Influencing Human Behavior

Covert Hypnosis Techniques

2011-07-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Covert Hypnosis Techniques offer you a proven way to make difficult things easy. This is true whether these "things" are influencing your Self or someone else.

Covert Hypnosis is the use of human influence and hypnotic techniques to trick your brain or someone else's into doing what you want that brain to do.

Here's an example or two of tricking the brain with Covert Hypnosis.

Here's an easy problem that is solved through Covert Hypnosis Technology.

Weight Loss.

Really.

Someone has been trying to lose weight forever. All you need to be healthy is to lose about 30 pounds. You count calories....but you always seems to go over your set amount for the day. You usually does well in restraining your Self during the day but then at night you decide to reward your Self with a large amount of junk food.

Sound right?

OK

2/3 of American adults today are overweight. How did this happen? Were Americans born without a self-control gene?

Besides having easier access to fatty, fast, processed foods, what else makes this country grossly less healthy than the rest of the world?

When people feel they have made progress towards a goal, it's like a switch turns off pursuit of that goal. When people eat smaller portions of foods throughout the day, they feel they have made progress towards their goal, their self control switch turns OFF and they allow indulgence.

People have a tendency to choose smaller rewards immediately, instead of choosing a larger reward for later.

In this case, one prefers to indulge now isntead of feeling good about theirselves later. To get to a point where you can resist immediate small...fleeting rewards to obtain a later larger reward...takes mental discipline.

Covert Hypnosis Technique #1

Get rid of the junk food. Mere exposure to the problematic foods increases cravings for the food. If you must keep some problematic foods around, hide it. (really) Keep them on a different floor of the house. (really) When one experiences a craving, you are far more likely to get up from their current task and consume the food if it is closer in proximity to them.

Covert Hypnosis Technique #2

The average person fills up their gas tanks about twice per week. If no other junk food is kept in the house this is the perfect opportunity for a reward. 2 times per week you are given the opportunity to indulge by running into the gas station mart and grabbing a -small- treat. Without the constant impulse of going for the junk in the house, who knows, maybe you'll forget to indulge all together and opt for that bowl of fruit at home instead

Covert Hypnosis Technique #3

Eat alone, TV off. New studies have shown people eat over 200 calories more in front of the tv or with people. And they don't realize it.

Humans (and particularly American humans) grossly underestimate the amount of calories they consume. When people savor their food and eat slower, they will feel fuller before consuming our full meals. The brain doesn't register being full for about 20 minutes after you start eating, so people think (fallaciously) that they need to keep eating because they don't feel full quite yet.

Covert Hypnosis Technique #4 (My favorite)

Eat off of the smallest dishes you have. You'll eat more and feel fuller if it APPEARS you have a big portion.
Remember Covert Hypnosis is bypassing the Critical Factor of the brain without resistance. This is the best kind of trick...when the brain is absolutely convinced one thing is happening when in fact, something else is happening.

Ah, and here is a bonus technique:

Eat, then shop. Much more is purchased when you go shopping hungry. Even if you aren't going to the grocery store, your hunger will take priority over fulfilling other needs, so you'll hurry, probably purchasing more than you intended in the first place.

Feeling those hunger pains? Don't be tricked, you may not actually be hungry.

We do not necessarily experience hunger pains because we need noursihment. We experience hunger pains becauase we train our bodies when to expect food, especially if we have a routine day. Remember Pavlov and his dog, classical conditioning? A way to combat this? Switch it up. Eating our larger meals at different times of the day can keep our bodies on their toes. Little snacks don't hurt either, constantly stimulating the digestive system throughout the day with SMALL snacks keeps up our metabolism-wait too long between meals and our metabolism halts.

Know what you want in life and THINK ABOUT IT OFTEN: the less people think about their future selves, the more people will be willing to indulge. If you don't have plans for the future, maybe it's time to start.

Those that are conscientious about their future health and wellbeing-because it is vital to reach their goals-are more likely to put off immediate indulgence because they see it as vital to their future selves to deny that Reeses or Tirimasu. Even just thinking about how you want to look and feel about yourself in a few years before ordering that triple chocolate cake can give you sufficient motivation to say, 'no thank you'.

The new book Covert Hypnosis 2020 is very cool...take a peek.

And for those of you wanting to learn Covert Hypnosis Techniques for other purposes than looking more attractive to others, think about each trick and match it to your specific scenario. Block out the trick. They are simple but it takes a little practice to get the concept of APPLICATION shifting.

Women Love Men Who...

2011-07-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

Women Love Men Who Give Them...
You don't have to know Covert Hypnosis to understand this. (OK
it never hurts!)

Women know exactly what they want.

Most men will be surprised to know that one thing women want badly
will cost you absolutely nothing.

Ask any woman what traits she wants in a man and within the top 3
will be...a sense of humor.

The other top 2 will probably be some form of intelligence and
ability to support her in the style to which she would like to be
accustomed.

And humor, it now appears, is one way to judge the other two.

Because when humor is done well, it takes smarts and social prowess.

In his article in Psychology Today, "Laughing All the Way to the
Bedroom",(May 2011) Gil Greenhouse, psychologist and anthropologist,
says:

"The ability to say something funny requires a high level of
intelligence. If you memorize a thousand jokes, that doesn't make you
a person with a sense of humor. Sense of humor is more subtle. A good
sense of humor is about timing, the ability to say the funny thing at
the right time and to the right people. Telling a sexist joke in a
room full of women will probably not score many points with the
audience. Humor is largely an interpersonal activity that requires a
high level of emotional, social and also mating intelligence."

[Do follow Greenhouse. He's cutting edge. Sharp!]

He goes on to say that humor is valued highly by women, and is
listed as one of the top 3 qualities by women in online dating ads.
He also quotes another study done by Eric Bressler, Sigal Balshine
and Rod Martin in which they found that women want a man that will
make them laugh.

Men of course start trying to impress in grade school.

Then the path looks to be ...dominance.

The way of the bully.

Fortunately, shortly after grade school, the second way to social
status emerges.

Prestige.

Writing on this subject on Huff post,(May 2011) Scott Barry
Kaufman,(Cognitive scientist, personality psychologist and professor,
NYU...another guy you need to follow.) :

The dominant path is paved with conceit and arrogance, whereas the
prestigious path is paved with accomplishment, skill and prosocial
behaviors.

Hmmm.

And Science Daily reports: - A new study in the journal Personal Relationships reveals that women prefer mates who are recognized by their peers for their skills, abilities, and achievements, while not preferring men who use coercive tactics to
subordinate their rivals....Women most likely avoid dominant men as
long-term romantic partners because a dominant man may also be
domineering in the household.

Back to Scott Kaufman.....he points out that humans use humor
effectively to pursue and conquer sexually.

"Studies by Gil Greengross, Geoffrey Miller, me (Kaufman) and others have
indeed shown the benefits of humor for intersexual selection -- funny
people do report having more sex and more sexual partners, and they
report starting to have sex earlier in life".

I don't think he's joking.

Which do you think came first, the sex or the laughter?

Kaufman further bolstesr his idea that there is evidence that humor
is related to sexual selection and is a positive social trait with
this study..

Men's sense of humor on women's response to courtship solicitations:
an experimental field study
Nicolas Guéguen
Université de Bretagne Sud
Summary. - Producing humor might function as a fitness indicator
associated with greater desirability during dating selection. An
experiment was carried out in which a male confederate in a bar was
instructed to tell (or not) funny jokes to two other male
confederates. A few minutes later, when the second two male
confederates left, the first male confederate asked a female who was
near his table and who had heard the funny jokes for her phone
number. The previous expression of humor was associated with greater
compliance to the male confederate's request and with a higher
positive evaluation. The possible effects of humor are discussed from
an evolutionary perspective.

The official version of this article is available at:
http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2466/07.17.PR0.107.4.145-156
Cited as:
Guéguen, N.

The result was that the man got the womans phone number more
frequently when she thought he was funny AND when she thought his
friends thought he was funny.

Both humor and social proof at work here.

He has prestige and he is funny.

Humor is PART of prestige.

It's part of intelligence.

And its very attractive to women.

What else influences women?

Is it possible that "Nice guys finish last...unless they have a porsche?"

Maybe...

Peacocks with the largest and most elaborate plumage will win the
right to mate with a female...then says 'see ya' and leaves the
female to parent his offspring. Peacocks are notorious for their
wasteful displays that serve no other function but to spread their
seed to as many peahens as possible, along with their low parental
investment. They would have been the perfect companions for Ghenghis
Khan. It is thought that 1/6 of all people are his descendants. Kudos

Analogously, it has been a common belief for years that men with
flashy cars attract women.

But is this really true?

A new study conducted by Jill Sundie and colleagues published in the
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology confirms this phenomenon
with a resounding "YES".

Spending money on extra expensive goods is called conspicuous
consumption. Usually these take form in sports cars, designer
clothing and shoes, among other things that scream bling.

Men that are conspicuous spenders (think Porsche) that readily
display their wealth tend to

-look for short term sexual relationships or one night stands
-attract far more females than more frugal men (think Toyota Corolla
or Honda Civic)
-spend lots of money in hopes of romantic flings

However, females CAN and DO see through wasteful spending and showy
displays.

Females will only prefer the conspicuous spenders if they are also
looking for short term relationships. Excessive spending signals to
females that the males are looking for fun, and would probably be
more interesting on a date.

Excessive spending DID NOT give men an advantage if they were
looking for a long term mate:

Guys...if you are interested in a long term relationship but like to
show off your wealth...your message is probably being lost in
translation.

Women are more likely to go for the frugal spender if they are
looking for something more long term. Flashy cars and expensive
clothes won't get men anywhere if females are looking for someone who
is loyal, can invest in a family, and would be a good father to their
offspring. Marriage material.

Females can be conspicuous spenders too...but it's not because they
are intending to attract a mate.

Profile Pictures Influence Response

2011-07-02T18:04:00.001-07:00

Why it may be time to update your profile picture...

When it comes to what people find sexually attractive, men are from mars and women really are from venus.

I bet you've heard that confidence is the number one thing people find attractive- recent research suggests you've heard wrong.

In a study just released by Jessica Tracy and Alec Beall, they explore what displayed emotions attract the most members of the opposite sex.

They found that men are attracted to women that smile and appear happy.

You probably already know this by experience, as a smile from a woman usually acts as an invitation to conversation, as well as showing their nurturing, non-dominant selves.

Women who displayed pride or shame, however, were rated lower in attractiveness. Standing up straight, chest puffed out, chin up-all sure signs of confidence-men were not impressed with.

And now, men.

Women love confident men.

Women were found to be significantly more sexually attracted to pride and shame than they were of happiness. It has been speculated that smiling in men is a sign of femininity.

So does this mean..

If you're a man you should stop smiling at women and immediately begin exerting signs of pride and dominance everywhere you go?

If you're a woman should you simmer down the confidence and start smiling more?

Not necessarily. When couples are engaged in a conversation or activity together, we see them actively smiling at each other, equally having a good time.

This study is pointing out the sexual attraction we have to strangers initially, with only potential generalization to our romantic partners.

Men:

You don't want to come off as shallow or pompous, but maintaining a mysterious persona at first may work to your advantage when attracting strangers. Then knock them dead with your killer sense of humor-women are three times as likely to give out their numbers to funny men.

Women:

While smiling at random has been shown to elevate moods, you don't want to give off the impression of being fake, deceitful, or unreal. It is fairly easy to detect the difference between a genuine smile and a forced smile. A genuine smile is called the Duchenne smile-when the muscles in your face pull the cheeks up and wrinkle around the eyes. Smiling is not only an expression of happiness, it could also be a sign of embarrasment or deceit. Smile when you mean it- everyone appreciates a real smile. In social interactions, a smile is rewarding.

For both men and women, learning to read body language can pay off bigger than you could imagine...or maybe just what you imagine.

Covert Hypnosis for Influencing Human Behavior

2011-06-24T10:50:00.001-07:00

The new book Covert Hypnosis 2020 is just out and it turned out brilliantly. Do check it out. Recommended...

2009 New Years Resolution - Better Influence Your Sales

2009-01-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

2009 New Years Resolution - Better Influence Your Sales

by Kevin Hogan, PsyD
Reading Body Language Expert

As part of your New Years resolutions for 2009, did you write down, "I want to sell more." or Did you include, "I want to learn How to Increase My Sales This Year." Read on. Applying this powerful information about rapid influence will help your selling this year.

When the seminar attendee asks me about just how much nonverbal communication plays into their daily life, and they cite what they have done today up until that moment. Here is how I analyze each of their opportunities to influence and persuade people. How will your learning this and leveraging this powerful influence information increase your sales this year?

I'll take the list one at a time so you can think about how to apply this for social influence in your business and professional life. Write this down and then write 5 ways you would use that in your life. Do this now.

Ok, first of all, You Woke Up.

1. You woke up – When the alarm went off, maybe you grimaced, give a heavy and dejected sigh, sat up with your shoulders slumped and your head hanging down. Does that sound about right?

Self-Influence

All of those non-verbal behaviors influenced your own attitude and feelings about waking up.

Others Influence

If there was another person in the room, her (or his) perception of your non-verbal behaviors influenced her impression of you, her expectations for interacting with you, and her own attitude toward waking up and getting out of bed.

How is what you are doing and communicating with your non-verbal behavior impacting your own attitude and beliefs?

How is what you are doing impacting those around you? Your sales team? Your sales staff? Your Inside Sales Representatives? Your customers? Your prospects?

To learn more about how you can beat the competition, learn how to make sales and how to increase your sales influence this year, even in a down economy, click here to learn more about:

Influence BootCamp 2009

Mastering Influencing Human Behavior to Increase Your Sales

2008-12-26T16:14:00.000-08:00

Mastering Influencing Human Behavior to Increase Your Sales

by Kevin Hogan
Internationally Best Selling Author of Psychology of Persuasion, Irresistible Attraction, The Science of Influence, Covert Persuasion, well, and a lot more over at Amazon.com

If you communicate to earn a living you obviously must master nonverbal communication.

When I'm interviewed by media as well as at the numerous live events where I am an international business motivational speaker sometimes I will encounter people during my events, like Influence BootCamp in Las Vegas March 2009, who doubt the influence and persuasion power and impact of nonverbal communication. That or they simply don’t believe it is such an important part of their daily lives and its impact for their success.

They will usually agree it is important when giving formal presentations in business and job interviews and the like. But when it comes to their daily activities it is something that’s just there in the background. Often these people attend the influence seminar because their boss is making them go, or they feel they have to attend as part of their career development plan.

In other words, they are physically present but not necessarily mentally or emotionally engaged in the process.

When I meet someone who holds this opinion I like to go through a quick but powerful exercise.

I ask the person, "Please list at least five things you have done that day, and I promise to show you how nonverbal communication influenced and affected each activity." When they tell me their activities, I write each activity on a separate piece of flip chart paper, leaving plenty of room on the paper for later on in the exercise.

Here’s a typical list from a nonverbal communication skeptic:

1. I woke up

2. I ate breakfast

3. I drove to the post office

4. I stopped to pick up coffee

5. I came to this nonverbal communications business skills seminar

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you where the powerful persuasion is in each.

For more articles right now on Persuasion, Influence, and How to Increase Your Sales, go now to:

www.KevinHogan.com

What Women Find Attractive in Men

2008-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

What Women Find Attractive in Men - Influencing Human Behavior

By Kevin Hogan
author of internationally best selling Irresistible Attraction

You're a guy. You're asking yourself, How to Attract Beautiful Women and How to Attract Gorgeous Girls.

What women find attractive in men, it's not what you were probably thinking. Yeah, that, too.

Research shows that females are far more attracted to males with other females scent on them.

Notice that it is not the scent of perfume or after shave which obviously covers scent, but the actual scent of another female.

It appears that evolution has supplied females a yardstick with which to measure males.

When it comes to influencing human behavior and the art and psychology of persuasion, scientific research shows Females have olfactory sensitivity about ten times that of males, in terms of sexuality and pheromones. Pretty interesting stuff, huh?

Still looking for a date for New Years Eve? How will you leverage that for your dating life? In your relationships? To attract women?

Evolution determines that females instinctively seek a fertile partner with good genes…ie….by virtue of another woman’s scent, the male has been already been 'tested and approved'.

And ALL of this happens at the nonconscious level.

Talk about secrets off influence…

(I bet that got your attention, true?)

For LOADS more fr+ee articles on Influencing Human Behavior, How to Increase Sales, and Persuasion go here to >> www.KevinHogan.com

Practical applications for Influencing Human Behavior

2008-11-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

Practical applications for Influencing Human Behavior

By Kevin Hogan

For rapid influence and social influence, leveraging non-verbal communication is some of the most effective tools at your disposal.

What are some of the practical application for persuasion and influencing human behavior?

So what does this all really mean? What are the practical applications of nonverbal communication? The practical applications are nearly limitless. Interestingly enough quite often non verbal communication is used subconsciously rather than deliberately. Some people are just ‘naturals’ when it comes to the effective use of non-verbal communication in everyday life, while others struggle with how to learn it and use it well.

Here are some common examples for you of when and where non-verbal communication applies to the real world context:

This list could go on and on and on! The reality is that non-verbal communication is part of everything you do every day. Your personal nonverbal communication influences everyone around you…and they, you.

There is no way to avoid it – and why would you want to? Body language is one of the most powerful components of the communication process, and you have the choice of how you use it. You can leave it to your subconscious or actively learn to apply it.

Choose the more active path of learning because that holds the greatest potential for making all aspects of your life richer, more interesting, more productive, and more effective.

Office
Selling
Negotiations
Job interviews
Persuasive discussions
Client/vendor interactions
Walking through the grocery store
Meetings
Politics
Hiring
Intimacy
Friendship
Parenting
Working with animals
Business meetings
Real estate showings
Meal time
Running errands
Parent teacher conferences
Shopping
Group leadership
Sports activities
Vacation planning

Click here for the complete home study course in Influence and Persuasion, The Science of Influence.

Influencing Human Behavior with Regulating

2008-11-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

Influencing Human Behavior with Regulating

by Kevin Hogan

Are you leveraging the non-verbal communication skill of Regulating to win and get more sales, or even double your sales? gain more customers? or even get more dates and double your dating?

You're probably wondering, "Kevin, what is Regulating in influence and persuasion settings?"

Thank you. Glad you asked.

Regulating – Within the non-verbal influence and persuasion category contains are all the non verbal behaviors you use to regulate or pace the communication of your desired persuasion message. You might leverage regulating to influence and persuade subtly when you are ready to move from one topic to another topic. You might also use to for transitioning smoothly to another person’s chance to speak in your influence scenario.

Regulating behaviors help to moderate and control the communication between and among multiple people. How do you see yourself using Regulating to increase your sales and gain more rapid social influence and business influence?

For instance, when you lead the roundtable segment of a team meeting - definitely an influence and persuasion context - you might communicate your influence non-verbally when you nod, turn, and gesture to the next person at the table when it is his or her turn to speak.

Some people are not very good at regulating their behaviors. Instead, they interrupt before another person is finished speaking, or they talk constantly without allowing input from others. When they are on your team, how can you influence and persuade them more effectively to include others?

Click here now for the Complete Science of Influence HomeStudy Influence and Persuasion Mastery Program

Influencing Human Behavior with Moderating

2008-11-01T23:56:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior with Moderating

By Kevin Hogan

When you are seeking to influence human behavior, whether professionally or personally, you are likely using moderating in you daily lives.

Regulating – This category contains non-verbal behaviors that regulate or pace the communication of a message. It might be used to indicate when you are ready to move from one topic to another topic, or to transition smoothly to another person’s chance to speak. Regulating behaviors help to moderate and control the communication between and among multiple people.

For instance, if you are leading the roundtable segment of a team meeting you might nod, turn, and gesture to the next person at the table when it is his or her turn to speak. Some people are not very good at regulating behaviors; they interrupt before another person is finished speaking, or they talk constantly without allowing input from others.

