15 Famous Business books

25 Best Books on Self-Improvement You Need to Read Before You Turn 25

I remember the first time I got my hands on a self-improvement book. I was baffled. At that moment I realized my fate was not set in stone. I could become my own drill master and coach. The books I read would set out the training course for me to overcome. All I had to do was listen to that voice that aspired to climb higher and higher. Every time I committed to a new challenge I knew it was going to be outside my comfort zone, but after enough iterations, I also knew it will not just be part of my repertoire, it will be part of me. I just turned 25, and while I acknowledge some inherent dangers in the concept of self-improvement, I still believe in the beauty of self-directing your life. This is why I am sharing with you 25 Best Books on Self-Improvement You Need to Read Before You Turn 25!

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1. Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?: And Other Provocations - Seth Godin

This book is a masterpiece, and unlike most self-improvement books, this one targets an infinite array of areas in which you can, and ultimately must, improve. With its ruthless honesty and genuine inspiration, Godin makes you ponder the difficult questions you wouldn’t ever dare to ask yourself. The result is a completely new perspective of the world- a fresher, more vibrant perspective, packed with new and bold possibilities. If you need a friend that understands, a boss that forces you to venture deep in your non-comfort zone, a wise guru that tells you what needs to be left behind and a sage that proclaims the coming of a new age, then look no further; you will find these shrewd voices all tied together in this magnificent book. Make sure to get this one.

2. Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Perhaps it is the fact that randomness played such a significant role in my years as a poker player that I find this book utterly important. We often attribute skill where there is only luck; we confuse correlation with causation and we underestimate the incredible effect small changes can have. This book and my time at the tables gave me a perspective I unfortunately rarely encounter in others: you can do everything right and still lose, or do everything wrong and still win. It is thus not about the outcome; it is about your actions that have lead you there. This important message is central to many of my decisions I make in my life and this book by Taleb helps you develop such a perspective so you will be able to live in a world one cannot fully understand, where the results are not always clear markers of performance and where chance seems to play games with our fates. Stop being fooled by randomness!

3. The 48 Laws of Power – Robert Greene

I read this book in a time where I thought power was something I should attain. Power for power’s sake. And while I disagree with my former self on this point, the fact remains that power is very real, it forms the invisible scepter of all hierarchical relations around us. I still recommend this book; I believe it is important to know how people use power for their own benefit and what to do to protect yourself from certain abuses of power. Besides the fact that all stories in this book gravitate around power, it contains many life lessons, amazing historical anecdotes and, if read in a certain light, the ability to use power for good. From Caesar to Goethe, Sun-Tzu to Machiavelli, this eye opening book spans a wide range of human development. If you, like me, would rather be interested in something less egotistical, perhaps Greene’s latest book Mastery will suffice (I haven’t read that one myself). Another great book in the same style, but this time around, covering a wider scope, and, perhaps, something that will make the world make a better place.

4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change – Stephen. R. Covey

The title of this book doesn’t capture it all. Covey shares with us seven habits one should adapt to become truly effective in whatever you would like to achieve. Of course, it is not as easy as it sounds. He stresses the fact that we need to go through a paradigm shift – a fundamental change in how we perceive the world and ourselves. This book can be read as a guide, with practices and everything, to go through the stages in order to make such a shift happen. Part shock-therapy, part ageless spiritual wisdom, Covey’s book is packed with wisdom that actually makes a difference. And, as I mentioned, don’t let the title of the book fool you; it is about much more than just becoming more effective. It is about becoming a whole integer person who not only seeks the best in oneself, but also in the people around her. A must read for anyone who feels there is always something left to learn.

5. The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys – James Fadiman

While finding a book on psychedelics in a list of books on self-improvement might come as a surprise, I believe any metaphysical distinction between tools such as books, meditation or molecules hold no ground and they should all be solely judged on their merits. And the merits of certain chemical keys, used in a constructive way, are perhaps bigger than any book in this list. The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide will teach you how to prepare yourself and your surroundings, what and how much to take, and what do do when something goes wrong, so you can safely enhance your thinking, creativity, introspection and emotional balance. This book contains everything you need to know about using psychedelics as a tool for self-improvement while drawing on extensive scientific literature and personal wisdom. A must have for the beginning and experienced psychonaut alike.

6. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time – Brian Tracy

We all know how that destructive downward spiral feels. We have to do some big task, of which the thought alone triggers resistance, not sure how and where to begin and feeling overwhelmed before we start; we get easily distracted to get rid of that feeling, only to suddenly realize that hours went by- precious hours- and then find ourselves in the same position as before, still not knowing where and how to begin, but now, feeling guilty on top of it which expresses itself in more craving for distraction. Ad infinitum. To break this spell of procrastination before it paralyzes us, Tracy advises us to Eat That Frog, to set our priorities straight, deconstruct larger tasks into smaller ones, learn when to tackle the big frog first or to start out with something else. Tracy is truly a motivational writer, and while I wished he had gone a bit deeper into the psychological reasons why people procrastinate, it is still a must have for anyone who wants to break the spell and get shit done.

7. Think and Grow Rich: The Original 1937 Unedited Edition – Napoleon Hill

A from 1937, this book by Hill is a masterpiece. Don’t bother with the edited versions since they all omit important and controversial information: some historical, and some pertaining to the goal of the book, which is to think and grow rich. The word rich might imply that this book is all about material gain, and while it certainly covers that area, it is about much more than that. Perhaps the first explicit mention of positive thinking, on how to care not just about the cash in your pocket, but also the thoughts in your head, this book has been able to withstand the destruction of time. It covers all the basics from planning, decision making and persistence, to the more advanced techniques as auto-suggestion, transmutation and what we can learn from fear. This is not a grow rich book, but a timeless guide to find out what actually matters. As it says clearly in the beginning ‘Riches can’t always be measured in money!’

