Authority

Did You Try Balancing Your Broom on Monday?

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If you’re anything like me, you were utterly fascinated by the broom-balancing boondoggle that swept the internet earlier this week.

(Forgive the pun.)

You probably saw pictures and videos from astonished people who wanted to test out the claim that the earth was tilted “perfectly” on February 10th.

If you hadn’t heard about this, do a quick search and you’ll find a ton of posts and articles. Apparently the hashtag #broomstickchallenge even trended.

Only problem is, the whole thing was a hoax (which you’ll also see tons of posts and articles about).

#broomstickchallenge persuasion

Did your B.S. meter pick up on the hoax or did you know better because of the depth of your scientific knowledge?

I’ll admit, I was only 90% sure the whole thing was Oscar Meyer-level bologna.

So… let’s turn this into a teachable moment. Because anytime something gets this kind of viral attention (and action), there are lessons you can learn.

I see 3 major persuasion principles at play. Let’s discuss.

When “Proof” Arm Wrestles Common Sense

One of the factors that powered the broomstick ballyhoo was the claim that NASA made the announcement.

As you know, our brains instinctively defer to authority figures… at least when it comes to topics we aren’t experts in.

NASA is a pretty reputable authority. And most of us aren’t experts on the earth’s rotational tilt or the effect it has on gravitation.

Interestingly, it would have been incredibly easy to find out if NASA was behind this announcement. And I think most people knew they could verify the story. That’s what made it so easy for them to trust without looking any deeper.

Secondarily, social proof — once it picked up steam — may have been even more convincing than the NASA angle.

Because of a cognitive bias called the “availability cascade,” we have the natural tendency to believe almost anything we’ve seen or heard enough times.

It’s hard to go against the crowd… and it’s less work to trust what everyone else is saying.

So the lessons are that:

  1. It pays to become known as an authority or expert in an area other people are not.
  2. Leverage social proof whenever you can — and when there’s visible, growing support for/acceptance of a proposition, see if there’s a way to use that momentum to gain traction for your own idea/offer.

Seeing is Believing… When You’re Told What You’re Looking At

Think about this…

The #broomstickchallenge starts with the little-known and unlikely-seeming fact that brooms can stand upright.

The argument goes like this: “Hey today’s the only day in this decade that the earth is perfectly tilted. Lemme prove it. Go grab your broom.”

So the hoax tells you how to “prove” the claim for yourself… by pointing you to THE ONE THING that seems to prove it. (I guess you could have used an egg, too. But there’s more work involved.)

This is similar to the way magicians direct your attention toward a specific object or action so you don’t notice the mechanics that make the trick work.

You must point to the broom specifically or the argument falls apart.

If the earth is perfectly tilted, shouldn’t you be able to make a sharpened pencil stand upright on its tip, too?

There’s a lesson here, too. You can “educate” your potential buyers to and almost define their buying criteria for them.

Point them to something that you know they’ll see. When they see it, they’re more likely to believe everything else you said… and do what you recommended they do. Just like a magic trick. (More on that concept here.)

Or, simply show your should-be buyer what you want him to see. Demonstration can be very convincing.

Take It Easy, Man

The perfect tilt of the earth, if it were true, could have been demonstrated in any number of ways. But the craze wouldn’t have caught on if “proving” it wasn’t a low-risk, easy thing to do.

The #HandstandOnTheRoofChallenge probably never would have gone viral.

When you’re selling a product, service or idea, you must be mindful of risk and perceived risk.

That’s just as much about your offer as it is about the copy.

In your copy, assure him of his high probability of success. Give him simple information he can use to justify his purchase to anyone who may ask him about it. Remind him this product was designed specifically for people like him — and the people who buy it are the admired by peers, live longer, etc.

(As long as those things are true.)

Your offer can reduce risk by including a strong guarantee. Make it easy to cancel or request a refund.

Balancing a broom is easy and no one gets hurt doing it.

Try to make it that easy to buy from you.

P.S. Did you know that versions of the #broomstickchallenge have been around since at least 1975?

There’s another lesson: when you find something that works, double down on it.

