You are here: Home / Archives for Persuasion

Conformity: The Influence of Social Media?


There I was sitting at my desk, back straight, shoulders slightly forward, rubbing my beard with my hand, and contemplating what I would write about when it dawned on me! “Write about conformity aka Social Proof as it relates to Social Media,” I said to myself. Then I questioned whether or not YouTube had a video that would help demonstrate the power of groups to influence behavior. After a few minutes of searching, I discovered the following video to illustrate the topic of this post. Go ahead and click on the play button now, please.

Welcome back! Are we so easily influenced nowadays? I’ll answered that in another post with a more recent video. Right now, I want to quickly answer the question I posed in the title of my post.

Yes!  Yes, we have conformed to the influence of social media! However, the reasons that we have conformed are that we are fulfilling our basic human needs of 1) connecting with others 2) a sense of accomplishment from having influential and large numbers of connections, and 3) a feeling of uniqueness because of the diverseness of people with whom we are are connected.

Think about it.  Millions of people are utilizing social networking sites right now to communicate with family, friends, customers, and clients in an effort to sustain and improve that connection. Fifteen years ago, I don’t think this behavior was as prevalent as it is now. Why? Although America Online (AOL), Compuserve, and others were thriving back then, they were charging members a monthly fee to use similar functions that, today, Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin offer for free. Therefore, why wouldn’t we give in to the attraction of instantly connecting with people around the globe?

These top three social networking sites induce reciprocation with the force of water exploding out of a fire hydrant into the mouth of a thirsty man by offering us the ability to meet some of our basic human needs. In spite of that reality, please avoid neglecting the most intimate relationships you have in order to spend more time connecting with others on social networking sites. Why did I make that appeal? The reason is quite frequently, I hear Tony Robbins’ voice in my head saying something like, “People want to experience love, but they often settle for connection.”

You’re probably asking, “Why would someone do that?” A loving relationship, while incredibly rewarding, can also be extremely painful. That’s why some people will settle for casual and friendly relationships. Even worse are the people who would rather love, and connect with, their pets than real people. Don’t get me wrong I love Samson, our Jack Russell Terrier but the most phenomenal experiences of my life have come from my loving relationships with my wife, children, family, and friends. I am reminded of a phrase that dates back to the seventeenth century, which reads, “No man (or woman) is an island.” Stated differently, no man (or woman) is meant to be alone. I have definitely conformed to that influence. Will you?

With your success in mind,

Ron

Relevant Sources:
Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D., (1984) Influence: The New Psychology of Modern Persuasion
Tony Robbins, (1991) Personal Power II, The Driving Force: The Six Human Needs

The Power to Influence a Generation


Children are like sponges, soaking up every experience, and storing it away for future reference. Sometimes children’s experiences cause them to adopt erroneous beliefs about what’s right or wrong. It is my hope that after you watch the following video, whether or not you are a parent, you will keep in mind that children are watching you.

Watching the video sparked a conversation between my wife, @Tonya_H, and I that prompted her to ask, “What beliefs do you want to impart to our children and the next generation?” She went on to ask, “If you reflect on your own behaviors, attitudes, and actions, do they line up with what you want to impart to our children?” Then she said, “If they don’t, then you must change because your children are watching you, and you certainly realize that you are influencing our children and the next generation.”

So what about you? How would you answer those same poignant questions? Food for thought, aren’t they?

With your success in mind,

Ron

The Power to Influence in 30 Seconds or Less


One day, I was strolling through the mall when suddenly I begun to have hunger pangs. It was time to eat! As I wandered into the food court to quickly find something good to eat, the aromas from all of the fast food restaurants filled the air.

Right away, I noticed Subway and started walking towards their location for a Spicy Italian foot long. But my pace was slowed by a middle aged lady offering me a piece of meat on a toothpick. I was famished! So, I swiftly grabbed the toothpick as the lady said, “This is our Bourbon Chicken.” Seconds later, I was paying for a full plate of Bourbon Chicken and I was happy with my decision. I’m curious. Did you notice how easily and quickly I made that decision? It happened within 10 to 15 seconds!
[Read more...]

Can Negotiation Skills Get You Better Deals?


“You’ll never know if you don’t ask.” - Unknown

One day I decided to contact a company selling 900#s as a business opportunity. No, I wasn’t going to use it to sell any of the services 900 numbers were commonly known for in the late 80s and early 90s. I was going to use the number to offer marketing coaching services. Good idea? I certainly thought so.

