Books on pursuasion - Suggestions please.

[Manoj]

Thanks Gordon,

There is nothing offensive in your reply. Rather, I am glad that I have been able to get answers of questions from someone who have studied persuasion for more years than my age (42 by the way). Thank you very much.

I shall save my money by not purchasing ' The Remote Influence'. Thanks for the advice.

I shall also google to know more about Maslow Pyramid and POP. Thanks for that also.

Perhaps, it is a mistake on my part to ask questions without specifying my intent for the same. I can understand that any suggestion can only be given in the background of a context — which was missing in my questions.

I am a full time day job guy from India who is slowly making progress in my online side gig. I am offering my services (backlink building) in the SEO industry to some clients and have made good inroads in this business. My success and income is increasing, and I am getting some glimpse of the future where I will be able to leave my day job and work full time on it.

However, the problem is that I only have 1 regular big client (and few small one) who is giving me most of my work. No matter how good they are and how much work these clients are giving me, this situation is just like putting all my eggs in one basket. Unless, I get leads on regular basis from numerous new clients, I will not be in a position to scale up the things.

So, here I am. Trying to get new clients in an ultra-competitive (but highly profitable) SEO industry as a lone ranger. I know that in this industry where a potential client is bombarded by almost similar offers on daily basis, it is extremely difficult to break their preoccupation and want then to listen to me and read my offer.

Hence, this quest on my part to know as much as I can about human behaviour, copywriting, salesmanship & persuasion to make sure that my copy (in whichever form it is- paid fb ads, articles, blog posts, guest post or salesletter) has the maximum chance to get a response from my intended audience.

Apart from finding clients, I have also found that persuasion tactics are immensely useful while searching backlink opportunities for my clients. For example, the negotiation tactics in the book 'Never Split the Difference- by Chriss Voss' have been very helpful in finalizing the deal on so many occasions. This book written by a former FBI hostage negotiator talks about tactical empathy where we slowly lead the negotiation in such a way that the person agree to our demand but think that it is we who have agreed to his demand. Something akin to the strategy given in 'Forbidden Secret..' that says that 'People sometimes believe what they are told, but they always believe what they conclude'.

So, you can see that I am an avid learner of persuasion strategies and applying them also in my business whenever I get chance. However, I feel that I am still an elementary student and I need to know more. My biggest challenge is to create a system where I can get regular new clients in my SEO business.

I would be much obliged if you can advise me on this aspect.

Regards,
Manoj