Old media is still a powerful tool that influences millions of people every single day.

Yet the media is far from objective in its coverage of political issues. Reporting is dead; but putting spin on information is alive and well (even if you’re in the “No-Spin Zone”).

With that in mind, let’s talk about this issue of “electability.” Why is it being repeated so much by the talking heads on TV?

The reason is simple:

They’re trying to convince you that it’s better to vote for a bad candidate who might be able to beat Obama than a good candidate whom the establishment would like you to believe doesn’t have a chance.

But this is the underlying message: There is a better candidate!

His name is Ron Paul.

And if people stopped believing the lie that they must vote “for the lesser of two evils,” then Ron Paul would beat Obama by a landslide.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• The Illusion of Democracy
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So I got this little gem of an email in my inbox this week.

GREETINGS MY NAME IS ANGEL AND I AM THE DIRECTOR OF MEDIA REPRESENTING VISUAL MEDIA IMPACT IN TARRYTOWN, N.Y. I AM EMAILING YOU BECAUSE I SEE POTENTIAL IN YOUR TRAFFICKING DUE TO MY EXPERTISE OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZING. I HAVE OVER 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH INTERFACE AND COMPUTER DEVELOPMENT AND WOULD LIKE TO RAISE YOUR CAPILIZATION RATES EXPONENTIALLY VIA- SPIDERS AND CRAWLERS AND OTHER COHERENT MECHANISMS AND STRATEGIC MANNERS WITH PAY-PER-CLICKS AND FULL SERVICE MARKETING MOBILE AND I-PAD XHTML APPLETS VIA-PORTABLE DEVICES. CALL ME ASAP! I NEED TO GIVE YOU A FREE CONSULTATION AND SEE YOUR FISCAL TOLERENCE LEVELS. IF AM AM NOT IN MY OFFICE TALK TO JERRY. I WANT TO FLY OR YOU FLY SO WE CAN GATHER PHOTOGRAPHS AND DEVELOP A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR VIDEOGRAPHY.

P.S- I’M PUTTING YOU ON MY FACEBOOK FOR “FREE!”

Wow. I’ve never had anybody tell me they wanted to “raise [my] capitalization rates exponentially via coherent mechanisms.”

It gets worse.

The email above was also accompanied by a voice message:

After introducing himself, “Angel” says he is “reaching abroad in a manner transcontinentally cuz I wanna network with you and I REALLY like you a lot.” After cumbersomely explaining what he does, he reveals he wants to “see my fiscal tolerance level.”

What begins as an over-the-top compliment is really just a poorly disguised sales pitch.

By the way, wasn’t it just this week that I warned you that flattery often precedes an effort to defraud?

Let’s look at all the red flags in this sales pitch:

• It begins with flattery — flattery from a stranger, no less!

• He wants to see my “fiscal tolerance level.” This phrase is designed to get the recipient to feel prideful (“Why, by Jove, I’m a man of means!”).

• He wants to fly out to see me. Again, another element to make the mark feel important.

• He mentions that he’s “put me on his Facebook for free.” Naturally, this is an effort to make me feel indebted so I will reciprocate by calling him back.

Three parts flattery plus one part reciprocity.

Overall, the pitch is perfectly horrid, even laughable.

But it’s a good example of how con men lead with flattery so you will lower your defenses.

Know the triggers and be on your guard. Not all efforts to defraud are as easy to spot as this one…

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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For experienced marketers, this may be old news, but the Harvard Business Review found that people who were made to feel special were three times more likely to want to buy a specific item.

How, exactly, was this conclusion reached?

In an experiment that provided participants with an opportunity to buy a discounted coffee mug, those who were told they had been randomly selected to get the discount were 3 times more likely to want to buy than people who believed everyone got the discount. Researchers Jerry M. Burger and David F. Caldwell of Santa Clara University say such “special” opportunities may be appealing because people’s self-esteem is tied to factors that distinguish them from the crowd.

Naturally, prospects are more responsive when they feel special, singled out, part of a distinct group.

This is why so many successful sales pitches appeal to vanity.

Making prospects feel special is just good business. But do not be deceptive and do not cross the line into flattery.

I’ve found that flattery is the mark of a con man and nearly always precedes an effort to defraud.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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If you enjoyed reading Cialdini’s Influence, Ariely’s Predictably Irrational, or Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner, then chances are you’ll enjoy the new behavioral psychology book Situations Matter by Sam Sommers.

Situations Matter explores how our behavior is shaped by circumstance. For example: In one situation, we may be proactive; but in a similar situation with a slightly different context, we may be completely apathetic. What makes the difference? And why?