8. The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind - Alan Wallace

In a world that is dominated by ever stronger technologies designed to grab hold of your attention, a way to empower yourself is to bring that attention back to where you want it to shine. This book offers just that; in The Attention Revolution, Wallace describes the path to attaining Shamatha, a buddhist meditation state of mind that is free from any flickering of distraction. It is a hard and long path, probably not possible for us to reach in this lifetime. However, even getting to stage two or three will make everything in life easier. A wonderful introduction to meditation, The Attention Revolution will inspire you to take on the challenge and see what training your mind can actually achieve. Once you have achieved such a level of focus you can put it to use to open your heart with the practice of The Four Immeasurables or deepen the practice with this wonderful commentary by Dudjom Lingpa, both by Alan B. Wallace.

9. The Paleo Manifesto: Ancient Wisdom for Lifelong Health – John Durant

In the last 10,000 years or so it seems we have been propelled into an ever faster paced world forged by our own hands and minds. Only recently have we been able to reconstruct our journey and reflect back upon our humble origins. This amazing book is such a reflection. It goes back to the paleolithic searching for answers to health and longevity. Between science and his personal experiments, Durant weaves a mind blowing story that will convey the importance of an evolutionary perspective on how to live well. It covers everything from nutrition to exercise, from sleep to fasting, from ancient practices to modern biohacking and even has an outline for a vision of the future where depression and obesity have become obsolete. If you only have room for a couple of books on this list, make sure this one is included.

10. Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation – Daniel J. Siegel

As my Burmese meditation teacher often proclaimed, ‘Mindfulness alone is not enough!’ Siegel seems to have taken this to heart and made an unique synthesis between meditation, psychoanalysis and neuroscience which he calls ‘Mindsight‘, as he says himself, a potent combination between emotional and social intelligence. All of us deal with some disorder or another, something that seems to disturb the very core of our being at ease, and while it might not always be the best strategy to want to get rid of it, it certainly helps to understand and have compassion for that little aspect that upsets that perfect image of ourselves. Brimming with techniques, insights and epiphanies, this book contains everything you need to know to reprogram your brain and to optimally use its

11. How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie

This is the first self-improvement book I have ever read and it is also probably one of the oldest in this category. Written in 1937, mainly for the door to door salesman of that era, this book by Carnegie can truly be called a classic. It shows what we all intuitively know: it doesn’t matter what your line of work is or what you want to achieve- if you are doing business of any kind, you need to make it about the other person. Being nice helps, a lot. And while I might not fully defend the premise of this book, because it doesn’t distinguish between genuine interest and faking it to get what you want, it still contains a treasure chest full of timeless wisdom. Everybody wants to feel appreciated, and rightfully so. Learning to take a small effort to make someone’s day will make the world run smoother, no matter what your goal is. I still spontaneously remember some of his guidance, and perhaps this quality is the reason why this book still draws millions of readers to this day.

12. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy - David D. Burns

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the most effective therapy used by psychologists today; it consists of identifying thought patterns that have a detrimental effect on your self-image and mood, and deconstructing these in order to break out of these destructive cycles. If you want to know how this works, which moods are central in your life, what thought patterns are causing your depression, how to overcome self-judgment and guilt, how to defeat approval and love addiction and how your self-perfectionism is hindering you, then don’t look further; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has helped millions of people and it can help you, and this is the best book for the job. Packed with scientific research, exercises and examples, this is the best improvement your self is going to get.

13. Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life – Maxwell Maltz

What can a plastic surgeon tell us about happiness? By dealing with his patients, Dr. Maxwell Maltz experienced firsthand that having your expectations come true doesn’t automatically result into a more positive life experience. Their outward appearances did indeed change but their inner insecurity remained. This caused him to find other means to help his patients, resulting in visualization techniques. He found a person’s outer success can never rise above the one visualized internally. This book carries a very honest and humbling story, loaded with fundamental truths about our psychology and how our own philosophy affects us, all told by a very compassionate writer. Of some books it can be said that it will be valuable for years to come, and I am absolutely positive that this is one of them.

14. Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

This brilliant book by Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman is a lucid account of all the amazing research he has done over the years. He is the founder of behavioral economics – the way our psychology affects our decisions – and explains in simple prose how our thinking is divided in two systems: one fast and one slow. The fast one is almost instant; it consists of the hardwired instincts that govern emotions, a remnant of an evolutionary past, an unconscious irrational machine. The slow one is deliberate, self-reflexive and logical, but can easily be distracted and takes a lot of effort. Both play a large role in our lives and Kahneman explores when the fast system fails and why the slow system is often not utilized. Packed with mind blowing examples and sharp analyses, this book teaches you how to learn to make sound judgments, and use the best of both systems.

15. An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything – Chris Hadfield

A few extraordinary people journey to the edge of our world and come back with a unique story to tell. Colonel Hadfield is such a person, and his story is perhaps the most important one in this list. While the other books in this list teach you to be independent, visualize your future and dream big, this astronaut’s guide turns these all upside down. A truly remarkable book, overflowing with mind-blowing stories that illustrate the life lessons he learned as one of the most accomplished astronauts that ever lived. Full of compassion, warmth and genuine self-reflexive humor, he conveys to us to be prepared for the worst and never let yourself be swayed from enjoying every moment. Part action story, part no-nonsense hard truth and part timeless spiritual wisdom, this book makes you feel like you stepped onto a rocket ship and experienced what he did while learning these most valuable lessons on the way.

