What if I told you there is a secret knowledge only a few learn to master? This secret knowledge will allow you to command success to come to you. You can demand money with it. It is that powerful.
Here’s the thing. Even as you read this, somebody else is gonna reject it. To them, this sounds cliche. It might as well be. That’s the ugly part of this secret.
At the same time that’s the beauty of it. If you choose to keep up with this, you’re one of the few. Someone who could become successful because of it.
This secret knowledge is a fundamental and essential truth. I will discuss it with you as plainly as possible so you can grasp it fast. While others debate if this is real or not, you’ll be on your way to becoming the selected few. Powerful few.
Let’s start with stories you can relate to.
A Mother Whose Answer You Can’t Predict
Your mom is walking with you at the grocery store. You grab something and your mom puts it back. You start to point back as she carries you away from it. Then you start to cry. You start to show an attitude. Your mom says “No, you can’t have it.”
On another occasion, your mom’s coming through the backdoor from work.
“Hi, Mom! How was your day?”
“I’m fine honey. How sweet of you to ask.”
“I did the dishes while on your way home. I cleaned my room too!”
(By this time your mom can smell you’re about to ask something).
“Hey Mom, can I sleep over at Susie’s starting Friday? Because I promised her I’d play a part in their acting project.”
Because you already did a good job doing the dishes and cleaning your room, of course, your mom said yes.
At the grocery, your mom said no. While on another occasion your mom said yes. Why is that?
The answer to this question is exactly what this secret knowledge is all about. How you would do to convince your mom to say yes is how you would convince others to say the same.
What I am talking about here is the Power of Persuasion.
Right at this moment… we’ll see if you’re going to set yourself away from the crowd. Because there’s a certain crowd who ridicules the power of persuasion. To them, it sounds like you have a lot to work on. They are lazy and they want an easier way. You show them an easier way and still, they’ll be lazy.
Which side are you going to be? Will you be someone who’d take the risk and reap the rewards later?
If you’re still here, congratulations! You’ll be on your way to be one of the powerful few.
Now why is persuasion critical to your success? We’ll try to answer that bit by bit.
First of all, what is persuasion anyway?
In its simplest explanation, persuasion is a process between 2 people. Person #1 wants to get person #2 to agree with him/her… where agreeing means person #2 will say yes or do something for person #1.
Why Would You Bother to Learn Persuasion?
Persuasion has the superpowers of a magical orb. This magical orb senses what you really want. If it knows you are firm with what you’re wishing for, it grants your wish.
Falling into the wrong hands it can be deadly. Place it on a good person’s hand it brings wealth and fortune to the wielder and the surrounding people.
As Mark Morgan Ford says:
“Mastering the skill of persuasion will make all your ambitions achievable. It will make you feel smarter and shrewder, and more confident in almost every situation.”
Persuasion is as old as successful ancient Greek Politicians. When a time people acknowledge its power, but they hate it. And it’s because politicians use its powers. Politicians!
As time and science happened, people now understood that persuasion is a tool. It’s not evil in itself. It becomes good when the person using it is good. It is evil when the person using it is evil.
Just like money, right?
If you dream of something, and that something will involve somebody else… whether the other person is directly or indirectly needed for your success… you know you’ll need to convince the other person to help you.
If you want to build a business, you need other people to support you.
If you want to sell something, you need another person to buy from you.
If you’re looking for similar interests, you need someone to agree with you.
If you want to take part in a group activity, all the members of that group need to agree on something.
As long as your goals have something to do with other people, you need to have skills in persuasion.
I hope I made it clear by now. You need to learn persuasion if you want to become successful.
Is Persuasion Hard?
Now that you know that persuasion is a tool. It is not evil in itself. Is it hard to learn? The simple answer is Yes and No.
It is EASY when:
1. You know the other person very well.
2. The other person already did favors for you.
3. You know the conditions the other person has before helping you or agreeing with you.
It can be EASY or HARD when:
1. You know the other person well enough.
2. You haven’t asked for favors from the other person before.
3. You don’t know the other person’s conditions before granting you favors.
It becomes HARD when:
1. You don’t know the other person.
2. You want to ask the other person to do something for you.
3. You don’t know what the other person is going through.
4. You don’t know the conditions of the other person before helping you.
There are exceptions. But it does not disprove the rule.
It goes to say… persuasion can be easy or hard. It depends on the situation you find yourself in with the other person.
What this means is that… you don’t have to jump the unknown waters in becoming a masterful persuader. You can learn persuasion and apply it to people you know already.
It makes things easier to transition. You don’t have to fear what you don’t know about the other person.
The best part of persuading people you know… sometimes, all you got to do is ask!
I hope this encourages you to learn persuasion with more depth and meaning. By now, you must have thoughts going all over your head.
Why not write them all down for now?
Take the next steps in learning more about persuasion. Get yourself some good books. Then come back to your thoughts later.
You’ll surprise yourself to see how you can connect the dots!
What should YOU do next?
I have applied persuasion to my personal goals with increasing success. Although I am not qualified at all to teach you how to persuade, I know the best books you can appreciate.
The authors of these books are well-respected public intellectual speakers and modern thinkers.
I’m going to list them down in no particular order. Just know that some of them deal with persuasion in general. Some of them are persuasive techniques applied to writing.
I’m a copywriter so I love these books. If you know you’ll be writing in some ways to help you succeed, do not snob these books.
I’ve linked these books to Amazon so you know they are readily available.
I hope you like them. If you bought one, drop me a comment will ya? Here’s to your new superpower!
Influence by Robert CialdiniMethods of Persuasion by Nick Kolenda
The Architecture of Persuasion by Michael Masterson
Persuasion – The Subtle Art of Getting What You Want by Mark Morgan Ford
The One Sentence Persuasion Course by Blair Warren
Persuasive Copywriting by Andy Maslen
Note: The books above have affiliate links. It helps writers like me to continue writing informative blogs without any additional cost to you
About the Author Geoff is a freelance copywriter and an IT Consultant. He has worked in the IT industry for more than 15 years. He has worked with clients who have IT Network needs looking to invest in the following networks: Cisco Meraki Fortinet Aruba Microsoft Azure Geoff practices the use of "The AWAI Method" in copywriting. It is a course that combines the most up-to-date strategies, insights, and teaching methods with tried-and-true copywriting fundamentals so you can take on ANY project — not just sales letters. You too can learn the correct and efficient way to write blogs, articles, and web pages. To learn more, head over to the AWAI website by clicking the image below.
Photo Credits from Unsplash:
krakenimages
Stefan Steinbauer
Kristina Flour