These are the types of scenarios Sommers investigates in his book. As the author explains on page 17:

So much of how we see and interact with the social universe around us is shaped by our immediate context. As the chapters in this book detail, seemingly trivial aspects of daily situations determine whether we keep to ourselves or get involved in the affairs of others, whether we follow a group or stake out an independent path, why we’re drawn to certain people and away from others.

I enjoyed Situations Matter more than I thought I would. After all, the title didn’t intrigue me at all, so I let the book languish on my desk for two months. (I think it would sell better with a title like The Hidden Power of Context: How Situations Shape Our Behavior, but it’s a little late for that.)

The title aside, after I started reading, I was hooked. Sommers explores fascinating topics like how we fall in love; why we tend to rate ourselves as “better than average” at nearly everything; how being part of an arbitrary group affects how we treat those outside the group; how context and expectation influences test scores; and much more.

And while you may already be familiar with some of the studies Sommers uses to support his arguments (like Stanley Milgram’s famous electric shock experiment), chances are there are many more you’ve never heard of.

Every chapter contains valuable insights into human behavior and practical lessons to apply long after you’ve finished reading. My favorite chapter was chapter six, the one simply titled “Love.” This chapter confirmed some of my hunches about attraction and romance, and revealed some new information, too.

Just be forewarned: die-hard romantics may be upset or even angry after reading this chapter. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a relationship, this chapter may prove to be immensely helpful.

My least favorite chapter was chapter five, “Mars and Venus Here on Earth.” This chapter explores gender stereotypes. While I found some of this chapter interesting and enlightening, there were parts of it that rubbed me the wrong way — mainly the parts where he argues that gender differences are not as hard-wired as we believe. I get his point, but my thinking doesn’t go quite as far as his does toward erasing gender norms.

My only other criticism is Sommers’s efforts at humor. Quite a few of them fell flat for me. This is echoed by at least a couple reviewers on Amazon. William McPeck writes, “I could have done with less of the author’s attempts at humor. I feel it detracted from the book’s message.” Ditto.

Although many people could benefit from reading Situations Matter, it will probably appeal most to direct marketers, students of influence, and people who simply want a deeper understanding of human behavior.

Situations Matter was just published December 29, 2011, and is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book sellers. So if you got a gift card for Christmas (or even if you didn’t), consider grabbing a copy for New Year’s reading. I think you’ll enjoy it.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. I received an uncorrected proof of Situations Matter in advance of publication for the purpose of writing this review.Similar Posts:

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The world is full of unexamined opinions. If you doubt this statement, here’s how to prove it to yourself:

Educate yourself deeply on just about any subject, then go engage somebody in a discussion. After that discussion, go have another. And another. And another.

Over the course of these discussions with your friends and family members — maybe even a few neighbors and co-workers — you’ll quickly discover just how common unexamined opinions are. You may even quietly wonder to yourself, “How could these people be so ignorant?!”

The thing is, we all have blind spots at different points in our lives. We’ve accepted certain things as truth — we’ve blindly accepted “the way things are” — without subjecting these assumptions to any kind of rigorous “truth filters.”

• Would you be willing to challenge some of your cherished — but potentially unexamined or under-examined — opinions?

• Would you be willing to read an author who has a contrary opinion?

• Would you be willing to fully investigate a serious issue — reading even those opinions and theories that differ from yours?

I used to be afraid of such mental exercises, but no longer. Over the course of the last 10-plus years, I’ve become willing to examine my beliefs at a very deep level.

Now I relish this kind of self-examination. It challenges me. It pushes me to greater levels of understanding.

But not everybody can tolerate different viewpoints. When I quoted Howard Zinn recently, a disgruntled reader unsubscribed and lashed out at me. He wrote:

I don’t want my box cluttered by someone who appears to think Howard Zinn was a historian. Even liberal historians such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., have harsh words for him. Marxist historians like Zinn create “false consciousness”, not understanding.

Ignoring the fact that this reader contradicted himself in the span of three sentences and knows nothing of how much history I read, perhaps his criticism of Zinn is legitimate. That is why I still intend to examine his allegations in the near future.

Because I want to know the truth.

I’ve found very few people actually want to know the truth. Many claim they do, but their actions prove them otherwise. They’d rather read gossip mags, watch ESPN, and research their next big purchase.

I’m hoping you’re different.

I’m hoping you have the guts… and the raw mettle… to closely examine your opinions and pursue the truth no matter how much discomfort it causes you. Make this one of your resolutions for the new year.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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In the book My Voice Will Go with You, the author Sidney Rosen recounts the teaching tales of Milton Erickson.

