The offending sentence: “Humans began wearing clothing made from spun fibers as long as 500,000 years ago, becoming the only animals to ever do so.”

This sparked a fury of emails, protesting my insinuation that humans are animals. We can’t run this! We’d lose advertisers! And biblically speaking, the earth isn’t nearly that old!

I’m not out to criticize anyone’s beliefs (though anyone who believes that humans aren’t animals obviously hasn’t been to my gym.)  Rather, I want to show how easy it is to offend people without even trying.

 WTF & Other Moral Quandaries

These days, I try hard NOT to offend people. I used to let it all hang out. Then I took a full-time job, and started rethinking the f-bombs sprinkling my Facebook status updates.

Is it OK to swear? What about insinuating a swear word, like WTF or FML? Was the word “hell” OK, or was that verboten, too? There are health benefits at stake, people!

But I have a deeper motive for analyzing my words: I want my work to have a broad impact. I don’t want to alienate readers with vulgar language, especially if that language doesn’t add meaning. And most times, it doesn’t. It just distracts from the message.

 When You Can’t Say It Any Other Way

But other times, curse words feel right. Take Chuck Wendig’s blog post, 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing (Right Fucking Now.) Right away, you know exactly what kind of post you’re going to read. You know you’re going to get a no-holds barred kick in the pants, and you’re going to love the author for it. There’s energy behind the word “fuck:” an attitude expressed in four letters.

Someone on Twitter once compared curse words to the velvet ropes outside a nightclub. They create clear distinctions about who you’re writing to, and who you’re not. Who you want in your circle and who you don’t. Kind of like the t-shirt worn by Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:”

Over-the-top offensive yet ironic, just like Lisbeth Salander herself.

 Other Bloggers Speak Out

I asked other bloggers what they thought about swearing online.

James Chartrand of Men With Pens takes different approaches for different markets. On her blog, she limits herself to the occasional ‘hell’ or ‘damn.’

“For Twitter,” she says, “I’m more relaxed. I’ll curse here and there in moderation and with consideration to the strength levels of the words I use. But I consider Twitter my water cooler, my place to chill out and relax, and so I’m less on guard about swearing in general.”

Niall Doherty, who wrote a great post titled “Becoming Unoffendable,” says that while he doesn’t offend people intentionally, he tries to stay true to himself:

“I’m a big fan of letting your true personality shine through your business. So if you do swear a lot in your personal life, I say you should be comfortable swearing a lot while doing business. Otherwise you end up pretending to be someone you’re not just to get a sale. That wears on you.”

What do YOU think about swearing online – and offending people in general? Can it be helped; can it not be helped? Let me know in the comments section below.

When I heard that Hostess had gone bankrupt for the second time since 2004, my mind started spinning with possibility. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen a commercial, print advertisement or other promotion for Hostess Twinkies. Could marketing save the brand?

I wrote a blog post about it over at JPL, where I work as a copywriter. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

Last Inspired Marketing Friday, I challenged you to document the creation of your products in a unique way. This week, I bring you a bookseller that uses merchandise to provide a kinetic feast for the eyes, while combating online competition.

As of this post, the video has been seen nearly 1,300,000 times — and I suspect it has increased foot traffic and sales. Heck, if I lived in Toronto, I’d definitely visit Type Books and make a purchase or two.

For another boost of inspiration, visit the store’s website to see how it integrated the video into its homepage design. It’s an immersive experience that will surely create lots of fans.

What’s been inspiring YOU this week? It doesn’t have to be a video — it could be an awesome sales letter, a clever squeeze page or even a blog post. Let me know in the comments section below.

A recent study in the Journal of Economic Psychology posits that women have a lower preference for becoming self-employed.

Is it just that women are under-motivated? I don’t think so. Could it be a lack of role models for young female entrepreneurs? After all, women make up only 3% of CEOS on the Forbes list of 500 biggest companies.

Whatever the reason, you can help change this, by inspiring future generations of women to embrace the benefits of small business ownership. Here are four suggestions to get you started.

1. Share your story. During my Girls Scouts days, our troop was visited by a female sales manager, architect and local politician. Seeing women in a wider range of career than usually depicted on TV really broaden my ideas on who I could be when I grow up.

You can share your story as well. Blogging is a great way to do this, as well as visiting a  local girls scout group or getting involved in a women’s philanthropic club like Zonta.

