John Stossel recently did a study for 20/20 that basically proved the fact that better looking people get treated better. This goes for jobs, being stranded on the side of the road needing a gallon of gas, etc. He proved the better looking people ALWAYS got huge response.

I think looks matter big time. I'm not saying it's right, it's just the way it is in our society.

It got me thinking. At one time Cy Price from this forum had her picture in the Avatar slot. She's basically a model, very beautiful. But now it's gone, I wonder why? Was it because when she put it up there were a lot of comments about how pretty she was and it made her uncomfortable? Who knows and I could be totally off but just an observation.

Let's take Fortin. There was a HUGE thread over the LOOK of his new picture alone. Do you think there would have been that conversation if he had a beard and weighed 330 lbs? Nope. Who knows if he would be even posting his picture if that were the case. People are very cruel to overweight people and generally look down on them and think they are lazy.

My question is, how important do you think looks are to copywriting, selling products, and selling yourself?

Great conversation starter, Ricky.

For getting work as a copywriter per se, I don't think it matters much. (Although all things being equal, I think someone who's considered attractive would have better results).

Also interesting because Michel's latest blog post is about the response boosting effect of including pictures with your copy.

I notice you have a picture of a very attractive women on your site. And I'm quite sure it helps your response; especially in that market.

I do disagree with this statement:

I think all things being equal if you put the same person in a black t-shirt and then in a nice suit, you'd get the same reactions as far as professional appearance/"too corporate", etc.

As a business person, I think it's always smart to look professional when putting on your public face. (Which reminds me, we've never uploaded our
"corporate" pics to this site.)

But it depends on the personna you want to portray, and your audience.

John Carlton is "The Marketing Rebel" so he can get away with Hawaiian shirts.

When Shawn and I attended Dale and Kern's "Underachiever Event" last year, we went SoCal casual.

At other events, I'm more likely to wear a sportcoat. Message to market match.

A.

One of my teaching colleagues told me that good-looking teachers get better student evaluations.

Student evaluations are often full of nonsense, so I'm not sure if you want to put much value into that finding. One of my colleagues had this response to the following question:

Q: How could this teacher be more effective?
A: If she had longer legs.

Overall, I'd have to say that good-looking people get preferential treatment. I've seen numerous reports about this subject. However, I've also heard that beautiful women are sometimes not taken as seriously in the business world. I guess it all depends upon individual experience.

Cialdini discussed this in "Influence", the chapter on Liking. One big mistake I see is copywriters putting their ugly mugs on their websites. To think it doesn't hurt you is silly in light of all the evidence.


If you've got a face for radio, save your pictures for your family.

I believe that being good-looking is defintely an asset, depending on the niche being marketed to.


ken

I do think that looking professional is important. The problem I have with many marketers and copywriters is not that they look ugly or good-looking or whatever, but the fact that so many of them put up unprofessional photos of themselves. Pictures of them in some ugly faded black shirt with bed hair does not make me think that they are organized and have their business together.

I'm not saying that you should be wearing a suit. Heck, if you're young, a pair of good looking jeans with a nice shirt or a track jacket might even make you look more creative. But, you have to at least look like you have a persona that would be helpful to some aspect of business.

Several years ago when I was 18 I got my real estate license and started doing business in my town. Anytime I was working I dressed in nice slacks with a polo shirt, good dress shoes, a bracelet, and a swiss watch. It was the only way to show I meant business trying to sell expensive properties in my area.


Dabney

Love it