How could you becoming more adept at moderating yourself increase sales? Possibly double your sales this year? Could you see how this increases you to rapid influence?

What are some of the practical applications of persuasion and influence?

And what does this all really mean? The practical applications are nearly limitless, and quite often they are used subconsciously rather than deliberately. Some people are just ‘naturals’ when it comes to the effective use of non-verbal influence and persuasion in everyday life, while others struggle with how to learn it and use it well.

Common examples of when and where non-verbal communication applies to the real world include the following setting:

Office

Sales and Selling

Business meetings

Real estate showings

Job interviews

Hiring

All Kinds of Negotiations

Trials and the Courtroom

Persuasive discussions

Client/vendor interactions

Walking through the grocery store

Politics

Intimacy

Friendship

Parenting

Working with animals

Meal time

Running errands

Parent teacher conferences

Shopping

Group, Club, Association leadership

Meetings

Sports activities

Vacation planning

As you might already be thinking, yes, this list could go on and on and on! The reality is that non-verbal communication influences parts of everything you do every day. You really are potentially persuading all throughout your day. Your personal nonverbal communication influences everyone around you…and they, you. Intriguing, isn't it?

MODERATING and ACCENTING in Influencing Human Behavior

2008-10-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

MODERATING and ACCENTING in Influencing Human Behavior

By Kevin Hogan
Best Selling Author of The Psychology of Persuasion

What role do Moderating and Accenting play in your daily interaction for influencing human behavior? Whether you are seeking to double your sales, gain rapid sales or rapid influence, leveraging Moderating and Accenting in your influence and persuasion toolkit can have a significant impact. To gain greater influence and persuasion prowess, you seek to accentuate your influence message with the persuasion technique of ACCENTING. Or when you want to soften and influence with a spoonful of sugar, alternately you use MODERATING.

Let me give you some examples.

At work....

ACCENTING
When you're at work and you are ticked off, frankly you're angry with a co-worker, you might find you are accenting your angry communicating message with you're adding a pointing gesture, a shake of your head and even a deep frown. Your doing this communicates to your colleague that you are angry and they now know you are quite serious about your anger, and want them to get the message very clearly.

another work scenario....

MODERATING

If you are correcting a minor mistake made by an employee, however, you might moderate the message with a palm up gesture, a reassuring smile, or a pat on the shoulder for encouragement. This lets the other person know you are serious about wanting the mistake corrected. However, your using MODERATING also softens the bite of your words with your influencing human behavior message a bit. Then he or she understands it’s not the end of the world. They are not in fight or flight mode about to lose their job. This was just a mistake and a learning experience.

For the complete Science of Influence Influence and Persuasion Mastery Home Study Course

Power for Influencing Human Behavior .... What % is Non Verbal?

2008-10-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

Power for Influencing Human Behavior .... What % is Non Verbal?

by Kevin Hogan

Author of The Science of Influence

Let me clear something up. As an influence and persuasion expert, I hear people all the time dropping percentages estimating just how much of the influence equation non verbal communication plays. Interestingly enough, it is actually difficult to underestimate the power and impact of non verbal communication. Those who pretend to be experts will often throw about such figures as 75%.. 85%.. even as much as 90% when they try to define how much of a message is communicated non-verbally rather than verbally.

How much DOES Non Verbal Communication Play?

To tell you the truth, it actually differs from context to context and individual to individual. There is no one set or preset number, nor is there even an “average.” The bottom line? The power of even the very best verbal communication pales in comparison to the significance of your non-verbal communication.

More on influence, persuasion, and non-verbal communication to come....

Substituting in Influencing Human Behavior

2008-10-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

Substituting in Influencing Human Behavior

By Kevin Hogan

Internationally best-selling author of The Psychology of Persuasion

Students of Influence and Persuasion, who are influencing human behavior, whether it is rapid social influence or business and sales influence would do well to consider their non-verbal communication and learn how they can subtly influence. Indeed, when your influence is more covert, it can have a tremendous impact, in your relationships and in increasing sales, even double your sales.

Consider the Non-Verbal communication category of Substituting. This is when you specifically do not want to use verbal communication. You want to avoid putting your message into words. But how then do you influence and persuade? With your non-verbal signals and communication. Sometime the words you would want to utter are just too hard or harsh to say aloud, or saying them could potentially create a conflict or confrontation. In this kind of situation, your substituting non-verbal behavior to communicate instead of the words can convey the message in a way that is acceptable, palatable, and more comfortable.

Remember when you ran into a chatty acquaintance in the grocery store? Someone who starts talking... and then keeps talking? What do you do? Typically, you first seek to extract yourself from the conversation leveraging the social influence of non-verbal communication - your body.

You could start by glancing away from the other person. Did that work? Was that sufficient to influence them and achieve your desired result? No? Then perhaps you turn your body away a bit combined with taking a step or two away. If the other person does not receive your message, then you will probably have to resort to saying “I have to go now” or something similar. However, for social influence and influencing human behavior, you would have preferred not to have had to do that.. You would rather substitute non-verbal communication to end the conversation and refrain from appearing overtly rude.

How will you leverage that to increase your sales?
How will you use that for rapid influence in person?
How can you use Substituting to double your sales?

For the Complete Science of Influence Library Home Study Influence and Persuasion Mastery Course

Influencing Human Behavior - How to avoid taking out the trash

2008-10-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior - How to avoid taking out the trash

By Kevin Hogan

You're laughing already, aren't you? Remember when you were a kid? And your chore included having to take the trash out? And you didn't want to... So what did you do?

"Mom! I have a tummy ache!"

That's a pretty clever influence technique.

And what was her response?

"Sure Kevin...."

What is that called in influence and persuasion terms?

That is the category of Conflicting. Conflicting is one of the biggest and really varied categories within non-verbal comm behavior. When you tell your friend the cake she baked, "It's delicious, honey," (verbal), but your eyes actually darted away (non-verbal). You were just demonstrating conflicting.

Conflicting body language is a bright, flashing indicator when you lie, feel nervous, disagree, or otherwise feel trapped or ambivalent about something. When verbal and non-verbal elements are in conflict, the person receiving the communication will usually give more credibility to the non-verbal behavior.

Now here is how mom KNOWs. Here is how she will detect deception in influence and persuasion. We will interpret conflicting information based in part on how easy or hard it is to fake the particular non-verbal behavior. So when the child says she has that tummy ache. Her mom? She knows. She knows already that the actual body language of a tummy ache is pretty difficult “fake.” She's going to show pale color, clammy skin, and perhaps a fever or general discomfort for an extended period of time. So while most parents will be skeptical from the start, "Mom...", they will start to believe her when it becomes clear her non-verbal behaviors are real based on her genunine body language of stomachache symptoms. And that influence is rapid.

For The Complete Home Study Science of Influence Program

Influencing Human Behavior - Tap their Unconscious Mind

2008-10-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior - Tap their Unconscious Mind

by Kevin Hogan
Internationally best selling author of "The Psychology of Persuasion"

When you are looking to most strongly influence human behavior and persuade others, whethe you are doing so in business, to increase sales, or double your sales, you will want to learn more about tapping their unconscious mind.

Interestingly enough, the real "Secret" in business language and influence is actually about influencing the NONconscious mind…behavior…

That said, it’s mighty important to influence the thinking brain too.

As you read this blog and my numerous articles on influence and persuasion, always be aware of these two crucial distinctions.

People’s thoughts and behaviors aren’t related anywhere near as often as you’d like to believe.

As a rule, in fact, the conscious mind is more influenced by words and the nonconscious mind is influenced more by EVERYTHING ELSE (nonverbal communication, including body language).

To learn more about the nonconscious mind and the illusion of conscious will there is a lengthy discussion at www.kevinhogan.com/nonconsciousmind.htm
And here is the full library of The Science of Influence, the complete home study program

Influencing Human Behavior - What're you STARING at?

2008-10-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior - What're you STARING at?

By Kevin Hogan
Internationally best-selling author of The Psychology of Persuasion

When you are a student of influence and persuasion, perhaps a sales person seeking to make more sales this year or even double your sales, you are often looking for ways to create rapid influence, for creative sales and influence techniques. When you “read” someone, you might see one thing. While in actuality the person is THINKING of something completely different.

However, when you study influence and persuasion with me, reading all of my articles and books, and practice, utilize, and implement all of that information to help you read the nonconscious mind and use the information as a way to predict nonconscious behavior and nonconscious decisions (those decisions which that happen super quickly and even without cognition) you will actually be well-equipped and do much better at “reading people,” and predicting their behavior.

Which will then lead you to being able to influence people with ease.

You’ll be able to know what they will do next more often than you might guess.
But will you know actually what they are “thinking” at the level of conscious thought?

Predicting thinking is not the best use of accurate body language reading for influence and persuasion purposes.

Here's a quick example which we've all found ourselves in.

Have you ever found yourself staring at someone, then after a minute you “catch yourself” and wonder WHY you are staring? Haven't we all?

They aren’t attractive, you aren’t remotely interested in them.

But there you are... burning a hole through them. You almost have to shake your head and blink a few times to STOP staring at them? (Staring, not the best influence and persuasion method and technique to increase your sales and double your sales.)

In fact if the context for your influence and persuasion is Business, you can get in big trouble for such behavior. Not too cool, huh?

But try telling the woman that it was only your nonconscious mind was at work and that really you didn’t mean anything by it.

And of course, in this case, that really is the truth!

Influence and Persuasion Methods - Why We Stare At Them

It could have been that your nonconscious mind was staring at her because it perceived her as a threat, or maybe it was because the woman looked like someone else who had some connection with you (typically emotional and not good) in the past. And you're not even necessarily remembering exactly.

You can’t be certain as to “why” the nonconscious mind directs the body to do something. As a student developing your social, business, and sales influence and persuasion mastery, you can only observe the result.

>>>For The Complete Science of Influence Home Study Course

Influencing Human Behavior - Touch Their Unconscious Mind

2008-10-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior - Touch Their Unconscious Mind

By Kevin Hogan,

Internationally best-selling author of The Psychology of Persuasion

Because people’s actual body movements are typically controlled by the nonconscious mind, the person you're watching may not only not be aware of the message they are sending, they may not even cognitively agree with it! Decoding and interpreting body language, learning reading body language is a sales mastery skill set which will help you to increase your sales and potentially double your sales. Your touching their unconscious minds will improve your sales persuasion technique.

One of the reasons there is so much trouble in communication in general is because people live on auto-pilot. Truly, we utilize our “conscious will,” very little.

If we had to use conscious thought for everything we do...

We’d never get anything done...

and

We’d all die in a car accident in the next week!

At the nonconscious level (the part of us that for better and worse “does” but "doesn’t think”) the brain sends impulses for the body to

move

be still

look

engage

confront

hide

you name it

…and all of this happens before the thinking (cortical) part of the brain has clicked in and knows what the body is doing.

Words come out of your mouth...

and before you know it, yup, you said something you didn’t mean (though you might have “felt” what you said…)

Sometimes the thinking brain is in alignment with the nonconscious mind…and sometimes the two cause very different behaviors to happen.

In fact, a growing body of research reveals that there is no significant correlation between the personality and behaviors of the nonconsicous mind, and the personality and behaviors of the conscious mind.

Pretty interesting, huh?

Click here now for>> The Complete Science of Influence Home Study Program

Influencing Human Behavior with Non Verbals

2008-10-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior with Non Verbals

By Kevin Hogan
Influence and Persuasion Master
Internationally best-selling author of The Psychology of Persuasion

Non-verbal vs. Verbal Communication

Do you want to make more money? Increase your sales influence, your social influence, achieve rapid influence? Mastering your non-verbal communications can help you to achieve that.

The definitions of non-verbal and verbal communication are of course argued from time to time as researchers gather more information and try to form the most precise descriptions possible.

Non-verbal communication:
The process of sending and receiving messages without using words. Examples include body language, facial expression, gesture, movement, touch, distance, eye contact, etc.

Verbal communication:
The process of sending and receiving messages using words. Examples include spoken words, written words, and sign language.

Wait a minute. Verbal communication includes the words you write down on a piece of paper? You probably learned somewhere along the line that verbal communication is only the spoken word, but the strict interpretation of verbal communication focuses on words in general – spoken, written, and signed.

Experts sometimes disagree about how to classify communication such as sign language and tone of voice as well. Sign language uses gestures, which is non-verbal, but those gestures are actually words, which is verbal. Tone of voice is a spoken sound, which is verbal, but it is not a word so it is non-verbal.

It’s easy to see how and why there are so many different interpretations, definitions, and nuances when it comes to discussing non-verbal and verbal communication. I’ll leave it to the academic and scientific experts to figure out the finer points, and move on to the more practical aspects of body language and social influence.

Click here now for>>Dr. Kevin Hogan's Complete Science of Influence Home Study Course

Influencing Human Behavior

2008-10-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior in Your Everyday Life

By Kevin Hogan

Interactions with your family, friends, co workers, and even total strangers are affected by your body language. So, how can you use those to better influence human behavior and better peruade others?

Perhaps you want to double your sales or you want to sell more this year and increase your sales persuasion ability.
Or perhaps you simply want to have more rapid influence and more rapidly persuade in a social influence situation with your wife, your husband, or your children. Or maybe just persuade and positively influence your boss that you are a great employee.

What are some of the daily influence and persuasion scenarios in your life? Think of those now and picture them in your mind. OK, now write those down, list them.

Your day starts. You are sitting at the breakfast table. If you are slumped over, that communicates to your spouse and children that you are not in the best mood and that they should tread carefully.

You've left the house or apartment. Now on the subway, if you sit with an open body position the other passengers are much more likely to make eye contact, smile, and perhaps strike up a conversation with you. Yes, even in New York on the Metro. But if you're scowling, fohgetaboutit.

Are you wanting be a better influencer and persuader? Double your sales? Yes?

Click here now for >>>>> The Complete Science of Influence Home Study CD Course

Influencing Human Behavior in Every Day Life

2008-10-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior in Every Day Life

When it comes to everyday life, it’s impossible to list all of the practical applications of body language and non verbal behaviors and how you can leverage persuasion and influence. From the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed in the evening, your body language communicates clearly and sends powerful messages about you. How will you use this for influencing human behavior and persuading others in your life?

For instance, did you know that your own body language as you stand in front of the mirror getting dressed has a strong influence and impact on your own attitude and perceptions of yourself? This is not just happy affirmations. Put on a smile and you can help get rid of a negative attitude; stand up straight and look confidently ahead and you can help get rid of nervousness and fear.

How will using that help you with social influence? rapid influence? Do you think you can double your sales and increase your sales leveraging that daily? This is a power sales and influence technique. Use it.

Leverage FAMILIARITY to Influence Human Behavior

2008-10-03T00:27:00.000-07:00

Leverage FAMILIARITY to Influence Human Behavior
by Kevin Hogan
Internationally best selling author of The Psychology of Persuasion

When corporations like Masarati hire me for Sales Training for them, one of the topics I speak on is Proxemics. One important attribute to consider is Familiarity. Creating familiarity can help you to increase and even double your sales and create rapid influence, fostering your social influence - whether in business or personal relationships.

Familiarity
The perception of familiarity affects how you interact with people and the environment and is based on how new or different you perceive a situation to be.

For instancee, when you first meet a new person, you automatically go into a more formal, conservative body language mode. You don’t know the person yet so your non-verbal behavior signals something along the lines of ‘I need to learn more about you before I can relax’. This is both a protective device and communication of politeness. It is akin to requesting to use the person's first name when talking.

Think about the first time you drove a car, started a new job, tried a new sport, or the like. Remember what that felt like?

Your perception of familiarity was likely very low. Because of that, your body language likely reflected a great deal of caution and deliberation.

Now think back and remember those same things after you had done them for a few weeks.

Your perception of familiarity had grown. So, your non-verbal behaviors probably reflected less caution and more comfort, didn't it?

Retail stores know all about the perception of familiarity and make deliberate attempts to influence yours. Interesting, isn't it? And good for their sales revenue....

Large chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Shopko, etc., typically build almost all of their stores with the same or similar floor plan. Why? So no matter where you go, when you walk into one of their stores you will find it... familiar and ...comfortable. This helps entice you to make more purchases. Franchise businesses leverage this knowledge. You can, too.

The perception of familiarity affects how openly and honestly you will interact with others. In general, the more familiarity you perceive the more willing you are to allow your body language to relax. You walk more confidently, your tone of voice is calmer and stronger, and you can do whatever you came to do without exploring the environment first.

How can you leverage what you just learned about familiarity this week to increase your sales this quarter and get more second appointments and double your sales this year?

Influencing Human Behavior Tips from Influence and Persuasion Expert - Kevin Hogan

2008-10-01T23:26:00.001-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior Tips from Influence and Persuasion Expert - Kevin Hogan

Best selling author on Influence, Persuasion and Influencing Human Behavior, Kevin Hogan shares some Influence, Persuasion, and Selling tips that can help you to make more money, increase and even double your sales.

An idea which is commonly overlooked is...

The Necessity to Practice What You Are Learning

Most people learn better, and indeed sell more, when they interact with what they are learning. So, what does that mean for you as you are growing in your knowledge of sales, influence, and persuasion? You will want to share what you're learning with other people. In fact, when you do share your learning with others, this helps to cement your learning for you.

So, you'll want to talk about what you're learning with others. "Who" you ask. All those others can include a friend, your relatives, peers, or your work colleague. Ask about their own thoughts and perspectives on the various topics and get them to share their own experiences in the real world. Experimenting with real world application with colleagues, friends, and family can really help you to deepen and solidify your learning, don't you find?

Doing this is actuall a great way to spend lunch hour, a coffee break, or to get things going at happy hour after work. What's the secret in doing that? When you do so, not only will it cement your own learning and application, you'll get the added learning benefit of their perspective and experience which will enrichn the take away for both you, right?

Influencing Human Behavior and How PASSION Emerges

2008-09-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior and How PASSION Emerges

by Kevin Hogan

How Does Passion Emerge?
These are the other things we become passionate about...if they are ever created in the first place. For most people, they never are...because people "looked" where they needed to be creating and building.

Most often Fresh passion develops when you are creating. And can it ever be POWERFUL. While you are creating - whether it is building a house, writing a book, painting, making something that wasn't before. A new business. Even a new job that has things that you like to do.
But more often passion is about creating and then being proud of that creation, defending that creation, seeing it as an improvement on other similar things to it "out there."

It is here that the burning desire is lit. You fan the flames when you have invested yourself into the process of creation or growing or building and soon it becomes *part of your identity.* Part of your new identity.

Then "it" is a "front page item" in your life.

Once lit, the burning desire will do just that. It burns. It burns hot. There is no self motivational affirmation that will make it grow hotter...or cool it down.

Does the woman who is "pro life" need affirmations to increase her passion about her belief? Her identity? What about the woman who is "pro-choice"? Does she need daily affirmations to improve her passion about her belief? Her identity?

Passion comes from identity and identity, with rare exception, is generated in one of the four ways mentioned earlier.

For the person who aspires to some level of greatness or achievement, passion is what makes the car go....what makes the body move.

How can you use these ideas for influencing human behaviour for

rapid influence
sales influence
sales persuasion
how to double your sales
how to increase sales
persuasion technique

Click here now for Kevin Hogan's Science of Influence CD Home Study Program

sales persuasion

Influencing Human Behavior - Love is a Motivational Addiction

2008-09-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior - Love is a Motivational Addiction

by Kevin Hogan
internationally best-selling author of The Psychology of Persuasion

Love is a Motivational Addiction (so says our brain)

When we are seeking to influence and persuade others, especially in the spheres of sexual arousal and sexual romantic love, what moves and motivate us?

Aron reported that, using (fMRI) and other measurements, he and his colleagues found support for their two major predictions: (1) early stage, intense romantic love is associated with subcortical reward regions rich with dopamine; and (2) romantic love engages brain systems associated with motivation to acquire a reward.

