For many business people the Internet is still a big unkown. Whilst we use it daily in our professional and private life we are often unclear on how to use the web as a business asset. The Internet combines a challenging mix of skills and knowledge and we often get distracted by focusing on the small details, leaving out the main question: 'How can my website be profitable?' We created the popular Manifesto to challenge you to think about your website from a consumer-centric perspective. It addresses clichés, preconceived ideas, and the most common issues that avert our focus on the important.

1. Manifesto
Brain Teasers

2. Stay curious.
Embrace change.
Written by Simon Jansen, The Internet has changed the way we access information, our purchasing behaviour,
Founder staycurious.be and how business works.
Simon spends Saturdays in a workshop For many business people the Internet is still a big unknown. Whilst we use it daily
making expedition vehicles, Sundays on in our professional and private life we are often unclear on how to use the web as a
a recumbent bicycle and weeknights at business asset.
the Welcome Pub in Balmain, Sydney.
The Internet combines a challenging mix of skills and knowledge and we often get
Outside those times, he consults on distracted by focusing on the small details, leaving out the main question: ‘How can
online projects that he likes, and gets my website be profitable?’.
paid to strategise, program, copy write,
This document tries to challenge you to think about your website from a consumer-
manage and think.
centric perspective. It addresses clichés, preconceived ideas, and the most common
Image Credits: www.sxc.hu issues that avert our focus on the important.

3. Online is not Offline.
Have you ever bought a properly brewed coffee online?
Some products or services do not work online.
Some products or services do not work offline.

4. A conversion begins and ends in the human brain
What do you want?
When we desire something, we create a vision.
A website that stops us from reaching our vision is useless.

5. There’s no point if you don’t have a goal
How do you measure success?
Only objective and measurable goals allow us to benchmark progress.
If you don’t know what you want to achieve, you will fail.
If you don’t know what your business should achieve, it will fail.

6. Competing on price is like digging your own grave.
Why does a consumer buy a BMW if they could get a cheaper car?
There is always someone who can live with less than you.
Consumers don’t chose the cheapest option, but make a selection based on their
desires.

7. Design doesn’t matter.
Can you see the look & feel of your website on Google result pages?
Design conveys a brand or trust value to visitors.
But it’s useless if your audience can’t find your website.

8. Keywords are overrated.
Does your website content sound like a broken record player?
Keyword stuffing is a short-term approach to SEO.
Quality content and message is the long term solution to SEO.

9. Content is king.
Would you buy a car if the only information would be ‘it’s blue’?
Without a clear message, a website does not convert.
Without clarity, search engines cannot put a value to your message.

10. Mediocrity will fail.
Do you tell your friends about a mediocre meal?
A good product will outsell a mediocre product in the long term.
Even if the price is higher.

11. You don’t need to scream at your customers.
Do you like to be screamed at?
You cannot convince your customers by screaming louder than your competitor.
You can, however, convince your customers by listening harder than your competitor.

12. Scalability is key.
What did Henry Ford invent?
The production line was the economic revolution of the thirties.
The web was the economic revolution of the nineties.
Both introduced scalability as the path to profit.

13. 100
You Have “Inattention Blindness” You Are Most Affected By Brands And Logos When You Are Sad Or Scared
You READ FASTER With a Longer Line Length But PREFER Shorter Trust Your Gut Or Be Logical? It Depends On Your Mood
You Can Only Remember 3 to 4 Things At a Time (The Magic Number 3 or 4) Culture Shapes Our Brains
You Imagine Things From Above And Tilted (The “Canonical Perspective”)
You Make Most of Your Decisions Unconsciously THINGS We Go Below The Fold
Things That Are Close Together Seem to Belong Together
EVERY
You Reconstruct Your Memories Brand Names Talk To Our “Old” Brains
You Actually Can’t Multi-Task Our “Strong Tie” Group Size Is 150 People
Dopamine Makes You Addicted to Seeking Information The Desire For Control And Choice Is Built In
DESIGNER
Blue and Red Together Is Hard on Your Eyes (Chromostereopsis) Synchronous Activity Bonds The Group
You Want More Choices and Information Than You Can Actually Process Bite-Sized Chunks Of Info Are Best
Why You Can’t Resist Paying Attention to Food, Sex, or Danger Too Much Stress Results In Poor Performance
When It Comes To Technology You Definitely Act Your Age
Want to Change a Habit? Use Fun, Surprise, and a Crowd SHOULD People Make Mistakes
People Are Inherently Lazy
KNOW
Reading Text Online Is Not Fun People Assume It’s You, Not The Situation
If You Use Social Media Without Laughter You Aren’t Being Social Even The Illusion of Progress Is Motivating
The Ability to Delay Gratification or Not Starts Young Your Mind Wanders 30% of the Time
ABOUT
Your Unconscious Knows 1st You’re Easily Influenced, But I’m Not
What People Look At On A Picture Or Screen Depends On What You Say To Them Your Most Vivid Memories Are Wrong
It’s a Myth That All Capital Letters Are Inherently Harder to Read We’ll Spend More Money If You Don’t Mention Money
Your Attention Is Riveted By Pictures of People
You Overestimate Your Reactions to Future Events
PEOPLE People Expect Online Interactions To Follow Social Rules
When Uncertain, People Look To Others To Decide What To Do
Peripheral Vision: Keeping You Alive or Channel Surfing? You Choose And Vote For The First One On The List
You Are Hard-Wired For Imitation And Empathy
By Susan M. Weinschenk The More Uncertain You Are, The More You Dig In And Defend Your Ideas

14. The Internet is here to stay.
How often do you visit Wikipedia?
The Internet democratised access to knowledge.
Access for all will stay, even if the Internet changes.