2. Emphasize new models of leadership. In the current climate of economic uncertainty, unemployment and workplace dissatisfaction, many are calling for a new type of leadership.

A study by Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute found that women business owners and managers tend to be more receptive to input and guidance from internal and external advisors, proactively customer-focused and more committed to creating opportunities for others.

Rather than changing your leadership style to fit a masculine world, embrace a more cooperative management style.

3. Give practical help. Have you ever asked for advice and received platitudes instead? Don’t just tell other women to reach for the stars. Tell them how you made it.

Take the time to grab lunch with a young entrepreneur or attend networking events with the goal of finding another woman to reach out to. You can go the extra mile by becoming an angel investor, but just solid practical advice from the field can be a huge asset.

4. Be confident. Demand respect as a business owner. Embrace and celebrate your unique strengths. Even if doing so doesn’t feel right at first, soon this confidence will become second nature …and it will encourage other women to do the same.

What inspired you to start your own business? Who were your role models?

“I want to read it when you’re done.”

My family rarely shares my love of marketing books. And I loved Martin Lindstrom’s last book, Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. So I was ready to eat up Brandwashed.

And I did, at first. Lindstrom starts by describing a year-long challenge he undertook to avoid branded products. No McDonalds. No Gillette shaving cream. Even branded fruits like Adirondack tomatoes were out of the question. He called it “brand rehab.”

Not surprisingly, brand rehab failed. Brandwashed  documents why.

The Skinny on Brandwashed

Like Buyology, Brandwashed is chock full of research on our relationship with brands, from social experiments to surveys to fMRI brain scans. But unlike Buyology, Brandwashed borders on sensationalist.

Companies are “peddling panic and paranoia.” Stores are selling stripper poles to kids. And marketers are using data mining to discover our darkest secrets.

“Virtually every place you shop,” Lindstrom writes, “probably knows more about your wants, your needs, your dreams, and your habits than you do. And it’s using this information to make money off you in ways you couldn’t even imagine.”

Relevance vs. Privacy

Lindstrom takes a grim view of data mining. But he fails to mention its greatest benefit: relevance. This data helps marketers target their promotions to people who actually care, and avoid bothering those who might not.

Ever receive a flier for a home equity loan at your apartment, or some other irrelevant ad? Tacky. But receive a coupon for shampoo you were going to buy anyway, and advertising seems – dare I say it? – helpful.

But iPhones are tracking our every movements, Lindstrom says. And Facebook is selling our relationship status, religious affiliations and other details! He doesn’t actually specify any repercussions to this. Just a theoretical: health insurers could use this information to deny someone coverage.

 I’m not shaking in my boots.

But What About the CHILDREN!?

Lindstrom devotes an entire section advertising to kids. And while I don’t believe in advertising to young children, he fails to mention that many companies don’t, either.

Many brands now submit their marketing to the Children’s Advertising Review Unit, for example, which takes a strict approach on imagery and messages that could appeal to children.

I’ve even had to revise my own copywriting because of CARU’s feedback. (My last offense? Calling a snack “kid-friendly,” which could be construed as encouraging childhood obesity. )

Thanks to CARU and similar organizations, you’ll also find an “Advertisement Alert” or age verification on many brand websites, letting kids know that the site is trying to sell them something. This doesn’t stop Abercrombie & Fitch from selling padded bikinis for 8-year-olds, but it’s worth noting.

A Grain of Salt

This isn’t to say that I hated Brandwashed. In fact, I found it fascinating. But I also found it dangerous. By painting the industry with such a broad brush, Lindstrom perpetuates the stereotype that marketers and advertisers are out to get you.

I’ve seen that stereotype at work countless times. In the minds of small business owners who can’t make ends meet, because they’d been primed to see all marketing as shady and dishonest. It’s a flawed way of thinking that discourages innovation and kills dreams.

Or maybe my judgment means I’ve taken Brandwashed’s message to heart: Subliminal forces are indeed at play, so view all brands with healthy skepticism. Even brands like Martin Lindstrom.

Business leaflets – simple, two-sided sheets of A5 or A4 folded into three sections – are ubiquitous nowadays. Chances are you’ve seen thousands of the things in the last year, papering the walls of the local library, carpeting your porch, cascading out of magazines.