Brown explains some of these findings, commenting that "when our participants looked at a photo of his/her beloved, specific activation occurred in the right ventral tegmental area (VTA) and dorsal caudate body. These regions were significant compared to two control conditions, providing strong evidence that these brain areas, which are associated with the motivation to win rewards, are central to the experience of being in love."

In plain English that simply means that "being in love," is roughly identical to the motivation to achieve/acquire reward. (Addiction/motivation.)

Remember when Robert Palmer sang, "Might as well face it, you're addicted to love..." ...was he right?

Influencing Human Behavior with Passion!

2008-09-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior with Passion!

By Kevin Hogan
Internationally best-selling author of The Psychology of Persuasion

Passion and Competition
Sometimes passion comes from competition. Humans are by nature competitive. We compete in different ways.

We compete physically, intellectually, with force, etc. We compete with ourselves. Let's look at competition and how it relates to and helps us understand passion.

Passion and Your Genes
Your genes are preprogrammed to try and keep you alive. They are preprogrammed to replicate.

Those two things tell you much of what you need to know about the core of human behavior.
Survive and replicate. Almost everyone has a passion to survive and participate in acts of replication...so to speak. (Those who don't take themselves out of the gene pool quite quickly, as well as their potential future progeny.)
Passion.

Quick. Think of the word, passion. What immediately comes to mind? What did you picture? First thing that comes to my mind is *sex,* thank god....but there are other things... like what?

Influence - Stalking? The Seduction to Love?

2008-09-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

Influence - Stalking? The Seduction to Love?
by Kevin Hogan
The Doctor of Persuasion

What is Love?

And if that isn't hard enough to answer, what is seduction?

Is it OK to experience - and then the toughest of all...
Is stalking a bad thing...or is it a good thing?

I was tempted to talk about how everyday citizens of the United States were now being obligated to bail out bankers in addition to bond holders of mortgage companies....but it made me ill thinking about it....

So I figured I'd "break the state of madness" completely... with some of the most controversial and complex questions facing a politically correct society in 2008.

There are a few interesting things people like to talk about when they interview me. Body language, influence and persuasion, attraction, sexuality and love.

Now that last one is interesting, isn't it?

Most people mistake "love" for an emotion, much like say "fear" or "anger."

But of course, it's nothing of the kind.

Love is a MOTIVATION, not an EMOTION.

There are seven basic and fundamental emotions.

They include:
Joy
Contentment
Anger
Fear
Surprise
Sadness
Contempt

Love is nowhere to be found.

Pause and think about that for a second.

Love, like "happiness," has definitions that are all up for grabs.

Emotions are clear cut.

I feel "fear" and YOU KNOW what that means.
I feel "sadness" and you KNOW what that means.

I say "love" or "happy"- and you really don't have a clue what I'm feeling...

Interesting, isn't it?

Influence and Persuasion - How to Achieve, by Kevin Hogan

2008-09-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

Influence and Persuasion - How to Achieve, by Kevin Hogan
by Kevin Hogan
Internationally Best Selling Author of The Psychology of Persuasion

Click here now to subscribe to ezine, Coffee with Kevin Hogan>>>Subscribe to Kevin Hogan's Coffee Ezine

The Achievement Factors - Part Two
Factor 5: Mastering Criticism

Achievement.

Let's see.

A gal goes to borrow money to build a bank.
Loans money to people who can't afford it.
Some default. Worried? Fear not..."the government" (please read, taxpayers down the block) pays her when they default.

She's fine.
She makes money.
Some of your customers pay their mortgage on time.
She makes money.

Now THAT is a smart woman. Why would anyone start any other kind of business?!

But let's pretend that YOU don't qualify to get a loan to build a bank! What then?

Ah well..."The Secret" works for bankers but not you and me....we are back to The Achievement Factors!

Last week, we started with Self Discipline. We could have started anywhere. But it makes sense to start with the core factor of self discipline. Let's recap: Self discipline is not an attitude or a feeling. It is a discipline. It is DO-UNTIL.

Self Discipline is what makes great people great.

Then we talked about Overconfidence and the need for it's eradication.

Why?

<--Under Confidence--Confidence--Certainty--Over Confidence--Arrogance-->

All of the research shows that under-confident people simply can't achieve. Where there is no belief in the self or it is very small, self discipline never has an opportunity to engage.

On the other side of the continuum, The Over-Confident person OFTEN achieves for a brief period, but then falls and falls hard.

Self Confidence is highly correlated with financial and relationship success.

Overconfidence and arrogance are highly correlated with success and then failure.

Now on to today...

...I'm just like you. I don't like criticism (even "constructive criticism"), and I don't like rejection (even constructive rejection....oh yeah...there is no constructive rejection).

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Influencing Human Behavior - Double Your Sales

2008-09-19T13:15:00.001-07:00

Influencing Human Behavior - Double Your Sales

By Kevin Hogan, Influence and Persuasion, and Reading Body Language Expert

Question: Any light you could spread on this from the sales psychology point of view on our "Guarantee" would be greatly appreciated.

We sell a high-end product ($1300 to $7255) in the alternative health care field, with a risk reversal I've named "Six Month Stop Loss Guarantee."

The client has six months from the date of purchase to use our equipment in their home. If they're happy great. If not, they can return and pay only a rental fee for the six month period. The rental fee is NOT prorated, and is the same whether they return in 30 days or 179 days.
We average between 8-12% returns with this program. However, lately I've seen a significant percentage of the returns coming back on the (very) short end of the six-month trial period - usually in 30-45 days. The terms of the return program are listed on the invoice, and it states that the rental fee is not prorated.

Which leads to my question:
Why would anyone chose to return the product in only 30-45 days versus giving it the full six months test?

What's the psychology behind that?

If I can better understand the client's psychology, I might be able to tweak the program to produce better results (for everyone). Thanks in advance, Kevin, for any insights you might be able to provide.

Answer: The better question is why aren't they returning it in 28 days so they don't have to pay ANY rental fee. I think your experience is interesting. It leads me to believe that the subject of "rental fee" is hammered on in the sales presentation. Because people are putting the equipment aside, not using it, then they are looking at the date they marked on their calendar and thinking, "man I gotta get that back to them." And then they ship. It would have been NO CHARGE had they shipped the prior week. But of course, people will be primed, subliminally primed and triggered vs. do something logical.

I can't imagine anyone waiting to day 175, laughing and sending it back for the refund.

I don't like guarantees because they breed less than loyal customers. I don't like the phrase "alternative health care" because it is really "complementary health care," or it *should be.*
10% return says about half the people never used the product more than a few days and weren't satisfied or unsatisfied. 10% is a pretty monstrous hassle factor and would drive me nuts on every level of my being.

Test no guarantee and no rental fee.

Influence and Persuasion Questions ANSWERED!

2008-09-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Influence and Persuasion Questions ANSWERED!

By Dr. Kevin Hogan, best selling author of The Psychology of Persuasion

Question: I got an email saying that you were doing a teleseminar with Bill Harris of Centerpointe. I don't know if you are aware of this but he was in "The Secret". Don't you find it a conflict to do a teleseminar with someone who was in "The Secret"? Have you moderated your thinking in any way on this subject?

Answer: Bill has been vocal against the "theme" of "The Secret" since the movie was released. He's been...respectful...of the people in the movie, but I haven't seen him out there stating any Secretology. He's a good guy, a good business man and someone you can learn a lot from. And, he's worked hard to get where he's at.

Influencing & Persuading Others - Country Context Matters, Japan

2008-09-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Influencing & Persuading Others - Country Context Matters, Japan

by Dr. Kevin Hogan
The Doctor of Persuasion

Just a quick additional bonus item for you who were reading my last post about Influencing and Persuading Other - Country Context Matter. Least you think this is just about USA vs. EU cultural differences, here's an excerpt from my article on Influence and Persuasion - Japanese vs American (for the full article just click here now: Reading Body Language - Japanese vs American).

Influencing and persuading is very different for many Japanese than it is for Americans.

The Determining Factor for Interpreting Facial Emotions
Research has uncovered that culture is a determining factor when interpreting facial emotions. The study reveals that in cultures where emotional control is the standard, such as Japan, focus is placed on the eyes to interpret emotions.

This is in sharp contract to cultures where emotion is openly expressed, such as the United States, the focus is on the mouth to interpret emotion.

You can start to see how influence and persuasion then would be different and read differently between just these two cultures, can't you?

Across two studies, using computerized icons and human images, the researchers compared how Japanese and American cultures interpreted images, which conveyed a range of emotions.

Basic Emotions Universally Recognized?
"These findings go against the popular theory that the facial expressions of basic emotions can be universally recognized," said University of Alberta researcher Dr. Takahiko Masuda.

The study in fact demonstrated, "A person's culture plays a very strong role in determining how they will perceive emotions and needs to be considered when interpreting facial expression"

These cultural differences are even noticeable in computer emoticons, which are used to convey a writer's emotions over email and text messaging. Consistent with the research findings, the Japanese emoticons for happiness and sadness vary in terms of how the eyes are depicted, while American emoticons vary with the direction of the mouth.

In the United States the emoticons : ) and : - ) denote a happy face, whereas the emoticons :( or : - ( denote a sad face. However, Japanese tend to use the symbol (^_^) to indicate a happy face, and (;_;) to indicate a sad face.

When participants were asked to rate the perceived levels of happiness or sadness expressed through the different computer emoticons, the researchers found that the Japanese still looked to the eyes of the emoticons to determine its emotion.

"We think it is quite interesting and appropriate that a culture that tends to masks its emotions, such as Japan, would focus on a person's eyes when determining emotion, as eyes tend to be quite subtle," said Masuda. "In the United States, where overt emotion is quite common, it makes sense to focus on the mouth, which is the most expressive feature on a person's face."

Influencing & Persuading Others - Country Context Matters

2008-09-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Influencing & Persuading Others - Country Context Matters

by Kevin Hogan
The Doctor of Persuasion

When you are looking to influence and persuade others, in daily life, in fact, most people, do work with a diverse array of people from other countries and other cultures. You need to think about that. Whether it’s face to face in the work place or using modern technology to interact across the globe over the web and over new technology. This is an increasingly important area given our increasingly globalized world, so I'll be including blog posts here that address influencing and persuasing within the context of a variety of cultures - not just the USA.

In fact, when I was recently headed to the EU, contact at in Italty told me, “Kevin, when you come to Italy to give your presentation to the [private investment] bankers, don’t wear black like you did last time.”

So, being the kind of person I am, I asked, “Why not, Ronald?”

“Because it is boring.”

“What SHOULD I wear?”

“Anything BUT black.” You can almost HEAR him thinking, "Oh, that is SO American.... boring."

Great. And btw, he was serious.

A lot of Europeans take color pretty seriously.…

So, I wore bright blue. Why? Because of the country of my context and what THEY wanted and expected. What my audience whom I wanted to influence and persuade. It's about them, their expectations, and what they want. Folks in sales increasing sales and who are doubling their sales this year, they are always thinking about, "What does my CUSTOMER want and desire?"

But me? I'm still an American with my country and cultural context, so when I wore bright blue... I felt like a lighthouse.

Click here now for the latest from Kevin Hogan on>>>> Influence and Persuasion, increasing and doubling your sales this year

Influencing & Persuading Others

2008-09-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

On Influencing & Persuading Others

by Kevin Hogan
The Doctor of Persuasion

When it comes to your influencing and persuading others, who is responsible for your learning to do so?

One of the 7 key distinguishing factors of those who are successful and wealthy (just one form of measuring success, but one that a whole lot of people are pursuing...) Is they take responsibility for their own success. Here're a coupla examples.

Responsibility

Just the last month while I was in Las Vegas at the Venetian, I was playing blackjack. Well, the table was, unfortunately, "cold." The cards were favoring the house in a dramatic way. That's just the way it was. As so often happens, one of the other players got up. They yelled at the dealer as if the dealer had anything to do with the losing streak. And in a huff, they stomped away.

The fact is, the dealer, the cut, position at the table, NOTHING significantly effects the cards you are given beyond random chance. The cards are all face down. And even if someone makes a bad decision and "it costs you" money (ouch!), the fact is that - over one million hands - it makes no difference what the guy before or after you does. Now that's hard to swallow and what not what most of us is used to doing, because blaming someone takes the responsibility away from SELF.

Responsibility means that when you don't make money, you only have one place and person to accept responsibility (which is not blame by the way) and that is in your SELF. The sole initial cause of the person's demise was their willingness to sit down at the table in the first place. That could also be the initial cause of victory but the wealthy person accepts responsibility for success and failure. If you are in an influence and persuasion profession like sales or account management, how can that business approach of taking responsibility YOURSELF impact your career for increasing sales this quarter? How would you approach your pursuing sales training to grow yourself? Self improvement? How can you increase your social influence? Your rapid influence ability?

When someone says, "The pension fund went bankrupt", the initial cause of responsibility is not with the company that cheated the person out of their money or mismanaged it, but the individual's illusion that someone other than them SELF should be responsible for their life and livelihood. It's really simple math but people don't want to think about it.

You can't get paid money when there is no productivity to return for the money, or the "system" will go broke.

My fourth-grader can show anyone how this works but that's because I taught him that you need to have money in the account to take out. With pensions, it's not there and ultimately, not just an individual, but a generation will have been sold down the river....I've never heard a wealthy person talk about "collecting" social security or a pension. Wealthy people want or demand to be responsible, at cause, for their income, passive income, wealth and legacy.

Click here for the latest cutting edge training and self-study programs in >>>>Increase Your Influence and Persuasion Ability, Increase Sales.

In the Field of Influence and Persuasion, Knowing How the Gender of Your Audience Affects HOW you are Influencing

2008-09-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

In the Field of Influence and Persuasion, Knowing How the Gender of Your Audience Affects HOW you are Influencing

by Kevin Hogan

Ever since the publication of my internationally best-selling, Psychology of Persuasion, the media have regularly approached me to provide insights on reading body language, whether it is the women's body language of celebrities or politicians like Barak Obama, John McCain, or the new RNC VP Candidate, Governor Sarah Palin. This started with the BBC wanting me to decode the body language of President Bill Clinton when he denied having sex with Monica Lewinsky.

While they do want to know about men's body language, as in the case with President Clinton, often women's body language is often more interesting.

When your job and livelihood demands you be a person of influence with strong persuasion skills, it is imperative to stay current with the latest findings on influencing human behavior and persuading others.

Gender has an impact. No surprise there... but .....

Did you already know?.....Men and women behave and respond to body movements in different ways.

Yes, men and women are reading body language differently from each other. So to influence and persuade them, you need to leverage that.

This means, the gender of with whom you are interacting is important to know and study when you are seeking to persuade and influence them.

So, it's crucial for you to suit and adjust your body language depending on the gender of the person you meet....Or you could be damaging a relationship or business relationship and now even know it.

If you think having this ability is mindblowing, just wait. Because you haven't even scratched the surface yet. When you do recognize the true meaning of people's gestures and movements, (which could often be very different from what they say verbally), your life changes in a lot of positive ways as your increase your ability for rapid influence.

Click Here now for the latest in >>>Self-Study to Increase Your Influence and Persuasion Ability from Master of Influence, Kevin Hogan<<<

More influencing human behavior tips and advise to come at this blog. So, DO be sure to check back daily for you to become and remain cutting edge as expert in influence and persuasion.

Influencing from the Power of Your Mind

2008-09-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

Influencing from the Power of Your Mind

by Kevin Hogan

Imagining Movement Of Affected Limbs Aids Stroke Rehabilitation

You can call it Miracles of Hypnosis or The Power of the Mind or WHATever you choose.

One thing is certain. The mind can be a huge asset in healing traumatic injuries.

Imagining movement of arms and legs that have been weakened from stroke may facilitate functional recovery of affected limbs, a Northwestern University study has found. Fascinating and revealing, isn't it?

The effects of stroke vary depending.

The effects vary based on the type of stroke and its severity and location in the brain. The majority of strokes affect one of the brain's hemispheres, resulting in muscle weakness or paralysis on the opposite side of the body -- a condition known as hemiparesis.

Jennifer A. Stevens and co-researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago used a motor imagery training program for patients with hemiparesis, consisting of imagined wrist movements and mental simulations of reaching and object manipulation making use of a mirror-box apparatus.

An article describing their study appeared in a recent issue of Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The intervention targets the cognitive level of action processing, while its effects may be realized in overt behavioral performance, said Stevens, research assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Feinberg School.

"Actions generated using motor imagery adhere to the same movement rules and constraints that physical movements follow, and the neural network involved in motor imagery and motor execution overlap in areas of the brain concerned with movement," said Stevens. The program consisted of three one-hour sessions for four consecutive weeks. The first task was computer-facilitated motor imagery training, during which time the participant was instructed to explicitly imagine his/her own hand completing a movement just observed on a computer screen.

For the second task, simulating, for example, the left arm moving, the investigators had the participant move the right arm around in the mirror-box workspace, resulting in a reflection of the affected left limb moving about successfully in space. Participants were instructed to "imagine the reflected limb actually is your limb moving about."

Results showed that performance of the affected limb improved after the imagery intervention, indicated by increases in assessment scores and functionality and decreases in movement times.
Stevens and colleagues found that the greatest increases in function generally occurred during the month of intervention, suggesting that the behavioral effects were associated with the actual practice of mental simulation. It also is possible that motor simulation therapy in early stages of recovery -- that is, less than six months -- may increase the degree of this effect, Stevens said.

How You Influence Human Behavior in 3 Seconds!

2008-09-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

How You Influence Human Behavior in 3 Seconds!
By Kevin Hogan
Body Language Expert

I got to moderate a really neat event - “Speed Dating.”

Picture this:

16 men

16 women

They would rotate throughout the evening, spending 4, count ‘em four MINUTES with each other.

But their reports? They knew in.... 3 Seconds!

At the end of their four minutes, they would tick off on a 3 x 5 card if they wanted to date the person.

I ultimately guided three of these events. Two in Minneapolis and one in Seattle.

What I learned was fascinating.

1) Women wanted to date far fewer men than men were willing to date. (We’re so much more flexible and accommodating…or desperate…)
2) 93% of women told me that they knew in the first thirty seconds whether they would be willing to date the person again.
3) Almost as many men said they knew, “right away,” “instantly,” “within three seconds.”
4) The more people someone wanted to date, the fewer people wanted to date (usually) him.

The lessons of those three evenings are many and could fill a book themselves.

But for now, realize that I thought these people were “prejudging” each of their “dates” that night.

And then I realized I may not have been correct....Perhaps we KNOW our yardstick very well. And perhaps we know in just 3 seconds!

Now that you know that you are rapidly influencing others and that they are judging you within 3 seconds of meeting you, how will you leverage that information? What will you do differently to use your rapid influence to increase sales? How will your social influence change you?

First Impressions Influence

2008-08-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

Your First Impressions Influence
by Kevin Hogan
Body Language Expert

When is influencing others the most important? When is the moment you most want to control when you set out with the purpose to influence them?

First Impressions

Throughout my years of teaching and professional speaking, one of the most consistent complaints I have heard from students and professionals is their inability to find a book that is reputable, engaging, and applicable to the real world in which they work and live on the topic of Body Language and Rapid Influence.

In other words, you want to know what other people are thinking. You want to know what messages others are sending.

You want to know if they like you.

Also....

You want to know if they are deceiving you.

You want to be able to “read” what kind of a person they are from looking at them and the things around them. (Reading their context.)

And often most importantly, you want to make your best and right impression that you can on others the first time you meet them.

I'll be covering that topic in future posts here on Influence, Persuasion, and Selling.

Click here for the best-selling complete library of: Kevin Hogan's The Science of Influence

Persuading Motivational Speaker - Pt 2

2008-08-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Persuading Motivational Speaker - Pt 2
by Kevin Hogan

OK, I'm back.

