My Daily Emails

High-resolution copies of handwritten notes can double repeat spending. A team of researchers tested thank-you notes in e-commerce deliveries. Four versions: handwritten, scanned and printed, machine-typed, and none at all.

The way you quote a price changes WHETHER people want to negotiate it. Imagine you’re choosing between two venues for a launch event. Venue A quotes $20,000. Venue B quotes $19,445. You

New research shows large language models mirror human decision patterns with many options (except in the messy stuff like satisfaction and stopping behavior). A new SSRN study from Katherine Hallen

Believing you’re invisible is a dangerous practice. In 1995, McArthur Wheeler robbed two banks in Greater Pittsburgh. He wore no mask or disguise. Instead he smeared his face with lemon juice, convinced

Online shopping rewires how much we’re willing to pay in physical stores. I’ve done it myself. Standing in a bookstore, I found a title I liked. Looked it up on

New research shows packaging colors shape expectations and purchase intent far beyond simple attention-grabbing hues. Every junior marketer and design student knows the theory: Green = eco or money Red

Our brains like shortcuts. Often when doing logo design projects, my team and the client’s get into a familiar discussion. Should the logo attempt to represent the product? Would doing

LEGO’s Holiday Express set includes their first mass-produced 3D-printed piece. LEGO is stepping into additive tech in a big way: Its new Icons Holiday Express Train will feature a blue-and-red

Cooling fabrics changed pillows and bedding. Now they’re about to change what we wear. With products like the Parallel Pillow, we saw how “cooling” textiles could elevate comfort in sleep products.

Facts don’t drive action. But framing sure does. A recent study shows that behaviorally designed campaigns outperform traditional ones by 31 percent. Wow, right? That’s a whopping difference. It’s about creating

More products don’t equal more traction if the audience doesn’t trust you in the new lane. A uniform laundering company expands into selling Chef-grade apparel online. Fine dining in New

The best products are teachers in disguise. Apple products are famously complex inside — yet nobody needs a manual to use them. You power up, swipe, tap, and somehow it

Real words from real buyers grab attention faster than the best copywriter can. Instead of inventing headlines, lift ’em. Pull a phrase straight from one of your five-star reviews, and

The Premium Buyer Paradox explains why a $600 Dyson makes sense but your $89 handmade product gets rejected. Plus a new podcast episode! Why will someone spend $1,500 on a

“Bye” and “buy” sound the same — and our brains actually mix them up when written. This one is so weird to me, but it’s proven. In a study by

Buyers don’t believe claims. They believe what they can see. When Cutco sales reps show off the company’s Super Shears, they don’t start with features or promises. They pull out

Longtime reader Sheena wrote about my post on the heated Bento Box: “Ooh! I love this. Then I saw the price…” HeatsBox Go is made in Switzerland and sells for

146,000 words. 365 mornings. Zero missed days. Today marks one full year of sending these emails every day. (Although several, like the one you opened on Christmas morning, were written

Better default settings are key to smart product development. But what, exactly, is better? Ravi in Toronto asked me a sharp one after reading my email about default settings: “We

Meta’s new Ray-Ban Display smart glasses are here, and cost about US $800.  They’ve got a built-in display in one lens and notifications on the go. But software is still

Battery-powered lunchboxes make work life better. Here’s why it matters. A Swiss startup built a device called HeatsBox GO. It looks like a sleek bento box, but hidden inside is a

Defaults drive behavior more than persuasion ever could. When Apple wanted millions to try paperless billing, they didn’t write a manifesto or launch a new ad campaign. They set the default to

The double standard between big brands and startups — and knowing when precision in claims is life or death A client asked me the other day: “Why do WE fuss

A startup founder’s guide to shipping options — from garage packing to Amazon’s walled garden Every physical product founder faces the same moment of panic. “Wait, HOW do I actually

AI no longer has to live in the cloud (and what that means to all makers). Arm has unveiled its next-gen chip designs built to run powerful AI models directly