Some of these leaflets are excellent, providing targeted and useful information that prompts readers to become customers. The majority of leaflets, unfortunately, are less successful.

The problem is that business leaflets are so easy to produce that it’s tempting to do so with comparatively little thought – which would be a mistake, because a well-designed leaflet can have an outstanding impact on your marketing.

Writing Your Leaflet

Leaflets are a great way to target a certain market, whether it’s a geographic area or the readers of a particular publication. When you write your leaflet, these are the people to keep in mind.

Beyond that, your leaflet needs to offer readers a solution. Business leaflets often inform potential customers all about the company in question, and consequently represent a wasted opportunity (and marketing budget).

No matter how great it is, readers aren’t interested in your company unless it speaks into their situation. Your marketing leaflet needs to look at things from their point of view. Your leaflet should provide them with information that they need to fix a problem or meet a need.

Describing a product or service in your leaflet is fine, but if you don’t give the reader a reason to engage with it then they won’t contact you. Your leaflet is more about the customer than it is about your business, in that respect.

That’s a helpful point to remember, because you have very few words to play with. Beyond the restricted space on a leaflet, your potential customers don’t want to have to plow through masses of text. You need to make your point succinctly and clearly, in a way that resonates with the reader’s needs.

Designing Your Leaflet

As well as its content, the design of your leaflet will make a huge difference to whether it is kept or thrown in the trash. If you give your readers a reason to move on to a better one, they will.

Quirky or unusual designs can be good, but it’s best to avoid anything ornate that could detract from legibility. Similarly, pictures can be a great way to add information to your leaflet, since they can say so much.

There are two caveats. First, make sure the image is relevant and helpful, not just attractive. Second, be careful that it does not detract from the text, either by being a distraction or by contrasting badly and making it harder to read. Garish colors are off-putting and look like your leaflet is shouting for attention – which might be true, but it won’t work if it comes across as unprofessional.

Similarly, check and re-check your spelling and grammar. Some people are remarkably picky about these things and, in any case, a carelessly-produced leaflet isn’t going to inspire customers with confidence.

Your Leaflet is a Trailer

The purpose of a marketing leaflet is to provide readers with enough information to take further steps if they want to – not to tell them absolutely everything they might need to know. Your job is to entice them to take action. Your leaflet is like a movie trailer in that respect.

Finish your leaflet with a call to action: a prompt to contact you and find out more. Just including your contact details isn’t enough. Readers need a reason to use them. Make sure you provide one.

Have you used leaflets to market your small business? Were they successful?

The holidays are quickly approaching. While personally this means you’re running out of time to purchase gifts for family and friends, professionally this means you’re running out of time to launch your email marketing campaign(s). Experts say consumers rarely check their emails once they are on holiday break, and delivery of traditional mail typically experiences backups as well.

If you want to take advantage of the holiday shopping phenomena, below are some last-minute things you can do to maximize your email marketing efforts.

1. Display Important Info Above the Fold

Customers’ mail boxes get flooded with promotional mail during the holidays. That said, your marketing will have to wow. Consumers will only give your email marketing a few seconds of their attention. If they don’t immediately like what they see, they’ll send it straight into the recycling bin.

The best way to capture attention  is to place important information “above the fold” – that is, in the area that’s immediately visible without scrolling.  While showcasing images of a few key products can catch a customer’s eye, what you really want to do is explain what’s in it for him or her if he or she acts right away.  Which brings me to my next tip …

2. Offer Exclusive Deals

What drives holiday shoppers is the ability to find a good deal. Assure your clients that you are offering a limited-time promotion that is only available to people on your mailing list.

You can do a variety of things with this special promotion, including offering an item at a discounted rate, a 2-for-1 deal, a coupon for a next purchase, or free shipping and handling (a popular choice for many companies at this time.)

Whatever you do, the point is offer something “extra” that your competitors don’t in order to convince consumers to buy from you.

3. Get in the Holiday Spirit

Lastly, you want to make sure that your clients can actually differentiate your holiday campaign from previous ones. It needs to look special.

An easy way to do this is to get festive with it. Attach a holiday greeting and decorate it accordingly. Granted, you should be familiar with your audience and know what they would like to see/not see. Either case, put a little bit of extra effort can make the biggest difference and help customers see your campaign in a positive light.