16. Perfect Health Diet: Regain Health and Lose Weight by Eating the Way You Were Meant to Eat - Paul Jaminet & Shou-Ching Jaminet

No self-improvement list is complete without a nutrition book and the Perfect Health Diet is arguably the best diet book on the market now. If you are overweight or not, feel sick, or just looking for an extra boost in health (and keep it this way), then look no further. From reading decades of studies the authors construct the optimal way to eat, destroying popular food fads in the process. They explain in sufficient detail the optimal macro-ratios, which starches are safe, which vitamins and supplements to take and what foods, or what they call toxins, to avoid. This book is a great supplement to the Paleo Manifesto as it shares its basic evolutionary perspective; we were evolved to eat non-toxic, high fat, moderate protein and carbohydrates. And, sometimes, going around with no food at all, can be a very healthy thing. If your body is not in optimal health, then it is almost no use to read the other books. Make this your priority number one.

17. Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success – John C. Maxwell

At one time or another, we will all fail. What matters most is how you deal with it once you do. Will you give up? Or will you use it as a stepping stone for success? I recently read an article about new start-ups in silicon valley. Its hypothesis was the more you had failed in the past, the more likely you were going to get funding. Why? Because failing teaches you invaluable lessons, and if you decide to continue after you hit the pavement, the more you have it in you to deliver. Now, this is not in anyway our instinctual reaction to failing. Most of us dread it, avoid it or refuse to fail at all costs. All three are by far sub-optimal. It is far better to accept failure where it arises, to accept responsibility and use it as a way to learn about yourself and your weaknesses. Only when you are absolute honest with yourself with respect to failure can you hope to grow. This wonderful book will teach you how to do exactly this. A honest book for everyone searching for a clean mirror.

18. The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle

The Power of Now hardly needs any introduction. It is perhaps the book that has had the most impact on our collective consciousness in recent years. It inspired millions of people all over the world to live a more fulfilling and compassionate life, all through the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness consists of moment to moment non-judgmental awareness. It is a technique that alleviates depression, increases emotional intelligence and develops compassion- and only recently has come to the west, which remained weary and skeptical until science had validated a wide array of its claims. The brain can be trained. The Power of Now teaches you how to release your attachment to certain thoughts and states of mind, thereby clearing the mind to fully embrace the present moment. If you already have read this book and are looking for deeper understanding, read Wherever You Go, There You Are.

19. The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch

At some point or another, almost all of us has come across The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. (If you haven’t, watch this powerful message here.) What would you say when you only have a few months left to live? This was probably Pausch’s question he posed to himself when he had to deliver his lecture a week later. But being confined to an academic setting and short time frame he felt he had more to share, thus marking the birth of this book. Filled with stories about his childhood, it is a very down to earth exploration of what it means to chase your dreams, to be a good person and live a life that gives value to others. A beautiful mixture of humor and optimism, his tender voice will be a source of inspiration for everyone who will take the time to listen, something he tried to impart on his readers. A very lovely read. And don’t forget, ‘It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play the hand.’

20. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brené Brown

I love Brené Brown’s books. She writes about an insight that I have found to be scary but true at the same time. Vulnerability, unlike we have been taught, is not a weakness, but a power to be tapped. Growing up with the idea that we have to hide certain parts of ourselves, to look strong and persevere at all costs always seemed a facade to me. And now she has the research to back that up. From that place of vulnerability comes a sense of worthiness, which for most of us, needs to be cultivated every day. Only if we get in touch with that tender spot of our hearts can we connect with others and develop genuine compassion, which are prerequisites, Brown tells us, for living a ‘wholehearted life.’ The reality, however, is that we often close down, feel neglected and misunderstood, and rather want the vulnerability and perhaps even ourselves to disappear. This book is an amazing antidote for that common instinct. Want to be truly convinced? Check out her amazing ted talk here.

21. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark – Carl Sagan

We all find UFO’s fascinating. We all really want to believe in magic or visiting aliens (surely the crop circles are conclusive proof!) and some of us believe the government is poisoning us with chemtrails. At the same time we are fascinated by the progress made by science, by all the new technology and medicines and the fascinating discoveries being made on a daily basis. Clearly, for the average person, it is quite hard to make a distinction between one claim or another – most of us are scientifically illiterate. Carl Sagan fought his whole life against such unreason and claimed that missing this ability to distinguish valid claims from hogwash could plunge us back into the dark ages. This book is perhaps his best on this subject, filled with examples and his eloquent mesmerizing voice, The Demon-Haunted World is a How To guide to arm you against manipulation masked as information. A must read for anyone who still feels the temptation to click sensationalist sophistry.

22. Philosophy for Life – Jules Evans

As philosopher Sloterdijk puts it; ‘philosophy is a beautiful child of an ugly mother.’ Philosophy first arose when the old Greek polis states were at the brink of destruction. Philosophy, according to Sloterdijk, was not just a way to make sense of the world, to come to knowledge or truth, but to serve as a psychological immune system. This book is an amazing expression of this perspective. From the stoics to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Jules Evans writes about some of the amazing philosophical techniques we can use to train and improve our cognitive immune systems. He weaves ancient stories with modern applications, from heroism to cosmic contemplation, Philosophy for Life a beautifully written book that makes it easy to understand the practical nature of philosophy. Perhaps the book would have been better if he would have gone deeper into the subject matter, but nonetheless he captures the essence of what philosophy can mean for the modern person. A must read.