The marketing method that works better than any other in ROI terms — one that you should definitely double down on — is email. The Make Email Great Again summit officially goes live on Monday, February 17th.

If you haven’t done it already, I encourage you to sign up here to learn secrets and strategies from some of the world’s best email marketers (myself included).

A Gentleman’s Guide to Indoctrination

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In my previous post, I said that you should…

“Always be indoctrinating.”

The question is, how?

This goes deeper than what most copywriting and marketing experts talk about: influencing individual choices. How to get readers to read this… click that… buy the other thing.

Indoctrination isn’t telling people what to decide. It’s shaping and molding what they believe.

Let me tell you a little historical anecdote.

Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world during his reign. As he continued his conquest, he reached a point when he realized his army was stretched too thin. They were too weak to defend themselves.

The only option was to retreat. But once Alexander’s enemies noticed his retreat, they’d surely pursue and defeat him.

Alexander had an idea.

He ordered his men to make several giant breastplates and helmets that would fit 8-foot tall soldiers. When his army retreated during the night, they left the oversized armor behind.

When the enemy force found the armor, they were convinced Alexander commanded an army of Goliaths. That wasn’t a fight they were looking for.

Alexander lived to fight and rule another day.

I hope you caught the point of this story.

The giant armor changed what Alexander’s enemy believed about Alexander — and his own luck. 

Granted, that’s not a textbook study of indoctrination, but it illustrates the critical point: that we can intentionally shape what other people believe.

Specifically what they believe about us.

If that sounds creepy to you, remember: you’re not installing harmful beliefs. You’re trying to improve someone’s life.

Remember this, too… SOMEBODY is indoctrinating your customers and prospects (and your children, for that matter).  

Shouldn’t that somebody be you?

Here’s where you get started.

Foundation on the Familiar

It’s relatively easy to get people to believe something they WANT to believe. And people readily accept and adopt beliefs that feel familiar… that confirm (in some way) what they’re already convinced is true.

In the story above, Alexander the Great’s army was already known for being brutal and seemingly invincible on the battlefield. After seeing the giant armor, it all made sense.

“No wonder Alexander has conquered the world!”

Your indoctrination attempts shouldn’t make a full frontal assault on an entrenched worldview. Rather, you want to introduce a new idea that feels right and fits into the preexisting beliefs.

As an oversimplified example, which of the following statements fits is likely to be more easily accepted by the average American?

Losing weight is easy when you [fill in the blank]…

or

Losing weight can be hard, but that’s because of [fill in the blank]…

Dealing with “categorization”

People automatically, often subconsciously, filter new facts and ideas into mental categories.

They already have entrenched network of perceptions, beliefs and feelings about those categories.

And it can be hard to compete with those existing beliefs.

As a master indoctrinator, there are two ways to deal with this:

  1. Create a new category. If a person can’t fit you or your product or service into one of their predefined boxes, they’ll have to make a new box.

    Now YOU get to directly inform what he believes and how he feels about the new category — where you stand alone.

    Sometimes this is as simple as communicating with people who just haven’t formed strong opinions of your category yet.

    For example, 95% of the people on the planet seem to have no idea what a copywriter is. It’s a blank slate I’m forced to define at every family gathering.
  2. Modify the existing category. If you already know what someone believes about a topic, you can help them see the inadequacy or outdatedness of his definitions.

    This can be risky, because people really likes to hear that his understanding of the world is wrong.  

    But think of any diet program you’ve ever heard of. Atkins, keto, eating for your blood type. They’re all championed by people trying to update your thinking about how the body processes food.

    (Now think about the fact that marketers seem to have more influence over the way we think about health than scientists or doctors!)

You can control the narrative about your business by controlling which mental category your audience puts it in.

Leveraging Authority

Becoming recognized as an authority might be the most effective thing you can do to power your indoctrination efforts.

People are eager to defer to authorities and experts, often without realizing it.

I’ve talked about authority several times in the past, so I’ll just mention one thing.

Your personal story — how you came to experience and understand the idea you’re trying to share — is likely to carry more weight than scientific studies (which make fantastic supporting arguments).

Your story makes you an authority, whether or not you have credentials or position.

