“I have come to have the firm conviction that vanity is the basis of everything, and finally that what one calls conscience is only inner vanity.” – Gustave Flaubert, Born Dec. 12, 1821.

This is one that will be useful to people who have trouble with making your marketing jive sound authentic.

It's all about appealing to the inner vanity of the reader.

Whether it's vanity tied to their appearance, or their intellect, or their willful ignorance, or their bigotry, or their conscience.

But here is the mistake that non-persuaders make: they think that vanity is a byproduct of privilege.

But this isn't so…

Even people who have a low opinion of themselves still have a strange modicum of vanity – a feeling of pride in being unique and superior to everyone else.

Even if they may not be much for achievement or looks or success – everyone has that internal feeling of superiority over someone. No one puts themselves at the absolute bottom of the human race.

And everyone wants someone to recognize that superiority and acknowledge it, whether it's obvious and ostentatious, or quiet and hidden. So give them their due for it.

Flatter people along these lines and they become compliant and eager to please.

Let people know that you SEE this vector of superiority.

Address their vanity as something they deserve.

Acknowledge it.

Respect it.

Express that you are cut from the same fabric as they are.

Help them revel in their feelings of superiority and even poke fun at those they consider beneath them.

Such people will be like putty.