When you are looking to influence and persuade others, nothing leverages that so well as being a Public Speaker. In fact, a little more than 70% of the people to whom I present across the world will themselves also be giving public presentations to others at some point this year.

Unfortunately, most of them will become the focus of pity from an audience.

Those that aren’t, usually end up disliked more than when they got up in front of the group.

Why?

Simply because no one has shown them how to be an excellent presenter.

In the next few blog posts, I want to give you some tips and strategies along with a complete mindset that will boost your success in front of an audience. Doesn't that sound intriguing?

Check back soon. I'll be adding those tips over the course of this Labor Day Weekend 2008.

Influencing - Motivational Speaker?

2008-08-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

Being A Better Public Speaker
by Kevin Hogan
Motivational Speaker

When you are looking to be persuasive and even become MORE persuasive, one of the best ways of doing so is to become a Public Speaker. Have you ever thought of doing so? Have you ever taken a class in becoming a public speaker?

OK, more later. Gotta run.

How do they do it at the Olympics? How to set goals like Gold Medal Winners, Michael Phelps

2008-08-17T16:14:00.001-07:00

The Only Goal Setting System That Works (part 1)

By Dr Kevin Hogan

Millionaire Mind - The Science of Affluence

How to achieve huge success in life.

How do people who achieve HUGE success like the Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps, do it? Do they just wake up one day and say, "I think I'll go win a Gold Medal (or 8!) at the Olympics."

It's always been tempting to write a book about the stupid things people say and the stupider things people believe.

Here's one of my favorites...

"A goal is a dream with a deadline."Nonsense.

Sort of like when the City says, "...yes, this project is going to be done by Johnson Corporation and will be completed by Jun 15, 2009.."

And people actually believe that.

Everyone does.

"Oh, yeah but don't worry, it will be done by June 15, next year."

Obviously people who believe in 'The Secret', and not people who pay attention to anything in front of their eyes...
But hey, that "dream with a deadline," thing makes for good copy.

Sad Fact: ...once people figure that out, they sometimes become disenchanted, frustrated, feel a sense of failure, and worse - they feel inadequate. And there is no reason for any of this.

"Goal setting doesn't work."

"I have a perfect system that works every time and I failed. Only I could fail at something that works every time."

I have to deprogram these people with far too much regularity....
KEYPOINT: If all you needed was a goal and a time stamp, life would be sooooooooo breezy easy that we'd just "attract" everything we wanted effortlessly into our driveway....

We know it doesn't work like that and it never will....

There are a lot of myths about goal setting.

And, there are a lot of goals that need to be set.

How do you know what kinds of goals to set and what will actually be the most constructive system to achieve those goals? click here to read Dr Hogan's answer: Goal Setting that WORKS!

Who is Kevin Hogan Voting for in 2008?

2008-07-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

10) Religious Freedom

Once again last week I'm reminded that the government takes a tank and automatic weapons and aims them at buildings with children in them. That is dead wrong. That group of people in Texas don't seem to have caused pain to anyone around them. They appear to have been good and QUIET citizens. They don't appear to have stolen stuff, killed people. Let people who are PEACEFUL alone. It reminded me of Waco all over again. A CULT is the CHURCH down the street from YOURS.

Don't ya' love how media calls where they lived "a compound?" In Minnesota it's town houses or twin homes...you get the idea. We don't need religious persecution in this country. That's a very, very scary concept. If people are behaving themselves, have a community of 1500 people that aren't causing crimes.

Oh, I heard there was a phone call from someone inside "the compound." one of those "yet to be identified" people.... shoot....good point...it's always smart to bring the tanks in when a phone call comes from a teenager....

Ignore the call? If there was one, of course not. You check it out. THE phone call, THE issue. Find the specific abuse - not destroy the lives of 400 little kids and take them from their parents who obviously love them and then redistribute them to other people like they are money.

400 children stripped from their parents all in one fell swoop last week. I think one of the more recent times that happened was Nazi Germany. Is it just me or is that the most arrogant and horrifying thing that's happened in this country since 9/11? Did that shake you up and wake you up, as much as it did me? Taking kids from their Moms is the worst kind of child abuse. Being raised in a peaceful sect by parents who love you is not evil, it's a damn good thing. Polygamy is debatable, (well OK, there is no logical argument against polygamy, but for the purpose of Coffee...) but it's far from a punishable offense. However, taking 400 kids by force and sending them away PERMANENTLY is *Nazi-evil.*

This wasn't about a legal issue, but it's now a permanent mental health, love and life issue. Drop your Senator a note and let her know how you are voting in the elections in November.

Religious freedom and freedom for children to live with their parents are what this country used to be good at. These people loved and took care of their kids, and well. Too many people in this country completely abdicate their responsibility to their kids.

Start where the real problems are, not with the imaginary stuff. These people didn't blow up buildings or do anything stranger than live a life much like the Amish and Mennonites. In fact, in everything I've read, I think I'd be more than happy to trade my neighbors to have them "next door!" There's a lot *good* to be said about living in a community away from people who...well...take children from their parents for zero good reasons....

In a parallel story, John Gottman, the renowned marriage and relationship expert revealed findings from a study this week that "gay" relationships are actually healthier than heterosexual relationships, on well, just about every level.

Perhaps.... just because people aren't COMFORTABLE with how others live or believe isn't a good enough reason to strip their kids away from them...or destroy the lives of innocent children. I remember too well when my Mom was faced with the possibility of my brothers and sisters not being able to live together as a family...faced with having to split up the family and some of us being orphaned. It's brutal...not something that is ever going to heal.... And why this "new problem?" Because some idiot made it a "law," and another decided to enforce it..."they're different."

Yeah, they are... I like 'em better than most already...let me go shout really loud and I'll be right back. Letters to the editors to be written today....

How screwed up can a country get?

Film at 11....

So, who gets my vote?

That's one hell of a good question.

The BEST Influence and Sales Products

Who is Kevin Hogan Voting For in 2008?

2008-07-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

6) 401 K/IRA Choice Crisis

Ready for a reality check? If you had 50,000.00 in your IRA or 401K, 10 years ago, you know how much you have today? Yep, $50,000. Enough to live on for ONE YEAR when you retire.

So plan on living to age 66.

The Millionaire Mind Seminar - The Science of Affluence

People must be able to 100% privatize their IRA's and 401K's and take care of themselves. Hoping that their company or the government (sound familiar) has a good plan, is NOT working. You are BROKE because you believed LIE #11. Don't believe it anymore. DEMAND OWNERSHIP of your own retirement plan. ...All those nice people at Bear Stearns? How much will they have in THEIR RETIREMENT? Yep, about enough to last ONE YEAR.

There is a HUGE retirement crisis because of our "job society" mentality. When the U.S. flourished it was because of entrepreneurship and nothing else. Entrepreneurs didn't like the idea of being taxed or having stuff unreasonably (think back in your history about tea party's and stuff) taxed.

The BEST Influence and Sales Products

You can't solve anyone's retirement problem but your own. Start a business NOW, not Amway, a *small business* and develop it over the next few years while the rest of the world goes to hell in a hand basket. There is only one group of people who thrive in a recession/depression. You guessed it...entrepreneurs who solve problems.

7) Stop paying people to have children.

I have two. But what is insane is the government sends "child credits" and exemptions and all kinds of money to many BECAUSE they have children. And it gets crazier.

If you are a parent and have two children and are flat broke, you get MORE government money to have ADDITIONAL children for food, housing, etc. In fact, here in Minnesota choosing to be unemployed with children is a $25,000 per year free ride on, yep, YOU and ME.

Are there SOME people that truly can't work? You bet. HELP THEM. The 90% who can work and won't, can't get paid more to have more children. Period.

8) Abortion

Make it a State issue so people can live where they choose. This is not an issue of logic. It is an issue of strong belief. Polarizing people because of beliefs is pointless and creates distress where there doesn't need to be any.

9) Gun Control

Make it a State issue so people can live where they choose. People should have the right to own guns and weapons. Problem is they use the dang things. I lean toward stronger controls but this is a sticky issue and to legislate out weapons makes ME nervous inside.

Who Is Kevin Hogan Voting For in 2008? (Part 3)

2008-06-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

4) It's time to 'fess up to global warming.

I am not a global warming temperature expert. I read a lot of scientific articles. I noticed that a HUGE piece of Antarctica just split off from the main..."ice." (So to speak.)

Look, the poles are changing dramatically and weather patterns are becoming less predictable. I do not know whether this is all caused by emissions. I do not know whether these are simply statistical variances that are normal for a planet.

I don't know WHY it has happened. I do know that IF we can slow it down somehow, it's worth looking at that option. I look at the NOAA climatological data every few months and it doesn't look pretty. (I'm a novice and confessed Weather Geek) I don't know or CARE WHY it's happened(ing). I hope it's past tense....

Look...There is a fire and it needs to be put out. Ya' don't sit and argue about WHY the damn thing STARTED, you PUT THE FRIGGING THING OUT. Again, it doesn't matter to you and me, we'll be dead (maybe) when it turns into a total disaster (assuming it indeed is caused by human interaction with environment).

Now, don't go writing me telling me the Republican party line that the world is not getting warmer. That said, we don't know why and I certainly WILL accept that the data can be statistically within the function of randomness. Regardless, things are changing that we might be smart enough to slow down. And we might not.

Our kids don't deserve you and I to make a mistake on this one. We also might not be able to repair whatever has happened. But we could give it a crack....

5) The Housing Crisis

It sure is a crisis and three groups of people have succeeded in bringing a nation to the brink of recession and maybe depression.

1) Stupid people who want houses they can't afford - to keep up with the Jones's.
2) Banks who know YOU AND I will bail them out if the loans go bad. (Cool business model, huh. Bank gives out tons of loans. They either a) will make tons of money or b) screw up and not. If b) then YOU AND ME will have money taken from us, without our permission and have it transferred to the banks and maybe to the people who were stupid enough to get the loan in the first place.)
3) The government. (Tell me you do not want national health care...)

Anybody who says "government should help..." is full of... Once again, that is CODE for, "we the people in the government have the power to steal money from individuals who were not involved with the problem, who were absolutely responsible and showed good stewardship in difficult times, and worked their tails to the bone and we will now STEAL THEIR BUTT-BUSTED EARNINGS and hand it to bankers and other individuals who were irresponsible and didn't bust their butts...and the people will believe we were good guys and we'll get voted for in the elections."

Sorry. That's wrong no matter how you slice it.

Any candidate that says, "government (steal money from you and me...starting to sound familiar?)" the answer is NO.

What are some things you can do that WILL help? Take a look at: The Millionaire Mind Seminar - The Science of Affluence

Who is Kevin Hogan Voting for in 2008? (Part 2)

2008-06-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

2) Tell the truth about the National Health Care Lie.

Same as above. The government has scammed the citizens of the United States into believing they have "money coming," but as you can see you DON'T have money coming. SOME PEOPLE have SOME MONEY in SOME CIRCUMSTANCES but it has NOTHING to do with getting back what you PAID IN.

National Health Care to be run by....THE GOVERNMENT? So stem cell therapy won't ever be used to save children's lives or restore devastated kids lives to closer to normal? So government can decide what is treatable and what is not? So we can have 4-minute doctor appointments like they do in the U.K.?

Ask people in Europe what they think of their taxes that they pay and the return of "National Health Care" they get. Email them NOW. They will tell you it is a con. You can't get second appointments for the same medical problem in many cases. There's more. I'll spare you this go 'round.

There is NOTHING appealing about national health care. Remember it will COST YOU A FORTUNE to have national health care and that care WILL 100% certainly be significantly WORSE than the care you have today as an American.

People have been led to believe it's "every American's right to have health care." (It's not, but that is besides the point.) The reality is that to ENFORCE this will cost ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF ADDITIONAL TAXES that will break middle class America, cause foreclosures and bankruptcies, and, if the burden is placed on the small businesses of America who employ MOST people, then unemployment rates will jump to the highest rates ever seen in this country, wages will decrease, minimum wages will be forced down....way down. There won't be a recession, there will be a depression.

National Health Care is insanity. Do not BELIEVE ANYONE WHO SAYS YOU "DESERVE"....because that is code for, "you will pay to make a bigger government which will give you the same service they have in all other financial sectors."

And deserve is a powerful word from the Persuasion Dictionary that politicians use to any end.

3) The United States government MUST bring troops engaged in war home.

Now stop.

This is NOT BECAUSE they aren't doing a superb job. All accounts indicate that IRAQ is overall a MUCH better place than it was under Saddam. I have first-hand reports from friends in Iraq that life is dramatically improved.

But, there is NO WAY for you and me to pay for the war in Iraq. YOUR CHILDREN and GRANDCHILDREN will pay for this war in 10-20 years. The government has once again determined that THEY don't want to balance their checkbooks, so they will tax your children into poverty to maintain expenses in 2008.

That's crazy. No one has a right to make those decisions for people who will be adults in 10 years. What's going to happen?

2018: Social security benefits collapsed quicker because 10 years ago we had a war in Iraq that flat out broke America...literally.

I believe my friends. They've seen good, they've done good. They've been humble about it in fact, to a fault. But all of that is secondary to the fact that it's a war that we literally can't afford. It's going to have to stop whether or not the country of Iraq were to de-stablize or not.

You and I haven't spent ONE PENNY on the IRAQ WAR. ALL of that will be paid by your CHILDREN in 10 or 20 years. Or your neighbors' kids.

We can't put our bills on our kids' credit card. It's illegal...and it should be.

NOTE: The U.S. military is literally exhausted. They are AMAZING men and women. They deserve WAY MORE than our thanks. AND if something were to happen here or to a neighbor we have agreed to protect, THAT is going to be a problem because is there really any national defense for the U.S. at this time? Really? Aren't the best people deployed? Think about it.

To Be continued...

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Who is Kevin Hogan Voting For in 2008? (Part 1)

2008-06-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

How do you determine who to vote for, for President this year?

There are some basic fundamental facts and problems that citizens of the United States should demand transparency about from their government, especially their leaders. The person who tells the truth about this stuff gets the right to be President.

Let's start at the top and work our way down in the issues department....

1) Own up to the great "Social Security" Lie.

Any candidate who does this is going to get a lot of kudos.

The Lie?

The lie is that you have been "paying in" to Social Security, for all these years so that when you retire you can have something. Except you haven't. And you won't.

There is no "Social Security* Fund with any money in it. You have paid taxes to the government. What you receive when you retire is NOT insurance. It is a scam. Insurance is something that is guaranteed to pay out. Not "social security." If you die at age 65 and were going to retire at 65, your kids don't get YOUR MONEY (as I told you it really isn't but the government propaganda makes you BELIEVE it is YOUR MONEY). I paid the maximum, over 15,000 to the government. In what was labeled as "Social Security" or "FICA" this year. It is mathematically impossible that I will ever see a penny of that if I live or die.

Finally, there are lots of other "scammy" things about social security. Here's the disastrous one. My step-dad wanted to take a menial job last month and then found out the ugly truth that for every TWO DOLLARS he earns while collecting HIS SOCIAL SECURITY, he would have to GIVE the government ONE of those DOLLARS.

Stop the "social security" now. Let the people who are getting checks keep getting them but then it's time to stop the sham.

Are you a black American male? Is the average mortality of a black man in the United States still age 65? Interesting: "Social Security" can begin at...you guessed it...65.

How ya' feelin' now? Get it?

Wouldn't it have been interesting if the "Federal INSURANCE Corporation of America" FICA would have actually set aside money for you in an INSURANCE fund or ANNUITY that you would receive when you retire?

It's a shame that they didn't.

I read recently that black men in America may be living to age 67 on average soon. I promise you when that happens the age of receiving Social Security won't be at 65 for long...

But remember, the government demands you do NOT WORK or they will take YOUR MONEY BACK!!

Who takes back INSURANCE MONEY if you work? State Farm? Prudential?

Nope, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).

The social security scam is a disgusting piece of political verbage. It makes me sick to tell people they are "saving for their retirement." You aren't. Get used to it. It is a big chunky lie.

You can't get out of paying it or you voluntarily go to jail, so keep paying, it's the law, but get ready to not rely on the government for your future. That is the single most foolish mistake you'll ever make....

To be Continued....

Meanwhile, for some ideas that WORK about creating affluence and your financial future: The Millionaire Mind Seminar - The Science of Affluence

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The Influence of Friends and Those You are Familiar With - on You (Part 2)

2008-06-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

How Did it Work?

In a series of six experiments that included 1044 students, from the University of Michigan, Princeton University, Rutgers University, University of Michigan -- Dearborn, University of Toledo and Harvard University, researchers sought to understand individuals' accuracy in identifying group norms and opinions. The experiments included dividing students into three groups, (three person control group, single opinion group and repeated opinions group).

Participants in the three person control group read three opinion statements each made by a different group member. The participants in the repeated opinion group read the same three statements but they were all attributed to one group member. Those in the single opinion control group read one opinion statement from one group member.

If I've Said it Once, I've Said it a Thousand Times...

The studies found that an opinion is more likely to be assumed to be the majority opinion when multiple group members express their opinion. However, the study also showed that hearing one person express the same opinion multiple times had nearly the same effect on listener's perception of the opinion being popular as hearing multiple people state his/her opinion.

Researchers examined the underlying processes that take place when individuals estimate the shared attitude of a group of people and how that estimation of collective opinion can be influenced by repetition from a single source. Since gauging public opinion is such an essential component in guiding our social interactions, this research has implications in almost every facet of modern day life.

How Do People Gauge Popular Opinion

"This study conveys an important message about how people construct estimates of group opinion based on subjective experiences of familiarity," states lead author Kimberlee Weaver, (Ph.D), of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. "The repetition effect observed in this research can help us to understand how our own impressions are influenced by what we perceive to be the reality of others.

For example, a congressman may get multiple phone calls from a small number of constituents requesting a certain policy be implemented or changed, and from those requests must decide how voters in their state feel about the issue.

This study sheds light on the cognitive processes that take place that may influence such a decision.

Article: Inferring the Popularity of an Opinion From Its Familiarity: A Repetitive Voice Can Sound Like a Chorus. Kimberlee Weaver, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Stephen M. Garcia and Norbert Schwarz, University of Michigan, and Dale T. Miller, Stanford University; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Vol. 92, No. 5

Adapted from materials provided by American Psychological Association, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

American Psychological Association (2007, May 21). People Often Think An Opinion Heard Repeatedly From The Same Person Is Actually A Popular Opinion. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from Sciencedaily.com

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The Influence of Friends and Those You are Familiar With - On You (Part 1)

2008-06-09T12:10:00.001-07:00

It's scary how one very, very tiny group of people who call themselves The Parents Television Council, largely determines what you see and don't see on TV. This handful of activists who like to tell the government what "the people" (you and me) think is "decent" or "indecent," and they call day and night when the gal in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is wearing something too revealing.

Of course, it's nothing of the sort...it's the fact that if that person was wearing it...the one who called...no one would watch!

And this group calls local TV stations and sends tons of e-mails creating the ILLUSION that viewers can't stand such a thing.

The fact that a few hundred people who are loud and obnoxious control what I see on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show irritates me.

Why?

They didn't ask for my opinion, which differs from theirs.

So how does this group, who supposedly represents MILLIONS of Americans, yet only gets about 500 people per day to their website ....how is it that they are so effective when they don't remotely express what Americans really think?

How Opinions of Others Influences

You are totally unaware of how the opinions of other people who are AROUND YOU are influencing your decisions every day.

Scary new research reveals that the effects of people who are FAMILIAR to us is frighteningly POWERFUL.

Who you hang out with, and around....changes your life....

Whether people are making financial decisions in the stock market or worrying about terrorism, they are likely to be influenced by what others think. And, according to a new study in this month's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the APA...

...repeated exposure to one person's viewpoint can have almost as much influence as exposure to shared opinions from multiple people.

KEYPOINT: This finding shows that hearing an opinion multiple times increases the recipient's sense of familiarity and in some cases gives a listener a false sense that an opinion is more widespread then it actually is.

