After fifty years of studying businesses of all kinds Dun & Bradstreet (the world’s leading provider of financial information on companies – their database holds information on 100 million companies!) concluded that the entirety of business wisdom can be summarised in one statement: “Businesses succeed because of high sales; businesses fail because of low sales.  All else is commentary.”

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If you want to become a best selling author then, as “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki has said that clue is in the world “selling”!

As an author you have to take responsibility for selling and promoting your book at every available opportunity.  You need to become good at persuading and influencing people.

One of the books I strongly recommend to people who want to become masters of persuasion is Robert Cialdini’s “Influence”.

Cialdini is a Professor at Arizona State University who has conducted extensive research into the factors that trigger people into automatically complying with another person’s request.

Here is the final one of these six factors, that will show you how, as an author, you can apply them to sell more of your books.

Key 6: SCARCITY

Psychological research shows that people assign more value to opportunities when they are less available.

The scarcity principle holds for two reasons:

1. Things that are difficult to get hold of are seen as more valuable. Think of the lack of availability of certain children’s toys or the latest games console in the market and the strong desire this provokes amongst children and parents to have the item whose availability is limited.
2. As things become less accessible, we lose the freedom to have them. According to psychological reactance theory, human beings respond to the loss of freedoms by wanting to have them even more than before!

The scarcity principle ensures that commodities that are perceived to be in short supply are valued more highly than those that are in abundant supply. Powerful human emotions are aroused when people experience scarcity.

Think of the scenes of people camping out overnight to be first in the queue for a department store sale and then almost literally fighting with each other as the doors of the store opens!

Think of the fuel shortage in the UK a few years ago and how this caused people to queue up for hours to get fuel (often as a result of the powerful effect of ’social proof’ discussed in an earlier article) and people who didn’t usually fill up their fuel tanks filling up to make sure they had as much of the scarce fuel as possible and inadvertently making fuel in even shorter supply!

You will see the scarcity principle used in a lot of business marketing e.g.

• Sale must end Friday
• When its gone its one
• Limited time offer
• One-time offer

As an author you can make powerful use of the scarcity principal in your book promotions, copywriting, advertising etc. For example, in conjunction with my publishers I have run a promotional campaign where people could get a bundle of free bonuses for buying my books.  The bonuses were only available for a limited time period. This was to use to scarcity principle and to encourage people to take instant action.  Which they did!

Now that you are aware of this principle I am sure you will be able to think of lots of ways to use it to enhance your book sales.

If you want to become a best selling author then, as “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki has said that clue is in the world “selling”!

As an author you have to take responsibility for selling and promoting your book at every available opportunity.  You need to become good at persuading and influencing people.

One of the books I strongly recommend to people who want to become masters of persuasion is Robert Cialdini’s “Influence”.

Cialdini is a Professor at Arizona State University who has conducted extensive research into the factors that trigger people into automatically complying with another person’s request.

Here is the fifth of these six factors, that will show you how, as an author, you can apply them to sell more of your books.

Key 5: AUTHORITY

Research evidence shows a strong pressure in our society to comply with the requests of an authority.

Systematic socialization practices instil into members of society the perception that obedience constitutes correct conduct.

People also often respond to authority in an automatic fashion particularly when we perceive people to possess high levels of knowledge, wisdom, and power.

It is interesting to note that people respond to perceived symbols of authority (and not necessarily genuine authority) such as titles, clothing and status symbols like cars.

Studies show that symbols such as these cause people to be more obedient to people displaying them. In addition, individuals who obeyed underestimated the effect that the perceived authority had on their behaviour.

So, if you want to be more influential make sure you are perceived as an authority!
For example, as an author you will be perceived as an expert and an authority (author = authority) in your field.

Therefore, what you say and what your recommend will have more impact!  As an author you are an authority, and as an authority you are automatically more influential.