23. Man’s Search For Meaning – Victor. E. Frankl

If I had to pick one book from this list for mandatory reading I would choose this one. For three years Viktor Frankl labored in four different Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. He tells us about his experience and that of his fellow prisoners. Both chilling and uplifting, confronted with the idea that they would be trapped there for the rest of their lives, he gives us an account of those who found meaning and those who succumbed to nihilism. A blend between a memoir, a psychological investigation and a self-help book, Frankl delivers a powerful message: finding meaning lies at the core of being human. From his own experience as a psychiatrist combined with anecdotes from his time in the concentration camps, he tells us how important it is to find meaning in our own lives and what we can become if we don’t. Suffering, he conveys to us, is inevitable. But as to how we cope with it is dependent on ourselves. If we can find meaning, even in the worst acts our species has ever inflicted upon his fellow man, we will be able to move forward with renewed purpose.

24. Simplify – Joshua Becker

This is a fun little book written by Joshua Becker, a big proponent of minimalist living. We all know that quote from Fightclub: “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.” Well, this is ending. Slowly we are outgrowing an era where the unquestioned mantra ‘more is always better’ dictates our behavior. Rather, we now find ourselves, our lives and our homes cluttered with too much information, too much stuff and just too much shit we don’t need. This simple book helps you become aware of the freedom gained from living with less. It is a small book, easily read under an hour, but it carries a persuasive punch to start living live in a very different way.

25. Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It – Kamal Ravikant

The fundamental ground upon which all true self improvement is build is called self-love. Because in the end, no matter which way you turn, if you don’t love yourself, you will sabotage yourself at one point. You will think that, for some reason or another, you are not worthy. And if you think that, why would you truly want to achieve anything? And this is not just about achievement. This is about how you approach yourself every day; this is what you see when you look in the mirror. We make so many snap-judgments about ourselves- often without being conscious of them- that are filled with negativity, haltering us before we can even begin to heal. This powerful book shows you the antidote. Self love. Not to be confused with creating some narcissistic image of ourselves that some previous books in this list implicitly endorse, but self love, that inner gratefulness that no external condition can take away. Self love, that infinite source you can share with others.

Which one is your favorite?

Is a book missing in the 25 Best Books on Self-Improvement You Need to Read Before You Turn 25?

Thank you for reading :)

How Quibb Keeps Daily Email Open Rates between 50% and 70%

When fellow newsletter creators hear that the open rates of Quibb’s daily digest email hover between 50% and 70%, I get a lot of questions. People are curious to hear what has worked to keep the open rate so high and what I’ve learned or experimented with over the past 6 months.
Quibb is a professional news site that allows people to share what they’re reading for work, with an attached “daily digest” style email. Here are some recent open rates:
There are several tactics that have helped to maintain these open rates over time, along with some tweaks and adjustments that have worked well to keep them high over the past few months. Let’s dive in to what has worked…

1. Find Out What Subject Line Format Your Readers Prefer

Originally, the daily digest email had a horribly long subject line. For example:



The intent here was to try to leverage the positive associations and social proof the subscriber had with these names mentioned in the subject line. But it resulted in a boring, often repetitive list of names and a meaningless date. Focusing on the social aspects of your product can be powerful, but only if that’s the full intent of that email.

Instead, a daily digest of links should focus on the links themselves to encourage the person to open. Members were much happier with an adjusted subject line that featured the most popular link within their network for the day. For example:


This format exposes the content but also adds a bit of social context by including some names that have meaning to the subscriber.

2. Preempt Spam with Double Opt-in

An easy and common way to increase deliverability and curtail any spam issues is to send a confirmation email when subscribers first sign up for your newsletter. Make sure to send this confirmation email from the same email address that your newsletter will be sent from.
When the person first signs up, you have their attention, and they’ll be more likely to dig through their spam folder to find the confirmation email (if you’re unlucky enough for it to be routed there). Double opt-in has become standard and leads to a cleaner, higher-quality list.
I had a problem with spam initially, as some words within the body of certain subscribers’ first daily digest emails (which was user generated and beyond my control!) were picked up by various spam filters. Those subscribers were lost forever. However, adding the confirmation step helped to maintain these new subscribers. In fact, the confirmation email had a 100% open rate, establishing follow-on delivery success.

3. Provide Clear Choices of Email Options and Unsubscribe

 

If you’re sending different types of emails, make it very clear to your subscribers how to select which emails they want or don’t want to receive. Don’t cause email exhaustion by over sending.

Also, pay attention to how these defaults are set, and make sure that the defaults add value and aren’t overwhelming to your typical new subscriber.

4. Tune Your Scheduling to the Optimal Frequency

 

The category within which your newsletter fits can give you some clarification and high-level guidance on sending frequency. For example, if your content is timely (i.e., flash sales, news), then daily makes sense. In the case of Quibb, the content is professional and best fits with members’ work days, so the Quibb daily digest is sent only during the week. This adjustment was made after noticing that traffic to the site was much lower during the weekends.

I also noticed that, on holidays, the open rate was very low, as was the traffic to the website. I then adjusted the mailing schedule to exclude holidays, as people don’t work on holidays and are less likely to want professional content on those days. Put yourself in your subscribers’ shoes and try to understand any nuances that might indicate when they’d rather not receive your email.
Be sure to check out the KISSmetrics infographic The Science of Social Timing Part 2: Timing & Email Marketing:

5. Sort Content Intelligently

 

If you’re sending the same content to all or most of your subscribers, you can play around with both the layout and content and run some quick A/B tests to determine what resonates best .
However, if each subscriber receives unique content, you should apply an algorithm to sort through and rank the content. The algorithm tries to assign the human task of curating to a computer. You can tailor your algorithm to pull the most popular and relevant content to place at the top of the email so there’s something interesting immediately visible once opened.
Also, people don’t like to make too many decisions about what to click on. Too much content can lead to people not opening your newsletters, as it becomes a chore to decide what to engage with. Help make that decision a bit easier by either manually curating your content or applying an algorithm.
Notifications that indicate person-to-person interaction are really powerful and should be immediately visible. With Quibb, if you have a notification of social activity (e.g., new follower, someone has voted on a link you’ve submitted), that notification is placed at the top of the daily digest email. Put any similar high-impact interactions or notices near the top of your emails.

