In this blog post, we briefly discuss the importance of book titles and how to amplify your success by using some of the key influence factors discussed in Robert Cialdini’s book ‘Influence’. to listen to the full podcast, click here.

Robert Cialdini: the father of social psychology

One of the highest ideals you wish to reach for your book title is for it to address the concerns of your potential client. There is a man by the name of Robert Cialdini. 30 years ago, he wrote what is considered to be the seminal book on social psychology called ‘Influence’

He wrote the book intending to equip consumers to recognize when influence is being applied to them so that they understand why they have the feelings they have when watching or reading advertisements and/or marketing campaigns. It is no surprise that the book ended up being used by marketers instead as a way of better understanding how to influence people.

In the book, there are 6 keys of influence; for this post, we are interested in the keys of authority and consistency. It is in our nature to pay attention to experts. It is natural for humans to defer to those we perceive to have authority.

We religiously listen to expert analysts on TV who influence the public on every topic, from sports to entertainment to politics. We easily give our money to financial experts to manage for us all the time, says marketing professor Robert Cialdini.

What does this have to do with books and book titles?

Well, there are few greater authority icons in our society than those who write books. The idea is that if the person wrote a book on the topic, they must be experts. This belief hails from a time when the only way to publish your book was through approved publishing houses and means.

So with that background in mind, when you gift someone a book, you give them something of value that is veiled in authority. Psychologically, there is something that triggers an imbalance in the mind. An imbalance that the reason will seek to correct as soon as possible. This imbalance sets off this chain of events: everything is ticked in your favor because you give before getting.

Consistency

another principle that Cialdini speaks on is Consistency. people generally want to come across as honest and true to their word. in short, they want to be seen as consistent, so when you hand them this book of value, they will naturally want to reciprocate in one form or another.

this is usually where you insert a CTA(Call To Action) in the sales funnel. you can request the potential client for their personal information. they will be more inclined to give out this information after they receive the book. it balances everything in their minds.

Now that they have the book, the next step is for them to actually open it and read it. this is where the book title comes in. the main purpose of the book title is to catch the eye; it must address a benefit that somebody is going to want from it. they may not even be aware of this benefit before reading the title. this is called unearthing invisible leads.

Take the 90-minute book, for example. The title immediately arouses interest because it breaks the barriers of people who think that a book should take months of work to complete. So when potential customers view the title, they are almost guaranteed to open it and see what it is about. when brainstorming for your book, one of the ways to look at it is to address the destination, not the journey. the destination is the end product, which the book guarantees you to achieve.

the main takeaway

from this post, the benefit of the title is its potential to lead a client into the rest of the conversation. As a guidepost, it sets people on the right track toward the information they seek. and at the end of the day, that is all we want. to spark the conversation. when you’re ready to start your book journey, feel free to contact us at https://www.90minutebooks.com/get-started