How do YOU use the holidays for effective mail marketing? Let me know in the comments section below.

Watching an artist make more than a million tiny dots on a page sounds like an exercise in boredom. But thanks to good music, clever captions and interesting camera angles, this video is anything but boring.

While it’s not a typical example of marketing, it got me thinking. How else can artistic processes like these be featured in video? And how can that content be used to capture the imagination of potential customers?

A video like this could be a perfect marketing project for an artists and crafters who have unusual or visually interesting processes. All it takes is a Flip cam and a  little innovation.

What’s inspiring YOU this week? Let me know in the comments section!

Ever wonder what people really think of your web site or blog? FiveSecondTest makes it easy to find out.

I put this program to the test last week so I could get some real, unbiased feedback on my recent website redesign. The experience reminded me of that old website, “Are You Hot or Not?” It’s not for people with thin skin, but it can give you some unique marketing insights into your site.

How to Use Five Second Test

1. Sign up for a free trial. You’ll receive 20 credits. Each “credit” equals one person to take your test. (You can get more free credits by taking other people’s tests, or by promoting your own test to your Facebook and Twitter followers. Naturally, you can also pay to get more opinions.)

2. Select Create Test, then select “Five Second Test.”

3. Upload a screenshot of the page you want to test. I tested my homepage.

4. Enter instructions to put visitors in the right mindset for viewing your site. Then enter the questions you’d like to ask. I asked:

•  What kind of content would you expect to find on this site?

•  What’s the most memorable part of this site design?

•  What feeling does this site give you?

•  Would you trust the advice on this site?

•  Would you read the content, or hit the back button?

5. Hit “Done” and wait for responses to filter in. Your results will look something like this.

Have you ever used an online tool to test your web marketing? What did you learn?

We all know how it goes: your business has taken off. You have more clients and work than you know what to do with. You are getting nothing but good comments about your services. Word is spreading like wildfire. You begin to realize just how much you really do rock!

Then, you get that call from the IRS. Or something goes wrong with one of your clients, and you find yourself having to call a lawyer. Or you show up to work one morning to find your network has been fully exhausted, and you have no new sales calls to make. Or your server crashes and you discover the hard way that not having a backup can cost you dearly.

I could go on and on with a list of unpredictable scenarios that can send a company spiraling into failure. I have had my own share of eye-opening experiences while building my company. I thought in the beginning that I could learn things on my own and figure out how to do it my way.

I estimate I probably lost 13 years’ worth of progress by trying to do everything on my own and not taking advantage of HELP: an acronym that stands for Hire, Engage, Legalize and Promote.

Hire

Unless you truly are Wonder Woman, there are going to be responsibilities within your company that you struggle with. Areas such as IT, HR and finance are just a few of the services that you can look to either outsource or bring someone on staff who knows what they’re doing.

Nell Merlino, founder of Take Your Daughter to Work Day and the nonprofit group Count Me single biggest barrier to women owning million dollar businesses is their hesitance toe In, has said that th hire employees. Hear her take on hiring in the clip below:

Engage

A critical tool to your company’s success is networking! It took me awhile to realize just how important this is, and I lost a lot of attainable business by not doing enough of this.

There are many networking alliances out there whose purpose is to connect members with others. Join one of these! But don’t stop there. As you go through your day and meet people, talk to them. Ask them what they do, and then the door is open to tell them what you do. Every person you run into is a potential client or knows one. Engage others and get them excited about you and your company!

Legalize

It is imperative that you ensure your legal documentation and HR administration are in order. Make sure that you have all your paperwork (licensure, registration, agreements, contracts, etc.) reviewed by a lawyer to guarantee that you are protected. You never know when that boring document you make everyone sign is going to save your business and your livelihood!

The same goes for your taxes. If you’re not an expert in this field, have someone who is take a look to make sure you’re doing everything by the book. You don’t want to go out like Capone!

Promote

These days, there are so many inexpensive and effective ways to get your name out there, especially through social media. Take advantage of all the various channels available to you to market your business. Make sure you are constantly evaluating the actual ROI you are receiving on your marketing investments and readjust accordingly.

Be sure you don’t follow in my footsteps and miss out on opportunities that fly by you while you’re trying to do it all on your own. Remember, it’s ok to ask for help and that won’t make you any less of an impressive businesswoman – it will make you a wise one!