A Non-Negotiator's Guide to Negotiating

For most of my life, I was a terrible negotiator. I accepted lowball offers, I never demanded the raises I deserved, and I overpaid for everything. I knew that you needed to “drive a hard bargain” and “be willing to walk away from the table” if you wanted to get the best possible deal. I just never seemed to be able to do it, ever.

It reached the point that my husband actually forbid me from negotiating the price of a car, a home, or even a used toaster at the flea market. And while I wouldn’t usually take too kindly to being silenced, I had to admit that I saw his point. In a negotiation, I was the weakest link.

Two programs of research helped me to see what I was doing wrong – specifically, how I was thinking about negotiations the wrong way.

Epiphany #1

When people are about to enter a negotiation, they see it as either a threat or a challenge. Studies show that people who see negotiation as a threat experience greater stress and make less advantageous deals. They behave more passively, and are less likely to use tough tactics aimed at gaining leverage, compared to the hard-ballers who feel negotiation to be more of a challenge than a threat.

This makes so much sense to me. My husband absolutely sees negotiating as a challenge. He looks forward to a good haggle. I do not. Reading about these studies, I realized that I have always seen negotiations as threatening, and just wanted them over with as quickly as possible, no matter what it cost me. Why prolong a stressful, threatening situation when you can throw in the towel and move on?

But why do I see negotiations as threats, and not challenges? To answer that, I needed…

Epiphany #2

There is more than one way to look at any goal. Some of us think about our goals as achievements or opportunities to advance – having what psychologists call a promotion focus. Others see their goals as opportunities to keep things running smoothly, to avoid loss, to do what you ought to do – this is called aprevention focus.

Promotion and prevention-focused people work differently to reach the same goal. When we are promotion-focused, we are creative, embrace risk, work quickly, and are fueled by optimism. When we are prevention-focused, we are more thorough and deliberate, more analytical, and better fueled by defensive pessimism (i.e., thinking things might go wrong if you don’t do something to prevent it.)

When it comes to negotiating, having a promotion focus will give you the clear upper-hand. The promotion-focused (like my husband) see negotiation as an opportunity to gain something, and studies show that this helps them to stay focused on their (ideal) price or pay targets. The prevention-minded (like myself) see negotiation as an opportunity to lose something – they worry too much about a negotiation failure or impasse, leaving them more susceptible to less advantageous agreements.

When it comes to getting what you want, it pays to focus on what you have to gain, rather than what you might lose, so that you can see it as a challenge (rather than a threat), and be better able keep your eyes on the prize.

Now, when I enter any negotiation, I make a deliberate effort to refocus myself beforehand. I stop and reflect on what I have to gain by getting a great deal, or by fighting for better compensation – the opportunities for happiness and growth they will afford me.

You wouldn’t believe the deal I got on our last toaster.

HEIDI GRANT HALVORSON

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Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson, of Columbia’s Motivation Science Center, is an author and speaker.  In Succeed, she revealed surprising science-based strategies we can use to reach goals.  Her new book is Focus:  Using Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence.

http://99u.com/articles/14494/the-2-epiphanies-that-made-me-a-better-negotiator

10 Killer SEO Landing Page Tips

Grant Simmons, April 15, 20138 Comments

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When we talk landing pages, most online marketers think pay-per-click, where the input of a destination URL into Google's or Bing's paid search offerings allow marketers to drive keyword-targeted traffic to (hopefully) optimized pages.

My previous article extolling the death of keywords talked about developing intent-based topics and building content that connects with those topics – intent to content.

We can now apply that mantra in a "first engagement" scenario, after a user clicks a search result, to ensure SEO landing pages:

• Connect with intent: Offering a user what they expect.
• Resolve (initial) user query: Answering their initial query.
• Engage the user: Sending user signals to search engines.
• Drive further user engagement (if necessary): Additional signals to both users and search engines.

A searcher intent to site content engagement scenario I call "CRED".

In these scenarios where signed in users, search query modification, Chrome browsers, "cookied" users and toolbar data provide massive datasets of engagement signals to search engines on how users interact on sites, we need to drive optimal engagement scenarios.

Here's a checklist of 10 "killer" tips to ensure you're able to add a bit of CRED to your SEO campaigns, as well as demonstrate campaign success!

