According to the April 2006 issue of the New Scientist, research has proven that subliminal advertising messages work… and that if conditions are right, subliminal advertising to promote a brand can be made to work. Previous experiments claiming this were debunked.

But in a recent experiment, scientists found that eighty per cent of volunteers who had been exposed to the subliminal advertising message chose that product, compared to only 20 per cent of the controls. Those are scary stats indeed.

The term subliminal message was popularized in 1917 (World War I), when the US army would sneak messages into songs and put subliminal messages in posters trying to get people to join the army.

A subliminal message is defined as a signal or message designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. Subliminal messages target the subconscious mind and may be generated in the form of an image transmitted briefly and not percieved consciously and yet perceived unconsciously.

While the conscious, rational mind acts as a filter and screens out messages not consistent with our beliefs, the subconscious mind accepts messages without filtering them - rather like the mind of a child.

The effects of subliminal television advertising could be even more powerful on children. It’s been found that for each additional hour per day that a child watched television an average of one additional request was made for an advertised product.

But then it doesn’t take a scientist to tell us what most parents know anyway. Most of us have experienced pester-power first-hand.

The researchers also found that priming only works when the prime is goal-relevant. In plain English, this means you’re likely to buy a product that quenches your thirst only if you were already thirsty anyway.

So, subliminal messages could be more useful in priming a target audience to choose one brand over another, rather than in creating an actual need for the product.

What if politicians started using it to influence our choices? Well, the fact is they probably do already.

Do subliminal messages violate the code of advertising? Will this change the way advertising is regulated? How could we detect subliminal messages inserted into creatives?

And, in our opinion, what is “wrong” - the fact that they actually work, or that advertisers would be sneaky enough to use them? I mean, if they were found not to work, we wouldn’t care either way, right?

The fact is, they do work. And that far better uses have been found for subliminal messages than advertising. In personal transformation, for instance.

As we learn more about the way our mind works, it will become clearer how subliminal messages really affect our decisions and whether they should or should not be allowed in advertising.

More claims of subliminal messages in advertising

The Fallacies Underlying “Subliminal Persuasion”

Subliminal CDs for Personal Transformation

This post is not about Joe Vitale’s Hypnotic Writing package. I think we’ve all heard enough about that already.

No, this is something even more powerful. It’s an event that can help you become a true Master of Persuasion.

On May 19 st, 20 th and 21 st, 2006,The Ultimate Persuasion Seminar event will be held in glitzy Las Vegas.

It’s led by three world-class persuasion experts who will share with you the most advanced, most powerful, scientifically proven influence tactics to let you talk anyone into anything, anytime.

• If you’re a salesperson or a copywriter, you should attend because you’ll sell better.
• If you’re a hypnotist, you should attend because you’ll do better therapy.
• If you’re a life coach, you should attend because you’ll get more clients and get them to follow you easier.
• If you’re a self-help junkie, you should attend because you’ll make faster, easier changes in your life.
• If you’re an NLP/Hypnosis fan, you should attend because you’ll discover how to put this magic in action to get your outcome.

I’m a loyal subscriber and customer of both David Barron and Kent Sayre. I’ve bought and used a few of their self-help products, and I understand the power of persuasion in self-help as well as selling.

Hell, I wish I could make it to this event!! Next year, perhaps

What you might not know that makes the Ultimate Persuasion Seminar totally different, is that these three instructors are rebel outsiders.

They defy the traditional by-the-book, boring, old outdated ideas and instead employ cutting-edge influence tactics that are sleek, covert, and so powerful¦ some of them almost illegal!

During the seminar event, they’ll explain to you every nook and cranny of all their outlaw street-smart, influence strategies. And you’ll walk out the door¦ as a master persuader.

So -

• If you want to be able to talk anyone into anything, anytime¦
• If you want people to follow you¦
• If you want to become a master of influence¦
• If you want more money in life¦
• If you want to more people to say yes to you easily and naturally¦

Register here.

But if you go, just remember that I’m going to be Jealous as Hell.

If you’re a business person, going to Vegas for this training, you should know that its a tax write-off… and it’s Vegas so a lot of things can happen. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Register for the Ultimate Persuasion Seminar here.

There are 60 times more blogs than there were three years ago, says Technorati’s David Sifry as the latest “State of the Blogosphere” report upped the number to 35.3 million blogs.

Now you can read the latest gossip on your favourite celeb - straight from the horse’s mouth - because they’re blogging at Blogstar , a service that connects rich and famous stars with their fans worldwide using cellphones.

