What shopper in their right minds would order "Random Crap" from an etailer who describes the offering thusly:

Little do they know, when their packages arrive
They'll open them up and exclaim, "What's this jive?
"I thought I might get a giant-screen TV
Or at least a pair of sunglasses that play MP3s."
Instead they'll find garbage that the city dump
Rejected, so we sold it to you chumps.
And so we exclaim, to those let down by their loot:
"Merry Crapmas to all, and to all a crappy woot!"

Hordes of WOOTAHOLICS, that's who! I just made that word up, to refer to those crazed die-hard addicts of Woot.com who wait up til midnight every night to see what the next day's product is so they can order it before it sells out.

I am not a Wootaholic, but every once in a while around midnight CST I check what's on offer, and for the first time ever I saw the fabled "Bag of Crap" for sale!

I was SO EXCITED to see that fabled brown bag! Until... I noticed the SOLD OUT message. Damn!! Alas, I was too late.

ARRRRGGGGH!

Turns out the entire B.O.C. (affectionately referred to as "Blinged Out Cabbages" to the Wooter insiders) inventory of 3000 pieces was sold out in just ELEVEN MINUTES! Jeez, don't these Wootaholics have anything else to do on Christmas!?!? I wonder if I'm destined to ever lay my hands on a B.O.C.

Ah, to be an etailer like Woot who gets overwhelmed by frenzied mobs of shoppers on Christmas Day. That's brand devotion.

I've just been to Woot! How refreshing to find a company's website that has a unique, memorable personality to it. It's been months since I've bumped into a site like that. Last time was last year when I discovered Mailinator (and man, was that funny!). Here are a few highlights from Woot's FAQ page:

We anticipate profitability by 2043 -- by then we should be retired; someone smarter might take over and jack up the prices.
[...]

You should google for the manufacturer contact to get product answers – we suggest a dating service, magic 8 ball, or ouija board for general life solutions.
[...]

If you buy something you don’t end up liking or you have what marketing people call “buyers remorse,� sell it on ebay.
[...]

I SEE SOME KIND OF WEIRD-LOOKING POPE HAT ON THE MAIN PAGE. WHAT'S THAT ABOUT? A Pope hat? Oh, that. It's supposed to be a rocket ship. In any case, that's our LAUNCH EVENT indicator! And boy, are you a lucky cuss. Spying the LAUNCH EVENT indicator is like catching sight of a leprechaun, or the elusive white whale.

Bloggers don't seem to have trouble injecting personality into their blogs, so why are traditional websites almost always so flat? We just fall into the status quo trap. Here's how to break out of it (and yes, I do suggest you read every book I've linked to below):

1. Relate to your reader as a human being. People talk to people. Companies don't talk to companies. "We are not seats or eyeballs or end users or consumers. We are human beings" - Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger
2. "Say something worth talking about" - Nick Usborne
3. Poke fun at yourself. Don't take yourself/your company too seriously.
4. Be happy. Happiness is contagious. "Many people don't allow themselves the luxury of being enthusiastic, light-hearted, inspired, relaxed, or happy-especially at work" - Richard Carlson
5. Learn improv. You'll think better on your feet, and you'll be more lucid when you talk or write.
6. Be remarkable. "The opposite of remarkable is very good. Very good is boring." - Seth Godin
7. Start fires. "Markets are conversations; and conversations are fire. Therefore, marketing is arson." - Doc Searls
8. Share the love. "Share your knowledge. Share your network. Share your compassion." - Tim Sanders

Personality isn't something you just add to your copy. It should come from your company's DNA and flow through to your website.