Connecting

1. Are the primary headlines aligned with intent?

The first thing users notice is content structure, headlines, headers, bolded elements, graphics etc. Your 2 seconds of opportunity to grab attention begins with a mental assessment that needs to immediately connect with the original search query and inspire additional engagement via clear communication of what the page is about.

Content should be created with specific intent in mind, with headlines, and/or graphic headers that are obvious, short, surrounded by adequate white space. And the content must be specific enough to inspire a user's attention.

2. Are you matching content type with query intent?

If the target query includes "how to", "best", "top 10", "compare" or other intent refining modifiers, or if the query demands a certain level of text content, are you obviously offering something that visually connects, confirms relevance, displays lists, video or images?

Users won't have time to read, but they will make a quick decision on whether the format they review matches an expectation. For example, a query on top 10 bars should have a list with numbers displayed – or one entry with numbers. Or a query on the history of search should probably have an index and look robust – not just a 200 word paragraph.

Users have short attention spans, and most have a preconceived expectation of what theyshould find, not matching that initial expectation can equate to a quick "back click.".

Query for "best health insurance plans for single men". Ask Men offers a clear header and an image that immediately screams "authority"

Resolving

3. Can users perform a quick scan above the fold to answer who, what, and why?

As noted above, users don't actually read on a first pass, they make a decision based on visual cues and click expectations (what they expect after they click).

Some websites fail in obviously reinforcing the click expectation, missing an opportunity for engagement, underscoring brand recognition, and providing obvious reasons of time-worthy value.

Click through to your site and ask the following:

1. Is your brand obvious?
2. Is it obvious what you do?
3. Is it obvious why they should stick around?

Especially important with homepages, but equally important on other SEO landing pages, is ensuring your brand is obvious. Make sure what you do, or how you plan to address the user's intent, isn't buried. Give users obvious information and/or justification to stick around and/or click around is key to moving people to engage further.

Query for "flat head screw driver". Home Depot offers clear branding, white space to highlight product, and additional information that is clearly visible and offers visual cues that the tabs are clickable.

Remember: for instant user assessment of resolution potential, anything below the fold doesn't exist!

Engaging

As noted with the Home Depot example, key engagement options exist such as an "add to cart" action button, search for intent refinement or modification, other options to dig into additional information and links to similar products that other customers have purchased.

Each of these elements contribute to answering the next question:

4. Is it obvious what they should do next?

For Home Depot, the answer is most probably yes. It's easy to find the "Add to Cart" button, it's placed in an obvious position and there's multiple options to view additional information.

The product page offers multiple ways to engage, with a zoom button (subjectively probably not big enough), and plenty of other user-centric options such as writing reviews, checking inventory, etc.

Occasionally there can be too many options that can confuse users. In the Home Depot example there appears to be duplicated "check inventory" buttons/links, but these may have been tested and justified.

5. Are there on-page modification options? (based on query modification)

Home Depot offer a good example of obvious search functionality, related products, and other options that can help modify the user's search query onsite rather than have them click back to the search results to modify.

These kind of onsite modifications do not always need to be driven by site search.

Breadcrumbs, side navigation, filters, related prods, color/size selection are all feasible options to mitigate click backs and improve onsite engagement signals.

Driving

6. Are 'next clicks' consistent?

Part of great site engagement is a consistent user experience for similar queries. By monitoring user interaction on a per query basis, website owners can identify consistencies or deficiencies in matches of search intent to site content.

Duane Forrester of Bing said in January 2013:

"In the long run, the brand names secure rankings through depth of content, trust in brand, and user interaction (searchers clicking a SERP result and staying on their site because the site is trusted and answers the searchers question)"

Providing key "next clicks" – obvious steps from landing pages to conversion or core information – is a better user experience = better potential rankability.

7. Can they share what they've found?

Probably the most obvious of tips, it the provision of social sharing and social connection buttons. If landing pages provide the value users expect, will they be inspired to share, and if they are, can they?

Sharing of a page is different than a click through to your social property (i.e., Facebook page or Twitter stream), and should be a key component on most landing pages, with the caveat of audience vs. social platform.

