self interest

[Tubby]

I think it was Paul Keating (ex Australian Prime Minister) that said words to the effect -
"If ever you are unsure what horse to back in a three horse race, chose the one that is carrying the most self interest, at least you know that one is trying"

I ask the question 'Where do we place self interests on our web pages, and how much of it should we place?' My personal view is our own self interest should take up no more than 30% of the page content, rather than study this topic to arrive at this figure I simply took a wild guess.

More important is self interest for the user. . . To calculate how much user 'self interest' you have room for, first discount everything that can be described as fitting under the banner of your own self interest.

Discard your adsense adverts, discard your carefully scuptured keyword text, discard the items you sell for profit. . Basically you can discard all your images that promote.
Now take a look at what space you have left to include some self interest for your user.

If it is less than 5% discard your web page and start again.

What's in it for me? just once a webmaster should click on a link to his own website and as the page unfolds the webmaster should shuffle around in his seat a little. . Then view the page pretending he is a visitor. . . While viewing the page as a visitor he should ask himself "what is in this for me".

quick example:
If a user has to log on, Does your site offer enough fulfillment of user self interest to trigger that action?

How can webmasters increase user self interest to boost the bottom line? How can webmaster make our users try as hard as we do? There seems to be a list of everything else a webmaster needs plastered on every forum.

Where is the list of users self interest items. I NEED ONE having this list should make me better at marketing. . .

.

[crankydave]

Most interesting post Tubby.

It was back in a psychology class my proffesor proffered that any individual, when faced with more than 1 option, will always select the one they feel to in their best interest at that point in time. Self interest will always be first.

My self interests in my pages are (hopefully) the self interests of my visitors. That's why they are there to begin with. Their self interest. The images, the text, the products/services, etc. I have a self interest in all of them being there. Otherwise, they wouldn't be there.

I disagree with discounting everything that is of my self interest... that would be the entire page. I don't believe that the 2 (my self interest-visitors self intrest) are mutually exclusive.

For me, it's a matter of delivering my self interests in a way that meet or pique the self interest of others. Especially getting the message to those who may not be particularly interested to begin with. Creating self interest. This is the trick IMO.

It's always easier to create more interest in the already interested.

Dave

[Tubby]

I was looking at Google today from the perspective of user self interest. The whole google site is saturated with fodder for self interest. from webmaster tools, right down to the basic need to be in the results. Google demonstrates a complete understanding of their users self interest.

Creating fodder for the self interest of our users in many web sites suddenly seemed to me to be more of a by product, than an intentionally planned approach . . I think the topic is under studied.

It is not hard to find a thousand articles on 'keyword density' a hundred blogs discussing 'hot spots' for our eyes to follow. But I have never seen a top ten 'satisfy your users 'whats in it for me' needs.

If my site sells golf balls, I should attract buyers of golf balls; We have a mutual interest. Will I sell more if I can discover more obscure self interests - is there a formula I can discover? a quick browse of some successful sites seeking evidence of created user self interest fodder suggest that an upgrade of the 'whats in it for me' factor is probably worth "a good coat of looking at"

Differing types of sites would clearly require a different approach, some sites sell items, some deliver information, sites vary in size and purpose . . but the 'whats in it for me ' seems to be a constant.

Top 10 'whats in it for me' user self interest calculator. .
1 ?
2 ?
3 ?
4 ?
5 ?
6 ?
7 ?
8 ?
9 ?
10 recognition ?

Is their a reverse effect if a site visitor senses an over the top 'self interest' emanating from our web pages?

[crankydave]

Is their a reverse effect if a site visitor senses an over the top 'self interest' emanating from our web pages?

IMO... most definitely. I'm reminded of a local television commercial where a business owner parades out his 2 kids at the end and has them announce... "Buy <insert product> so we can go to college".

This is old but you might enjoy reading it Tubby...

Understanding Why People Buy

Dave

[Tubby]

from the article linked above
" she likes that they use part of their profits to promote peace and tackle other global problems "

yes, good example . . .

'shared gaols' = self interest

[Doc]

Great topic, Tubby!

Ideally, if we can present OUR self-interests, in such a way that the customer sees them as THEIR self-interest, we may have hit the perfect balance.

I suspect it's rare to accomplish that, however. In the other cases, I think it's critical that when the customer subconsciously weighs his perception of our interests over his own, he is left with the feeling that his interests will be better served than ours.

How else could a wandering tinkerer succeed in selling a vial of "a rare Egyptian formula of secret medicinal herbs, previously reserved only for the Pharoahs", to rejuvenate, prolong life, and enhance health, when said vial was 90% cheap rum, and 10% rancid castor oil?

Snake oil, by any other name....?

[Dcrux]

One way people serve a customer's self interest is through techniques like a persona. It's more of a human calculator of the mix of varying self-interest factors a person uses to make a decision for a specific situation.

It's a difficult question when you take the factors out of context for an undefined situation.

The question 'what's in it for me?' is constant. The answer depends on context.

There's a whole field called desirability design which is concerned with questions such as this.

[crankydave]

One thing I believe it's safe to say, is that my self interests are not exclusively mine and mine alone from the perspective of noone else interested in the same things. Needs, wants, desires, etc.

From a marketing perspective, the ability to meet and engage those self interests, and create them, is what matters. In part, perhaps a lot, this is what all the interactive approaches and applications are focused on doing. Engaging/creating interest.

Me for example, I don't need a whole lot of prodding when it come to fishing, gardening, or cooking. I already have a self interest. But what is going to sway me more in one direction or another? This is the question a marketer need ask. Some will call it "the hook".

Going back to your top 10 list tubby. I don't think I can even come close to a "universal" list. The big reason... "self". It would mean coming up with a universal list that drives all people. Outside of the basics... needs and desires, I'm not so sure anyone could. Hell, even "needs" vary from person to person.

But if I were to boil it down, I tend to believe it's all about biggest self interest that's the same in everyone, whether or not they admit it... emotion.

Dave

[Doc]

In terms of the types of marketing efforts that sell, for example, "self-help" or "Be a Millionaire" books, plans, etc., I think one of the biggest things to overcome is the fear of failure on the part of the customer. That latent fear may be present because they aren't sure if the book will offer them enough knowledge, or because they fear they won't adequately understand it, won't stick with it, or simply because they're afraid it might be all smoke and mirrors.

But at the end of the day, if they fail, they fear the failure will be theirs, because they didn't succeed in doing what someone else had presumably succeeded in doing, or didn't see through the smoke. And as human beings, we don't like to fail. To do so, implies a shortcoming of some sort that is very uncomfortable to us. When we compare unfavorably to others, it undermines our self-esteem, and is hurtful.

So dissipating that fear, making success seem almost certain (to the subconscious side), is, IMO, paramount when marketing that sort of product. And I think the same is true, regardless of what is being sold, whether it's a product, an idea or information, to varying degrees.

[Tubby]

crankydave mentions
'an emotional trigger'

Yes that has to be on the list - self interest -

Doc mentioned
'Fear' fear is an emotion. cerainly a killer of self interest.

I think we are on the way to arriving at some basic rules ( a check list at least)
If fear kills self interest - security or safety probably creates it.