5 Unexpected Copywriting Books To Give You A Persuasive Edge

Back by popular demand, Here is my latest list of the five most unexpected copywriting books you should read immediately to give you a persuasive edge. What's up guys? It's Alex. I am super excited about this video because it has been a long time coming. So back on February 13, 2019, I released my first ever YouTube video on five copywriting books for beginners that I though. Now, a year And a half, 74 episodes and 53,000 subscribers later, it has become one of my most watched videos. So it is really no surprise that many of you have asked me to do a part two of More Must Read Books to sharpen your copywriting skills. Well, since there are already a ton of lists out there on copywriting and marketing books that you should add to your bookshelf or Audible account, I thought I would give this list a little bit of a different spin. The books I'm sharing with you today were not specifically written for copywriters or marketers, but I promise you they will give you a massive edge when it comes to your writing because you'll get mind blowing insights where nobody else is looking. Those of you who have been following me for a while know that I love to look for inspiration in unconventional places. I'm obsessed with history and science and psychology and true crime and philosophy. I geek out on studying the intricacies of the human condition, including the hidden and fascinating motivations behind why we act, feel and buy the way we do. And really having the ability to understand what guides human behavior is the holy grail of copywriting. After all, it's your job to predict your prospects needs early on and compel them to take a specific action with your words. So today I am giving you a little peek into my crazy braid and sharing five non copywriting books you need to read immediately to give you an undeniable edge in your communication and persuasion. And if you want more tutorials on how to get inside the mind of your customers and just write better copy, join my global posse by clicking the subscribe button below. And don't forget to ring that bell to be notified when my next video goes live. Now here they are, five unexpected and unconventional copywriting books for you to read next. The Hidden Logic that Shapes Our Motivation by Dan Airly Dan Airly is not only a professor of psychology and behavioral economics, he's also a renowned TED speaker and the author of several best selling books, including one of my favorites, Predictably Irrational, which made my first list of must read copywriting books. And he also wrote this one in Payoff, he gives you an invaluable guide to human motivation. Whether you're looking to motivate yourself, the people you live with, work with, or or interact with on a daily basis, the truth is, most of us are completely unaware of how motivation plays a role in our decision making. While you may assume that we make decisions transactionally based on money or some other logical or tangible benefit, it's actually so much more complex and meaningful than that. There are hidden motivational factors that most of us are partially or even completely blind to that run our routines and our personal narratives every single day. So do you know what they are? For example, what role does trust play play in motivation? What are your misconceptions about how to value your work? And how does your sense of morality impact the decisions you make? Payoff explores the true nature of motivation so that you can be more mindful of the choices you make and understand those of others. Ultimately, this knowledge will help you close the gap between your prospect and your call to action by speaking to these hidden motivational factors in your copy. All right, number two on the list is Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins. Now, in my first list of copywriting books to read, I recommended Breakthrough Advertising by none other than Eugene Schwartz, a brilliant and frequently credited copywriter who became prominent in the 50s and 60s. Well, let's look a little bit farther back than that. Claude Hopkins was an advertising pioneer who revolutionized the industry in the early 1920s, and his book Scientific Advertising has been recommended by advertising geniuses throughout the past century, including man known as the father of advertising, David Ogilvy. Now, he said nobody at any level should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book. So seven times. It has changed the course of my life. Even marketing legend Jay Abraham, who I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times, claimed that he's read this book 60 times and that it helped him launch his career. So in his book, Hopkins teaches you how to tap into basic psychological triggers based on his years and years of dedicated study and experimentation as a salesman. So this includes how to tell your story, how to apply specificity, how to write compelling headlines, and even how to choose the right images to strengthen your ad. Now, Originally published in 1923, the language is a little bit old school, just like the look, but the wisdom is still powerfully written, relevant because guess what? As Dan Airley has also confirmed, people's internal motivators have hardly changed since the beginning of time, which is what makes this book and others like it absolutely timeless. Number 3 the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell in my video 5 Copywriting Courses for Beginners, I included Malcolm Gladwell's masterclass as the course to help you improve your storytelling skills. Why? Because few can present case studies on human behavior as well as this award winning writer. In his debut bestseller, he introduces what he refers to as the tipping point, that magical moment when an idea, a trend or social behavior crosses a threshold and spreads like wildfire. And this can apply to anything from fashion or music trends to market demands and crime rates. And you should be absolutely giddy with excitement when you think about how this applies to selling products and disseminating ideas through copywriting. According to Gladwell, there are three variables that determine whether the tipping point will be achieved the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. So one of the examples he used was the shoe brand Hushpuppies, which was near expanded extinction in the 1990s. But then it suddenly hit a tipping point when a bunch of young hipsters in soho started wearing the shoes and sparked a nationwide trend that shot sales through the roof. And there are a lot more case studies like this today, especially now with the help of social media to spread new fads, causes and campaigns like Wildfire in both good ways and bad. Number four the Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani so it might not be a book about marketing, but in my opinion it is written by one of the top copywriters and marketers in the personal development field, Vishen Lakhiani, the founder of mindvalley. So I wanted include this book on my list. Not only because Vishen is a longtime friend of mine and my former boss at mindvalley, but he was my first mentor in this whole crazy world and taught me so so much of what I know today. So his book the Code of the Extraordinary Mind, which I listened to on Audible, makes a case that everything we know about the world is mostly decided not by rational thought, but instead by conditioning and habit. As a result, most of us have been living our lives based on limiting rules and outdated beliefs about pretty much everything. Everything. Love, work, money, parenting, sex, and even our health. Inspired by the work of visionaries such as Peter Diamandis, Arianna Huffington, and Sir Richard Branson, this book is also a blueprint of 21st century nonconformity. It teaches you how to question, challenge and hack the norm and how to create new rules to define success on your own terms. So how does this book help you as a copywriter? Well, today audiences are growing more and more frustrated and jaded by the status quo. Today, the Code of the Extraordinary Mind is a thought provoking resource to help you better understand your prospect's personal battles, empower them to take action, and better illustrate what their life can look like once they've unshackled themselves from the core problem you're addressing in your copy. Nonsense the Power of Not Knowing by Jamie Holmes so do not be fooled by the title of this book. There is no nonsense in nonsense. This book looks at how humans make decisions when they are faced with uncertainty, which pretty much sums up the entirety of 2020. Our need for certainty impacts how much risk we're willing to take in life, at work, on our own, or in our personal relationships. It's based on a survival mechan, and the higher your need for certainty, the less risk you're willing to take. So how do we choose which path to take when we literally have no idea what lies in the foreseeable future? Well, in this book, Holmes presents new insights from social psychology and cognitive science on how ambiguity actually plays a role in our lives and how we can use uncertainty to our advantage. From spy games and doomsday cults to Absolut Vodka's ad campaign and the exponential growth of fashion label Zara, this book tells the story of how people often prosper when faced with uncertainty. Managing ambiguity is quickly becoming an important skill, especially in today's climate. Nonsense won't only help you empathize with your prospect as they consider your offer, but will help you eliminate any objections that might come up as they read your copy. All right guys, that is it. Five unexpected books you should read immediately to get inside the minds of your customers, gain a persuasive edge and take your copywriting to the next level. And you can grab a copy of all of these books at the Amazon links in the description below. Now I want to hear from you. What is your favorite copywriting, marketing or psychology book that didn't make the list? Comment below and let me know. Next up, check out the video I mentioned earlier on five copywriting courses I recommend. You can watch that right here. And here's a throwback to my very first YouTube video on five copywriting books for beginners. Thank you so much for watching guys. I will see you next week with a brand new video. Until then, I'm Alex. Ciao for now.