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3 Newly Discovered Influence Factors... That Matter (Part 3

2008-06-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Influence and Community

Now, I've been wrong before.

I've made a great deal of fuss about persuading not just the individual about their self/best interest, but on the interest of the group, the community, or for God.

So, what IS the deal....

People act in their own best interests, according to traditional views of how and why we make the decisions that we do. However, psychologists at the Universities of Leicester and Exeter have recently found evidence that this assumption is not necessarily true. In fact the research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, shows that most of us will act in the best interest of our team -- often at our own expense.

Psychologists carried out the first systematic tests of team reasoning theories by assessing two well known views of how people behave.

Orthodox or classical game predicts that people will act for selfish reasons.

Team reasoning theory suggests individual self-interest is not always foremost in the way people act as they will act in the best interest of their "team."

Lead researcher Professor Andrew Colman, of the University of Leicester School of Psychology, said: "We have shown that, in some circumstances, decision makers cooperate in their collective interests rather than following the purely selfish predictions of orthodox game theory.

"We carried out two experiments designed to test classical game theory against theories of team reasoning developed in the 1990s by British game theorists.

According to classical game theory, decision makers invariably act in their individual self- interest, leading to "Nash equilibrium", named after the US game theorist and Nobel laureate John Nash, depicted in the biopic A Beautiful Mind.

"Theories of team reasoning were developed to explain why, in some circumstances, people seem to act not in their individual self-interest but in the interest of their families, companies, departments, or the religious, ethnic, or national groups with which they identify themselves."

Professor Colman is delighted with the results. He said: "Team reasoning is a familiar process, but it is inexplicable within the framework of orthodox game theory. Our findings show for the first time that it predicts decision making more powerfully than orthodox game theory in some games."

The study was carried out by Professor Andrew Colman and Dr Briony Pulford at the University of Leicester in collaboration with Dr Jo Rose of the University of Exeter.

The results will be published within the next few months in the journal Acta Psychologica, together with commentaries from decision theorists from the UK, the Netherlands, and the US.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Leicester, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Cool Huh? Imagine what you can do in business tomorrow when you have this information! How are you going to use it?

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3 Newly Discovered Influence Factors...That Matter (Part 2)

2008-05-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

Influence and Mood

Participants were first asked to write about either a happy or a sad event in their lives, to help establish their mood.

They were then presented with several mango-flavored desserts, and 69 percent of happy participants chose the first option they saw, compared to only 38.5 percent of unhappy participants.

The researchers also found that when happy consumers were asked to withhold judgment until all options were presented, they tended to prefer the last option they saw.

In another study, three dessert options -- blueberry, almond, and plum pie -- were presented sequentially, and consumers were explicitly asked to withhold judgment until all options had been presented. Happy consumers chose the last item 48 percent of the time, compared to just 26 percent of unhappy participants.

"If consumers are exposed to multiple options that differ only in global aesthetic aspects, they tend to evaluate each option spontaneously at the time they first encounter it," explain the researchers.

"On the other hand, if consumers are exposed to multiple options that differ in important descriptive features, they may withhold their evaluation until they have seen all the options available and evaluate the last presented (most recent) option first."

They conclude: "Altogether, these findings suggest that the influence of mood on comparison depends on which alternative in a choice set is the one being evaluated first."

Journal reference: Cheng Qiu and Catherine W. M. Yeung, "Mood and Comparative Judgment: Does Mood Influence Everything and Finally Nothing?" Journal of Consumer Research: February 2008.

Cool?

Me too.

So now we know how to place choices based on people's moods.

Influence and Product Placement

What about non-"subliminal" advertising?

What do I mean?

Imagine....

A can of Coke next to the word "awesome"; a can of Pepsi next to a picture of a happy couple. Seem too basic to be effective advertising?

Prior research has shown that reported attitudes towards brands are not affected by such simple juxtapositions. However, a new paper in the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research examines our implicit opinions -- and finds that we may actually be more susceptible than we think.

Bryan Gibson (Central Michigan University) showed undergraduate psychology students pairings of well-known cola brands with words and images. Some had positive associations: a field of flowers, the word "awesome," or a mother holding a child. Others had negative associations: people at a gravesite, the word "terrifying," or a person in a contamination suit.

Participants were then distracted by an unrelated cognitive task -- memorizing an eight-digit number -- and offered a can of Coke or Pepsi to take home with them.

When distracted, those who were initially neutral towards both brands strongly tended to choose the brand that had been paired with positive images or words in the earlier task. Importantly, this happened even when the participant couldn't remember which brand had been paired with positive information, Gibson reports.

Those who had an established preference for one brand before the experiment, as established by a pre-test, were not affected by the inclusion of a distracting task while making their choices.

"These results have implications regarding how consumer attitudes are formed, and how they are then applied in brand choice situations," Gibson explains.

"This suggests that implicit product attitudes may play a greater role in product choice when the consumer is distracted or making an impulse purchase."

Journal reference: Bryan Gibson, "Can Evaluative Conditioning Change Attitudes toward Mature Brands" New Evidence from the Implicit Association Test." Journal of Consumer Research: June 2008.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Chicago Press Journals, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Cool?
Me too...again...

To Be Continued!

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3 Newly Discovered Influence Factors...That Matter (Part 1)

2008-05-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

Why is it that people are impotent when it comes to influence?

Why do people stink at selling? (And hate to sell?)

People go to motivational seminars.
They come back.

They go to work Monday...

They still sell "10%."

Why?
They are smiling, motivated, blah, blah, blah.

Because far more in the realm of selling and persuading others is about nonverbal stuff than anything you will ever say.

Actually, "motivation" in the sense that most people think about it, has very little to do with influencing or selling or much of anything.

But there are factors that do matter in whether someone will sell a whole bunch more stuff, a little stuff or no stuff.

"Positive Attitude" might sound cool, but it doesn't rank in the top 10 factors that sell.

3 New Influence Discoveries

In the last couple of weeks new research has been released that uncovers some of the soon to be classic influence strategies.

Some of it we predicted. Some we never could have guessed... ...not in a million years....

For several years we've known, for example, that on average, when a product is shown first or last in a presentation, it is more likely to be selected or bought.

Cool.

And, we know that those products/items shown last are significantly more likely to be selected than any other choice.

But, what we didn't know until this week was what happens when you show products/items to buyers who are happy.

All of a sudden things get really interesting.

Want to find out why happy people CAN make such great and "easy" buyers?

...but because most people who try to be influential don't want to attempt thinking, they will screw this information up so you'll have a huge edge.

Read carefully....

Three cool new studies follow...

To Be Continued.

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New Mind Blowing Research Revealed (Part 3)

2008-05-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

Good question.

I mean it is fairly common strategy in copywriting to find the pain, rub it and then heal it. It's a proven method of getting people to take action.

But what about the OPPOSITE?

Is it just the notion of being scared then feeling better?

Clearly the fear alone didn't cause compliance at all.

HAPPINESS THEN DISAPPOINTMENT

The first experiment that Narwat and Dolinski did to test this was on the streets of Wroclaw, Poland. (as I recall, that is pronounced roughly: Frahtswahf!)

People would see what looked like a 50 zloty ($15) bill on the sidewalk and pick it up.

It wasn't.

It only looked like money. It was an ad for a new car wash.

Most people threw the ad in the garbage. (I was IMPRESSED!)

Soon thereafter, a female confederate appeared with a suitcase that needed to be watched.

"I urgently have to see my friend who is on the fifth floor and my bag is too heavy!"

Key Result: People who had PICKED UP the MONEY were TWICE AS LIKELY to watch the bag for the girl as those people who found nothing on the street!

In another experiment, German students were told they received an "A" on a test then were told they truly received a "C". The professor had made a mistake.

Another group: The students were told they received a "C" on the test and then it was corrected, they actually received an "A".

Another group: The students were given the accurate grade they received on the test.

Students were then informed that there would be a street party next quarter and the school was looking for volunteers to have an information booth and help prepare cake and coffee.

Students were asked to commit to a number of hours they would work on that Sunday and write it down.

Negative then Positive - 3 hours

Positive then Negative - 2 hours

Positive (correct score) - 1.1 hours

Control (no info) - 1.2 hours

"...the withdrawal of emotions is an effective instrument of social influence that works no matter whether the participants first experienced disappointment and dissatisfaction then happiness and the sense of well-being, or whether the sequence is reversed....THE FAST CHANGE IN THE EMOTIONAL QUALITY LEADS TO INCREASED COMPLIANCE."

Adapted from Narwat, R and Dolinski, D. "See Saw of Emotions and Compliance, 2008. Journal of Social Psychology

What happens outside of the laboratory (or off the sidewalk!)?

What follows is from an email I received from one of Coffee with Kevin Hogan's Readers that got an advanced look at this article.

Kevin,
Just read your article on inducing fear, then reducing it for compliance.
Just did something similar -( SkillPath). I tried something new that doubled my sales the two days that I used it; I think it might have utilized this principle.
Knowing that many who come to the seminars are "prisoner's" and didn't necessarily choose to be there, and, that they cringe when they see the product table and worry about being "pitched" later, I decided to do this:
I created a much higher-priced package than what anyone normally buys, and created a flyer for it. It is a very solid package, with great materials - but a bit high ($300) for the typical SkillPath setting.
Then, after showing them the package that has been put together just for this seminar, I say "Now, go ahead and breathe easy - I'm not going to ask you to buy this package. Before you ever decide to purchase a package as comprehensive as this, there's one product that..."
I then present the $100 product.
When I presented them as you suggested at Bootcamp 2007, (High price, Middle price, low price) it did drive a fair amount of people to the middle price. However, by coming on a little strong with the high-priced package at first, like I was really going to push it, and then suddenly backing off, telling them to breathe easy, because I was not going to ask them to buy it, twice as many people bought the middle product than when presented the other way.
I know you are busy, but I just wanted to share that with you.
I will continue to experiment with this, thanks for the article, it explained a great deal!
Vince Harris, www.vinceharris.com

Think about the ways that you can utilize this information in your presentation - and double or triple your sales, as well!

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New Mind Blowing Influence Research Revealed (Part 2)

2008-05-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Just like in the United States, when you illegally park, you get a ticket under your windshield wiper. Some things are culturally consistent around the world...

Experimenters found illegally parked cars and placed leaflets that LOOKED LIKE tickets on the windshield under the wiper.

They were actually either requests for blood donation or hair restoring shampoo promotions.

In yet another experiment the experimenters taped the leaflets to the door handle. (Not indicative of a ticket)

Finally, there was a group of cars that were illegally parked and nothing was done.

As each person returned to their car and was about to leave, an experimenter approached and asked the driver to give them a few minutes for a quick survey for his Master's thesis on efficient traffic.

Who complied?

57% Wiper - Shampoo ad

68% Wiper - Appeal for blood donation

34% Car door - Shampoo ad

40% Car door - blood donation

36% Only illegally parked, no leaflet.

Starting to catch on?

Here's the next experiment to rule out the possibility that FEAR ONLY could be causing this and not FEAR and the RELIEF of fear.

Students were divided into three rooms.

Room 1 Anxiety-provoking

Room 2 Anxiety-provoking, then reduction

Room 3 Nothing (Control)

(The anxiety was caused by the discovery of an electric shock that would be applied when they mis-spelled words.)

In room three, the students were informed they'd be throwing darts from various distances.

An experimenter enters room two and tells the students to go into the hallway that they will NOT be participating in the electric shock experiment but a dart throwing experiment.

A female student approached students in the hall one by one asking for participation in a charity event for an orphanage. Students were asked how much time they would be willing to give to the event.

Results - Percentage Who Complied, and Avg. # Days Promised:

Room 1 Fear - 37% Complied, .625 # Days Promised

Room 2 Fear, then Reduction - 75% Complied, 1.15 Days Promised

Room 3 (Control) - 52% Complied, 1.02 Days Promised

KEYPOINT: The induction and then reduction of fear causes compliance in requests immediately following the emotional seesaw.

AHHHH but does the see saw work in reverse?

To find what if it works in reverse check back soon!

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New Mind Blowing Influence Research Revealed (Part 1)

2008-05-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Want someone to comply with your every desire?

Consider the Emotional See Saw Response.

What? Never heard of it?

That's because you and I never would have thought of it.

Dariusz Dolinski, Poland's leading persuasion researcher did.

Imagine a bunch of people jaywalking. A lot of people in America don't even know what that means.

You're crossing a street but NOT at the crosswalk at the intersection.

All of a sudden a whistle blows. It must be the policeman.

Much like the experience you get in any country when you see the red flashing lights behind you and your heart pounds wondering what you did wrong and how much trouble you are in...these kinds of experiences immediately change your state from goal-oriented behavior (driving somewhere or crossing the street) to one of a state of fear.

In Poland this kind of experience is even more intense. In a country that had only been communist-free for 10 years, there's a lot of intense feelings around law enforcement (the KGB pretty much called the shots for a long time in Poland. Most of these experiments were done in 1998). Before 1989, you might have gone to jail if you didn't pony up 20 zloty's for such an offense. (You might be surprised that officers of the law sometimes still "collect fines" on the streets in Poland...today...but all that for another day.)

So the whistle sounds. You look around, see no police and continue across the street.

You are immediately stopped by someone.

You think you are in serious trouble. FEAR pulsates through your body.

"Excuse me, I need 10 minutes of your time to answer a few questions for me. It's the Self Description Inventory..."

A bunch of other people were randomly stopped after hearing the whistle on this cold day in Poland. Another bunch of people were stopped as well, but they crossed WITHOUT hearing the whistle.

Finally a third group of people were stopped as well as they walked along the sidewalk. They didn't jaywalk with or without whistle. They were just... walking along.

What happened?

59% of the people who heard the whistle while jaywalking agreed to fill out the survey.

46% of the jaywalkers who heard no whistle agreed as well.

41% of those on an evening stroll on the cold day agreed to answer questions.

A second experiment was performed later.

How did that work?

To find what happened in the second experiment, check back for part 2 coming soon!

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10 Powerful Strategies that Bring them to "Yes!" in Selling and Everyday Life! (part 2)

2008-05-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

6) Knock Their Socks Off

The shortest amount of time we spend with any client is normally that of the actual communication itself. When you do actually begin the process, the very first thing you do is this: Blow them away with an astonishing claim, an amazing fact, something that few would know. Show them something amazing that no one else has shown them. Make the biggest claim that you can substantiate. The client will always remember and consider this introduction. Start strong, finish strong. Your claim for your product or your service should be colossal and it must be true. Knock their socks off.

7) Always Give More Than You Promised

Napoleon Hill always made sure his audiences knew the principle of going the extra mile. Follow the example of those who sell who become millionaires. If you promise something make sure that your client gets exactly what you promise and then some. Remember that phrase: ...and then some!

8) The Power of Understatement

After making your big fat claim you can quickly work your way into your sales presentation. This is the time to make sure you don't over-inflate your product or service. You made your big fat claim, now support it with the power of understatement. In other words, if your mutual fund portfolio has a track record of 12% return per year over the last 10 years, then understate that by saying, "Now, if you average 10% per year..." For 10 years you have earned a 12% return, but you are being conservative for your client and he knows it and appreciates it.

9) Be Precise: Then Beat Your Precision

If you know that this automobile is going to get your client 19 miles per gallon, tell him that. Then tell him a secret. "...but, if you use Mobil One oil, you can literally add an extra 3 miles per gallon of gas and that translates to an extra $100 of gasoline savings per year." Be precise, then be better than being precise.

10) Get It Done Faster, Easier, Better

You live in an age where your client wants everything to be better, cheaper, faster, quicker, smarter, easier, more luxurious. So promise what you can, and then deliver...and then some. If they tell you that your competitor will get them X, then if you can really do it, you tell your client that you are going to get them X+2. Never be beaten because of the lack of going the extra mile. What can you do for your client that no other agent will do for them? What can you do for them that no one else in the business does? Answer these questions then do it.

BONUS) Be On the Edge of Your Seat

Pay attention with baited breath to every word your client has to say. It should be clear that what your client has to say is the most important thing in either of your worlds at that moment...and it is. If these were the last words you would hear while you were alive you would want to know what your client has to say. Live your sales presentation as if the significance of each word will change your very life. Relationships are cemented when you do this. With the attitude of respect, going the extra mile and intense excitement about your client and his life, you won't need to use a multiplicity of closing tactics "on your client." He will demand that you sell him your product or service...now.

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10 Powerful Strategies that Bring them to "Yes!" in Selling and Everyday Life! (Part 1)

2008-04-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

1) Induce Reciprocity

Building rapport begins within you. The entire process of building rapport is built upon the foundation of concern, caring, compassion, interest and a desire for the well-being of your client. Pacing and leading is a process that creates comfort for you and the client to know that you are moving along at a pace that is appropriate for the client. The entire process of building rapport, pacing, and leading could be as little as one minute and as much as an hour or more. After rapport has been established you can enter into the body of your presentation.

There are many ways to begin the sales presentation, but, my favorite is to give my client something. I regularly give a book that I wrote, called The Gift, to my clients. You may not have a book to give, so here are some ideas to consider when deciding how you will induce reciprocity.

What you will give to your client to induce reciprocity will be, in part based upon the average profit per sale and the significance of your gift. You should know that gifts tend to be reciprocated with sales in direct correlation to the dollar value of the gift that is given. Specialty items, like pens, date books and calendars are perceived as advertising items and do not induce reciprocity. You must think of something appropriate that you can give to your client that will be appreciated. Inducing reciprocity is not just a sales technique, it is a way of life. There is almost a metaphysical energy that seems to emanate from the giving of gifts.

Expect nothing in return when you induce reciprocity. The simple act of giving helps you develop a caring and compassionate personality. That is what people are buying when they buy from you....YOU!

TIP: People don't really buy into ideas, products or services-they buy YOU!

2) Share Part of You, With Them

Show your confidence in your client by helping them with one of their potential clients (or problems). In other words, offer to help them in any way you can. Can you make a phone call for them as a referral? Can you help them bring more business to their store by taking 50 of her business cards? What can you do to freely help them with their business that is above and beyond the scope of your sales call. OFFER TO HELP. I've done this for years in selling and marketing and you can't believe how many times my kindness has been returned a thousand times over, over the years. Would you be willing to write them a testimonial on your letterhead for your client to show HIS clients? That is the kind of treatment you would like from your clients, so why not offer it out first!

3) The Common Enemy

Nothing binds two people, groups, or nations like a common enemy. Find their enemy and align yourself with their viewpoint. Do they hate the IRS? Do the same people try to hurt your mutual businesses? Jibe with them. Once someone shares with you who his enemies are, you have built a relationship for life. Drugs? Gangs? Taxes? Unemployment Compensation Insurance? Lawsuits? Government? Criminals? What are the common threats to business and society that you both dislike and you both know hurts your business.

You won't find a common enemy in every sales interview or communication, but if you are thinking of the theme, the opportunity to put both of you on the same side of the table will occur during 50% of your interviews. Once you have a common enemy you have rapport and a lifetime relationship.

4) Tell a Short Story About Someone Like Them

If you can build a reservoir of stories (short stories) about people who have become your clients you can utilize this persuasive skill. Tell today's client about another client who recently bought from you. This client should be someone they remind you of. You can build an entrancing sales presentation around such stories and they make great lead ins to the core of your presentation.

5) Respect

Sincerely show respect for the person via a compliment. Always be looking for things to like about other people. Compliment them. A little respect goes a long way and you cannot under-estimate the value of a sincere compliment of respect in the environment of influence.

Next 5 Coming Soon!

How To Raise Your Prices So That It CAUSES More Sales (Part 3)

2008-04-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

In another experiment reported by Lo and her colleagues, student volunteers in Duke's master of business administration program were asked to choose which of two cordless drills they would prefer to receive as a gift.

The researchers tested the effects of varied promotions by pairing the drills with either a $15 Nordstrom gift card or the book "Graphic Guide to Frame Construction: Details for Builders and Designers."