6. Be Willing to Axe Emails if They Aren’t of High Quality

 

People subscribe to your newsletter because they have expectations about what it will deliver, and how it will provide value to them. If you don’t or can’t meet that bar, don’t send it!
This goes the same for blogging and the famous first rule of CopyBlogger.
With Quibb, if there are not at least 10 links from people that a member follows in their daily digest, that person doesn’t receive an email that day. It’s much better to meet expectations around quality versus simply sending out a low-quality email because you believe that you should.

7. Clean Up Your List, but Don’t Abandon Inactive Subscribers

 

Most people with an email list know that you have to keep it clean in order to maximize open rates. While this is important, it’s also a good idea to reactivate subscribers who have gone dormant. If a subscriber hasn’t interacted with daily digest emails over a certain period of time (I use 28days), they’re put into an “inactive” state and are no longer sent the daily digest.
Keep in mind, though, they haven’t taken the full step of unsubscribing. To try to reactivate these subscribers, I apply an algorithm to look through all “inactive for more than 28days” subscribers each day and select 10% of that group to randomly receive a daily digest email. If a subscriber interacts with that 1-off digest, then they are returned to an “active” state and put back on the daily schedule.

8. Put Yourself in the Reader’s Shoes

 

Quibb is a member-only news site, with the initial membership composed of professionals from the tech and start-up industries. Members share links to articles and other content that they’re reading for work. You can follow people working in areas that are of interest to you (e.g., gaming, email marketing, VC, user acquisition) to read what they’re reading. The daily email is a digest-style newsletter. It contains links that people you’re following have either shared or read that day.
Since Quibb is a news product for professionals, a daily digest email matches the inherent frequency of that product – reading news is an activity that most professionals expect to do every work day.

> Think about the category your product falls under: what sending schedule makes sense?

Members are expecting and have subscribed to the content that’s in their newsletter. It’s based on the other Quibb members they’ve chosen to follow.

> What are your subscribers’ expectations? How does an email fit with their expectations for your overall product (if one exists beyond the newsletter)?

The daily newsletter solves a real problem for members. They’re accustomed to reading news for their job, and appreciate that their Quibb daily digest allows them to quickly catch up on the best content in their industry.

> Is your newsletter clearly solving a problem for your subscribers?

Before applying any of the techniques described here, quickly run through the above three questions to do a high-level review of your newsletter. Whether you’re sending content you’ve created (e.g., interviews, articles), announcing new products or features, curating a collection of links, or sending network updates, think about the expectations of your subscribers and try to match the frequency and content of your newsletters to meet (or hopefully exceed!) those expectations in a meaningful way.

Psychology for Marketers: 9 Revealing Principles of Human Behavior

by Ginny Soskey

July 10, 2013 at 2:00 PM

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One key part of being a great inbound marketer is understanding how -- and why -- other people think and act the way they do. Think about it for a second. How can you create compelling content if you don’t know why it would be compelling to your audience in the first place? How can you personalize content to reach the right people if you don’t know what type of content they would like, and why they would like it?

Before you start jumping into all the tactical nitty gritty of marketing, it’s really helpful to understand how people operate … which is essentially what the entire field of psychology attempts to explain. Understanding some key principles in psychology can take your content from good to amazing, all because the right audience is reading and identifying with it. Bonus: if you understand these principles and weave them into your marketing, you’ll also convert more visitors into leads, and leads into customers.

Many of these psychological concepts can be used across many aspects of your marketing, but we’re just going to give one example for each. They also aren’t universal; we all know people who are outliers, do we not? With that in mind, let’s get started!

9 Important Psychology Concepts You Can Use in Your Marketing

1) Reciprocity 

Introduced in Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the concept of “reciprocity” is simple -- if someone does something for you, you naturally will want to do something for them. No, this isn’t bribing. If you can act in a sincere and giving way, the other person will naturally want to help you.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

Give away something -- for free -- to help build community or customer loyalty. You don’t have be rolling in dough to give something away; it can be anything from a branded sweatshirt, to an exclusive ebook, to a free desktop background, to your expertise on a difficult subject matter. Even something as simple as a hand-written note can go a long way in establishing reciprocity. By delighting your audience with these small gifts, you’ll be one step closer to establishing a true, solid relationship with your visitors, leads, and customers.

2) Commitments 

Another principle developed by Cialdini, “commitments” is another way of saying that people don’t like breaking their promises. If someone commits to something -- whether it is meeting for lunch or signing up for your product, they feel like they’ve made an obligation to you. Once they make that commitment, people will be much less likely to bail.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

This is a great way to fight customer churn. Though you should never stop trying to delight your customers (per principle #1), it’s important to keep in mind that the longer the commitment they make to you, the harder it could be for them to churn. Think about your pricing structure. Can you lower prices but have new customers sign up for 12 months instead of one? Then, once you’ve gotten your customers’ commitment, fuel it by offering great products and customer service -- and maybe even customer-specific content.

3) Authority 

Most people naturally obey authority figures, according to another principle in Cialdini’s book. When we view someone as having authority, we’ll be much more likely to trust his or her opinions and suggestions, simply because we believe the person is credible.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

Amp up your authority in your content by prominently featuring authors’ information alongside their blog posts, ebooks, whitepapers, or videos. This way, your audience can see just how smart and amazing your inbound marketers are, which can be a step in the right direction if you’re trying to establish thought leadership as a brand.