Anyway, with a list of companies selling 900# services in hand, I picked up the phone and started on what turned out to be a short search. You see, seconds later, I was on the phone with a rep for one of the companies on my list. He asked me a few questions and then launched into his presentation. It sounded as if he was reading a script! After he was finished, I quickly asked about the investment required to start.

[Read more...]

Negotiations Made Easy


Sometime ago a friend, client, and business partner of mine informed me that the VP of Finance at a company contacted him for advice. In their face-to-face meeting, this young gentleman, who was fresh out of college, humbly admitted that the company which used to generate about $25 million a year was quickly approaching Niagara Falls’ edge.

You see, unfortunately the company’s executives made some errors in judgment that apparently threatened to wipe the company out. In fact, by the time that initial meeting occurred, the company was over three quarters of million dollars in debt without any significant revenue. By the way, it was the only time I’d ever met men willing to admit they were in over their heads.
[Read more...]

Seven Top Immediate Influence Posts


Eventually any blog will have posts that are very popular for a number of reasons.  This blog isn’t an exception.  Over the weekend, I reviewed Google Analytics and the list you see below quickly emerged.  Enjoy!

7.  Strategic Influence Objecting Number Two Example:

It is almost 2009! You’ve probably been thinking about what goals you want to achieve in the new year, have you not? In the days and weeks ahead, you will have many decisions to make about what actions to take to bring about the realization of your goals.

Click to Read More

6.  Ten Honest Things About Me You Don’t Want to Know:

On Monday, January 12th, I was tagged by MultiMedia Producer, Angel McClinton to reveal ten honest things about myself.  Unlike the incredibly talented Angel McClinton, I haven’t included a video presentation with my ten things.  Before I get started, you might want to click on Angel’s name to see her video and forget all about reading my ten things.  Just kidding.  Kinda!

Click to Read More

5.  What Stops People From Achieving What They Want:

Happy New Year!!!

2008 is behind us now and a new year has begun! By now, you’re off to a great start on achieving the goals you’ve set for 2009. However, you have probably run into some opposition. Typically, opposition shows itself in two ways – but I’m only going to write about one in this post. Ready?

Click to Read More

4.  One Big Web 2.0 Influence Mistake That Will Ruin Your Reputation:

On Friday, January 9th I tweeted a statistic Tony Robbins revealed while being interviewed by one of Success Magazine’s writers.  The statistic is related to the number of people who won’t follow through on the resolutions aka goals they set on New Year’s Day.  Tony said, “98% of the people who set resolutions will give up within six weeks.”

Click to Read More

3.  How to Deeply Influence Yourself and Others:

James Van Fleet once said, “Always think in terms of what the other person wants.”

During my nearly 10 years of marriage, I’ve discovered that one of the keys to a successful relationship is thinking in terms of what my wife wants.  For instance, there are times when my wife wants to watch a romantic movie when I’d prefer to watch an action movie.  You might be saying,”Great!  Let her watch her romantic movie and you go watch an action movie on another television.”  Good idea, my rational thinking friend.  However, if I were to act on that type of thinking my wife wouldn’t get what she really wanted it from the experience.  Connectedness. Guess what?  I want to feel that too.

Click to Read More

2.  50 Most Powerful and Influential Men in Social Media:

Last week, as you probably know, I published a list of the 50 Most Powerful & Influential Women in Social Media. It caused quite a stir on the internet. In fact, this blog was visited by over 2,000 unique visitors the day the list was published. I truly appreciate each of you who visited that day and the following days.

Click to Read More

1.  50 Most Powerful and Influential Women in Social Media:

In every industry there are a few people who are inarguably outstanding at what they do. In addition to that, they are typically charismatic, energetic, and creative. In an effort to find some of these people I asked my twitter friends to nominate people who they thought were some of the most powerful and influential women in Social Media. It was no surprise that they quickly and enthusiastically responded with the list of ladies below.

Click to Read More

With your success in mind,

Ron Hudson

Strategic Influence Objective Number Two Example


It is almost 2009! You’ve probably been thinking about what goals you want to achieve in the new year, have you not? In the days and weeks ahead, you will have many decisions to make about what actions to take to bring about the realization of your goals.

The most important decisions will involve your ability to think strategically before acting tactically. Indulge me for a moment and read this excerpt from my previous post titled, “Three Strategic Influence Objectives,” to garner a better understanding of my thoughts regarding thinking strategically before acting tactically:
[Read more...]

« Older Posts
Newer Posts »