Ignor­ing, for a moment, the rather unsound and out­moded neu­ro­science pro­pounded in the intro­duc­tion, these tips for extend­ing influ­ence online and per­suad­ing your vis­i­tors are worth a few minutes:

  1. Show rat­ings and reviews by other users (for action through social val­i­da­tion).
  2. Pro­vide instant grat­i­fi­ca­tion and a quick fix.
  3. Put the most impor­tant action to be done first.
  4. Use the illu­sion of scarcity (pre­vi­ously).
  5. Build reci­procity by giv­ing away some­thing for free.
  6. Learn to use food, sex and dan­ger in an adver­tis­ing context.
  7. Limit the choices avail­able and pro­mote bun­dles (noted in this list with the para­dox of choice/too-much-choice effect the­ory firmly in mind: while the advice is solid, the para­dox of choice the­ory is over­es­ti­mated).
  8. Speak to your vis­i­tor by using the word ‘You’ (per­son­al­i­sa­tion).
  9. Get your vis­i­tors to make a (small) com­mit­ment. Prefer­ably a pub­lic one.
  10. Use images that demon­strate sim­i­lar­ity and attractiveness.
  11. Be a mas­ter at telling stories.