4) Social Proof 

We’ve talked about social proof a few times on the blog already, but basically, it boils down to a situation in which you adopt the beliefs or actions of a group of people you like or trust. In other words, it’s the “me too” effect. Think of this like an awkward middle school dance -- few people want to be the first one on the dance floor, but once a few people are there, everyone else wants to join in. (Keep in mind, this desire to conform doesn’t go away when you get older and less bashful about your dance moves.)

When You Could Use This in Marketing

One easy way to make the most of social proof is on your blog -- if you're not already, use social sharing and follow buttons that display the number of followers your accounts have or the number of shares a piece of content has. If those numbers are front and center and you already have a few people sharing your post, people who stumble on your post later will be much more likely to share.
P.S. We actually have a post all about using social proof in your marketing, if you're interested.

5) Liking

Another psychological theory by Cialdini, “liking” means that if you feel positively toward another person or company, you’ll be much more likely to interact with them or buy from them. It may not matter how smart the other person is or how profitable the company is -- if you think they’re cool, you’ll want to be seen with them more often.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

Liking is crucial to developing your company’s brand. Keep in mind that being “likeable” doesn’t have to mean being “nice.” Your brand could be raunchy and kind of offensive … but if your audience likes it, you can still take advantage of “liking.” You just want people to feel positively affiliated with your brand. So however you make that happen, it's worth a try.

6) Scarcity 

Ever gone to buy airline tickets and seen a tagline that says “only 3 seats left at this price!” Yup, that’s scarcity (again, another Cialdini concept). This psychology principle goes back to the simple formula of supply and demand: the more rare the opportunity, content, or product is, the more valuable it is. Note: If you want to properly use this principle, you need to be careful how you word it. If you approach the scarcity concept as if there used to be a ton of a product or service, but due to popular demand there’s a few left, people will be very receptive. On the other hand, if you approach it from the angle that there are only a few products total, so get it now, the principle won’t be as effective. Check out this post from Nir and Far for a deeper explanation on why that distinction is important.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

This could be a great tactic to use when planning events. If you’re looking to increase ticket sales, it might be worth sending a personalized email to people who haven’t registered yet to remind them that there are only X number of tickets left since so many people have registered.

7) Recency Illusion

Ever heard about a product and then start seeing it everywhere you look? While that may be part of some clever ad retargeting online, it most likely is because of the “recency illusion.” It starts happening after you encounter something for the first time, and then you start noticing it everywhere you look.

When You Could Use This in Marketing 

This is important to keep in mind when you’re designing marketing campaigns -- you should be aiming to develop robust, integrated campaigns, not just a one-and-done piece of content. By not pigeon-holing your inbound marketing to one type of content on one platform, you not only expose your content to new audiences, but more importantly, keep reinforcing your message with people who have encountered previous marketing pieces.

8) Verbatim Effect

According to this psychological concept, people are more likely to remember a fuzzy, general idea of your content -- not the longer, more detailed piece you originally created. For example, people will most likely remember that your presentation was generally about blogging for business -- not necessarily the details about writing and editing blog content.

When You Could Use This in Marketing 

In our world today, people are headline-hungry. Given the “verbatim effect,” you should try to pack as much relevant and descriptive information into your headline as you can. Besides the fact that your headline will be fighting for attention all on its own on social media (as opposed to being accompanied by the full article text), your headline is only a few words that sum up your entire post. So use it wisely -- it may be all that your readers remember. If you need some help writing compelling headline copy, check out this post on our blog.

9) Clustering

People have a limited amount of space in their short-term memory. In fact, most people can only remember seven pieces of information (plus or minus two pieces in any given situation) at a time. To cope, most people tend to cluster similar pieces of information together. For example, if you had a whole grocery list of random items, most people would tend to mentally group items into certain categories (dairy, grain, meat, etc.) to be able to better remember what exactly was on the list.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

Do the legwork for your audience: group similar topics in your writing together -- either under numbered bullet points or with different header sizes. Besides being much easier to scan, your writing will be much easier to remember and recall down the road -- especially if you’re creating long lists of content.

What psychology principles do you use in your every-day marketing? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Image credit: Saad Faruque

15 Customer Retention Strategies that Work 15 Customer Retention Strategies that Work part 2

Support

This one is a no-brainer: You can't create a tribe of loyal customers without an exceptional customer service experience that keeps them coming back. In this section, we're going to bust a few customer service myths wide open, as well as tackle some important things you need to keep in mind when offering support online.

9. Speed is secondary to quality.

When it comes to customer service that keeps people coming back, the research shows that quality matters more than speed. According to a study by the Gallup Group, customers were nine times more likely to be engaged with a brand when they evaluated the service as "courteous, willing, and helpful," versus the "speedy" evaluation, which only made customers six times more likely to be engaged.

10. Customers enjoy businesses who know them.

Telling your employees to spend more time with customers might seem like folly, but smart entrepreneurs know that isn't the case. Numerous behavioral psychology studies have shown that everybody views their service experience as more positive when they don't feel rushed or ignored. Don't spend time idly, though; have employees attempt to find out key customer traits, just like Derek Sivers did with his employees at CD Baby.

11. Choose the right platform.

The best way to improve your online customer service efforts is to utilize the channel your customers most prefer. Although recent research has shown that a majority of people still prefer and use email more than other services (including social networking), you need to pick the channel that makes the most sense for your business. Hosting companies know that online chats are critical when their customers’ sites go down, but other businesses may have customers who are just fine using email as their primary method of contact.