I found this one particularly interesting because of the sales lesson it teaches. It’s called “Scratching Hogs” (Milton Erickson is the one speaking).

One summer I sold books to pay my way through college. I walked into a farmyard about five o’clock, interviewed the farmer about buying books, and he said, “Young fellow, I don’t read anything. I don’t need to read anything. I’m just interested in my hogs.”

“While you’re busy feeding the hogs, do you mind if I stand and talk to you?” I asked.

He said, “No, talk away, young fellow, it won’t do you a bit of good. I’m not going to pay attention to you; I am busy feeding the hogs.”

And so I talked about my books. Being a farm boy, I thoughtlessly picked up a pair of shingles lying on the ground and started scratching the hogs’ backs as I was talking. The farmer looked over, stopped, and said, “Anybody knows how to scratch a hog’s back, the way hogs like it, is somebody I want to know. How about having supper with me tonight and you can sleep overnight with no charge and I will buy your books. You like hogs. You know how to scratch ‘em the way they liked to be scratched.” (p. 59)

Sometimes selling isn’t so much about selling as it is relating to the other person. People like to do business with people they know, like, and trust. They also like to do business with people they respect.

Knowing, liking, trusting, respecting — these are all byproducts of building rapport.

In the story above, Milton Erickson built rapport with the farmer because Erickson knew how to scratch a hog’s back. The farmer was more interested in hogs than anything else, and so Erickson’s simple act of scratching the hogs’ backs the right way built instant rapport.

When you build rapport with a prospect — genuine rapport — he or she will naturally be more inclined to buy from you.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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Have you ever tried to persuade somebody of certain belief or to take a specific action?

It’s rarely easy.

For the most part, us humans are hard-headed creatures set in our ways.

I was reminded of this when we went to get our family photos taken this morning.

We all got dressed up (our three young kids included), and then headed off just shy of 10 a.m. When we arrived, they let us take a few minutes to peek in the mirror and make sure we all still looked good.

At that point, my wife decided to apply some lip gloss to my 8-year-old daughter’s lips.

Now, my daughter likes to wear dresses, but she’s still a bit of a tom-boy. And she doesn’t like lip gloss.

She started to cry.

Of all my kids, the last one I expected to cry was my daughter. She’s my oldest! I thought for sure it would have been my three-year-old son. But my daughter??

Anyway, my wife was upset and told our daughter to stop crying… that her eyes and nose would get red and it would mess up the pictures.

Of course, every time we told her to stop crying and that she was acting like a three-year-old, she would just cry more.

I quickly realized appealing to our authority was not going to work. I also realized that appealing to her “status” as the oldest child in our family wasn’t going to work either.

So that’s when I said, “It’s fine. Let her cry. When we show the pictures to her friends, we’ll just have to explain that she decided to cry and throw a fit about wearing lip gloss for an hour.”

Immediately, my daughter’s demeanor changed.

Most of her friends in the neighborhood are “girly” girls who like wearing lip gloss and make-up. My daughter knows that her friends would laugh at her if they knew she was crying about wearing lip gloss.

Authority didn’t work. Comparing her to her younger brothers didn’t work. But the veiled threat of embarrassment and humiliation in front of her friends — her peers! — worked instantly.

Persuasion is not so much about “tricks” or “secret techniques” as it is about knowing what matters to the person you are trying to persuade. Once you know what the person cares about, you can zero in on the emotional trigger that he or she will respond to.

Have you spent enough time finding the right emotional trigger?

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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Boiler room scams are on the rise, so I feel it’s important for you to know how this type of scam works.

• Step 1: You buy an inexpensive product or accept a “Free plus Shipping” offer from an infomercial or similar marketing medium.

• Step 2: Get a call from a boiler room where you are pitched an expensive coaching or mentoring program.

Now comes a decision point. Do you buy what was offered in Step 2 or not? If you don’t, there is no Step 3. But if you do…

• Step 3: Lose a whack of money. Could be $2,000. Could be $30,000 or more.

This kind of stuff happens every day in America and in the U.K.

Right now, boiler room scams are on the rise in the U.K. The most insidious scam involves persuading retirees and middle-aged investors to buy non-existent shares that are supposedly going to significantly increase in value in the near future.

Most boiler room scams in the U.S. involve capturing a person’s credit card information and then making unauthorized charges. Usually, there is a mysterious monthly charge that is less than $100. These charges can go undetected for months. Once noticed, it is difficult if not impossible to get the charges stopped without canceling the card.