For pages with images, is there an option to share on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter? For business text content, is LinkedIn an option? Social signals are imperative in closing the loop on user intent satisfaction, demonstrating to both users and search engines an endorsement of your content.

8. Ultimately, can users find the banana?

Seth Godin published a book a few years ago called "The Big Red Fez" – rather than repeat all the key concepts, I can state simply is it's all about bananas – users finding what they need from obvious choices. There's an excellent synopsis here.

I love Helen's Cycles, great stores and service. But visit their website and you're presented with way too many choices (red) and a certain level of confusion (green). The green element talks about Helmets, Cycling Essentials and Clothing"¦ but offers no way to click or a link to relevant content.

Give your users clear navigation to improve consistent engagement and "banana-discovery."

Measurement

The final two tips cover justification through measurement of metrics that matter.

9. Have you segmented traffic by topics?

Google Analytics offers segmentation by query topics through Analytics filters (beyond the scope of this article but more information can be found here) or by exporting data and consolidating offline in Excel.

Custom segments allow you to monitor performance across keyword query topics, understand topic traffic and conversion trends, and leverage this data to identify the key landing pages for each topic.

10. Are you tracking first click queries for optimized pages?

Although in an ideal scenario the page you optimize will attract the keyword queries you'd expect, custom segments by topic also offer up insights into competing pages (entry pages in your site that compete against each other), highlighting opportunities to consolidate similar pages, mitigating potential thin content issues and improving topic relevance on merged pages.

Utilize custom segments, organic traffic keyword query reports, together with landing page association to provide insights into potentially competing pages.

Music genre site, with custom "rock music' topic filter applied, highlights the anomaly of "type of rock music" query being mapped to an Anime genre page. Worth investigating why?

Summary

Landing pages have historically been the domain of paid search marketers seeking improved conversion rates.

User experience, site usability, and onsite engagement have become more important for major search engines in their assessment of a site's "rankability", so SEO practitioners need to ensure SEO landing pages have CRED as a key to SEO success.

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2261323/10-Killer-SEO-Landing-Page-Tips?wt.mc_ev=click&WT.tsrc=Email&utm_term=&utm_content=10%20Killer%20SEO%20Landing%20Page%20Tips&utm_campaign=04%2F15%2F13%20-%20SEW%20Daily&utm_source=Search%20Engine%20Watch%20Daily&utm_medium=Email

These 4 Head-Smackingly Simple UX Changes Grew Sales 50%

Nick Eubanks, April 12, 20130 Comments

Online commerce continues to growth in the double digits every quarter, and with more money being spent online, online vendors are constantly being presented with the opportunity to increase their online sales.

The idea of spilt testing and conversion rate optimization are certainly not new, but there is a lot of room for improvement in the approach.

Split testing is a critical path item for improving the conversion potential and performance of your website, but it's not a vacuum. There are other important considerations you need to consider before you start testing – like what to test.

Known Unknowns

The easiest path is to test the obvious items, those you are fairly certain will have an impact on your conversions.

The most obvious are elements like:

• Price
• Headlines
• Social Proof
• Layouts
• Sales Copy

These pieces of your web page have become the standard starting points for conversion testing, but what about the elements on your site that are adversely affecting conversion that you are unaware of?

Unknown Unknowns

The old saying goes that the more you know, the more you don't know. So how do you gain insight into problems you don't know about?

Observation.

It is a simple concept that is not executed on as often as it should be. Take the time, and make the necessary arrangements, so that you can watch you users use your website.

UserTesting.com is wonderful for this. It has helped us find specific problems that were directly leading to lost revenue, that we had no idea even existed.

The trick here is creating a scenario where you can play Big Brother, because you will never get the full truth from asking.

You need to let your customers navigate your web pages and conversion funnels, and pay close attention to both their mouse movements and the specific language they use to describe their behavior.

Dollars and Sense

A few months back I wanted to test a full shopper loop, from query through checkout, to see where we were leaving money on the table.

We had been running a number of A/B tests and seeing good results but this didn't give any visibility into how visitors were experiencing our site; how they were thinking about it.

