From TODAY and MSNBC:

There’s a subtle tactic to make things go your way in your career, love life, and social world. It’s called priming. Research shows that by exposing people to specific words, body language and symbols, they can be affect. Here’s how to use subliminal moves to get an edge.

They claim it’s based on priming research. Interesting. But who doesn’t want to get what they want? Be sure to click the launch button to play the video.

My favorite:

9. Your slob roomie to clean up after herself more often …

Spray a bit of liquid all-purpose cleaner in the air right before she enters the skanky spot in question. A Dutch study recently proved that the faint smell of a cleaning product will spur people to start picking up the area around them. You can also prime her by squirting a little fluid in the bathroom sink before she goes in to use it.

Check it out:
9 mind tricks to get what you want [TODAY & MSNBC]

Seth Godin talks about how important good service is online because, well, that’s one of the most important factors of ensuring success. Taking this into consideration, you can’t ever turn your back on customers, even when there are a few bad apples who abuse your services:

The temptation is to embrace only the advantages of the web and insist on eternal vigilance against the possibility of getting ripped off. To act as if everyone online is a criminal. To assume that the moment you are generous or trusting, squadrons of bad actors will exploit your generosity. I don’t think that’s the answer. If you treat people like criminals, the good ones will leave, because people have a choice.

The honor system [via Seth's Blog]

I am sick and tired of people saying “this is about free speech and Don Imus has the same rights as any other American” etc. WRONG. It’s about money. Once the advertisers leave, you are toast.

David Carr wrote a great piece in The New York Times yesterday with his list of reasons why it was inevitable that Imus would be fired. And I couldn’t agree more:

OLD MEETS NEW Mr. Imus is an old-school radio guy caught in a very modern media paradigm. When he started 30 years ago, if he made the same kind of remark, it would have floated off into the ether — the Federal Communications Commission, if it received complaints, might have taken notice, but few others.

But radio is now visible — Mr. Imus’s show was simulcast on MSNBC, and more to the point, it is downloadable. By Friday, reporters and advocates could click up the remark on the Media Matters for America Web site, and later YouTube, and see a vicious racial insult that delighted him visibly as it rolled off his tongue. The ether now has a memory.

The media equation: Flying solo past the point of no return [The New York Times]

The best part about Vitalist is the fact that they are listening to their customers. With the combination of their blog, contact page, and knowledge base full of previously answered questions presented in rank-order, they have the appearance of addressing users’ problems and needs as quickly as possible.

I complained in a few emails that their mobile version (www.vitalist.mobi) wasn’t working correctly on my new Verizon LG VX8600 and within a week they had set up a new version of their mobile page (m.vitaist.mobi) specifically for Verizon users like me. Yes, it was my phone that had the issue. But they discovered a way to work around Verizon’s problem. Flawless. Vitalist has an A++ in my book:

Sorry to not get back to you sooner on this. We believe the issue is with the Openwave browser on many Verizon phones. It only accepts cookies from a .com domain. We have created an alternate url for the mobile app at m.vitalist.com. Please try this address and let us know if it is working for you.

Thank you

Robert Walker
robert@vitalist.com

I know I’ve written about it before, but I just gotta say it again: Vitalist is my solution for keeping my ADD mind under control (or at least manageable). I’ve used other systems before my attempts to find a replacement for the executive function part of me that doesn’t work right—the control room or CEO of thought processes that involve organizing, prioritizing, and utilizing cognitive functions of the brain for important work tasks.

Well, I’m still using Vitalist as a GTD system that, well, just works. All my todos are organized by project and context (where I need to be to do them), and anything with a due date is automatically fed into my Google calendar, which then emails and txts me when it’s due. Vitalist also sends me a daily email as a teaser of things on my todo list. Love it.

Seth Godin has a great example of why organizations should work on relationship building a little bit more than just shooting off marketing emails once they gain access to your address:

At the same time, political candidates are viewing even the slightest gesture on your part (an encouraging email, for example) as proof that you want to receive daily fundraising emails for the next two years.

There’s a middle ground, one that is not computer-decided. It’s based on a human being treating another human being the way they’d like to be treated. And it’s easy to see how just about any organization, at just about any scale ought to be able to make thoughtful decisions about setting expectations and then meeting them. (and doing it profitably.)

Yes, John Kerry, I am sick of your emails. I’m a college student and I have $0.00 to spend on any candidate. But I’m still waiting for Hillary to email me asking if I can volunteer my time rather than make a financial contribution—I’d love to. But please stop asking me for money. Those DNC’s emails are getting annoying…