Reading Roundup: Mind control, Psychology & Special Sauce

You may have noticed that I decided not to post a Reading Roundup last week. I thought that I didn’t want every second or third post on the blog to be a roundup of links. So, I thought about doing this every other week.

But now, I have so much more awesome content I want to share with you!

So, what’s a girl to do?

Ask. That’s what. So, below is a handy dandy poll. Select your preference and we’ll be all set.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, on to the Reading Roundup! There has been so much good stuff during the past couple of weeks, I can’t wait to share all of this with you.

• A 7-Step Guide to Mind Control: How to Quit Begging and Make People Want to Help You – If you read Copyblogger much, you know that Jon Morrow is the man. Not only is he a fantastic writer, but he knows how to give useful, practical advice that anyone can use. It does a good job of breaking down some common marketing misconceptions and gives you advice how to sell yourself the right way. If you only read one post this week, read this one.
• 10 Ways to Use Psychology to Lure Customers – This was perhaps my favorite post from last week. Mark Schaefer over at Grow offered up some excellent advice for getting into the minds of your website/blog visitors to drive action (i.e. sales, downloads, etc.). For instance, did you know that your website or blog has a blind spot that visitors almost always ignore? Yeah, me neither. Check this post out to find out what it is and get more great tips to improve your visitors’ experience on your site.
• The Secret Sauce of Online Community Building – I was half-tempted to include Gini Dietrich’s funny piece about Shark Week, but decided to include this instead. Anyway, if you want to build a community around your blog, you’ve got to read this post. Gini is the queen of community and her posts gives you the recipe for her success. It’s so simple, but something that a lot of people miss.
• 5 Questions to Ask Before Injecting Pricing Into Your Website – If you’re like a lot of service-based business owners, you struggle with whether or not to include pricing on your website. Erica Allison does a good job of talking through this issue and what she has experienced. But, I think you’ll really love the comments. There’s a great discussion going on over at her blog about the pros and cons of this issue. If you’re on the fence about this, check out her post.
• The Greatest Customer Service Story Ever Told, Starring Morton’s Steakhouse – I can’t help but love this story from Peter Shankman. Before boarding a plane, he flippantly tweeted about wanting Morton’s Steakhouse to bring him a steak when he landed in Newark. And guess what, they DID! You need to go read it for yourself. It’s part excellent customer service and part brilliant PR. But, no matter how you cut it, brands can learn a lot from this story about listening to your audience, delighting your customers and pulling an incredibly PR opportunity like this.

It’s Your Turn!

Those were my favorite reads from the past two weeks. What were yours? And, if you haven’t already – VOTE! Let us know what you think about the Reading Roundup. 🙂

Image credit: Michella Castiglione