Great, even if you think you know about persuasionDecember 16, 2008 Joanne Morley(Leeds, UK) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have read and reread this book and even as a hardened marketeer I still find useful ideas on how to improve the marketing of my business and that of my clients. I read it thinking I knew a fair bit about persuasion and it turns out I did, but there were also lots of other things that I wasn't aware of.
The book has been divided into small easy to read chapters, which is good for those who don't want to wade through scientific papers to get to the key points. There are those that may argue that the book has been simplified for the mass audience - to which I say great. It is an easy read full of really useful tips, especially if you want to market your business effectively. Some of which are referenced in The Brighter Marketing Bible for Small Businesses as I thought they would help small businesses understand how to market effectively to their customers.
Philosophical Dry SpellDecember 10, 2008 Asp Besides the valid criticism already voiced by some reviewers; that the presentation is messy and not-memorable, a substantial criticism of this book would be that the book is very much "just the basics", devoid of further reflection or introspection which makes for a poor reading experience.
Though the content in itself is valuable. I'd like a better structured version of this book. And one that would make the points easier to remember.
Fascinating Examples for Fans of Robert Cialdini's Book, InfluenceOctober 2, 2008 Donald Mitchell(Boston) Yes! could have been more appropriately titled as Influence 2 because the book is simply a series of brief examples that illustrate Professor Robert Cialdini's key principles described in his book, Influence (social proof, authority, commitment/consistency, scarcity, reciprocity, and personal liking). If you loved that book and want to dive deeper into its lessons, Yes! is a perfect choice.
If you haven't yet read Influence, I recommend that you read that book before this one. Without Professor's explanations of why these principles work, the case histories in Yes! don't seem so special and interesting. Otherwise, you will probably just see Yes! as a bunch of unrelated stories, many of which don't apply to your marketing challenges. I would expect most people who read Yes! who haven't read Influence to rate Yes! with three stars.
When you do read Influence, be sure to get the latest edition (the fifth edition came out in August 2008). Otherwise, you'll miss out on insights.
I hired Professor Cialdini to speak to one of my research organizations, Share Price Growth 100, a number of years ago and the members rated him very highly for being able to apply the lessons of his research to the financial markets. I was intrigued to see some financial market examples in Yes!
Be more persuasive in getting an ethical point across!
not as good as expected....by farAugust 17, 2008 Garry R. Walls(yorkshire england) 1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I thought that this book, as it was written by 3 professionals, would be intruiging and informative. I was very dissapointed. I read the reviews and was interested in the one that mentioned that the book was filled with the kind of very basic phsycology that most of the adult population are allready aware of, backed up by tests that have been conducted and statistics. I tried to complete the book but stopped short of two chapters as it bored me to distraction. Who knows, maybe the last two chapters were filled with startling revelations and insights! ....i doubt it though
Do Not Read this Rubbish.August 14, 2008 Adrian Booth(Godalming, UK) 4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Having recently read Cialdini's previous book on Influence, I was drawn to this current work. If a book is extremely good, I will recommend it to friends and colleagues alike. However, this is one book I will never recommend to anybody I know; Why? Because it is just too good. Like Cialdini's last book, this one which he contributes to has a very succinct writing style and beautifully laid out sources to point you in the right direction to research it yourself. Each chapter contains thoroughly interesting comments on research conducted over the previous decades on persuasion, and I must say, this book has just nailed it.
I normally do not trust authors or books that attempt to publish the "secrets" of something. But having read this now, I can safely claim that I was wrong. The authors present a fully credible set of sources that back up their claims and always seem to stick to the point in each brief chapter. There is no drifting off topic and is has a perfect writing style.
Now you may ask why I could never recommend this book to a friend but feel compelled to write a review on Amazon for many people to see. The reason is because when you're in a social situation with colleagues and friends, it's hard at times to influence them to do the things YOU want to do. It's for this reason I cannot mention this book on social outings. However, I feel I owe it to all three authors of this book to write a 5 star review for presenting me with this fabulous read. Overall, it is a book that must be on the desk of every businessman and is one that I cannot praise any more than I have.
Excellent read. Thanks Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini; you've surpassed yourselves.