It gets even better if you are a bestselling author as that carries even more gravitas!  Not only are you an authority because you have written a book, lots and lots of people have bought your book which makes you seem even more of an authority!

Once you are an author you will find that you can make use of this authority and the accompanying influence that goes with it in many ways.

For example, I have found that I get asked to speak at conferences and events because I am an author/authority on the subject.  And as an author/authority you can also charge higher speaking and consultancy fees!

Now that you are aware of this principle I am sure you will be able to think of lots of ways to use it to enhance your book sales and to maximise the benefit of being a published author.

If you want to become a best selling author then, as “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki has said that clue is in the world “selling”!

As an author you have to take responsibility for selling and promoting your book at every available opportunity.  You need to become good at persuading and influencing people.

One of the books I strongly recommend to people who want to become masters of persuasion is Robert Cialdini’s “Influence”.

Cialdini is a Professor at Arizona State University who has conducted extensive research into the factors that trigger people into automatically complying with another person’s request.

Here is the fourth of these six factors, that will show you how, as an author, you can apply them to sell more of your books.

Key 4: LIKING

Research shows that people prefer to say ‘yes’ to individuals they know and like.

An important factor that influences how much people like another individual is similarity.

We like people who are like us, and are far more willing to comply with their requests.

There are several ways that as an author we can help people to know and like us:

• Have details about us (including some personal information such as family, hobbies etc) on our website and books.  Have photos featured so that people know what you look like.  Let your readers get to know you as a real and genuine person.
• Have a brief biography available so that people can see where you have come from and what you have done.  Let them see you are just an ordinary person like them.
• Be accessible to your readers. Answer their emails, respond to their requests.
• Keep in regular contact with your readers and people you wish to influence. I strongly recommend a strategy of contacting or “touching” your readers ten times a year. A useful information rich email newsletter is a good way of doing this.
• Share some personal stories in your newsletter, letting people see some of your day to day life, particularly sharing any mistakes you have made and poking some fun at yourself, which will make you seem very normal and approachable!

Now that you are aware of this principle I am sure you will be able to think of lots of ways to use it to enhance your book sales.

If you want to become a best selling author then, as “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki has said that clue is in the world “selling”!

As an author you have to take responsibility for selling and promoting your book at every available opportunity.  You need to become good at persuading and influencing people.

One of the books I strongly recommend to people who want to become masters of persuasion is Robert Cialdini’s “Influence”.

Cialdini is a Professor at Arizona State University who has conducted extensive research into the factors that trigger people into automatically complying with another person’s request.

Here is the third of these six factors, that will show you how, as an author, you can apply them to sell more of your books.

Key 3: SOCIAL PROOF

People often use the behaviour of other people to help them decide how to act in a particular situation.

What are known by psychologists as ‘imitative effects’ have been observed in adults and children in a host of different situations and circumstances

Persuasion experts use this principle to encourage someone to comply with their requests by demonstrating how other people (the more the better!) have complied.

Social proof is particularly effective when people are feeling unsure or uncertain. When people feel like this they are far more likely to use the actions of others as a guide to how they should behave.

As an author the more testimonials you can get from reader’s who have benefitted from your books the better.  People who are considering purchasing your book will be positively influenced by evidence that other people (preferably people similar to them) have benefitted in the ways that the book promises.

This principle also applies in ensuring you have a good number of positive reviews on Amazon.  Many people will look at the reviews as part of their decision making process about whether to buy your book or not.

You can also add impact to your writing using this principle by including case studies and examples about how people have applied what you recommend to get positive results.

Also when you are writing any sales copy for your books or other products make sure you make strong use of testimonials from satisfied readers/clients.  These exert a powerful positive influence on people’s decision to buy.

Now that you are aware of this principle I am sure you will be able to think of lots of ways to use it to enhance your book sales.

The value of press coverage to an author cannot be over emphasised.  The more times you and your book are featured in the media the better the profile of you and your book. And the better the profile, the better the sales.
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