"There's no difference. It's only when manipulation is obvious, then it's bad manipulation. What I do is every bit as manipulative as some magician doing a magic trick. If I can wave this red silk handkerchief enough in my right hand, I can do whatever I want with my left hand and you're not going to see it. When you're writing fiction, everything is manipulation. I'm setting up the situation specifically so that you'll laugh at this point or cry at this point or be nervous at this point. If you can see how I'm sawing the lady in half, then it's bad manipulation. If you can't see how I did that, then it's good." Aaron Sorkin (explaining the difference between language that convinces and language that manipulates)

Finished the Frank Luntz book over the weekend and I highly recommend it. Bravo Frank, well done. Amazon info here. Today's opening quotation comes from the book. Luntz is the highly regarded researcher who has been engaged by politicians and brand managers all over the world. Here are Dr. Frank's ten rules of effective communication:

1. Simplicity: Use Small Words (Simplicity)
   
2. Brevity: Use Short Sentences (Brevity)
   
3. Credibility Is As Important As Philosophy (Credibility)
   
4. Consistency Matters (Consistency)
   
5. Novelty: Offer Something New (Novelty)
   
6. Sound And Texture Matter (Sound)
   
7. Speak Aspirationally (Aspiration)
   
8. Visualize (Visualization)
   
9. Ask A Question (Questioning)
   
10. Provide Context and Explain Relevance (Context)

Luntz writes "If your tagline, slogan or message meets most of these criteria, chances are it will meet with success. If it meets all ten, it has a shot at being a home run. But in the history of political verbiage and product marketing, less than one in one thousand hit it out of the park."

"It's never about the delivery system, it's about the content." Bob Shannon writing in his All Them Big Dogs feature @ AllAccess. Kudos Bob! Well said, as ever.

"Certain things like elections or the Olympics really point out how TV is terrible. You have to wait for the guy to talk about the thing you care about or you miss the event and want to go back and see it" Bill Gates at Davos. Reuters: Internet to revolutionize TV in 5 years via IWM.

Todd And offers up his Power 150 Top Marketing Blogs. His top ten are...

1. Adrants
2. Seth's Blog
3. tompeters!
4. Copyblogger
5. Online Marketing Blog
6. Church of the Customer
7. Duct Tape Marketing
8. adfreak
9. Brand Autopsy
10. What's Next Blog

Cheers Todd, nice work, interesting list. Todd's entire list with logic and links here. (Thanks to Jaffe for the tip and congrats to Joseph on his top ranking. If you have an interest in marketing you will enjoy and benefit from a daily serving of Jaffe Juice)