The study participants overwhelmingly preferred the gift card, but they thought the book would be more appealing to people with expertise in construction and carpentry.

Participants then were asked to guess the prices of the drills, and they gave a higher price to whichever drill was paired with the book compared with the one paired with the gift card.

"This is important because even though the book was not as valuable as the gift card to our participants, they realized the book would be valuable to someone who might know a good drill when he or she sees one," Lynch said. "They reasoned that only a manufacturer of a high-quality drill could lure such an expert to buy."

The research team found similar results in experiments focusing on other products, including camcorders and headphones.

The researchers say the findings challenge some long-held notions regarding consumer reaction to targeted promotions. "Our findings apply to a specific set of circumstances where the customer is not able to judge the quality of a product, but believes that other consumers are expert in judging that product," Staelin said.

"But a lot of marketers sell in exactly those kinds of categories, so our findings can be used to sell products from wine to jewelry to home electronics to financial services."

And now you know how to make it happen too!

You heard it here first.

How to Raise your Prices So It CAUSES More Sales (Part 2)

2008-04-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

Groucho Marx famously said that he wouldn't want to join any club that would have someone like him as a member. But if you are on the outside of some deal that benefits another group more than you, would this make you more or less interested in the product?

Researchers asked study participants to choose between drills and other products with different promotions. (Credit: Image courtesy of Duke University)

* For example, guess how female Victoria's Secret customers would react if they found out that male customers got better deals on the same items.

* How would plus-sized women react to a dress that is sold for less in smaller sizes?

According to research from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, the excluded consumers would be turned off and would be less likely to make a purchase.

* But how would competitive swimmers react to a product claimed to improve speed if they knew the product is given away free to Olympic swimmers?

* How would vodka consumers react to superpremium Belvedere vodka if the company offered free tastings exclusively for bartenders?

In these examples, the consumer ends up wanting the product more, said Alison K. C. Lo, a recent doctoral graduate at the Fuqua School of Business. She and marketing professors John Lynch and Richard Staelin explain why in the article "How to Attract Customers by Giving Them the Short End of the Stick," published in the February 2007 Journal of Marketing Research.

KEYPOINT: "As consumers, we sometimes buy things when we feel clueless in telling good-quality products from bad but we think more savvy consumers can tell the good stuff simply by inspecting the merchandise," Lo said.

"In such cases, naive consumers are attracted to a product with a freebie that is not available to them but is offered to a more savvy group of buyers, like bartenders or Olympic swimmers. These savvy buyers presumably would turn up their noses at low-quality merchandise, so the naive consumers reason that products promoted to experts must be good.

"On the other hand, if we are excluded from a deal and the group benefiting is not more savvy or we are more certain of the product's quality, we are put off," she explained. "We buy less -- like the woman who sees that Victoria's Secret is offering a better deal to men than to women."

What happened in another experiment?

To Be Continued...

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How to Raise your Prices So It CAUSES More Sales (part 1)

2008-04-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

How would you like a fail-safe method to raise your prices and increase your sales at the same time?

I'll show you what the latest research later in the article. Before we get there we need some foundation.

Each week I receive a few books in the mail that people want me to review for you in Coffee with Kevin Hogan. They know if I like it, a lot of people will go buy it. If I don't, I almost certainly won't review it because as a rule, I don't do negative reviews. So they risk $20 and send me a copy. They have little downside and potentially big upside. That's just good promotional thinking.
But....what happens when they tell their audience, "We just sent a review copy to Dr. Kevin Hogan for his perusal...." or "We're so excited that we sent a review copy to Dr. Kevin Hogan so he might consider putting the book in his online store."

Is that going to help sell the book?

Would the consumer be happy to hear that I got the book for free and that they have to pay $20?

And what if I didn't actually REVIEW the book?

How would YOU feel?

Does it boost your confidence when they tell you they sent a copy of their new book to me?

Does it make you feel you got shorted?

Well the thing is that we know we are lousy predictors of our emotions and feelings, so I'll show you what the latest research says you SHOULD and SHOULD NOT do when promoting your products and services...

To be continued...

More Articles on Influence, Persuasion, Wealth, Body Language.

Influence: Are You A Defector (Freeloader), Punisher, or Cooperator

2008-04-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

In other cities -- most notably Boston in the US, Melbourne, Nottingham, St. Gallen and Zurich in Switzerland, Chengdu in China, Bonn and Copenhagen -- this occurred much less often and only Freeloaders tended to get punished. These eight cities saw the least 'antisocial punishment' meted out, and earnings in the game increased over time.

Simon Gaechter, Professor of the Psychology of Economic Decision- Making at The University of Nottingham, said: "To our knowledge this is the largest cross-cultural difference in experimental games that has been carried out in the developed world.

"Our results correlate with other survey data in particular measures of social norms of civic co-operation and rule of law in these same societies. The findings suggest that in societies where public co- operation is ingrained and people trust their law enforcement institutions, revenge is generally shunned. But in societies where the modern ethic of co-operation with unrelated strangers is less familiar and the rule of law is weak, revenge is more common.

"There are numerous examples in everyday life of situations where co- operation is the best option but there are incentives to take a free ride, such as recycling, neighbourhood watch, voting maintaining the local environment, tackling climate change, and so on. We need to understand why people behave in this way because co-operation is very strongly inhibited in the presence of anti-social punishment."

Norms of civic co-operation cover general attitudes to the law, for example whether or not citizens think it is acceptable to dodge taxes or flout laws. In societies where this behaviour is widespread and the rule of law is perceived to be ineffective -- ie. if criminal acts frequently go unpunished -- anti-social punishment is more common.

In a commentary in the same edition of Science, Professor Herbert Gintis of the Santa Fe Institute said: "Anti-social punishment was rare in the most democratic societies and very common otherwise.

"Using the World Democracy Audit evaluation of countries' performance in political rights, civil liberties, press freedom and corruption, the top six performers among the countries studied were also in the lowest seven for anti-social punishment. These were the USA, UK, Germany, Denmark, Australia and Switzerland."

He adds: "Their results suggest that the success of democratic market societies may depend critically upon moral virtues as well as material interests, so the depiction of civil society as the sphere of 'naked self-interest' is radically incorrect."

Adapted from materials provided by University of Nottingham, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

University of Nottingham (2008, March 6). Cooperation, Punishment And Revenge In Economics And Society. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 7, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/03/080306183134.htm

More Articles Coming Soon!

Influence: Are You A Defector (freeloader), Punisher, or Cooperator

2008-04-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

In societies where the modern ethic of co-operation with unrelated strangers is less familiar and the rule of law is perceived to be weak, revenge is more common and co-operation suffers, the study found.

Economists are keen to understand the decision-making processes behind co-operation, as working together for the common good is crucial for progress in any society -- not least for effectively addressing big issues such as recycling and tackling climate change.

Professor Simon Gaechter and Dr. Benedikt Herrmann at The University of Nottingham and Dr. Christian Thoni at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, studied the behaviour of people in 16 cities around the world, from Boston and Bonn to Riyadh, Minsk, Nottingham, Seoul and others.

Volunteers played a 'public goods' game in which they were given tokens and told they could either keep them all for themselves, or put it into a common 'pot' that would yield extra interest that would be shared out equally among all players.

If all volunteers pooled their money, then all would come out with more at the end of the game. But if individuals chose to keep the money for themselves -- and not contribute anything -- they could keep all of it and also benefit from the generosity of others, by sharing in the pooled interest.

Levels of co-operation were remarkably similar across all 16 nations. However, behaviour changed dramatically when everyone's contributions were revealed -- and players were given the ability to 'punish' other players. Players could punish each other by taking tokens away from each other, although this option cost the Punisher a token as well. As previous studies have shown, players were willing to part with a token of their own in order to punish Low Investors or Freeloaders.

But the Science study also uncovered a new phenomenon. In subsequent rounds of the game, the Freeloaders took revenge and hit back at their Higher-Paying Counterparts in what is described as 'anti-social punishment'. Or at least, they did in some cities -- most notably in more traditional societies based on authoritarian and parochial social institutions such as Muscat in Oman, Athens, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Samara in Russia, Minsk in Belarus, Istanbul, Seoul and Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine. Players in these cities showed the highest levels of 'anti-social punishment'.

The ultimate effect of this is to decrease co-operation between individuals, bringing down contributions and earnings to very low levels.

To Be Continued...

Influence: Are You a Defector (Freeloader), Punisher or Cooperator

2008-04-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

Now you'd think the Punishers would punish the people who take the money from those who work.

But they don't.

Why?

Because the Punishers are the government. They are imbued with the full power of ...well....weapons.... to make sure money is extracted from those that work, and redistributed to those that don't, trying to make everything "equal." And when you let that mess get a name like "government" you have a system that will die.

The government is a bunch of people who are OK'ed to run the show and get their jobs by telling the people who don't pay taxes that they are not being treated EQUALLY and that the government will FIX that. If you keep printing paper and promising FREE stuff, you get elected.

Try telling the truth and getting elected.

Can't happen too often.

But, in the short-term it "works."

People want to feel equal and indeed the "Partyer" and "Player" don't care about the "Producer" as long as the Producer subsidizes their lives when they run out of money.

"Equal" is a strange phenomenon indeed.

Research just out sheds new light on Cooperators, Punishers and Defectors.

Research from The University of Nottingham has shed new light on the way in which people co-operate for the common good -- and what happens when they don't.

What's particularly cool about this research is it highlights the HUGE cultural differences from country to country in how these roles are played out.

In a new International study of 16 countries, published in the journal Science, economists studied the extent to which some people will sacrifice personal gain to benefit the wider public, while 'Freeloaders' try to take advantage of their generosity.

Marked national differences arose when Freeloaders were punished for putting their own interests ahead of the common good. And whether they accepted their punishment or retaliated in kind depended on what kind of society they lived in, the researchers found.

In countries like the USA, Switzerland and the UK, Freeloaders accepted their punishment and became much more co-operative. But in countries based on more authoritarian and parochial social institutions such as Oman, Saudi Arabia, Greece and Russia, the Freeloaders took revenge -- retaliating against those who had punished them.

Co-operation for the common good plummeted as a result.

To Be Continued...

Influence: Are You a Defector (Freeloader), Punisher or Cooperator (Part 3)

2008-04-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

Brainwashing 101

The idea that people will take from those who earn and redistribute to those who don't is an amazing phenomenon. It doesn't work like that anywhere else in the cycle of evolution. Only in humans.

People who party get paid.
People who play get paid.
People who produce and do not go party or play, pay.

Now before this gets too personal for me, I want to shift to the science of how something so insane can possibly happen.

In the USA, 40% of people who earn money don't pay taxes. They either defect or they simply earn money that isn't "enough" to be taxed.

Another 10% of people don't earn any money but are given more money by the government than many people who work for a living earn by working all day.

Produce nothing, get paid. OK by society. Society will die..

That kind of a system will fail.

Eventually the 50% who pay taxes (act of inducing permission of voluntary taking of your stuff, for fear of involuntary jail? WAIT, isn't there a word for "if you don't X, I'll Y to you"...oh yeah...it's the "Ext" word...) must leave the system and let the 50% who play and party make their own way.

(And yes, this article was triggered not only by the new research out, but the fact that my 1040 is sitting right in front of me and I need an antacid to make this "feel" OK.)

Scientific researchers have found about five different "types" of people.

The three we will talk about today are the Cooperators, the Defectors, and the Punishers.

Cooperators go earn money and allow themselves to be taxed instead of going to jail.

Punishers are people who punish Defectors, causing all to cooperate.

NOW STOP

The concept of taxes is not actually a bad concept. It's essential at some level in large societies.

To use 5-10% of a person's income to pay for roads, sewer, clean water and defense is a very good thing. (And it doesn't take more than 10% to do this.)

Agreed?

To use 40% is criminal.

That's not a metaphor.

Defectors find a way to not pay taxes or worse, get money for doing nothing.

"Disability" for people who can walk and talk, welfare, food stamps, medical for nada.

(Don't even start. I grew up very, very poor with 4 other kids and a Mom who refused accepting stolen goods like welfare, food stamps, medical no matter who they were ...taken... from.)

For the paralyzed, the completely brain damaged, they have my fullest sympathy and support. Life dealt them a horrible hand I want and do actively help these people.

The guy who takes a disability check from a job and doesn't go back out and work because his legs or back hurts or his poor hands aren't as quick as they once were...well... my disgust level is elevated...the person who can go into a grocery store and pull out food stamps because they don't have "a job," that's sickening.

If someone can add, open a wallet, and shop they can do just about anything.

To Be Continued... Check Back Soon!

Influence: Are You a Defector (Freeloader), Punisher or Cooperator (part 2)

2008-04-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

Aren't those the people you want to keep alive, to keep employing everyone else?

Nope.

It isn't fair that THEY have ALL THAT money.

KEYPOINT: I mean it IS fair, but the majority of people have an EQUALIZER built into their brain instead of an EQUITIZER.

And those distinctions are pretty huge.

EQUALIZER
EQUITIZER

Most people see them as the same thing.

Obviously, they aren't.

And "this" is precisely what happens in every day real life.

The people who "play" and "party" demand that things be "EQUAL."

The person who works two jobs to earn more money to support their family ends up paying about 4 (FOUR!) times the amount of tax (call "tax" what you will, it's stealing...someone taking your suff without you okeedokeeing it)...than if they would have one job.

I'm in the process of "paying" "my taxes" (isn't that a wonderful turn of a phrase?! I'm not "paying my taxes," I'm being given a choice between parting with the 40% plus or sitting next to Teabag on Alcatraz).

When I was a kid, I saved coins and bought silver dimes whenever I saved enough money to do so.

When I was a sophomore, another kid from the neighborhood broke into my bedroom and stole seven years of savings. All of it.

Same thing happens today by the same kid now working for the "government."

Except now he's told to do it. In those days he was told he shouldn't do it.

Funny how times change...

Hey...you try it.

Go to the neighbor's house, take the keys to her car, get in the car and drive, wave.

Tell her she's "paying her taxes."

And that's in the USA. A "free" country. That's in the UK, Australia, Canada...

But wait, you can't just take people's stuff. I must be exaggerating to make a point right?

Of...course...I...am...

So it's actually wrong for someone to come into my house (except the government) and steal my stuff; but it's authorized, approved and demanded by "the people" to "take" my money.

And we are taught that it's OK now for the kid to come into the bedroom and steal the stuff because I worked harder and for 16 hours each day from age 12 forward.

We should've gone and BOUGHT STUFF with our money so it wouldn't be quite as OK to "take" it....

See how that "feels different" inside?

Doesn't "feel" right that the government (your neighbor) comes and grabs your car, but it's OK to grab the money that bought the car....

Part 3 Coming Soon!

Influence: Are You a Defector (Freeloader), Punisher or Cooperator (PART 1)

2008-04-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

...so now we need to punish Warren Buffett...

...after all, he's now the world's richest man...that means that he has more than any other individual on the planet.

...problem is, he's such a dang likeable guy...you really don't feel like taking his money...

Most people will tell you that he doesn't "deserve" to have "all that money."

But what (logical) argument can someone really make?

Exactly.

There aren't any.

He really does deserve to keep what is his; and he has earned it...

What could possibly compel a person to want to work two jobs only to have a greater percentage of their money taken (uh, I mean taxed) by "government" with the full support of others in the community/nation. (In other words stolen, though stolen is redefined as "taxed" when convenient.)

The System is designed to punish those who work long hard hours and reward those who don't.

If someone came to your house and took 40% of your posessions I imagine you would become irritable. You worked hard for those possessions while everyone else was out on holiday. (I know, I know...50% in Europe, but you guys are now paying for the decisions you made at the polls long ago when you wanted "National Health Care" and other idiotic programs to put the government in charge ...of...well just about everything.)

After all, it just makes sense to put people with the least education, people who didn't make it at the firm...in charge...

So, along came "the people" ...they took your money while you were gone at work, and gave it to those who don't work, or those who only work one job.

Your bad.

And that family who was at work while "the people" took their money come home and wonder what they did wrong.

Punishment of those who work the hardest, who produce the most... how can it be?

To be continued...

Meanwhile, come visit Kevin Hogan's website for more articles! Click here!

Rapid Influence (Part 6)

2008-04-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

The Most Powerful Regret

Regret is most powerful when people do the opposite of what they see themselves as (action or inaction) and they lose, make a mistake, fail, screw up.

"Oh Kevin, it's because deep down people don't want a black man, a white woman in charge. We'll regret that, right?!"

Nope. These are Democrat and Repulican issues. People on the fence don't give a rip if Barak is a man or Hillary is white. (Oh, it was the other problems....) Fence Sitters by definition HAVE BRAINS, which is why they are on the fence and not voting a ticket. They don't belong to the Republic Church or the Democratic Free Food for All groups.

Now, here's something that will COST a candidate the election but won't WIN it for them. Religion. ....Bush wasn't a cult, heck what would be?...we've been desensitized to "God" and "faith" in the White House, the fence sitters would DEEPLY REGRET a replication of that experience.

Fence sitters don't want to see someone talking to God and then the President of Iran....but even though this is close...it still doesn't WIN the election...it only LOSES it for someone....

Remember....

Regret is most powerful when people do the opposite of what they see themselves as (action or inaction) and they lose, make a mistake, fail, screw up.

That's where regret is the greatest.

What Causes this Mess?

Consistency and classical conditioning cause this mess and it reinforces the "inactive" person to further inaction in the future.

Regret is felt most deeply when someone loses/makes a mistake AND when they did the opposite of what their personality normally would have done. Pairing the two together is what quite often causes deep regret.

If they follow their general personality direction, they would not have felt any significant regret and they know it... and in the future they are much less likely to move in opposition to "who they are" as a person.

By the way, can you imagine these two very different people being married to each other?

One person is an "action" person and the other an "inaction" person. The inaction person will be upset with the action person in the majority of the decisions made, because in a majority of situations, the action will cost. The action person will be wrong (as viewed in the short-term) and make more mistakes in the short-term. In general, when people take an action they either lose or win fairly big. (So big that it erases all the small losses of the failures from taking actions.)

In general when people "take an inaction," ...they do nothing.... nothing significant seems to happen. (As we have seen, this apparent fact is quite incorrect.)

And so when you are attempting to influence someone, you now know that it is the personality "direction" or "attitude" that will most often influence the individual's ultimate decision. If you ask someone to move in a direction opposite of their standard direction, they will feel anticipated regret immediately and great regret when failure happens, regardless of whether the decision made sense.

OK, people have told me that sometimes my articles are too long even though they contain awesome information...sometimes they "feel overwhelmed."

Well, I'd regret overwhelming anyone with any more information today, so I guess we'll finish this next week.

More Articles Coming Soon!

Rapid Influence (Part 5)

2008-04-13T18:53:00.001-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

Back to our "21" game in the Casino for a moment.

....There are dozens of these actions that players playing "21" should do, but can't pull the trigger on because of the regret that awaits them. If they "hit" (take a card), they feel they will break and lose.

In fact, all games in a Casino have this in common: The more decisions required, the less profitable the game. Where people are allowed to fulfill their gut-level inaction options, they find games that the Casino makes the most money on....by far.

So what happens at the "21" game is this:

The player who knows how to play profitably draws to the 16 and goes over 21. No regrets. Just part of the way it works.

The player who doesn't know how to play profitably draws to the 16 and goes over 21.
TONS of regret. "I shouldn't have done that!"

You assure the player who is upset, "You did the right thing."
The dealer takes the money away...and your words fall on deaf ears.

Two people. Same outcome. (They lost.) Two very different sets of feelings.

And those feelings and learned instincts will cause the second player to go broke in the Casino and then back in real life. He will allow the anticipated regret of failure in all of its manifestations to stop him from doing the right thing.

..."OH! I know, it's terrorism. Bush got elected on terrorism. You said it yourself Kevin, that's all he talked about was National Security and that's why he got elected. We'll tell Barak/Hillary to talk only about National Security"...

