Robin Nobles Says...Use creativity to help you 
build quality content!

Search Engine Workshops Presents

The Idea Motivator

At The Workshop Resource Center

Titillating Facts You Can Use on Web Sites (Open Your Imagination!)
Sunday November 12th 2006, 9:50 am
Filed under: Assignments, Content Ideas

Unsmiling Thomas Edison

Did you know that Thomas Edison didn’t want his phonograph sold for amusement purposes? He said, “It’s not a toy. It is for business purposes only.”

Isn’t it amazing how much “amusement” and joy his phonograph brought to people when it was meant to be used for “business” purposes only? (The left-side of his brain was definitely sneaking in there, wouldn’t you say?)

And . . .

Alexander Graham Bell insisted that “Hoy! Hoy!” was the only “proper” way to answer a telephone. It was Edison who popularized “hello” instead.

Thank goodness! Hoy Hoy would be a little MUCH, even for someone like me. Think of what fun you could have with a fact like that.

Did you know that Richard Reynolds invented metal foil wrap–but not for food. He invented it at the request of his uncle, cigarette czar R.J. Reynolds, to keep tobacco fresh.

Here’s another “did you know” –

In September of 1988, George Eastman patented his roll film camera and registered the name Kodak. He coined the name because he wanted a distinctive name and because he really liked the letter K.  

Okay, these are interesting facts, but SO WHAT. Who cares?

If you have a site that sells CDs, entertainment systems, phones of any kind, phone accessories, cameras, film, recipes, food, tobacco products, music products, trivia, or biographies, you could use these interesting facts on your Web site. I’m sure I’m missing some sites that would be relevant to these facts, but those are just off the top of my head.

Get creative here. Come up with some fascinating facts about the telephone industry. Create a quiz of some sort. Or, paper them throughout your site by posting one on every page. Do some research, and write an entire page of content surrounding the fact.

Is your competition using this information? Probably not. Think of what can give you an edge and use it.

Do something totally radical and go to a library! Wow–books with paper! I pulled all of these facts from books. I have mountains of them that cover virtually every industry out there.

Tell me what industry you’re in, and I’ll try to find some facts for you. But you need to do your own research. That’s what will make your Web site truly sparkle with creativity.

From time to time, I’ll post more facts for you from other industries. Watch for them!

Robin


Digg It | Post to del.icio.us | Post to Reddit


2 Comments so far

We sell crafts jewelry and ahome accessories - All are handmade by individual artisans in the USA. Any ideas or resources yoy could share on tittilating facts for this subject would be great.
Loved your article!
Steve

Comment by Steve 11.17.06 @ 7:19 am

Steve,

I only found one reference to jewelry–regretfully.

In the United States, more gold is used for manufacturing class rings each year than for any other category of jewelry.

However, I found some interesting facts about famous artists, but I wasn’t sure if that would be something you could use. If you want that info., let me know.

To me, I would go more with the angle of US artisans creating handmade gift items. I personally love things like this — one-of-a-kind gift items.

When I buy gifts, I buy gifts to make the person happy–gifts that make people smile. I buy gifts that people wouldn’t buy themselves.

This sounds like the type of thing that you sell — which would all be connected to your unique selling proposition.

Write content centered around the history of the various pieces. If one of your artists creates unique plates, have him/her write a background of the plates and designs. Do the same with your other artists.

Plus . . .

What is the history of plates in general? What is the history of the bracelet? How did bracelets come to be? Were they worn in early Egyptian times? Of course. Before then? What were they made of? Gold and precious jewels? What else?

Did bracelets have any religious significance? Could anyone wear them, or just royalty? Get very curious here and find out. Keep asking one question after another, and keep going until you find out the answers.

Based on “old” times, what would the significance of your bracelets be (if any)? Might be fascinating.

Talk about bracelets through the ages. It would be quite interesting material. Show pictures of the old bracelets on these pages as well as your bracelets as comparisons, and links to the “buy now” button.

When did candles come into being? Candles are one of those “perfect” gifts that almost any woman would love. Capitalize on it with all of the unique candles your artists create.

How can candles be displayed? Get creative here. Talk to your artists for ideas. Brainstorm.

Of course, I don’t know what you sell. But remember that items can be sold for other purposes.

Describe your items using the five senses with muscle words. Bring your potential customers “into the scene” by setting the scene for them. More information can be found in this blog.

You can also search on the engines for quotes for jewelry. What have famous people said about jewelry? Use those quotes on your site.

I hope this helps.

Robin

Comment by robin 11.17.06 @ 6:16 pm



Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

(required)

(required)