“There is sublime thieving in all giving. Someone gives us all he has and we are his.” – Eric Hoffer, Born Jul. 25, 1902. Cialdini called this the “Law of Reciprocity”, triggered when you do a favor for someone unbidden. They then feel a strong obligation to return the favor. We don’t like being forced… Read More →
How to Pull Apart Any Product to Describe it Desirably
“Joys divided are increased.” – Josiah Gilbert Holland, Born Jul. 24, 1819. If you want to make any offer of anything seem more appealing to whoever it is you’re offering it to… Start slicing it up. Every distinct piece of it is a separate component with its own intrinsic and inherent value. If you were… Read More →
On Creating the Illusion of Two-Way Conversation, and Why It’s Valuable
“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.” – Karl A. Menninger, Born Jul. 22, 1893. Wouldn’t it be nice if we, as writers could listen to our… Read More →
When Prejudice Becomes A GOOD And Valuable Thing To Sell Others
“Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.” – Elwyn Brooks White, Born Jul. 11, 1899. The modern influencer is an engineer of prejudice. Common parlance gives the word “prejudice” a negative connotation, as though all pre-judgments are inaccurate. But it doesn’t have to be so. Providing… Read More →
We Are All In It To Change The World… Or At Least Part Of It
“I am not in this world to live up to other people’s expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine.” – Fritz Perls, Born Jul. 8, 1893. Sorry, Fritz. I have to disagree, at least in part, only because I don’t feel an obligation to be equitable. I am with… Read More →
It’s Not What The Target Craves to Have, Nut Who They Desire to Be
“We love in others what we lack in ourselves, and would be everything, but what we are.” – Richard H. Stoddard, Born Jul. 2, 1825. You can drive a lot of human behavior very easily if you know who and what your mark wants to be instead of who and what they currently are. Envy…. Read More →
Two Sneaky Methods For Writing So That People Will Obey
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Born Jun. 29, 1900. One of the hardest ways to get people to do what you want… Read More →
People Believe This, And You Can Use It To Manipulate Them
“Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Born Jun. 28, 1712. What I love about this quote is that people generally believe it, and that makes it easy to trick them. “Nature” is an amorphous idea that most people would struggle to define. But it’s “real” and it’s “truth”… Read More →
To Persuade Quickly: Attack Instinct Via Emotions, Then Logic
“The active part of man consists of powerful instincts, some of which are gentle and continuous; others violent and short; some baser, some nobler, and all necessary.” – Francis W. Newman, Born Jun. 27, 1805. One of the mistakes a novice persuader can make is to attempt to work on the mark’s logic. But that’s… Read More →
If They Don’t Buy Into the Story, They Won’t Pay For the Product
“Great advertising, in and of itself, becomes a benefit of the product.” – George Lois, Born Jun. 26, 1932. What old George is saying here is that objects (like products, for example) all have a story. They just do. Someone invented those products, for some purpose, to solve some problem, to sell to some person,… Read More →
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