12. Make it a communal effort.

Countless case studies have made one thing clear when it comes to creating an efficient support system: You need to keep everybody in the loop. At Help Scout, we use tools like Campfire to access real-time notifications of what's happening on the customer end; we were able to improve our response time by 340 percent by enabling a support room that all employees can access. Read more about how we did it.

Loyalty Programs

The key to creating customer loyalty programs that work is to know why customers use them and what gets customers to keep using them. Below you'll find consumer research that answers these questions.

13. Get people started.

Consumer researchers Joseph Nunes and Xavier Dreze are known for their studies on The Endowed Progress Effect. Their results have conclusively shown that the biggest wall that prevents customer loyalty programs from sticking is getting people started. They've shown through their notorious "car wash study" that people are twice as likely to finish loyalty cards if they are automatically started (or rewarded) as soon as they sign up. Read more about this process here.

14. Get ideal customers to be VIPs.

Additional research by Nunes on loyalty programs has shown that people just love being VIPs or gold members of programs. There is one caveat, though. This only works when people know there is a class below them on the totem pole. Speaking to human nature, Nunes saw a notable increase in gold members’ participation as soon as he implemented a lesser silver class.

15. Label your customers.

A research study on voting patterns conducted by Stanford University conclusively showed that people are more likely to participate in something if they are labeled with a positive trait. Our friends at Buffer refer to their premium customers as "awesome" members, and even label their upgraded payment plan as the "Awesome Plan"—a much easier phrase to embrace than "paid member."

Your Turn

What are some other customer retention strategies that you use and would recommend?
Let us know by leaving a comment below!

15 Customer Retention Strategies that Work 15 Customer Retention Strategies that Work part 1

15 Customer Retention Strategies that Work

 

 Customer retention is incredibly important for growing a sustainable business, but before we look at some strategies for improving it, let's put an important data point front and center:

According to the Harvard Business School, increasing customer retention rates by 5 percent increases profits by 25 percent to 95 percent.

This is important to consider when evaluating your own customer loyalty strategies because in the customer service echo-chamber there is a lot of "hoo rah" about taking care of customers, but little discussion on the business side of things.

At Help Scout, we do things differently; we're all about loving customers, but we also aim to prove that great service is more than just the right thing to do—it's also good business sense.
In order to help you increase your own retention rates, we've compiled a list of our 15 favorite tips (backed by academic research and case studies) on increasing customer loyalty, divided into five easy-to-browse sections.
Let's begin!

Communication

It's hard to create loyal customers if they aren't paying attention to you. Given this fact, below are our favorite bits of research on clear communication with customers.

1. Stand for something.

The quickest way to get customers to ignore you is to not stand for anything. A study by the Corporate Executive Board that included 7,000 consumers from across the U.S. found that of those consumers who said they had a strong relationship with a brand, 64 percent cited shared values as the primary reason. If you want loyal customers, you need them to care about you ... so what do YOU stand for?

2. Utilize positive social proof.

While negative social proof ("Nearly 90 percent of websites don't use heat mapping software!") has been proven to dissuade customers rather than encourage them, numerous studies on customer motivation have shown that positive social proof ("Join 20,000 of your peers!") is often the most effective strategy for getting people to listen.

3. Invoke the inner ego.

Despite what we often say, most people like things that resemble them in some way. This cognitive bias is called implicit egotism, and is an important thing to keep in mind when communicating with customers. In order to attract the sort of customers you want, you need to identify your target customers down to the last detail and then craft a brand message that perfectly matches their pains, goals and aspirations. It's easier to fill this existing demand than to create one.

Selling

If customers don't enjoy your selling process, they'll likely never do business with you again. Thus, selling to customers the "correct" way is an integral part of creating customer loyalty. Below are a few studies to help you improve the process.

4. Use the words they love to hear.

Not all words are created equal. Certain persuasive words encourage customers to buy more than others, in particular: free, new and instantly. When customers hear these words (and the promises they imply are backed up), they'll enjoy their purchases more than they would have otherwise.

5. Reduce pain points and friction.

All businesses, no matter the industry, are going to have to sell to the three types of buyers that are out there. According to neuroeconomics experts, nearly a quarter of these buyers will be conservative spenders, or "tightwad" customers. George Lowenstein of Carnegie Mellon University recommends using bundles, reassuring words (e.g., change "a $5 fee" to "a small $5 fee") and reframing as strategies to better sell to these conservative buyers. Read more about his advice here.

Reciprocity

Reciprocity is the social construct that makes the world go 'round ... or in your case, keeps your customers coming back. The premise is simple: Go above and beyond for customers and get rewarded with repeat business. The execution, however, can be trickier, so below is a compilation of interesting research on how to improve reciprocity with your customers.

6. Realize that budget is negligible.

Giving back to customers can appear incredibly costly, but it doesn't have to be. Instead, embrace the art of the frugal wow by understanding that reciprocity is built even with small gestures. In fact, psychologist Norbert Schwarz found that as little as 10 cents can create reciprocity between two individuals (it really is the thought that counts!).

7. Utilize surprise reciprocity.

Although reciprocity works incredibly well on it's own, research shows that it is even *more* powerful when started by surprise. For a simple example, recall a time that someone did something nice for you unexpectedly; the gesture probably wasn't all that unusual, but the fact that it came out of nowhere left a strong impression on you.

8. Make it personal.

In a study from the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, researchers found that waiters could increase their tips by 23 percent by the simple act of returning to tables with a second set of mints. So do mints have magic powers? Apparently not: The researchers concluded that the mints created the feeling of a personalized experience among the customers who received them. So it was the personalized service received that made them enjoy their experience so much more.

