Thoughts this Thursday, where are yours?

????????????????????????????The Psychology of Negativity Bias

The average click-through rate of an article?increases by 63%?when it has negative superlatives like?bad,?worst, and?never?in its title.

(This is in comparison to the positive superlatives?always?and?best.)

Negativity gets attention, clicks, and conversions. But too much negativity shifts your brand from friend to foe.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????Inside Your Buyer's Mind

Your buyers are?loss averse?— they’d rather opt out of winning $150 than risk losing $150.

That’s because?studies show?that the feeling of loss can be?2X more powerful?than the pleasure of gain.

This is the root of our Negativity Bias.

Your buyers unconsciously pay attention to negative or adverse news, trends, and stories,?so they can avoid potential losses in the future.

Like moths are attracted to light, they look for negativity, hoping that knowing this information will keep them safe in the future.

Buyers aren’t looking for an onslaught of consistent negativity from your brand, though.

A little negativity can drive action, but too much can drive buyers in the opposite direction.

???????????????Katelyn?Bourgoin-CEO & Lead Trainer Customer Camp

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3 Rules of Simplicity?

What separates most successful people is their ability to streamline their decision-making and creative process.

Rule 1: Understand what you want to achieve.

Rule 2: Understand what matters most.

Rule 3: Understand that clutter gets in the way.

?If we're not hearing what we want or getting the results we desire now, that doesn't necessarily mean our idea is terrible or that we need to abruptly abandon our vision.?Our concept may just need a little more time to be recognized.?

???????????????????????????????????????????????The Daily Coach

Supply Chain

One of the most iconic symbols of the Covid economy was the epic backlog of container ships waiting to dock at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. At one point this year, that backup was longer than the line at Trader Joe’s on a Saturday, stretching 109 ships deep and almost 60 miles from the coast. But now, the shipping situation is almost back to normal. As of last week, the number of ships waiting to drop off their goods stood at?just?four, according to the WSJ. Plus, the cost of sending a 40-foot container from Shanghai to LA has plummeted from its peak of more than $12,000 to almost $2,000, nearing its pre-Covid average. The fact that goods are once again flowing smoothly through US ports is a hopeful sign that inflation, which was instigated in part by supply chain snarls, could start to chill out.

There is a “but”...

When you consider?why?container rates have plunged and ship captains are no longer leaning on their horns, the picture becomes a bit bleaker. Probably the biggest factor in clearing out the traffic is that demand for imported goods has dropped—not a great sign for the economy. Check out these stats:

• The Port of Los Angeles handled the?least amount of import containers?in the month of September since the Great Recession in 2009, per Freight Waves.?
• With retailers already up to their eyeballs in inventory, shipping lines have canceled 26%–31% of their transpacific sailings in the weeks ahead, the WSJ notes.

Big picture:?Diving into the nuts-and-bolts of the supply chain makes you realize just how long of a journey your holiday gifts take to arrive under the tree. As Freight Waves lays out, the “peak” season for shipping goods from Asian factories to the US is already over. For the next couple of months, holiday gifts will be traveling on a truck or rail car to a warehouse, and parcel delivery companies will take them to the finish line from Black Friday through December 24. —NF?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Morning Brew

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Apple: The China Conundrum

• Apple has a long and complicated relationship with China, with the vast majority of products manufactured there.
• New Chinese party leadership may cause problems for Apple and other US companies as Xi Jinping's power grows stronger.
• Slowing demand in China from Covid lockdowns is offset by increasing demand for Macs, iPhone demand outside of China, and other innovations like the Apple Watch.

?Discipline:?supplies the power to say yes, every day to doing the hard stuff!?

How do we build it?

1. Compliance— Compliance reflects your adherence to an external policy or rule. Your doctor prescribes medication, and your only task is to take the medication on schedule. You’re not being ordered to do anything extraordinary. Just follow the instructions and you’ll get better. Yet, an estimated 50 percent of all U.S. patients forget, abandon, or never take the medications. That’s how tough compliance is. Even when our health, possibly our life, hangs in the balance, we don’t comply with surefire remedy.

Emergency reserves

?Saudi Arabia has fired off a warning shot aimed at the U.S. as a high-level standoff over crude oil and supply agreements goes public. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Kingdom's oil minister, accused unnamed countries of using their emergency oil reserves to "manipulate markets rather than helping with shortages of supply." The remarks come after the Biden administration authorized the release of another 15M barrels of crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve as it tries to curb elevated gasoline prices in the wake of production cuts from OPEC+. Quote:?"We, as Saudi Arabia, decided to be the maturer guys," he told the Future Investment Initiative Forum, otherwise known as Davos in the Desert. "It is my profound duty to make it clear to the world that losing emergency stock may become painful in the months to come. Running out of capacity has a much dearer cost than what people can imagine."?

???????????????????????????????DECODING TRANS-ATLANTIC RELATIONS

MORE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT FALLOUT:?The White House put out a statement at 8:27 p.m. Tuesday announcing a “US-EU Task Force on the Inflation Reduction Act.” Why would there need to be a trans-Atlantic task force around a recently passed piece of U.S. legislation?

The White House claims the task force is about “promoting deeper understanding of the law’s meaningful progress on lowering costs for families, our shared climate goals, and opportunities and concerns for EU producers.”

My colleague?Jakob Hanke?Vela?writes in that the task force is really a venue for European car industry voices (often German) to air complaints about the “Buy American” provisions for electric cars in the act. European automakers think the provisions are illegal under WTO rules, and are “furious,” he said: The “EU has been discussing for months how to hit back. They don’t want to rock the boat but clearly have had no success in addressing this via the Transatlantic Trade and Technology Council.”??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Politico

• "You were born an original, don't die a copy." ― John Mason

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Have a good week..... Life Transitions Services LLC... Taking care of the important before it becomes urgent!