Other boiler room scams use high-pressure sales tactics to get authorization, and then charge the card one time for a large four-figure or five-figure amount.

The victims of these scams almost never get refunds. A rare few are able to get chargebacks, but are forced to waste inordinate amounts of time and energy in order to do so. The majority never go to the trouble and just take the loss.

In Britain’s latest rash of scams, the marks are asked to wire money to a bank, usually off-shore, in order to buy the non-existent shares being pitched. Of course, once money has been wired to another bank, there is no way to get the money back. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

The Telegraph reports:

DH, a Telegraph reader lost £400,000 to such a scam. He was conned by a company that appeared to be genuine – it had an FSA authorisation number and an HSBC bank account, albeit offshore. He has little hope of recovering a penny. [...] The average amount of money lost is £20,000, but the biggest individual loss to date recorded by the police is £1.2m.

The situation in the U.K. has gotten so bad that banks are now issuing letters to their customers warning them of boiler room fraudsters.

Are You on a “Sucker List”?

Boiler rooms usually work off compiled lists of people with similar demographic and psychographic traits. These lists are affectionately called “sucker lists.”

An easy way to get on a sucker list is to do what I described in Step 1 above: Buy an inexpensive product or accept a “Free plus Shipping” offer from an infomercial or similar marketing medium.

Of course, buying an inexpensive product from an infomercial is no guarantee you’ll be put on a sucker list. But it helps if that product is about a business opportunity or has something to do with making money.

This is because boiler rooms prey on vulnerable people who are desperate to make money. Greed is a common factor among those who get taken.

My Personal Experience with Boiler Rooms

I can say from personal experience that I’ve never had a good experience with a boiler room. I’ve spoken with a few, and even paid for some way-over-priced programs back in my early 20s when I was what they call a “hyper responder.”

In every case, the offer being pitched was a course, method, or opportunity for making money.

• The first time, I paid $5,000 for H. Roger Neale’s Fast Flip Real Estate Home Study Course. It was, in my opinion, nowhere near worth that much. I didn’t agree with the methods he taught, so I never used them. A complete waste of money.

• The second time, I bought into an MLM opportunity. It was an investment of about $2,000 or so. Again, I realized too late that I disagreed with the marketing tactics being employed. Fortunately, I was able to ship everything back for a partial refund. I think I lost a few hundred dollars on this deal.

• The third time, I made the biggest financial mistake of my life: I paid $30,000 for five vending machines. Although a boiler room was involved in the initial steps of the marketing funnel, the sale was commenced in a one-on-one meeting after a live presentation.

I began to wise up after this third episode.

So when I sat down to discuss buying the Denver, Colorado, territory for the Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle business franchises that were first offered at the 2006 GKIC SuperConference in Chicago, I decided against the opportunity. (I have never regretted that decision.)

Why You’ll Give Thousands of Dollars
to Somebody You Don’t Know

Because of these experiences (and a handful of others where I said “no”), I began to catch on to how they were getting me (and many others) to part with large sums of money.

And while there are multiple persuasion tactics being used (authority, social proof, and urgency chief among them), the single biggest persuasion tactic is the use of consistency.

Humans want to be consistent — and congruent — in their behavior. Marketers know this. So the sales scripts they use rely on building small commitments in the beginning so that it’s difficult for you to say “no” in the end.

If you agree in the beginning, you can’t say “no” later without contradicting yourself and making yourself look bad.

So pride gets the best of most people and they plunk down a bunch of cash for an opportunity or coaching service that is not going to improve their life in any way.

Fraud: An Inside Look

If you have a few minutes, I highly recommend you watch this video. It covers many of the tactics boiler rooms use to manipulate their marks.

Take note of how the manipulation occurs. Jim Vitale, the former boiler room sales person in the video above, explains how it works:

• Authority – Authority is established right up front. “Hey, how are you Jim, the first thing I want to do is to grab a pen, I want you to write my name down. (Now I have control. I’m already telling you what to do).” If a person asks too many questions, the authority is reinforced later through the use of what Jim calls a “slap take-away.”

• Social Proof – Jim says that after setting an appointment to talk with a prospect, he’ll give the person references. This is the use of social proof. If other people have had success, then you are more likely conclude that you can, too. Unfortunately, many so-called “references” are being paid by the company. In other words, they are fraudulent.

• Urgency – The phrase “ground floor opportunity” has urgency built into it. If you don’t get in fast, you might get in too late. Urgency is also built into the take-away. It’s common to mention a limited number of areas or territories, and that other people are “waiting in line” for the opportunity to get one. This is urgency created by scarcity.