Sounds like jargon, but DFM is one of the sharpest tools small makers can use. Design for Manufacturing (DFM) means shaping a product so it can be made efficiently, without fragile

Your product’s packaging is often the first sales call. I’m working with a client in the cleaning product space, so my team is immersed in the trends and brain science

An AI note-taker that travels on the back of your phone has already sold over a million units. I appreciate AI note-taking on video calls. It captures everything while I

It creates loyalty, revenue, and sustainability, all in ONE move. Two days ago I mentioned Methods — the shoe brand that separates uppers and soles so buyers can replace just

When buyers get frustrated, they’re already half gone. It doesn’t matter how advanced or helpful your product is if the path to “yes” feels tedious. Frustration kills decisions faster than

Circular footwear is a lesson in new business models. Solk’s Fade 101 sneaker — six years in development — proved it’s possible to make stylish, everyday shoes designed to compost. Chrome-free leather, plant-based

In the 1990s, Nova Scotia brewery Alexander Keith’s ran a slogan I’ll never forget. “Those who like it, like it a lot.” That line nailed what it means to be

When you’re early, the work isn’t to shout louder. It’s to make tomorrow feel INEVITABLE. You can’t sell to a market that isn’t ready. So you seed it. The other

The best innovations don’t make you adapt. They adapt to you. Most home coffee roasters are equal parts smoke and guesswork. Too hot, too long, too bitter — you take

Mass production hides mistakes. Small runs expose them. I have a client who tests new product variations in the tiniest runs imaginable — sometimes just a handful of units, with

In markets drowning in specs, solving real constraints beats listing features. Oversupply pushed most e-bike brands into brutal price wars. I’ve seen quality bike makers squeezed, not at all because

Night vision used to be WB-cartoon fantasy. Now it’s in your backpack for under a hundred bucks. As a kid, I was sure Wile E. Coyote had one of these

Sometimes the best marketing is a shortage of the product. Think about the PlayStation 5 launch. Demand dwarfed supply, and units sold out everywhere. Instead of turning buyers away, the shortage fired

Maybe the best way to sell your premium product is to offer something cheaper right next to it. Apple’s iPhone SE was never meant to blow minds. It exists to

When something promises too much for too little, skepticism kicks in before belief ever can. They say when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That’s the

Offering too many options can add confusion and push buyers away. We’ve been fooled into thinking choice is good. More SKUs, more features, more “freedom.” But for your buyer, most

What if your ketchup sachet could disappear after use — or be eaten? London-based Notpla is making that future feel real. Their edible, compostable seaweed packaging — like the Oohohydration bubbles used in

This weekend, 17+ million U.S. travelers will squeeze through airports for Labor Day. That’s not only a record, but a product lesson. Travel days magnify customer pain Suddenly the sleek

For decades, innovation has been shaped — and often slowed — by one thing: the battery. It’s why my heated gloves are lumpy and weird. Why my Apple Watch is

Often innovations arrive before the world is ready for them. In 2009, Mattel released the Mindflex — a toy that let you move a ball through an obstacle course with your brain. It

Sometimes the biggest challenge is not the product, but the people around you Being ahead of the curve feels exciting — until you realize others can’t see what YOU see.

When your prototypes evolve faster than your sourcing chain. A recent Kickstarter campaign from Texas-based Saltgator Tech, Inc. introduced a desktop soft-gel injection molding machine for just $399. The campaign is doing very well, to

Recycled glass fibers from retired wind turbine blades can give data centers a surprise edge (and what it means to you) Data center builders know time is money. And in

How vertical placement of price tags triggers subconscious value perception — and how to test it in digital, retail and B2B environments A bottle of gin sold 35% better when

Packaging that listens can teach and sell — long after the shelf. Clinique embedded NFC chips in select editions of its Moisture Surge 100H moisturizer. Tap the jar with your phone and you