10 Ways to Convert More Customers (using Psychology)

ዋልያው ንሥሩን ጋለበው : Daniel Kibret Blog

#ዋልያው #ንሥሩን #ጋለበው please like share comment

‹ይህቺ ኢትዮጵያ የምትባለውን ሀገር የሚጠብቅና የሚታደግ አንዳች ኃይል አለ› የሚባለውን ነገር እንድናምን የሚያደርጉ ብዙ አጋጣሚዎች አሉ፡፡ ሕዝቧ ብትን፣ ቅዝቅዝ፣ ድብዝዝ ሲል ከየት እንደሚመጣ ሳይታወቅ ብቅ የሚል፣

እንደ አውሎ አጥለቅልቋት፣
እንደ እቶን አንድዷት፣
እንደ ሐረግ አስተሣስሯት፣
እንደ ደመና ከልሏት፣
እንደ አደይ አበባ አስውቧት፤
እንደ ቀስተ ደመና ቃል ኪዳኗን አድሶ፣
እንደ ጠል አረስርሶ፣ እንደ ሸማ ፍቅር አላብሶ፣
እንደ ደመራ የሀገር ፍቀር ስሜት ለኩሶ፣
እንደ ጨረቃ አድምቆ፣ እንደ ፀሐይ አሙቆ፣
እንደ ሰም አጣብቆ፣ የሚጎበኝ መንፈስ አላት፡፡...............

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‎ጌሾና‬ ‪‎ጫት‬ - በአውስትራልያ‬:- Daniel Kibret Blog

Post by Daniel Kibret Blog.

The Most Popular Social Networking Sites

The most popular social networking sites? you may want to know this but many people especial in Africa thinks that facebook and twitter are the only social networking sites and I am intended to brake this thinking .i hope you will enjoy this 

 1. Facebook: To access Facebook.com, you must create an account on the site which is free. Facebook's terms of use state that members must be at least 13 years old with valid email ID’s. After updating you're details, your Facebook profile is generated. Using Facebook.com you can:

o Browse and join networks, which are organized into four categories: regions, colleges, workplaces and high schools.
o Pull contacts from a Web-based e-mail account, into Facebook.com.
o Find friends in several ways, including search engine to look for a specific person and lot more.
o Facebook has recently crossed 500 million users and is the most popular Social Networking site of the world.

2. MySpace: On MySpace, your social network starts growing from the first day. When you join MySpace, the first step is to create a profile. You then, invite friends to join there and search for your friends on already profiled on MySpace these friends become your initial Friend Space. Once the friendship is confirmed all the people in your friends' Friend Space become part of your network. In that sense, everyone on MySpace is in your Extended Network. As part of terms of MySpace, the user must be at least 14 years old to register.

3. Twitter: Twitter is a very simple service that is rapidly becoming one of the most talked-about social networking service providers. When you have a Twitter account, you can use the service to post and receive messages to a network of contacts, as opposed to send bulk email messages. You can build your network of contacts, and invite others to receive your Tweets, and can follow other members' posts. Twitter makes it easy to opt into or out of networks. Additionally, you can choose to stop following a specific person’s feed.

4. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is an online social network for business professionals, which is designed specifically for professional networking, to help them find a job, discover sales leads, connect with potential business partners. Unlike most of the other social networks, LinkedIn does not focus on making friends or sharing media like photos, videos and music. To start using LinkedIn you need to register and create a profile page. To register to LinkedIn, you need to provide personal information. You can update the profile with your education and job details and a summary. Additionally, you can also give and receive recommendations from co-workers and bosses. There are more than 75 million professionals registered on LinkedIn.

5. Bebo: In the United Kingdom, Bebo is the second best social network. Bebo allows users to create social networking profiles for free. It offers many of the same features as other social networking sites. You can register a free account with Bebo and upload photos, videos and information. The site lets you connect with old friends and make new ones using a unique user interface. The site boasts users from more than a dozen countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Poland, France and Germany.

6. Friendster: Friendster was one of the first Web sites to bring it into mass culture. It was designed as a place to connect with friends, family, colleagues and new friends over the Internet. However, it went beyond just a one-way communication. Using Friendster, you can connect with friends and family, meet new people through the connections you already have, find people with similar interests, backgrounds or geographical locations, join groups by activity, school or interest, interact through message posts, games, blogs and application sharing, and share your details with the Internet community.

7. Hi5: Hi5 shares many similarities with many social network sites; however, it introduces some twists that make it worthwhile for people who love trying out new and interesting online communities. However, it is not one of the popular sites in the United States. This was a strategic move from the founder, therefore, Hi5 claims around 60 million members from more than 200 countries other than the US. One of the site's biggest transformations is the addition of many entertainment options, including games.

8. Habbo: The Habbo online community is inhabited by pixelated, cartoon-character alter egos. You can meet others in public rooms (nightclubs, restaurants, shops) and create private rooms for selected friends. Habbo employees heavily moderate the site, catering to its solid teen user base. Most of the users of Habbo are between the age group of 13 – 18 years. Although, a major part of the users are from the U.S., Habbo social networks is very popular in places like the United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Finland and more.

9. NING: Ning is the leading online platform for the world's organizers, activists and influencers to create social experiences that inspire action. It helps you create a safe and secure place online for like-minded people. Ning takes the idea of groups to a whole new level. The ability to create your own community makes Ning a great home away from home for organizations and groups looking to fill the social void.

10. Classmates: Classmates.com is different from most social networks, in the sense that most of its features are available to premium member. The price for premium members depends on the length of the agreement – shorter term results in a higher cost per month. Classmates.com is primarily used to reconnect with old classmates. The site features a search engine that lets you view other people who went to the same school you attended. Creating a basic Classmates.com profile is free and easy. However, most of the advanced features in Classmates.com are only available to paid users.