most simplistic form frontloading boils down to one thing. Deliver the most important information first. The details can come after you have their attention. Then, if possible, forget the details and move on.

Less detail is more rewarding

By holding back less important details you can determine if additional information will serve the purpose of increasing retention rates and interest or simply wasting time.

Providing your audience with less information has two key benefits:

1. Entice them into craving more detail
2. Guarantee they receive the most important details

Now, how do you capitalize on this technique? Let’s start by looking at the most common mistakes we make in conversation. Not just in business and social media discussion but also in every day, face to face, talking.

Avoid unnecessary details

If I were to ask you “how was your vacation?” what would your typical response be?

Would you tell me about that amazing technique you have for packing your clothes to save space for souvenirs or how the flight was great aside from the lack of leg room and screaming babies? Maybe name drop that famous hotel you were lucky enough to book last minute? I hope not. Because you lost my attention as soon as you opened with packing technique.

Give your audience more only if they want more

What if I told you that, on my vacation, I was able to see something that only a handful of people have ever seen? Would you want to know more? Then I tell you that you need to fly in on a propeller plane, drive for two days and then hike 12 hours just to see this. Are you still interested? Chances are that you would want to know what it was, how I found out about it and if I took pictures. But why?

Psychologically, I am letting you pilot this conversation. I’m giving you just enough information to gain your interest and trigger your curiosity. I’m not bogging you down with useless information. It’s lean, it’s prime and it’s here if you want it.

The turning point

In any form of conversation you only have a brief moment before your audience decides if they are interested in hearing more. That conversation can be visual or vocal.

The key to retaining attention is finding your key point and delivering it fast. Frontload it so you have more control over your audience’s reaction. Once you lose them it will take much more effort to pull them back in.

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