It’s not that authority or social proof or urgency are inherently bad. But they can be used to manipulate people into making irrational and harmful decisions. This is why they are tools of the trade in every boiler room’s toolbox.

How to Protect Yourself
from Boiler Room Scams

If you find yourself tempted to buy into an expensive business opportunity or coaching program, please protect yourself by keeping these tips in mind…

• Tip #1: Always do your research before making an investment. Search Bing for negative/positive reviews and see what you can dig up.

• Tip #2: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t let yourself be manipulated by promises of easy wealth.

• Tip #3: If you must use a credit card to pay for the opportunity, then do not proceed. Say no and hang up.

• Tip #4: If you must take out a second mortgage to pay for the opportunity, then do not proceed. Say no and hang up.

• Tip #5: If the sales person asks for your credit card limit or how much credit you have available to use, then do not proceed. Say no and hang up.

• Tip #6: Do the math! Figure out how much you could realistically make in the next 3 months. Then cut that number in half. Then halve it again. Does your investment still make sense?

• Tip #7: Plan for the worst case scenario. If you none of the income claims are true, and you never make a penny, will you be able to recoup part of your investment? Can you resell whatever it is you’re buying? If so, what is the going rate on eBay right now?

• Tip #8: Talk to trusted friends and family members about the opportunity or coaching program you’re considering. Get their honest feedback — and take it seriously. The people who love you most are interested in protecting you from making a bad decision.

• Tip #9: Last but not least, never make a decision the same day or even the same week. Give yourself at least two weeks to consider any big investment. After you’ve “cooled off,” you’ll be more rational about the decision.

These tips, combined with the information above, should provide you with a good defense if you ever find yourself on the receiving end of a boiler room scam phone call.

Oh, and one last thing…

Do you have a story or experience about getting scammed by a boiler room? Please share by leaving a comment below.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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One of the primary principles of positioning is to be first in a particular category or market.

If you can be first in your category, then your prospect will naturally think of you first when he is ready to buy.

This principle of positioning works the same way with history. The media writes the first version of history, and it’s almost always wrong, incomplete, or misleading.

Unfortunately, once written and published, most people accept the first version of history as fact. It often becomes “official,” even if it is untrue.

Years later, the official story is repeated in history books in thousands of schools. To question the official story is to be a conspiracy theorist. And to try to get people to see the truth is like trying to reroute an eight-lane highway: nearly impossible.

Hitler was a master of lies and propaganda. He wrote this in Mein Kampf…

But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.

And so we see that even false versions of stories can become “official” if they are 1) first in people’s minds, 2) confined to a few major points, and 3) repeated often.

Just remember: An official story is rarely synonymous with the truth.

So whenever you hear an “official story,” be skeptical.

Determine the facts as best you can… then let those facts tell the story as completely as they can… apart from popular bias.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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What do psychopaths, scam artists, and con men all have in common?

They’ve all been featured on this blog!

In fact, I’ve written individual posts about each of these types of individuals and how to know when you’re dealing with one.

Trouble is, these three articles were published over the course of three years (the first post was in June 2008), so they’re quite spread out in the archives of this site.

With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to do a “round up” of these three posts so they’re all in one place, easy to find and easy to reference.

Read all three of these posts and you’ll be able to quickly and easily spot scam artists and con men at work, while the average guy will never see what’s coming.

How to Spot a Con Man

“Con man” is short for “confidence man”… a guy who will go to extreme lengths to gain your confidence so that you’ll be easier to scam.

First he gains your trust; then he takes your money.

• Discover 3 sneaky ways con men build trust here

7 Traits Scam Artists Have in Common

A scam happens when you’re promised a certain product, service, or outcome that is never delivered. In other words, a scam is a fraudulent way of conducting business.

A scam artist is a person who specializes in scams to defraud people of money. (A scam artist often uses confidence tricks to perpetuate his scams. See “con man” above.)

• Discover 7 traits scam artists have in common here

How to Spot a Psychopath

While con men and scam artists are defined by their actions, psychopaths are defined by their personalities. There are 20 different “markers” that determine whether a person is a psychopath or not.

Surprisingly, there is much evidence that a disproportionate number of psychopaths rise to and hold positions of power — proof that psychopathy manifests in many different ways.

• Discover the 20 “markers” that define a psychopath here

Have I overlooked any traits, behaviors, or information that would help people spot psychopaths, scam artists, and con men? Leave a comment below and let me know…

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

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