It seems like over the last week or so, whenever I log into Facebook, I see more and more of my friends have joined groups dedicated to making it very clear to the owners that “we will not pay to use Facebook.” Apparently, Facebook has been receiving serious offers from companies looking to acquire it that would then set in place a membership fee to use this site. Whether or not this is actually true is pretty questionable to begin with. After all it’s well documented that Facebook turned down a $1 billion dollar offer years ago, and after Microsoft’s acquisition of a tiny chunk of the company, the valuation came in at 15 billion dollars. So firstly, not many companies even have the financial means to make a serious bid to purchase a controlling stake in Facebook. And even if those companies that could make a bid decided to, how Facebook’s users would find out before people like, say, the media, would is extremely questionable. Anyways, for the purposes of this article, we’ll take it at Facevalue that Facebook is being wooed by some corporate giant looking to turn it into a paid service. So now the question is, who the F*&k would actually be stupid enough to think that would work?

Firstly, Read the full story

Features and benefits are not the same thing. Not even close. Yet far too often, people writing sales copy go wild listing feature after feature after feature, all the while essentially ignoring what really matters, the benefits. Are you guilty of this? Many people are, myself included. In this article we’ll try and curb that behavior by examining the difference between a feature and a benefit and why your marketing and sales materials should be focusing on the later, not the former.

First of all, let’s begin with a simplified example (very simplified), Jim and Bob both have the same car for sale. Each one goes to Craigslist and quickly types up a for-sale ad. They go as follows:

1) Car for sale:

• The cars is a four door sedan.
• The car has well maintained air conditioning.
• The deck is a CD/MP3 player.
• The car has a 120HP 4 cylinder engine.
• There is an anti-theft device installed.
• The car has recently purchased snow tires.

2) Car for sale:

• Spacious four door sedan seats five, making road trips or family outings more comfortable.
• Strong, well maintained air conditioning ensures you’ll be cool and comfortable on hot summer days.
• CD/MP3 player plays any CD type or can be hooked up to an iPod, so your music is at your fingertips regardless of format.
• 120HP 4 cylinder engine has kick but goes easy on the gas so you’ll save at the fuel pumps.
• Anti-theft device ensures peace of mind. Your car will be safe regardless of where you park it.
• Recently purchased snow tires ensure safety by maintaining grip in even the worst winter conditions.

What’s the difference here aside from the second for sale ad being wordier than the first one? The word count isn’t the important distinction here. Yes, the second one is longer and more descriptive, but it’s what the second one is expanding on that Read the full story