"RAISING THE BAR WITH SOCIAL PROOF... Or, 
You Didn't Think Of Doing It Because You 
Didn't Know It Was Even Possible."
by Carmen Maranon of MarketingChick.com


Dr. Robert Anthony, author of, "The Ultimate Secrets of
Total Self-Confidence" writes:

"The most important thing to remember about desire is that
if you have the desire to do anything creative, you also
have within you the means of fulfillment..."

"In other words, whatever desire you have, no matter how
far-fetched it may seem, carries with it the ability and
mechanics to make it become reality."

Let's take my 3 year old, Joshua, for example.

He's a very cautious little guy... I admit, I'm to blame.
Never wanting him to get a 'boo boo', I taught him to
always be very, very careful to avoid getting an ouchie.

When he plays Power Ranger, he pretends to leap from tall
buildings by jumping off the very bottom step. He never
jumps off the couch like most other kids, but, instead, he
escapes from the monsters by sliding off the couch and
rolling across the floor.

Too young for preschool, and being the only grandchild from
both sides, he's never exposed to children his age, and
'carefully' plays with his mommy, day in - day out.

And then it happened. I was asked to babysit my friend's
two children, ages 1 and 3. The 3 year old, Jayson, is one
month older than Joshua.

I played with the 1 year old as I watched Joshua and Jayson
play "dinosaur, monster, police truck". Running around the
family room, screaming and laughing, jumping and
dropping... when suddenly, they climbed up the sofa,
yelled, "Power!", bent their knees, and Jayson jumprf up
into the air, then dropped down on the floor on both feet -
as my Joshua looked on, his eyes wide with excitement.

Keeping in mind that my poor sheltered son's definition of
taking a risk is, jumping from the fluffy bedroom carpet,
onto the bathroom tiles.... imagine my surprise when Joshua
followed suit without batting an eyelash.

Now he's a mean, green, jumping machine. Constantly jumping
off sofas, beds, coffee tables... you name it. If he can
climb it, he'll jump off of it.

This is "social proof" at work.

Dr. Cialdini, author of, "Influence Science and Practice"
writes: "The principle of social proof operates most
powerfully when we are observing the behavior of people
just like us" "Therefore we are more inclined to follow the
lead of a similar individual than a dissimilar one."

There's no doubt jumping off the big, fluffy, couch has
crossed Joshua's mind, even before Jayson came along. He
just never witnessed anyone doing it... let alone a boy
just like him. He didn't know it was possible... how could
he? For the past three years, he did exactly as his mommy
did. And mommy never jumped off the couch like that.

Let's move the focus to the adults. How many times have you
fantasized making a million dollars a day? That would be
fantastic, wouldn't it? But it's just a fantasy, right? Or
is it?

Recently, a virtually unknown man by the name of John
Reese, made over one million dollars within 24 hours of
launching his product. Many of you will quickly point at
his large network of Joint Venture partners. But the truth
is, we don't care exactly *how* he did it at this moment...
only that he did.

John Reese, whose name and reputation has not yet widely
circulated as those of Gary Halbert, Jay Abraham, and Dan
Kennedy, proved to us that our dreams do not have to be
confined in our thoughts... it can be unleased and
transformed into reality.

Have you ever imagined making five million dollars in 24
hours? Or buying a $150,000 sports car as a surprise gift
for your husband? How about that spectacular ten million
dollar, 60-room, 12-car-garage mansion?

You don't have to wait for someone else to come and 'prove'
to you that it can be done. You thought it... if you truly
believe it... you can do it.

Be the proof, others will follow, and you'll be a hero.


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About the Author:

Carmen Maranon :: www.MarketingChick.com
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