Decisions about the aesthetics of a website are made that determine the viewers experience in 1/20th of a second, less time than it takes to blink you eye. The study that was conducted was just reported in the Behavior and Information Technology Journal. It has fairly wide ranging persuasion implications for your website and yourself. Read the whole story here: http://tinyurl.com/alwzq

If you've been reading my blog or these newsletters for long and especially if you've read my book Persuasion: The Art Of Getting What You Want you know that I've talked about how important a persuasive persona is because of the speed at which we read each other. People may well see you long before they hear you and even if they see you and hear you nearly simultaneously, they make many decisions about you instantly (are you safe, trustworthy, friendly, appropriate etc.). You've also heard me say that a brand, a building, an office, a desk, your car etc., all have a persona as well.

If you are serious about persuading, I want you to take a long look around and ask yourself these questions:

What snap decision might a casual observer who was meeting me
for the first time make about:
My Office?
My Car?
My Brand Image?
My Business Card?
Me?
My Website?

Be very honest in your assessment and if you are really brave ask someone else the same questions but set them up this way:

Say "If you were a highly judgmental person, what might you think about me by looking at my desk, my attire, my car, my website or my card? Just ask them one question at a time.

Use that feedback to improve your persona and create an immediately pleasing look so that you meet or exceed expectations.

Dressing better than your clients doesn't hurt, it sets you apart. Driving a clean car that is well taken care of says something about you no matter what model or year.

Success or failure may well be determined in less than the blink of an eye, so be sure to go into your next persuasive encounter with eyes wide open.

If you want to learn more about persona and how to create the most persuasive impact possible get a copy of Persuasion: The Art Of Getting What You Want http://tinyurl.com/78g57. If you've already read it, please do me a favor, go to Amazon right now and leave a great review! Here is the direct link: http://tinyurl.com/78g57