My newest article for the James Randi Educational Foundation's Swift is now online:

Avoiding personal responsibility used to be clean and simple. Caught red-handed? The devil made you do it. End of story.

But today we have a dizzying array of bogus blaming options. We can choose from rap music, movies, TV, video games, the Internet, Twinkies, genes, society, the neighbor’s kid, our upbringing, the booze talking, atheism, evolution, the definition of “is,” planets, stars, lunar phases, the ever-vague and passive “mistakes were made,” the economy, being an only child, not being an only child, and more. Just keeping track can exhaust the most adept excuse-maker. Call me extreme, but some days I wonder if it might be easier simply to say, “I made a mistake.”

I saved the excuse that accuses my profession for last: “The advertising made me do it.” If you fed your kids fast food until your spouse mistook them for the minivan, blew the budget on a video game system, or bought trendy clothes you didn’t need and that went out of style as you were paying for them, take heart. You can blame us slick advertising people and our so-called hypnotic work.

 Just one problem... (To read the rest of this article, click here.)

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Here's my latest column for Deliver magazine:

As one who is all for instant gratification, I love the Internet. I can preview anything, on the spot. If I like the preview, I can download the real thing and revel in it then and there.

Provided, that is, that I never want to download anything besides pictures, video, sound or text. A non-media product—say, that new deodorant my friends are so eager for me to try—is another matter. Outside of sci-fi movies, no computer can download a deodorant preview, much less an entire 3.5-ounce container. Not even sniffing the monitor or rubbing it in an underarm produces the desired result. (Never mind how I know.)

Don’t despair. There is a way to download non-media products at home. With apologies to self-help gurus, this is one time to think inside the box — more specifically, the mailbox. To read the rest, click here.
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The RESPONSE Agency just conceived, wrote, designed and uploaded a microsite for HomeWise Corporation of America's new HomeWise™ Program. The HomeWise Program provides buyers with much-needed funds right after a home purchase. It's not a loan or a down payment program—just cash for furniture, appliances, decorating ... you name it.

Click here to see the microsite we created (and to learn more about theHomeWise Program) click here. Click here to view some of our other web work.

Steve Cuno
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Here are some thoughts I shared with a company that recently approached us about rewriting their law firm client's website. It's sound advice for any professional services firm. 

Thanks for your email. I actually enjoy writing law firm copy. Other than that, I assure you that I am for the most part sane.

I agree with your assessment of your client's site. It's typical law firm copy that covers the usual bases while utterly failing to engage. It is to your client's credit that they have requested a writer to produce copy that they wouldn't produce on their own.

My experience has been that, the larger the law firm, the more the attorneys seem to obsess on "positioning" themselves as "the professionals." While we certainly don't want to be unprofessional, "the professionals" is no position at all. For one thing, it's redundant: attorneys are professionals by definition. For another, positioning has to do with setting yourself apart. If all law firms are "the professionals," not one of them has a position.

A better approach is to write from the standpoint of what connects with the prospective client. When I recommend my business attorney, I do not say, "He's such a professional. He has great suits, dimples his tie and never speaks with contractions." Here's what I do say: "He's a bulldog. He bites my opponent on the leg and doesn't let go until I get my way." Invariably, the person I'm talking to says, "That's the guy I want," and calls him.

Leg-biting is, of course, over the top for a website. (Or is it?) But if we expect people to read, we must at least engage them, and that means not writing the same old stuff they've seen on other sites. Otherwise, they will only skip-read, if even that.

As I'm sure you know, the more attorneys who have approval/editing power, the weaker the copy will turn out. If the law firm's principals can discipline themselves to (1) limit review to one or two principals only and (2) resist the urge to rewrite and instead provide feedback, they will increase their odds of finishing with compelling copy.

Steve Cuno
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I don't mind phone calls from people prospecting for business. Fair is fair: I prospect by phone, too. 

But be aware that I know why you're asking me if I've ever heard of your company. You're giving me an early chance to get "no" out of my system, while I unwittingly authorize you to tell me more.

So if I opt out of the script and cut to the chase by asking what's for sale, don't dodge. Don't say, "Nothing is for sale... I just want to inform you about..." We both know that the reason you're informing me is that you hope I'll buy something.

One of the most effective openers I have ever used for B2B calls is, "Brace yourself: this is a sales call." This uncommon candor rarely fails to draw a chuckle, followed by, "Go for it." 

I've won my fair share of new clients that way.

Steve Cuno
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My newest column for Deliver Magazine is now online. It's called "12-Step Program to Marketing Failure." Click here to read it now.
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Entrepreneurs have begun marketing T shirts and other memorabilia with the words "Who Dat" to football fans. But the NFL sent their attorneys after them. They claim that "Who Dat" is an NFL trademark, which makes it NFL property. Senator David VItter, R-La, has taken up the side of the entrepreneurs. 

I suspect that the entrepreneurs will prevail in this instance. But should the NFL prevail, I'm going to rush out and slap a trademark symbol next to all the popular phrases I can think of. Then I'll sue anyone who uses them. Consider this fair warning, readers! I now officially own "Oh yeah," "Oh baby," "All right," "What's up," "Thank you," and "Hubba hubba."

 Steve Cuno
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