It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want. ~Spock The Star Trek franchise has created dozens of memorable characters and inspired an incredible degree of connection and passion in its fans. One of its most enduring characters is Mr. Spock, the eminently logical half-Vulcan first officer in the original series. Spock's controlled, cool demeanor won him legions of fans, including millions of women who wanted to Pon Farr his pointy ears off.

It's scorching these days, at least down here in Texas. Let's chill out with these five cool links before we launch into any more sizzling-hot Copyblogger content. Wow' that was cheesy, huh? Queso! This may be the most important article you read this monthâ€" The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn from Scientific American . I know I'll be riffing off of it for the rest of the year.

Hello' I'm your reader. Thanks for the free content, but I just don't care. Your free content is worthless, because content about you is worthless to me . Hello' is this thing on? Egotistical Marketing We're an egotistical bunch, aren't we? We love to talk about ourselves. We want to tell people how wonderful we are and blather on about how much they need us. We ramble uselessly about our innovative products and excellent services. We're all about us. Want a tip?

Imagine this, if you will. An old woman, near the end of her life. Shivering in a fleabag apartment without heat in the winter. Walking four miles each way to the food bank, to carry home unmarked cans of mystery meat. Not even a cat to keep her company, because cat food is expensive. Then one day she dies, and the neighbors find $2.7 million wadded up in her mattress. It's a natural human impulse to hold on to what we have.

We give a lot of advice here on Copyblogger. Usually we try to stick to the fundamentals of solid writing and effective persuasionâ€"the things that have been proven to work for decades and even centuries. Beyond those fundamentals, there's only one rule' the rule of change. Every technique du jour will inevitably lose effectiveness )at least for a while(, and something else will come along that works better )at least for a while(.

Let's say you have to pee. So this is a normal bodily function, eh? It means if you feel that sensation and you don't go soon enough, you'll be in trouble. But how many of us go use the facilities when we first feel the sensation? And how many of your customers are buying your products or services in a bad economy? Should you discount? Should you put in bigger signs? Should you send out a zillion emails? Or would it be more prudent )yup, prudent(,

Just a quick note to let you know that Yaro Starak's Blog Mastermind Coaching program just went live. I've recommended Yaro's course since he first developed it last year, and I was one of his earliest beta members. If you're looking to make more money from your blogging efforts, Yaro will show you step-by-step how he does it, and how you can to. Check out Blog Mastermind here .

We've all been there. You're talking to someone you'd like to impress, and you're making a fool of yourself. You keep trying to find the words that'll make them like you, but all that comes out is a dishonest sounding drivel that shocks you with its stupidity. The awkwardness looms over the conversation like a mushroom cloud, until the other person finally finds a way to extract themselves and run for cover. Then you just stand there,

1. As you may have heard by now, Teaching Sells is shutting its doors to new members at the end of July )that's this coming Thursday night, July 31(. After 9 months of intense content creation and marketing the program, we're going to simply focus on completing the courses for the members we've got. Then we'll reorganize all of the content into a different training delivery format for next year. You can still get in before we close,

When we were kids, my friends and I made up a game we called "Made You Look." Three or four of us would get fairly close together â€" in a shopping plaza, on the street, or anywhere there were lots of people â€" and look up as if we saw something incredible. It would never fail. Passers-by would glance up to see what we were looking at. Some would stop and stand there for half a minute trying to discern the object of our attention. And the more of us doing it,

Just a quick reminder that Dave Kaminski and I are hosting Web Video Marketing: Trends, Techniques, and Copywriting Tips tonight at 7:30 Central ) time zone converter here (. Here's the event page with call-in and web cast interface. We've got room for 200 people on the call, but any number of folks can listen via the Flash web cast.

In April of 2000, Saturday Night Live aired one of the few truly classic sketches outside of the 1970s and 80s. The sketch is a spoof of a VH1 "Behind the Music" episode featuring Blue Öyster Cult and the recording of )Don't Fear( The Reaper ) watch it here (. The sketch stars host Christopher Walken as famed producer "THE Bruce Dickinson," with Will Farrell on cowbell along with a faux Blue Öyster Cult.

Last week's post about the new Thesis WordPress theme from Chris Pearson resulted in a ton of happy new Thesis community members. This week, we want to invite you to join us as promotional partners as well, with the brand new DIY Themes affiliate program . When you join the program, you'll receive 33% of all sales you generate. This includes the personal and developer memberships to Thesis )currently priced at $87 and $164, respectively(, plus all the new designs, add-ons,

A few weeks ago, I wrote about some ways you can keep your reader's attention . But I didn't mention one of the most important techniques-one that requires no particular writing ability, no creativity to think of a great hook, and no hours of research to find the most compelling facts to tell your story. This easy technique is infinitely versatile. I use it in nearly every piece I write. But it's so deceptively simple, you might not be taking full advantage of it.

I've got two teleclasses for you to check out, and neither one will cost you a dime. The first involves online video marketing and how it relates to copywriting, and the second is all about copy. First up, as promised Dave Kaminski and I will be doing a live call this Thursday evening at 7:30 Central )8:30 Eastern, 5:30 Pacific(. Dave is the founder of Web Video University, and the topic is Web Video Marketing: Trends, Techniques, and Copywriting Tips .

The best book I've ever read about marketing isn't about marketing. It's about baseball. The book's called Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game , by Michael Lewis. If you're a marketer or advertiser you need to read this book. The premise of the book is that baseball insiders are guilty of a herd mentality that is focused on the wrong things and reaches the wrong conclusions.

"Be interesting." It's good advice, but it's nothing new. You've probably known from the beginning that being able to interest readers is a crucial part of growing a popular blog. It's pretty obvious that no one is going to stick around unless they find your blog interesting. But how are you supposed to do it exactly? How can you "be interesting?" Far too much of what we write about attention and interest is abstract. We talk about differentiation, value,

I recently gave you 10 quick tips for building a business online . One tip in particular resonated with readers: #4 - Work on one idea at a time. Never splatter out with many ideas. It's overwhelming. Easier said than done. We have too many great ideas, too many things to do, and only two hands and one brain. Which idea is best to follow? This one? That one? All of them? What about time? There's not enough. It all needs to be done now! But where to start? Here? There?

Don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing . . . Whenever you study a creative form like copywriting, you spend a lot of time on technique. You think hard about headlines and metaphors and what specific details you'll use. You worry about positioning and persuasive structure . You're trying to keep all the rules and guidelines in your head. But if you want your content to keep bringing them back, it's gotta swing.

Once upon a time, there was a young man who wanted to become a web designer. Trained as an engineer, he nonetheless had a great eye, an advanced understanding of SEO-friendly code, and a unique style that set him apart from the crowd. But he was just starting out and needed a break. Thanks to a strange combination of coincidence and connections, the young man got to know a crusty old marketing guy. The marketing guy had no design skills,