15. Sex sells.
Food sells.
Danger sells.
Can you resist?
Neuro science tells us we can’t.

16. Social recommendations rule.
Do you trust your friends’ recommendations?
The closer a person is to us, the more we trust their recommendation.
If I don’t know you, I don’t trust you.

17. Consumers talk about you.
Do you want to improve?
Your customers talk about your business.
Listen.

18. Local works, globally.
OWN TO THE SH
GD OP
IN
PP
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WE’RE JUST PO
Do you enjoy being greeted by name?
Local implies trust and demands loyalty.
When you scale local trust to global local trust, you win.

19. Dream.
When was the last time you’ve attempted something impossible?
Dreams create visions outside the physical boundaries.
Complacency kills innovation.

20. Ignore your competitor.
Do you have sleepless nights?
Know your competitor.
If you want to create something better, ignore them.

21. Customers use products in surprising ways.
Do you know how your customers use your product?
Accept them to know more about their circumstances and how they apply your
product to their life than you would ever imagine.
Iphone Vinyl Speaker. Photo courtesy of Paul Cocksedge Studio – www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Cocksedge-Studio/194684987255911

22. Admit to faults.
Are you perfect?
Admit to f***-ups.
Your customers will love you for it.

23. It’s ok to make a buck.
Do you enjoy success?
Customers want you to be successful, but not at their expense.

24. Why should your customers care?
Do you ever stop to reflect?
If you care, keep going.
If you stop caring, close your business.

25. There’s no such thing like a free lunch.
Sounds too good to be true?
... then it probably is.
There’s no magic formula to make money.

26. You suck at writing about yourself.
People have no objective view of themselves.
Writing about yourself is the ultimate conflict between humility and pride.

27. If you don’t use Facebook,
don’t create a Facebook page.
Do you get it?
Social media is not something you can learn from a book.
Only immersion can teach you.

28. Stop talking.
Do you listen to your customers?
Interest makes for interesting people.
When a customer is heard, they love you.

29. The lesson here is very simple. But it is striking how often it is overlooked.
We are so caught in the myths of the best and the brightest and the self-made
that we think outliers spring naturally from the earth.
We look at the young Bill Gates and marvel that our world allowed
that thirteen-year-old to become a fabulously successful entrepreneur.
But that’s the wrong lesson.
Our world only allowed one thirteen-year-old unlimited access
to a time sharing terminal in 1968.
If a million teenagers had been given the same opportunity,
how many more Microsofts would we have today?
To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of
lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages that today determine success
– the fortunate birth dates and the happy accidents of history –
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

30. QR codes are nerdy, not cool.
Do you know what this QR code says?
Just because something seems new to you doesn’t make it cool.
A confused customer won’t buy.

31. An enquiry costs you money.
A sale makes you money.

32. Use a screw driver regularly.
Do you have a hobby?
One day a week should be reserved for a different world.
A change of perspective will help your business.

33. Let your customers have an experience.
When was the last time shopping was fun?
If you rely on product availability alone, you will fail.
If you let your customers have a memorable experience, you will win.

34. I want it now.
Do you like to wait?

35. Technology is irrelevant.
Do you know how your car engine works?
The web is driven by people.
Technology must not stand in their way.

36. Talk to someone outside your office every day.
When did you last speak to a total stranger?
The real world is outside your office.
It’s easy to loose touch in your office.

37. People use their mobile to read emails.
Could you live without your phone?
The iPhone democratised mobile access to the web.
Technology changes our life overnight.

38. Logistics is a huge challenge.
Can you deliver?
Stock management is key to a good customer experience.

39. Prepare for change.
Are you ready for the next big thing?
Change is constant and random.
Get used to it.

40. The market may not exist.
How long do you spend from idea to roll-out?
Test before you invest.
Even if you have to fake it.

41. No-one cares about you.
They invented television to sell ads to you.
They invented radio to sell ads to you.
They invented newspapers to sell ads to you.
That’s not why they invented YouTube.
That’s not why they invented the Internet.
The Internet doesn’t care about you.
People don’t have to watch Channel 7 anymore. They can entertain themselves
mindlessly for hours by pressing the Stumble-Upon button.
So, if someone’s gonna watch a video, they’re not gonna watch it because they care
about you. They’re gonna watch it because they care about me.
Me, me, me, me, me, my favourite person, me.
They’re not gonna read email from you, they’re gonna read me-mail.
‘Cos that’s who they care about.
So if you make a video like the Blendtec guy, the ‘Will it Blend’ videos, people will
watch it because watching Chuck Norris getting blent in a blender is sort of a hoot.
But if you make a video of how your factory is, you know, 12% more efficient than it
was last year [... yawn... ], I’m not coming.
Seth Godin speaking at the American Express Open® – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUGiHyNrouE

42. Be real.
Do you ask? Do you assume?
Never assume.
Always ask.

43. Trust is good.
Loyalty is better.
Who do you trust?
A trusting customer lets us solve problems.
A loyal customer helps us solve problems.

44. I have no special talent.
I am only passionately curious.
Albert Einstein
YOU
You run a business, or plan a start-up.
You want to get more out of the online market.
You are flexible to implement changes throughout your organisation.
US
We’ve been there and done that. For 20 years.
In agencies, in studios, in printing houses, in film studios.
For tiny, small, medium, large and extra-large companies.
Locally and internationally.
YOU AND US
Together, we identify desires.
Together, we create visions.
Together, we implement the business.
DID WE STIR YOUR CURIOSITY?
If you’d like us to work with you, please get in touch and let us know how you believe
we can help you.
simon@staycurious.be