Nope. This is all old news. We've become desensitized to Osama bin Laden. No one thinks about it outside of the military. Even the newspapers don't put the guy's rants in the news section any more. He rarely makes the comics. YouTube viewers don't care about him anymore. The guy is history.

But you'll see Democrats trying to look strong and push security and Iraq votes and weird stuff that is long desensitized. Even people who were demanding withdraw from Iraq don't protest anymore. There is no more raw emotion left on the subject.

...good try, though...

"So Kevin it's not Iraq, it's not Health Care, it's not National Security....there's NOTHING left! Oh wait! It's subprime mortgages right?"

Good try. But do you really think fence sitters have subprime mortgages? Do you think they feel sorry for some moron who can't add? Do you think fence sitters care about the right wing idiots who invest in banks who loan to people who can't add. No subprime is a right wing/left wing issue. There's no discussion needed here. It doesn't affect anyone and only can make you look bad talking about it...but good try. It does make a lot of headlines...Talk about subprime and you lose the fence sitter because she is bored with it. She wasn't an idiot and she didn't invest in banks or reinsurers....

Consider this,

Two Blackjack players who don't know how to play profitably.
Each player has a 16 vs. 10.
One player hits the 16 with a Jack and breaks. 26. He loses.
The other player stands and watches the dealer show his hidden card, a 5 for a total of 15. The dealer must hit and gets another 5. Dealer total: 20.
Dealer wins.
Which player feels the most regret?

You guessed it. The one who took the card and lost. The player who stayed and lost feels very little regret. (And he will be upset at the player who DID the right thing because in this case it happened to result in a loss.)

Why?

Because that person DID nothing wrong. They didn't take a card. (Actually their inaction WAS wrong but that's not how it's seen by the player or how it is felt inside!)

Blackjack is like life. If you play with your gut, you won't regret it in the short run but you will in the long run. In fact, "evidence" will teach you that if you follow your gut you will seemingly make "good decisions" and stay out of trouble. You "feel" like you are doing the right thing because you are regretting fewer and fewer of your "choices" (inactions) but what is really happening is your stack of chips is dwindling...in blackjack and in life.

Inaction FEELS right because it brings no immediate regret.

Only looking back does the person then realize the mistakes they were making by doing nothing!

Inaction typically leads to ultimate loss and failure even when it "feels right" to not take action.

And it goes deeper and the distinctions become more powerful.

Can-Do Versus No-Do

Some people approach life with a "do attitude" or an "action attitude trait." Sometimes they win. Sometimes they lose. But this is who they are. They tend to take actions when presented with an opportunity.

Others approach life with a "no do attitude" or an "inaction attitude trait." They almost always feel like they made the right decision. And generally there is apparent evidence to prove it. These people tend to not take actions when presented with an opportunity.

These two people will experience regret or anticipated regret at very different times. If you know when, you can change your entire approach in influencing them!

When is regret most powerful? To be continued in Part 6!

Rapid Influence (Part 3)

2008-04-12T16:01:00.001-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

People Tend to Mis-appropriate Cause and Effect

Just because a specific choice is the right decision to make from a logical point of view, this in no way influences the person deciding. Quite the opposite. They will do what they FEEL is the right thing to do, in the face of factual knowledge to the opposite.

No, it's not Health Care. Health Care is a left-wing issue. Fence sitters don't have it in their top three. But the Democrats will babble endlessly about Health Care thinking it will get them votes...it will get them ZERO...so what is it?....Keep readin'....

....cause and effect... A fun example. (Digress with me as we step into a casino.)

Do you play Blackjack? 21? This is a simple game where the player competes in cards against the dealer and whoever gets closest to 21 without going over wins the bet.

There is a specific way to play Blackjack that ensures you will play a very "break-even game." Computer-calculated. Unquestionably correct. The casino will let you bring a business-card sized "cheat sheet" with correct plays calculated by mathematical formula... with you... to the table because they know you won't follow what is on the card. They know you'll follow your gut and eventually throw the card out!

(So far this is a powerful metaphor for life isn't it?)

Like life, "21" is often a counterintuitive game.

Most people won't make those hard choices because they involve taking an action. Casinos bank on this and then put expensive chandeliers up with the profits. The Cocktail Waitress is simply another pleasant added distraction, but no matter how distracting, she is nothing compared to people's predictable decision to throw out the right thing to do in lieu of doing what feels right.

What am I talking about?

You're playing "21" and your cards total 16. The dealer has a 10. If you don't draw a card, you will lose 3/4 of the time. If you do draw a card, you will lose a little less than 3/4 of the time. So unless you are "counting cards," there is nothing to think about. You simply take a card. You do the right thing and over time you will lose...less.

But then human nature comes along.

If you do the right thing, the smart thing, you will go over 21 about 2/3 of the time. In other words, taking a card will "cause" you to lose about 2/3 of the time. You have lost, you don't even get to see what would have happened had you remained inactive. Stayed put. Classical conditioning tells you that you will REGRET taking a card in the future. So, you won't and don't. And it will cause you to lose a lot more money!

Because you lose 3/4 of the time when you have 16 and the dealer has 10 and most of those times are when you take another card, your emotional brain connects loss with taking a card. Your gut is taught, "stand on 16." And of course like all guts, it's wrong.

A Vital Key to the Human Psyche
And this is a vital key to understanding the human psyche and decision making:

People constantly misattribute cause and effect.

They "see" that something leads to failure when they do it, so they won't do it again. They think they are "learning"...and it is an illusion.

I was researching aspartame (think: artificial sweetener like Nutrasweet) again the other day. Yes, another friend told me that my Diet Coke habit would give me a brain tumor or some equally horrifying outcome. Being wrong doesn't bother me, especially when it comes to brain tumors...so... I'm wondering whether any research has come out showing that it might indeed be bad for you. I find a "credentialed" woman who said,

"Since the release of aspartame in the 1970's we have seen a huge rise in obesity, Parkinson's and..."

And of course people take that kind of a sentence to mean that one caused the other and because of misattribution of cause and effect, the average person will conclude as the nutritionist did, that the artificial sweetener causes all these problems. Of course, the following sentence is also true.

* "Since 'Nutritionist' became a respected profession in the 1970's, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity, Parkinson's, oh AND minorities and Mormons running for President...and...it's because of the high level of use of aspartame."

* "Since the the first successful moon launch in 1969, we have seen a huge rise in obesity and Parkinson's...."

* "Since the Beatles broke up, we have seen a huge rise in obesity and Parkinson's...."

(You knew The Beatles influenced culture negatively, but I bet you didn't know they caused obesity and Parkinson's! Hah!)

Tying two ideas together, whether related or not in a logical fashion, makes it easy for the person who hasn't been taught to think accurately that something causes something else.

By the way, the point is not that the woman was totally wrong. She could have been at least partially correct. I was unable to find research to back up her babbling fear-inducing coma-like interesting writing, but that doesn't mean she is wrong. (She's wrong.)

Nor does her faulty thinking, which is very persuasive indeed, cause her assertion to be true.

The point of course, is that we link one thing with another and immediately create a cause and effect scenario in our minds.

These very same cause and effect linkages cause people to make a lot of decisions for inaction that would have otherwise increased their chances of success, happiness, finding love, etc.

Someone asks another person out on a date.
They are rejected.
They do it again with the same result.
And, they stop asking, assuming that the other 4 billion people of the same sex will have the same response.

I don't want to be rejected.
You don't want to be rejected.
We don't want to feel the regret of looking bad and feeling rejected.
Therefore, we stop asking.

People are rapidly conditioned to think "from the gut" and make poor decisions most of the time, which is why they don't act on anything in life.

Part 4 Coming Soon!

Looking For More Articles? click here!

Rapid Influence? Get Them Past Their Feeling Of Regret (Part 2)

2008-04-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

by Kevin Hogan

Ever wonder why just about every ethics breach in Congress happens with an (R) and not a (D) after the guy's name? ....and yet the party gets elected and elected and re-elected....

Why?

Because it is not the ONE thing that the voter would regret. The guy might have paid someone off. Doesn't matter. That doesn't cost you an election. The voter's anticipated regret does.

Exceptions?

You bet. Get too arrogant or TOO something that people identify the voter with the politician; and THAT can cause a landslide.

But that won't determine the election in November....

Back to your life....

Why is it that as people age, they look back and say, "I wish I would have....?"

You rarely hear anyone say, "Geez, I wish I wouldn't have..."

People Deeply Regret Their Own Inertia...

From the long view back, people regret not doing things. They regret not taking even the smallest risks and chances.

They regret their inertia when it came to something outside of their normal everyday life.

Why didn't they simply do it when they had an opportunity?

KEYPOINT: When influencing others, address THIS level of regret.

"I know what it's like to be presented with an opportunity only to deeply regret that I passed on it later...."
Quick Notes In Understanding Human Behavior
Understanding this will enlighten you to understanding every person you ever meet from this moment forward....

As you know from the detailed analysis in The Science of Influence Library CDs, regret and the anticipation of future regret are powerful mechanisms that dominate decision-making in the "now."

People Don't Want to Be Wrong

People don't want to be wrong.
They don't want to make a mistake. (This is why people and companies who try and get a product perfect the first time it comes out go broke. The fear of imperfection is incredibly destructive.)

People would rather get a divorce and spend millions on the divorce than admit they said something wrong in a fight. You were right, it just cost you a million bucks....

$10,000 KEY: If someone takes an actual action, they have the potential to be wrong or make a mistake.
They might look stupid.
They might feel embarrassed.
They might take hits from family, friends, the public, their community.

BUT

$10,000 KEY: If they do nothing...then there is nothing to fear. If people do NOT act, then they can't do anything wrong, make mistakes or look bad. They will remain hidden in the crowd and that...is present time psychological safety.

Anything you want someone to do will come squarely up against the feelings of anticipating regret. In almost every case, regret will emerge victorious and the person will "pass" or say "maybe next time" or "I'm not ready for that yet" or anything that doesn't require taking one step forward.

It takes an enormous amount of persuasive energy to overcome the anticipation of regret.

And there is more...

WAIT! Health Care is the "issue" right?! Everyone wants Health Care; that has to be it, right Kevin?

Part 3 Coming Soon!

Rapid Influence? Get Them Past Their Feeling Of Regret (Part 1)

2008-04-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Hogan

"If I do this I'm an idiot..."
"I shouldn't have..."
"I wish I wouldn't have...."
"I'll regret it..."
"I knew it was a mistake."
It's all going to go wrong..."

Want to know how the Democrats typically screw up elections with arguably superior candidates?

Write that question down. I'll come back to it and show you how they'll probably do it again this year...because...in large part of what you are going to find out today...read on...

Getting Past the 3 Levels of Regret
There are three levels of regret in the human psyche.
In this article, I want to show you how to break through the wall of regret. More than that, you will learn all 3 levels, how they developed, how the fear of regret stops the processes of influence and persuasion; and more importantly, how the fear of regret erodes the spirit of the person.

KEYPOINT: The feeling of regret is something that people do almost anything to avoid.

That's a scientific fact. Four years ago, Bush is running against Kerry. Kerry talks about everything except one thing. National Security/Terrorism. You get the, "You'll regret it feeling by voting Kerry so you vote Bush. After all, you assume your life is more important than health care, the economy and everything else....Powerful stuff.

And we don't want to regret making the BIGGEST mistake of our lives even if we're going to make #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6 in it's place.

Interesting huh?

I'll be back here and show you how the Democrats are screwing this up again. (They don't learn.)

KEYPOINT: When people feel they might regret doing something, you can assume that they will say "no."

....so if you were running for President, what do you think the people on the fence (Democrats and Republicans don't matter, it's us folk on the fence that determine elections.) FEAR most? What do you think they'd regret the most? NOT Democrats and Republicans, the 10% who are not necessarily "in the middle" but...definitely on the fence....

...I'm on the fence. Do I still worry if Hillary or Barak was President that Osama would bomb Obama?

...Nope. That button won't work in this election.

You think my number one worry is about the war in Iraq continuing? That if I vote wrong I'd regret it in THIS area?

Nope...That button won't work in the election.

So what would us "fence folk" regret? What is the KEY to the election? .... I'm coming to it...Let's go to your life before we go back to November....

Worse: Regret happens on three levels, and if you want to motivate others or simply make the sale, you 'll need to get past all three levels.

"As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do."

Does Sex Really Sell? (Part 3)

2008-04-08T13:03:00.001-07:00

What Else Matters?

"If you go to the casinos, people are wearing skimpy costumes, they're giving you free alcohol, there are bells and lights and things like that, which don't necessarily seem related to the odds of the gambling," Knutson said. "But these are cues that might activate brain regions that encourage risk-taking and therefore get people to gamble more."

So does draping a seductive woman over the hood of a car in an advertisement really help sell that car?

"Well, yes and no," Knutson said. "It may work sometimes under some conditions."

"Our trials are happening relatively fast, changing on a second-to-second basis," he noted. "We're forcing people to immediately make a decision, and the emotional stimuli appear in close temporal proximity to the decision itself.

KEYPOINT: "If you have these kinds of appeals, you'd better make it easy for people to make an immediate decision. You should put them under time pressure," he said.

Knutson emphasized that there is still ample work to be done in deciphering the effects of emotional stimuli on behavior. He plans to study women's responses in the future, as well as to examine other types of emotional stimuli. He also intends to examine the influence of time, to see how transient or lasting the influences of various emotional stimuli might prove to be.

Just the Beginning...

"This is just a first step," he said. "It's an existence proof that some irrelevant emotional stimuli can influence some immediate financial decisions and that we can track down one brain basis for this influence."

In addition to Knutson and Kuhnen, the co-authors of the NeuroReport paper are G. Elliott Wimmer, formerly of Stanford University, and Piotr Winkielman of the University of California-San Diego.

Adapted from materials provided by Stanford University.

Stanford University (2008, April 3). "Irrelevant Image Of Attractive Woman Can Make A Man More Willing To Take Big Financial Risks." ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 3, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com; /releases/2008/04/080403104433.htm

For More Articles Click Here

Does Sex Really Sell (Part 2)

2008-04-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

New Research Study

Knutson and collaborator Camelia Kuhnen (who received her PhD from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2006 and is now assistant professor of finance at Northwestern University) had already shown in a 2005 study using fMRI that brain activity could be used to predict whether people were about to take a financial risk. When they were, an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens showed increased activation.

When they were about to choose to avoid the risk, a different area called the insula showed increased activation.

"We knew that we should be looking at [the nucleus accumbens] from the previous study. But what we didn't know is whether we could somehow control the activation in that area by presenting some completely irrelevant stimulus," Knutson said. "And whether that would change activation in that area and actually change behavior."

Knutson and his colleagues studied heterosexual male undergraduate college students. The images the men viewed were intended to stimulate an emotional response. Erotic images were used to elicit a positive response, snakes and spiders to prompt a negative response, and office supplies to trigger a neutral response.

In case any of the subjects found office supplies more repellent than snakes and spiders, the researchers had the men rate each image after the scans. They then derived personalized ratings from each of the participants, which were used to make sure that whatever brain activation they observed was properly correlated with the actual emotional response of the viewer.

After viewing each image, the participants immediately had to decide whether to take the high-risk option of gambling a dollar or the low-risk option of gambling a dime. Regardless of their choice, they had a 50-50 chance of winning or losing. Knutson and his colleagues gave each man $10 to gamble with prior to entering the MRI scanner. "We wanted them to care," Knutson said. Depending on the men's gambles and the random outcomes, they won or lost. "We took that money back if they lost it," he said.

What Were the Findings?

"What we saw is that when they viewed the erotic pictures, the activation in their nucleus accumbens increased compared to the other stimuli, and also that they had increased activation in that region before choosing the high-risk gamble," Knutson said.

The researchers then applied a statistical analysis to determine whether the activation in the nucleus accumbens accounted for some of the behavioral effect. "The answer was yes, at least in the case of the positive stimuli," Knutson said. "After people had seen those erotic pictures, they tended to pick the high-risk gamble more often, especially if they had been picking the low-risk gamble before.

"The interesting finding from an economic standpoint is that these completely irrelevant stimuli, these pictures that have nothing to do with the gambles or the history of outcomes that people have experienced with these gambles, still influence behavior," he said. "They seem to do so at least partially by influencing activation of these brain regions."

The findings have implications for what might make emotional appeals effective or ineffective in applications ranging from advertising to finance to politics and, perhaps not surprisingly, gambling.

Part 3 Of This Article Will Be Posted Tomorrow!

Does Sex Really Sell? (Part 1)

2008-04-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

Does Sex Really Sell?

The question is...really odd to me.

My mind says, "Geez watching two people having sex next to the copier could be interesting, but more likely, it will be an ugly sight. Think of the people in your office. All of them. How many do you want to see having sex? Exactly....not many."

BUT, on the other hand...

The question really is a representation of what the American Culture defines as "s^x"..., which is, indeed, an attractive female.

American Definition of Sex Formula:
Sex = Attractive Female

Not a female, not a man, not an attractive man. A "7" or better perhaps?

I don't know. The people who ask the question never define it beyond the implication...

That's a pretty interesting thing, don't you think?

OK, so does s*x (an attractive woman) truly "sell?"

Auto Industry: Attractive women plus cool cars equal brisk sales for auto dealers as men snap up those cars, prompted — or so advertising theory goes — by the association. But is the human male really so easily swayed?

Does "Sex" Make a Man Reach for His Wallet?

Can the irrelevant image of an alluring female posing by the merchandise actually encourage a heterosexual man to purchase it?

Possibly, according to a new study by Stanford researchers.

KEYPOINT: The study showed that when heterosexual men are exposed to positive emotional stimuli — in this case, erotic photos of a man and woman — an area of the brain associated with anticipation of reward is stimulated.

In the immediate aftermath of that stimulation, men are consistently more likely to take bigger financial risks than they otherwise would, said Brian Knutson, assistant professor of psychology.

"This is the first study to demonstrate that emotional stimuli can influence financial risk-taking," said Knutson, lead author of a paper describing the research in the current issue of NeuroReport.

The hard evidence was gathered by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of participants' brains as they viewed photographs of positive, negative or neutral subjects and then had to quickly make a decision to choose one of two levels of financial risk in a required gamble.

Part 2 Coming Soon!

Being Wrong Can Pay Off Handsomely... (Part 4)

2008-04-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of notes are worth thinking about from the scientific page. I was leading the elicitation and was standing in front of the group as they opened and closed their eyes and wrote. That certainly could create a bias of some kind by highlighting what they see instead of what they NORMALLY see when they interact with the brand at home or in their car.

The lack of strong negative emotions people get when thinking about the brand, Kevin Hogan, was, for some reason, disturbing to me. I'm not sure I like to be thought of in all of these positive shades of rose.

In fact one of the things I've highlighted in my career are my culturally perceived weaknesses.

And of course that could be part of the reason that loyal friends and customers are not seeing or reporting as many weaknesses as they are, upon further review, aware of.

I don't have these billion dollar goals that people like to see in gurus.

People know I drive a simple car and they know I don't know a damn thing about those four-wheeled buggers….I can take part in political or religious rants on occasion… Reality based living and wealth strategies are highlighted in my work instead of the bogus EZWay philosophies pumped by the gurus…..

I enjoyed my evening at the Playboy mansion and published what I thought were at least somewhat provocative pictures from that night.

Surely that should have brought out negative emotions in some wild-eyed conservatives or feminists or SOMEONE... In fact, you almost want it to from a marketing perspective!

Nothing showed up on the map that I can immediately see.

I have no idea if the POSITIVE feelings were influenced by the above, but NOTHING negative? No buttons of negative emotion pushed?

Obviously, "The Secreteers" and such would have a different map, but that isn't important because they aren't loyal customers…there are always maps of a brand of people who aren't customers or clients, but that is not the stuff of consensual metaphor maps of loyal customers...

