Sell the benefit, not the feature
Every software company loves a feature list. The trouble is, nobody buys one. Here’s why buyers pay for outcomes, and how to sell the benefit, not the feature.
What design can learn from the Samurai
Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog draws on the Hagakure, an 18th century samurai text about discipline and craft. Strip away the mythology and the Way of the Samurai has useful things to say about design, brand, and doing the work right. Here are five principles worth borrowing.
The “yada yada” standard
Australia holds business to a high standard, but politics plays by softer rules. A look at the “yada yada” standard, and what it says about integrity.
AI capability is cheap. Good judgment isn’t.
An Anthropic cofounder recently said that knowing the right questions to ask AI matters more than knowing how to code. AI can distil the judgment of millions. What it can’t do is the human bit, the gut feel, the read of the room, the instinct that something isn’t quite right.
When times get tough, sharpen the message
When belts tighten, design and marketing are often the first things to be cut. That’s usually a mistake. The businesses that keep talking, and talk better, tend to come out ahead. Here’s why, and what to do about it.
Does your organisation have a communication style guide?
Most organisations think carefully about how they look. Fewer think about how they sound in writing. A communication style guide fixes that, and it matters more than ever when AI is part of your workflow.
AI is only as good as the brand you feed it
AI content tools are only as good as the brand you feed them. If your visual identity is patchy or undocumented, you’re not getting the most from AI. Here’s what to fix first.
The 9 P’s of an effective brand
Most people think their brand is their logo. The truth is, your brand is everything. Here’s a plain-English walkthrough of the 9 P’s of an Effective Brand, a practical framework for building something people genuinely connect with.
Is your donation page costing you donations?
On 17% of nonprofit websites, users can’t find where to donate. Not because they don’t want to give, but because the page makes it too hard. With most donors now giving on mobile, the stakes are higher than ever. Here’s what a well-designed donation page should be doing for your cause.
The questions every school should ask a web agency
Signing with a web agency feels like a productive step. But a few smart questions, asked before you sign, can prevent a lot of frustration later. Here’s what to ask.
AI bots are reading your website
More than half of all web traffic today isn’t human. It’s bots, and a growing number of those bots are AI tools actively reading your website and deciding whether to recommend your business. Here’s what that means, and why your website’s foundations matter more than ever.
WordPress vs EmDash: what business owners need to know
Cloudflare just launched EmDash, calling it the spiritual successor to WordPress. Is it a genuine threat, or clever timing? Here’s what business owners actually need to know.