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Newsletter #814: The “Personality is Good for Business” Issue

[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]

Your personality (and a willingness to show it off) is what earns you fans and followers. It’s what separates you from everyone else, and it’s very, very good for business.

What a brand’s personality can do:

1> It gets people talking
2> It gets people saving
3> It gets people donating
4> Check it out: Turn any web page into a PDF

1> It gets people talking

When you do it weird, funky, or bizarre — whatever your own way is — people love to talk about it. Wufoo, a company that makes it easy to make HTML forms, sends hand-written thank you notes to customers. But they’re not just hand-written, they’re charmingly primitive and often include dinosaur stickers. They’re funny, unexpected, and often get customers talking (and smiling).

The lesson: Get in the habit of sending cards, emails, or leaving voicemails that include a bit of your company’s unique personality.

Learn more: Drew’s Marketing Minute

2> It gets people saving

Any company, in any industry, selling any product, can do it remarkably and with personality. Take Oklahoma-based Redneck Bank, for example. The virtual bank features a talking horse as its mascot and has a mission of injecting “a little fun into the seriousness of the banking business.” It’s more than a gimmick, it’s a personality that customers are clearly excited about — their checking accounts offering 4% APY and 2% APY both sold out in July of this year.

The lesson: If you’re blaming your industry and your product line for not being able to have a personality, you’re missing out on all the fun (and probably the sales, too).

Learn more: Redneck Bank

3> It gets people donating

Nonprofits and charity fundraisers often face big challenges when it comes to word of mouth. They almost always involve a difficult subject and it usually requires asking others for money. But Crowdrise — a community about volunteering, raising money, and having the most fun in the world while doing it — is changing the tone of fundraising. Their site is fun, features great copywriting, and has plenty of entertaining photos. Fundraisers in Crowdrise’s community include the likes of Will Ferrell, Edward Norton, Mandy Moore — as well as lots of regular folks like us.

The lesson: When you make it fun and full of personality, even the most difficult subjects can be easy to talk about.

Learn more: Crowdrise

4> Turn any web page into a PDF

Need a quick image of any web page? CreatePDF turns any URL into an instant PDF image you can print, share, or save.

Check it out: CreatePDF

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