Ahh another wordpress update gone smooth. These updates always freak me out a little.. but at least for the last year so all my upgrading has gone smooth, and I am now patiently waiting Wordpress 2.1 and all the fun interesting things it will bring.

While not all marketers are really liars, they are storytellers. They paint the picture that buying organic foods help small farmers succeed, Fox News is fair and balanced, and SUV’s are extremely safe. The story only becomes a lie when you choose to believe it.

In the past, you could use some basic advertising to lure customers to your products, but when there are over 100 nationally sold brands of bottled water in the United States, consumers are trained to not take notice of what you are trying to sell. To attract today’s buyers, you must tell them a story. Tell them how your tea, although it is the same as competitors, is somehow more natural. Tell them that your frozen dinner is actually a home cooked meal replacement. Tell the consumer a remarkable story that makes them feel better about themselves.

All Marketers are Liars is a misleading title because story telling is not evil in itself. To truly create a remarkable story, the actual product and experience must correlate with the story. A coffee shop trying to be “small town” must act, smell and taste the part. It’s easy to tell a story but to actually deliver is what separates the fakes from remarkable. Consumers are intelligent and will never come back if they catch you in a lie.

It’s tough enough to make a product, and unfortunately, products do not sell themselves. Understand that your product must be an entire experience and not just a web site. If you can tell a remarkable story and deliver on your promises, the customer will not only believe the story, but also tell it to their friends.

So a week or so ago I setout to score a 10.0 on sitescore for accessiblity.. I thought hey I can figure out the British Disability Act and meet their standards. I’m happy to report I’ve far exceeding my own expectations in accessiblity… with the added bonus of doing pretty good in experience and design.