By Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist, this book is a more recent addition to the classics. Seems every marketeer under the sun has a copy of this book. Which is funny, because Robert Cialdini initially wrote the book to teach people how to resist the persuasive tricks of people like marketers and copywriters.

He covers the same techniques that one hears of repeatedly in copywriting. He concentrates heavily the following six:

• Reciprocity (I scratch your back, you buy my stuff)
• Scarcity (One hour sale, and then it comes off the market!)
• Liking (I like you, so I’ll buy your stuff)
• Authority (I trust you, so I’ll buy your stuff)
• Social proof (Everybody else is buying your stuff, so it must be good)
• Commitment/consistency (You’ve been consistent in everything so far, so I feel I can buy your stuff and trust you to deliver)

What sets Influence apart from other books that cover these topics is the scientific approach and the depth. He goes well into the subtexts and history of human behavior so you come out on the other side with a much deeper and intuitive understanding of each of these sales/copywriting techniques.

He describes case examples in very entertaining ways, which makes this a very readable book – so much that you forget you are reading a scholarly approach. Moreover the lessons learned here will still embedded in your actions.