Category Archives: Persuasion

Make The Secret A Lot More Trouble Than The Trick Seems Worth

Posted on February 25, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Good advice for magic, and life: Make the secret a lot more troubleÂ than the trick seems worth. You will be fooled by a trick if it involves more time, money and practice than you (or any other sane onlooker) would … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Persuasion, Psychology, Quotes, Self-Improvement | Tagged Life, Magic, Penn & Teller, Secret, Story Telling, Work | Leave a comment

It’s Never Easy, Even For The Great Ones

Posted on January 24, 2012 by AJ Kessler

David Ogilvy was the “Father of Advertising”. Â In 1962, Â TimeÂ magazine called him “the most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry”. Â He, and his eponymous advertising firm, were responsible for some of the world’s most iconic advertising campaigns, like “Don’t leave … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Marketing, Persuasion, Productivity, Quotes | Tagged Advertising, Copywriting, Editing, Persuasion, Work | Leave a comment

Front-Running

Posted on January 17, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Why does it matter who wins the South Carolina primary next week? Â Why, after votes in only two other states, would a win for Mitt Romney make him the prohibitive favorite? Â It’s an interesting psychological question that reaches far beyond … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Marketing, Persuasion, Rationality, Relationships | Tagged Influence, Marketing, Persuasion, Psychology, Rationality, Seth Godin, Social | Leave a comment

The Problem With “No Problem”

Posted on January 5, 2012 by AJ Kessler

“No problem” is almost universal in service industries today. “Can I get a refill?” “No problem.” “Could you transfer this money from my checking account to my savings account?” “No problem.” “Thanks.”Â “No problem.” It may seem innocuous, but it … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Business, Food For Thought, Persuasion, Relationships, Self-Improvement, Tips | Tagged Four Seasons, Language, My Pleasure, NLP, No Problem, Ritz-Carlton, Service | 1 Comment

Chase Permanent Wins, Then Throw Them Away

Posted on January 3, 2012 by AJ Kessler

When I spend 100 hours working to create a photograph, I produce a finished product. Â It’s tangible. Â It’s also permanent: I get to look at it forever, anybody can see it, and I can even sell copies of it. All … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Inspiration, Persuasion, Photography, Quotes | Tagged Art, Big Wins, Business, Finishing, George Carlin, Louis C.K., Ship | 1 Comment

How To Befriend Anyone

Posted on November 13, 2011 by AJ Kessler

When Ben Franklin was running for Clerk of the General Assembly, one of his colleagues delivered a speech to the legislature skewering him.Â This was a problem, because this was a guy Franklin couldn’t afford to just start a feud … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Business, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Persuasion, Quotes, Rationality, Relationships, Self-Improvement | Tagged Ben Franklin, Cognitive Dissonance, Friendship, Help, Keith Ferrazzi, Mentor, Never Eat Alone, Persuasion, Rationality, Relationship | 1 Comment

Your Brand Is Irrelevant

Posted on October 28, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Branding has been tremendously valuable over the last 100 years or so.Â Even during the last five or ten years, pundits have been telling people to turn themselves into brands.Â Brands are identifiable, they stand for something, they signify quality.Â … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Business, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Persuasion, Relationships, Self-Improvement | Tagged Access, Art, Branding, Brands, Business, Marketing, Persuasion, Relevance | 1 Comment

How To Get Anyone To Help You Do Anything

Posted on October 20, 2011 by AJ Kessler

â€œIf you want to build a ship, donâ€™t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.â€ â€“ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Posted in Advice, Business, Food For Thought, Negotiation, Persuasion, Quotes, Rationality, Relationships, Self-Improvement | Tagged Motivation, Negotiation, Persuasion, Productivity, Quotes | Leave a comment

How To Meet Your Heroes and Win Mentors

Posted on October 19, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Have you noticed that little kids can do just about anything they want?Â There’s a mountain of stories about young kids getting an audience with some business or government leader simply because they wrote a letter.Â Successful people, and people … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Persuasion, Productivity, Quotes, Rationality, Relationships, Self-Improvement | Tagged Communication, Hero, Language, Meeting, Mentor, Never Eat Alone, relationships, Seth Godin | Leave a comment

Being Absurd: It Works

Posted on September 12, 2011 by AJ Kessler

We’ve talked before about how an anchor point can seriously change the course of any negotiation.Â This effect, where you plant a number in someone’s mind, works because people aren’t terribly rational.Â They’re unwittingly susceptible to all sorts of manipulation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Money, Negotiation, Persuasion, Rationality, Self-Improvement | 1 Comment

The Easiest Way to Change Behavior

Posted on September 7, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Barriers.Â It’s all about barriers. A barrier is anything that makes an action more difficult.Â It can literally be a huge physical barrier, like the Berlin Wall, or it could be nothing but air. If you want to stop eating … Continue reading →

Posted in Food For Thought, Inspiration, Persuasion, Productivity, Rationality, Self-Improvement | Tagged Barriers, Fat, Lazy, Motivation, Self-Improvement | Leave a comment

Fake It ‘Til You Make It: Physiologically Sound

Posted on August 27, 2011 by AJ Kessler

From Psychology Today: The great surrealist artist Salvador Dali was described by his fellow students at the Madrid art academy as “morbidly” shy according to his biographer Ian Gibson.Â He had a great fear of blushing and his shame about … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Persuasion, Productivity, Quotes, Rationality, Self-Improvement | Tagged Body, Brain, Emotion, Mind, Physiology, Psychology, Rationality | 1 Comment

Don’t Judge Me, Bro

Posted on August 12, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Judgment is a basic animal process.Â A dog’s brain instantly processes hundreds of data points of sounds, smells, visual cues and behavioral phenomena to determine which animals are friendly and which are not.Â The reactions are so quick because these … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Persuasion, Quotes, Rationality, Self-Improvement | Tagged Brain, How We Decide, Impression, Johnah Lehrer, Logos, Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Mind, Perception | Leave a comment

Don’t Take This The Wrong Way…

Posted on August 1, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Once, when I was very small, I was walking through the airport with my grandfather when a man began running towards us.Â When he finally reached us, a bit out of breath, he extended his hand and thanked my grandfather … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Negotiation, Persuasion, Relationships | Tagged Communication, Effective, Neuro Linguistic Programming, NLP | 4 Comments

Best TED Talk Ever

Posted on July 10, 2011 by AJ Kessler

So many takeaways: Passion Hans Rosling is incredibly passionate about statistics.Â He’s passionate about the underlying work he’s doing and the analysis and insights his data is generating, but he’s also passionate about just accessing and sharing data in general.Â … Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetics, Art, Business, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Persuasion, Quotes | Tagged Attitude, Data, Design, Presentation, Statistics | Leave a comment