The service will soon feature celebrities like Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, blogging about their lifestyles using camera phones and post pictures, text and even video to their personalized mobile blogs hosted on Blogstar. Hey, if Pierce Brosnan starts blogging there, I might subscribe
Via Amit Agarwal

“Are men more RSS savvy?”, was the question that poped into my mind as I read in AdAge’s 2006 Interactive Fact Pack data that 78% of RSS feed users are male.

It also notes that 70 per cent of media & communications companies are going to include blogs and social networks into their marketing efforts whereas 35 per cent are likely to spend marketing budgets to develop in-house blogs. Google’s Blogger.com has been found to be the most popular tool used for blogging. Via AlooTechie and PRMachine

Forrester reports that just 1% of online households in North America use podcasts. And they strongly favor listening to existing content like Internet radio or broadcast radio, not necessarily new content. Researcher, Charlene Li, notes that content that already exists such as earning calls, training updates, and executive presentations are all excellent fodder for podcasts. But she also recommends that companies shouldn’t be dashing out to create expensive original content for a small audience unless they gain value from being seen as innovative.

Adam Schultz reports on PubCon, with blogging advice from Jeremy Zawodny, Matt Cutts and Robert Scoble , on how A-list bloggers manage blog, work and home life. Scoble confessed that his wife lets him know when he’s slacking around the house because of work or the blog by flaming him on her own blog. Well, angry wives, there’s another way to communicate with your spouse…

David Utter profiles the agony of the the high-profile blogger, for whom sometimes the prospect of posting an entry can cause personal misgivings. ‘Be smart’ applies all the time, to any of the corporate bloggers.

A number of prominent bloggers are retiring, to pursue other avenues, reports News.com, including blogging pioneers, Dave Winer and Dan Gillmor. Winer, who popularised RSS technology, indicated that he intends to free up time and become less of a public figure — temporarily. His new projects include getting the students and faculty blogging at Harvard University. Gillmor wrote that he’d be ending his San Francisco Bay Area-focused blog, Bayosphere, to explore new projects. Via Lockergnome

Blogging curbs corporate excesses, notes Joy McCann, because consumers have more power now — via the Web — than they ever did before. Keeping up with online chatter is becoming paramount for companies that want to remain profitable.

Companies like McDonald’s, lock manufacturer Kryptonite, and computer firm Dell have all fallen foul of internet buzz in recent years. Because search engines like Google can allow grassroots campaigns to become highly visible, industry insiders agree decisions can be shaped by a small number of activists.

Martin Lynch observes how bloggers are influencing buying choices as the ˜blogosphere’ becomes more important than traditional marketing. A report from Jupiter Research warns that marketers need to be aware of just how influential the opinions of certain blogs are and how fast they can circulate in the blogosphere.

Takeaway: If your customers are blogging about you, you need to participate in the conversation.

Blogging can be good for your career notes C|Net News and The Boston Globe, which carried articles on how a well-executed blog sets you apart as an expert in your field.

Can blogging make you a full-time income? MoneyControl India says it can and so sure are they that blogs are where the money is, that they’ve begun a new series on ‘Professional Blogging as a Career’, promising to reveal how to make money out of blogging. At the Wall Street journal, the debate is still on. Via Om Malik

Learn all about Del.icio.us , the free service where thousands of people store their bookmarks, enabling you to see what’s trendy and popular, in this post by Andy Wibbels, author of BlogWild!.

And finally, here’s an excellent list of the Top Bloggers Essential Research Tools compiled by B. L. Ochman, with whom I share a love for salsa dancing (besides blogging, of course).

In the past few months, although I’ve been working pretty hard, I’ve been blogging very little - at least about marketing. When I lost my husband in June last year, I counted on my work to keep me sane.

But in the last few months, I realised that I needed to take time out to heal and to renew myself. One of the triggers for taking it slow was my realisation that my priorities and my purpose had changed… a lot!

With a new internet marketing startup, an office to setup and clients to service, I started spending more time in the real world than the virtual one.

It’s been a new phase of personal growth and evolution for me. A new life… new goals… a new way of thinking. I started a new blog to chronicle that journey and I’m enjoying every step of the way.

I’ve been focusing to a greater extent on my personal and spiritual goals, absorbing the wisdom of some of the greatest self-improvement gurus. It took me a while to recalibrate my goals, redefine my sense of purpose and rediscover my motivation.

What now brings me the greatest sense of fulfilment and joy is bring a better mom to my daughter, helping my clients grow their businesses, and building superlative relationships with the people in my life.

It’ll take me some more time to regain my blogging momentum, but I’m getting there.