KEYPOINT: Your metaphor maps point out how your loyal customers and clients experience the brand. They don't try and convert those who do not self select from the brand meeting the consumer.

Metaphor maps teach you how to market to the world so you attract those people who will be long-term loyal customers.

The biggest lesson for me remains that I had overestimated my certainty of how people Experience this brand and grossly underestimated what they Feel about the brand.

Finally, on another note of scientific interest.

I had just had a rant prior to the elicitation. Probably the only time over the week I was irritable. Someone said they had the wrong package of bonuses that were included in their course package. I bet anyone in the audience that there couldn't be a mistake and I bet $1000 cash for anyone who was thinking there were any mistakes in their bonus packages.

(I really don't recommend this strategy for speakers and trainers. I simply was tired and had just pumped three hours of intense download and didn't want to hear any unnecessary whining.)

THAT should have had SOME NEGATIVE effect especially from the person of discussion.

Nothing.

It was as if I hadn't blown off the steam in the first place.

Was I forgiven the rant or was it justified in the minds of others to the point they didn't want to hear anyone whining, either?

These things, of course, we can never know.

One thing is certain. No matter how well you know your customer.... and how well you think you know what they think....never allow yourself to become overconfident. Finding out what your customer REALLY thinks is absolutely crucial and you NEED to do that!

Upcoming Article: "Does Sex Really Sell?"

Looking for More Articles? Click Here!

Being Wrong Can Pay Off Handsomely... (Part 3)

2008-04-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

(For Part 1 and 2 of this article please scroll down)

It turned out there were more than a few; they were very powerful, surprisingly positive (compassionate, approachable, authentic, passionate, kind, and 16 other positive emotions people felt about the brand in a consensual fashion.) In other words, they were consistent among the people in the audience.

I don't think of myself in most of the terms that people felt about me, but the people were clear that "compassionate" is not the same as "kind" and that "passionate" is not the same as "intense," and intense was one of the biggies…"funny" was most interestingly not the same as "sense of humor." "Provocative" I expected.

In no way did I expect the emotional mass of feelings, however.

There was only one negative "emotion" or "label" attached to the brand and that was "Bad Ass" which I thought was interesting, but although it wasn't consensual, it was certainly something I consider true in some aspects, especially in the coaching areas of the brand.

There was a color that was on the map: Red.

(I'm not sure why, but I find it interesting that the "Kevin Hogan" brand is a RED product. Covert Persuasion book cover perhaps? Something more profound? I asked what color Dave Lakhani was if I was "red." "Blue," was the answer…I kid you not.)

The next product I release will have a red base. If the map is correct, it should trigger a great deal of attention.

KEYPOINT: To not utilize information on your consensual metaphor map could be costing you millions or more.

Well over a dozen unique feelings toward a brand is very unusual.

Hershey's had four, I believe.

My heart pounded before doing this because you never know what is going to happen "live" without a script, and if people start rattling off things you wish they wouldn't have, then you can be in trouble.

That didn't happen.

I haven't talked a lot about metaphor maps and associative connections between "brand" and "customer/client" outside of the Science of Influence CD's, but the information the audience revealed to me is worth an enormous amount of money for the future of the brand.

It allows for highlighting parts of the brand that haven't been highlighted in the past, or at least I didn't think they were.

KEYPOINT: The crucial factor, of course, is that your most loyal customers and clients have very similar maps of your brand.

If you want to be successful and have a brand with longevity, you must know what your customers and clients truly think of you and, of course, continue to be loyal to them in generating the feelings that they experience when they take part in your brand.

To find out some interesting scientific implications, turn the page...

Part 4 Posted Tomorrow!

For More Articles Click Here!

Being Wrong Can Pay Off Handsomely... (Part 2)

2008-04-02T13:05:00.001-07:00

I speculated that people would input "Coffee, Ginger Peach Tea, Survivor, Lost, Apprentice, Mansion, Gold, Persuasion, Body Language," and six other markers of identification.

I was amazed to find that not one person's metaphor map had "body language" inputted, yet, I'm well known as one of the body language experts on the planet. But not ONE person had that associative marker. In fact, the majority of people who end up at my web site from search engines found it as a result of typing in "body language."

I'm well known to corporate America and to media as the body language expert, but for those who actually interact with and buy the brand, it is not a big part of the brand they are buying.

That was dumbfounding.

It was no surprise that "influence/persuasion" were heavily weighted on the metaphor map.

An interesting distinction was "Influencer" - NOT something I had considered, but it was consensual over and above "persuasion/influence."

"Survivor" made the cut, but not the other TV shows I so often talk about like Lost, Apprentice, House, CSI, did. It was Survivor. Maybe it is a coincidence, but that is probably the most powerful association (word/feeling) I have about myself from childhood, into adulthood. An interesting coincidence.

I was sure The Mansion would be at the front of people's minds after having so many hits on the photos of The Mansion on the website.

Not one person. Forget having 30 people have an association there.

Again I was rather surprised.

KEYPOINT: People see you, they experience you in a context and specific constructs in their mind. You are more than free associations in someone's mind, but those free associations often represent their entire picture of you or your product.

"Ginger Peach Tea" and "Coffee" were both HUGE associations with the Kevin Hogan brand.

Keypoint: Repetition of theme and context are not only crucial, they are REMEMBERED and ASSOCIATED to you. Make sure those triggers are something people will experience daily if at all possible. In the case of Coffee and Tea, most English speaking people have one or the other. It's not necessary that they have Ginger Peach Tea, as long as TEA is in the mix.

That was neither surprising or even unexpected. It was interesting that it was much more important than so many other things.

What was really fascinating were the emotions people felt about the brand, Kevin Hogan.

I'm not going to go into depth here because this is where the most valuable marketing information about the brand Kevin Hogan comes in.

Suffice it to say that I did think a few powerful associations would be highlighted.

To find out some of the powerful associations, turn the page...

Coming soon... Part 3!

Want More Articles? Click Here!

Being Wrong Can Pay Off Handsomely... (Part 1)

2008-03-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

At Influence: Boot Camp 2008 we did a fascinating experiment. (What is Influence Boot Camp? Find out more here!)

Part of what you are about to uncover is loosely based on the work of Dr. Gerald Zaltman at Harvard. The other part…well…watch…

I had everyone draw a circle on a sheet of paper and then lines extending out from the circle like hands on a clock. Then as on a Mind Map (ala Tony Buzan) I had people close their eyes, clear their mind, think of the words/brand Kevin Hogan, open their eyes and write, in an open circle, the FIRST WORD that came to their mind.

Then I repeated the process and asked people to write down What they FELT when I said, "Kevin Hogan" and repeated the process over and over for feelings, thoughts and first words.

KEYPOINT: For most brands and products, there are about 7-12 unique characteristics, qualities, feelings, thoughts attached to a brand which are generally held by people (consensus maps) who loyally use a brand.

If you can get about a dozen loyal brand users to interview, you can usually hammer out an excellent metaphor map of the loyal customer's feelings and thoughts about the brand.

….One of the very few forms of market research that works for real world products, people and services.

It's a bit more complex than I've described, but if I leave it here, you will get the basics.

My guess was that the brand "Kevin Hogan" would have about 10-15 unique associative constructs. I am well aware that "Kevin Hogan" is a complex construct because there are actually a few different fields for which that brand is known. (Success, influence, selling, medical, therapy, hypnosis, wealth building, etc.) And there are a few different ways people have interacted with the brand where that interaction caused a continued interaction.

….It turned out, there were almost three dozen unique associative constructs in the influence/persuasion brand of Kevin Hogan.

How could I have been so wrong…?

Earlier that morning, I had written down what I thought those 10 - 15 associative constructs would be.

I only got six right, and there were TWENTY additional constructs.

In other words, I thought I 100% understood and "knew my brand."

I thought I knew how I was "seen" and "felt" in the minds and hearts of others.

I was dead wrong...at least in what I didn't know.

I truly believed that I could self-evaluate myself as a brand. (Overconfidence heuristic, yes?)

KEYPOINT: In business and in life, you see yourself from one filter and others see you from another. Those fliters can be as different as night and day, or, they can be similar, but until you elicit the RIGHT KIND of information, you will never know.

A packed house of people showed me who I was, what I was and how I interacted with them, in their minds and hearts.

Because it dawned on me that this information would be incredibly valuable to my competition if I released it all, I've decided to give you some of the information and you'll have to wait for the rest when Boot Camp 2008 is released on DVD.

To find out what was on the Metaphor Map in Part 2. Coming Soon!

Can you really run their brain? And more importantly do you really want to?! Read more...

The Secret: Law of Attraction Teleseminar

2007-03-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

The Secret- The Law of Attraction - The Seductive Movement Completely Exposed

The hit movie and runaway best selling book have struck a chord in Americans.

What is it about The Secret that has captivated the minds of millions?

Authors of The Secret say that your mind vibrates electromagnetic waves
that entrain with other objects and living beings that vibrate similarly in the
universe and bring them magnetically to the individual. "Like attracts like,
just like a magnet." (Magnets: Opposites attract.)

Specifically, Author Rhonda Byrne says that you can "think of a feather
and it will appear." She says that it's "as easy to attract $10,000 as it is $1."
And, she says it's all a law that is proven by science and was known by
Churchill, Einstein, Plato and Beethoven, to name a few.

She quotes Buckminster Fuller as having said that there is an abundance
of wealth on the planet, "enough for $12 MILLION dollars per person.

What possibly could be wrong with such a law of science?

One co-author says, 'It's like the law of gravity..."it works all the time, every time."

Wednesday night you can join Blair Warren, Dave Lakhani and Kevin Hogan
and find out just what lies behind the claims of The Secret. This is everything
Oprah and Larry King didn't tell you...

* Is there really a Law of Attraction that works like gravity...every time...
all the time?
* Is all you have to do to get ANYTHING you want in life, "picture it in your
mind, get a good feeling about it, be open to receive it?"
* What was the influence of Spiritual Beings on the exposition of this Universal Law?
* Why were some people cut from the movie at the last minute?
* Why have the promoters of the book and movie stopped doing television and media interviews?
* What dangers lie in your family because of The Secret?
* Why is The Secret the single most potentially destructive book published since Mein Kampf?
* If The Secret is so dangerous, why did it attract some of the world's best marketers?
* Someone told you, "The Secret worked for me. I know it's for real." Find out what that really means.
* Do Countries really attract genocide? (Lesson Two of The Secret says "yes." What's the truth?)
* Do little girls really cause their own rapes and murders. Secreters say "yes." What's the truth?

To register for this special 90 minute event of the year, simply use either link below.
https://plus33.safe-order.net/kevinhogan/securedteleseminar.htm

The Secret - Law of Attraction Teleseminar

or email thesecret@kevinhogan.com and our staff will email you back, your
call in number and personal identification code to use when you dial in.
Please also have your email address handy when you call in. This teleconference
is a public service and the panel members are not being paid for their time.
It all begins at 6 PM Pacific, 8 PM Central, 9 PM Eastern. If you have a question,
mail it to question@kevinhogan.com and we'll do our best to get your question
answered live. Maybe we can even get you on the air!

The Secret Law of Attraction Rhonda Byrne Lie

2007-03-08T23:40:00.000-08:00

www.kevinhogan.com/TheSecretLawofAttraction-RhondaByrne.htm

The Secret- The Truth Behind The Lie of the Century

Rhonda Byrne says that if you don't want to get fat....

"If you see people who are overweight, do not observe them, but immediately switch your mind to the picture of you in your perfect body and feel it."

Anyone who believes this is a naive or deplorable human being.

Replace the word, "overweight" with a different word, like "handicapped," "people with Cerebral Palsy," "people with Muscular Dystrophy," "people dying of AIDS," people who are paralyzed," "people who are homeless," "people who are starving."

See the problem?

The great teacher's philosophy is if it is ugly, look away, if it feels good, do it; if you don't want it, don't look at it.

People have said, I should "just try it."

Huh?

Why?

I want to become a sociopathic sicko like the Law of Attractioner.

No thanks, I'll use the ATTRACTION PRINCIPLE that I developed about 2002 and take advantage of how the brain works to achieve success.

When people can simple LOOK AWAY from the child with cancer or the burn victim so they can "feel good inside," I'm sorry, that's a bunch of first class crap. That is horrifying to me. I don't want to "try" anything that has this level of cruelty no matter how much chocolate syrup someone puts on it.

And you think I exaggerate the horror of her teaching?

This ....woman.... goes this far and FURTHER.

Here is her response to a question about the women and children being raped and butchered in Rwanda?

"If we are in fear, if we're feeling in our lives that we're victims and feeling powerless, then we are on a frequency of attracting those things to us ... totally unconsciously, totally innocently, totally all of those words that are so important."

Yup, she's saying it's the women and children's fault.

So the Law of Attractioner ladies, are obligated to believe that if they have been raped, it's their fault anyway. They deserved it because that was the result they got.

Insane logic?

A friend of mine attracted a speeding ticket the other day because he was speeding.

The Attractioner works from result to premise.

You got it, therefore, you asked for it.

Same for children that are molested.

Same for those who starve.

Oh yeah, that's making me feel real good inside. Nice warm fuzzy.

It's become almost a religious cult fad that has an obvious viral effect. Lessons to be learned for all marketers here....

But WAIT

There is another problem and this one is even MORE SERIOUS.

People can attract genocide as easily as they can a new BMW. They can attract a feather even if there is no bird.

Shoot.

This is a LAW of SCIENCE.

We are so screwed....

There is nothing to "believe in."

IT is going to "WORK" whether you like it or not.

Like gravity.

Nothing to believe in or "try."

It just WORKS.

Except when it doesn't of course...which is...always.

It wouldn't draw my ire except that it causes pain on the individual and societal level and strips people of their hard earned money.

Marketers....James Cameron, the movie producer has caught onto this and has now indicated he believes that the bones of the family of Jesus have been found. And millions will believe and go see his movie. I'd explain why those bones almost certainly are not from Jesus or his family but time permits one topic today.

Marketers...a lot of people never put their brain in gear. You read the story about Mother Mary in the pizza pan...an obvious miracle...a sign...proof of God...

I mean after all you know what Mary the Mother of Jesus looked like right? You know she uh....wait...they didn't have camera's back then and Jews didn't draw or paint images of people as it was an abomination to their God. Oops. Well IF we knew what she looked like, trust me she'd look like the lady in the pizza pan.

Now, let's just pretend that that was a PHOTOGRAPH in the pizza pan and there have been camera's for two millenia....

What are the odds it would be the Mother of Jesus?

Why would it be the Mother of jesus?

Why wouldn't it be your Mom or Mine????

As soon as you give people what is called a "Prime" they are influenced to believe whatever that Prime was and will think in "contexts" related to the prime.

If I say George Washington...then ask you to write down the name of a man, most people write down the name of a historical figure in American History....like Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin.

if I say Jesus, Christians tend to write one word names like, Paul, John, Mark, Matthew, Thomas.

That's one kind of priming.

Is the photograph in the pizza pan Mary the Mother of Jesus?

Obviously not, but millions will tell you it is, because it "looks just like her," except we haven't a clue what she looked like. Not a clue in the world. But we are primed by the thought of having TV, cell phones that take pictures, you name it....and never remember that there were no images of people in those days painted or drawn by Jews.

And are they the bones of Jesus family?

Why Jesus the son of Joseph and Mary and not one of thousands of other families? The probability is so tiny it's barely worth looking at. (And yes they should look and check it out)

Now you take all this DaVinci-esque cool stuff and pop it on the cover of THE SECRET and you are primed to BELIEVE.

To say this is brilliant marketing is to fall short. It is beyond brilliant. This TV producer with no thought or care for humanity and the human condition certainly can make a quality production. She understands how mainstream women think. She has captured it brilliantly.

And the marketers out there hawking the book did a great job. The best amazon promo I've ever seen.

But really, am thankful that The Secret is a Lie, The Secret isn't anything close to a physical law like gravity.......

.... because if it were true, I would have the ability to cause people's death just by thinking about it...worse...they could cause mine....or I could cure people just by thinking about it...or worse...they could give me some horrible disease by using their thoughts to manipulate the physical universe....

Which of course is one step short of insanity...or every plane that went up would crash and every person with a fear of heights would fall to their death.

Those with a fear of spiders or snakes would attract thousands of them to theatrical terror.

Now STOP.

You think I'm being sarcastic but that is what Rhonda Byrne says happens when you live in fear of something. That's why all the poor Rwandan women and children were butchered, murdered....remember?

And if people stop looking at you, realize it's because people who have THE SECRET don't want to look at fat people. That's how you lose weight.

I kid you not. Rhonda Byrne SAID that in the same interview she explained how the children of Rwanda brought on their own genocide. (not the fault of the killers, the fault of the CHILDREN)

From Newsweek: "The Secret" is saying. Its explicit claim is that you can manipulate objective physical reality—the numbers in a lottery drawing, the actions of other people who may not even know you exist—through your thoughts and feelings. In the words of "author and personal empowerment advocate" Lisa Nichols: "When you think of the things you want, and you focus on them with all of your intention, then the law of attraction will give you exactly what you want, every time." Every time! Byrne emphasizes that this is a law inherent in "the universe," an inexhaustible storehouse of goodies from which you can command whatever you desire from the comfort of your own living room by following three simple steps: Ask, Believe, Receive.

Thankfully, no one, has that kind of power or ability....nor would want it.Kevin Hogan

Mastering Metaphors in their Mind

2006-09-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Mastering Metaphors in Their Mind
(Excerpted from: A Course in Metaphors Copyright 2006 Kevin Hogan)
An advanced home study program in changing behavior, and reprogramming minds.

You learn by metaphors.
People buy because of metaphors.
You think in terms of pictorial metaphors.
You change others' thoughts with metaphors.
You literally determine your happiness (very much unconsciously) by metaphor.
You determine your income by metaphor.
You determine the quality of the person you spend your life with by metaphor.
You determine the quality of that life by metaphor.
…and you determine all that is in control in your future…by metaphor.
Who will benefit from this?

Salespeople
Marketing People
People in Relationships
Therapists
Anyone who needs to gain compliance in any situation
This course in utilizing metaphors includes almost all new information to you and is nothing like you have ever thought of or learned before. Better: You’re going to see why most people teaching and using metaphor are impotent (whether in selling, therapy or relationships) and how to avoid the same mistakes they make.
I hesitate to write about metaphors because when you get past the simplistic view of metaphors as they are currently taught in the fields of hypnosis and NLP, you can get into some waters that are difficult to navigate.

I’m going to show you how metaphors work, how to reprogram your mind or anyone else’s with them, and I’m going to make it a fairly simple task. The most difficult moment is now, because you are learning what metaphors are and how they work. After understanding is gained today, it becomes much easier!

Metaphors literally shape the brain and they literally determine in large part your view of the world and everything about that world, past, present and future.

Let’s see what I mean:

“The Pope is the Father of the Church.”

The Pope is the Father. That means that if I am Catholic, then I must be a child or descendant of some kind, of the Pope. THAT means that I have certain attitudes toward parents and the church, which are probably correlated. I may rebel against both, or I may be subservient to both.

In your brain there are many associations about the Pope. Perhaps they might be:

Infallible,
old man,
the boss,
speaks for God,
tells people how to live.
That picture might look like this at is currently wired in the brain:

Infallible

Speaks for God----Pope---- Old man
/ / / Speaks for God
Tells People how to live /

(We’re pretending that there are five immediate responses to the word Pope in the unconscious mind. There are probably more, including powerful emotions.)
In your brain there are many associations about Father. Perhaps they might be:

Provider (or not) for the family,
Role model,
someone to obey,
someone to help you when you really need it, the boss,
he doesn’t understand,
tells you what to do,
loves you.
In your brain there are many associations about the Church. Perhaps they might be:

A building,
a place that brings comfort,
a place that is boring,
the flock,
confession for absolution,
priest,
God’s house,
communion.

Now. With all of the immediate links to the thoughtforms of Pope, Father and Church, you can make some assumptions.