Here's what we learned:

1. Cluttered Category Pages

Our category pages were too cluttered with descriptions, and actually made it daunting for our visitors to read all of the crammed description copy we had written

Before:

After:

2. Missing Pricing Information

Visitors were getting to our products pages with prices and add to cart buttons, but because of the layout of our category templates, they were not seeing the prices - becoming frustrated, and leaving!

The solution in this case was so simple; all we did was add a small image in the header telling users they needed to scroll down for pricing!

Before:

After:

3. No 'Add to Cart' Button

The next issue is almost laughable in retrospect, but people were missing our "add to cart" button. Why? Because it didn't look like a button, it was simply a plain text link that said "add to cart".

Directly in line with Steve Krug's manifesto, the solution was to stop making our customer's think, and make the button look like a button!

The new button now looks like this:

4. Checkout Confusion

The final head smacking moment came while watching users go through the checkout process and submit test orders.

Between clicking the submit order button and the thank you screen there is a 2-3 second delay while the order processes, but the users don't know that! So while all of this heavy lifting of hitting the payment gateway, hitting the inventory server, etc. is all going on – the user is left staring at their screen wandering if anything happened.

This led to countless occurrences of people repeatedly clicking the submit button, clogging up the order processing functionality, and causing the shopping cart to stop dead in its tracks. It is nauseating to think about how many orders were lost due to this lack of attention to detail on our part. The fix, again, was so simple: just tell the user's what's going on – set an expectation, and here it is:

So. Freaking. Simple.

Closing The Feedback Loop

Again, in retrospect these are all head-smackingly simple changes, but we never would of thought about them had we not physically watched users go through the process.

It is amazing how much actionable information you can instantly glean from watching and listening to people use your website.

The slightest little thing that has never occurred to you, your boss, or anyone else on your team – may be the one small change that is costing your money.

After making the four simple changes above, daily online sales have increased by almost 50 percent! And this is only the beginning, the real lesson here is that you can't change what you don't know – so you need to be proactive and turn the unknown unknown's into known unknowns, so you can fix them.

What are some small changes that have led to big results on your websites?

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Foreign investors play large role in U.S. shale industry

April 8, 2013

By PennEnergy Editorial Staff 

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

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In early 2013, Sinochem, a Chinese company, entered into a $1.7 billion joint venture with Pioneer Natural Resources to acquire a stake in the Wolfcamp Shale play in West Texas. This investment highlights a renewed trend toward foreign joint ventures. Since 2008, foreign companies have entered into 21 joint ventures with U.S. acreage holders and operators, investing more than $26 billion in tight oil and shale gas plays.

Investment in shale plays in the United States totaled $133.7 billion between 2008 and 2012, as part of 73 deals. Joint ventures by foreign companies accounted for 20% of these investments. The rest of the investments were either part of outright acquisitions—such as the Australian BHP Billiton oil company's acquisition of Petrohawk Energy Corp.—or were joint ventures among American companies (such as Hess and Noble Energy with Consol Energy) and financial institutions.

Most of the foreign investment in these joint ventures involved buying a percentage of the host company's shale play acreages through an upfront cash payment with a commitment to cover a portion of the drilling cost. Foreign investors in joint ventures pay upfront cash and commit to cover the cost of drilling extra wells within an agreed-upon time frame, usually between 2 to 10 years. Both U.S. and foreign companies benefit from these deals. U.S. operators get financial support, while foreign companies gain experience in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing that may be transferable to other regions. Plus, foreign companies can operate in a stable market with a sound legal system and low political risk. In addition, exploration and development opportunities are decreasing in much of the rest of the world. While foreign companies may pay sizable initial costs through joint ventures, these deals can be considered a cost of entry to the development of hydrocarbons through the latest technology.

Most of the recent joint venture deals with foreign companies shifted from the dry natural gas plays to more liquids-rich areas such as the Eagle Ford, Utica, and Wolfcamp—a trend similar to domestic operations. All shale plays contain some liquids, but those with a higher liquid-to-gas ratio are more attractive because of the higher value of hydrocarbons that have crude oil and petroleum liquids in addition to natural gas.

http://www.pennenergy.com/articles/pennenergy/2013/04/foreign-investors-play-large-role-in-u-s--shale-industry.html?cmpid=EnlWeeklyPetroApril122013