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6 Weapons of Online Influence


“Don’t worry about trying to please everyone, you never will, instead just try to have fun with what you create and it will come back to you in the form of a more engaged and involved community”

By: Garin Kilpatrick, Contributing Blogger
From http://garinkilpatrick.com

This article is based on the “Weapons of Influence” exaplained by the now famous PhD psychologist Robert Cialdini in his book “Influence.”  These weapons of influence, even before I was explicitly aware of them, are the driving forces behind co-operation and creating relationships with influential people online, who can ultimately benefit you immensely.

Influence” has made a huge mark in the Internet Marketing industry, it is Yanik Silvers favorite book, and I have heard more than a few famous Internet Marketers reference it before.

Simply put, the weapons of influence below will help you become more influential.

Online Influence Weapon #1 – Reciprocity

The “Law of reciprocity” states that: People tend to return a favor when a favour is given to them.

Reciprocity explains the pervasiveness of free eBooks, ecourses, etc, in the Internet Marketing world.  The more free stuff you give someone the more likely they are to buy something from you.

The “Law of reciprocity” has been the driving force of my online brand and business.  I really like this element of influence as it aligns well with my personal goal to help others as much as possible.

On Twitter reciprocity is especially evident.  When you retweet someone else they are much more likely to retweet you back.  Ditto for lists:  List and be listed, retweet and be retweeted. Guest posting is also a great way to get to get the law of reciprocity working for you.  If you write a few guest posts for a big blogger they will be much more likely to help you out if you ask.

If you develop a product that you want to promote, for example, having bloggers who are highly likely to reciprocate a favor you have done for them can help you get some powerful affiliates to help with your product launch and this can be the ticket to earning tens of thousands of dollars in additional income.

Online Influence Weapon #2 – Commitment and Consistency

If people commit, orally or in writing, to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honor that commitment because of establishing that idea or goal as being congruent with their self image. Even if the original incentive or motivation is removed after they have already agreed, they will continue to honor the agreement. For example, in car sales, suddenly raising the price at the last moment works because the buyer has already decided to buy.

This model is used effecively by some Internet Marketers to get people into continuityprograms that they might nothave otherwise purchased.  I am not a huge fan of this method, but some marketers make millions with it.

The way it works is a product will be offered for $7, or so and this pays for the first month of a program, and every month after is a set higher price, like $67.

Using this sales model customers will commit to a program and often remain in the program at full price for several months, even though they would never have purchased the program at full price.

Online Influence Weapon #3 – Social Proof

People will do things that they see other people are doing. For example, in one experiment, one or more confederates would look up into the sky; bystanders would then look up into the sky to see what they were seeing.

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