Time Domination

To a certain extent, you have to outcommunicate competing systems of thought.

Our brains are biased towards information they’ve heard recently and repeatedly.

You’ve heard that a lie told often enough is believed. But it’s not about the lie. It’s about the repetition.

A few things you can do to gain a greater share of your indoctrination subject’s time:

  • Frequent communication via email, YouTube, social channels. You don’t have to use them all, but the more you use, the more you’ll dominate time and the more opportunities you’ll have to reinforce your ideas.
  • Be present in the physical environment. Get a book, a t-shirt, a printed checklist, something physical into homes or offices. When you can do that, you’re in a rare group — and as a result, people convince themselves you’re more important. 

    Here’s a serendipitous example…

    We recently bought a new home, and we received this jar opener in the mail this week as a “welcome to the neighborhood” “gift.”

    Progressive wants a physical presence in our new home.
progressive indoctrination
  • Impact ONE THING that’s part of the daily routine of the people you’re influencing. Now you own part of their day.

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Obviously, we could cover a lot more ground, but I hope you’re already starting to get ideas to start or enhance your indoctrination work.

Now, go make the world better in a way that ONLY YOU can do it.

Cialdini Agrees with My Persuasion Theory

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Conversion is always an internal change. To borrow the words of Jeff Sexton, “all persuasion is self-persuasion.”

You use your words to paint vivid, evocative images in the minds of your prospects…their response will correspond directly with their desires, motivations and priorities…

You base your marketing messages or sales pitch on the quest they’re on, the vision they have for their lives and the way they see their place in the world…

You do your best to be convincing…but those who become your customers are those who convince themselves that you can deliver the results they want.”

Other than Jeff Sexton, I haven’t heard any other expert say that persuasion is always ultimately self-persuasion. But I tell you, it’s the truth.

And whether he knows it or not, Robert Cialdini agrees with this assertion. If you analyze the 6 principles from his book Influence, you’ll see what I mean. Check it out.

Reciprocity – When someone does something for you or gives you something, you feel indebted to them. You want to pay them back, because you don’t like to feel like you own anyone anything. Reciprocity is the desire to rid yourself of that feeling.

No one makes you feel the need to reciprocate, but when they take the first step by giving you something, they start the process.

The outcome is pretty predictable.

Consistency – We all want to stay true to the statements we make. We have an inner desire to maintain consistency to things we say or write. We convince ourselves that it’s important to do what we say we’ll do. We have an even bigger problem deviating from what we proclaim ourselves to be. If I say I’m an art collector, I better start acquiring some nice pieces!

Our desire to be consistent with the positive things other people think about us (or what we want them to think about us) can be even more compelling.

Social Proof – Everyone wants to be seen as an individual. But at the same time, we have a deep-seated desire fit in somewhere. There’s safety in numbers, right?

A lot of times, we really want to do something and all we need to gain the confidence to pull the trigger is the knowledge that other people (just like us) have done the same thing safely and with satisfactory results.

Liking – I like you. It gives me pleasure to buy from you. I enjoy the feeling of supporting you or your cause, feeling like I’m helping you succeed, etc.

So, naturally, I can persuade myself that doing business with you is a good idea. Even if I don’t really need what you’re selling. Or, if I have to choose between two vendors, I’ll often pick the person I like better instead of the cheaper choice or even the one with higher quality.

How many times have you done that?

Authority – We’re designed to trust people in positions of authority. It starts when we’re kids obeying our parents and believing everything they tell us. Even as we get older and gain autonomy, we never fully get rid of this disposition.

We protect ourselves from making bad choices by defer to people who know better than we do. Self-preservation is a powerful desire.

Scarcity – Missing out on something you could have had is a horrible feeling. We don’t want to feel that. We’ll jump through all kinds of hoops to avoid that feeling. That’s why scarcity or urgency works in marketing.

Sometimes we make a choice more to protect ourselves from this feeling of missing out on an opportunity than from the desire for the object itself.

The evidence is plain. Persuasion is always, at its root, self-persuasion. And although he’s never said it, Robert Cialdini agrees with me (and Jeff Sexton, of course).