Psychology, Marketing, and Online Sales

I really enjoy helping friends and family with web-based, online marketing of their goods and services.  I have set up several sites for them which have actually produced significant results – both in general PR and, more importantly, in actual sales. One thing that has helped tremendously is a site, called “Social Triggers“.

Social Triggers

Social Triggers is the name of the website, and now the podcast, founded by Derek Halpern. Derek is a marketer and entrepreneur who focuses on building and marketing businesses.

I like Derek’s stuff because he is not some “rah-rah” guy on the web. Instead, Derek’s online marketing advice is substantive, well-researched, and well-presented. He frequently interviews other experts and authors and does a great job of banging through 3 or 4 key points about what works and what doesn’t.

The New Social Triggers Insider Podcast

As I mentioned above, Derek now hosts a Social Triggers Insider podcast. On it, he interviews experts on the psychology of selling.

One recent Social Triggers podcast featured Daniel Pink, the author of the book, “To Sell is Human”. In that episode, Daniel and Derek discuss a few of the key points that Daniel addresses in detail in his book, including

• The 3 myths of becoming great at sales (hint: there’s no “selling gene”)
• The definitive answer to “Is selling ethical?” and
• How to Close More Deals Without Compromising Your Values.

Perspective, Empathy, and What the other person is Thinking

In particular, I really enjoyed their discussion about the research on the question of how effective empathy actually is. Toward the middle of the podcast, Daniel reviews the research on the importance of taking the other person’s perspective, not by focusing on what the other person is feeling, but rather what the other person is thinking and what are their interests. As Daniel points out, the research shows that the latter approach is more effective and leads to reaching a deal that is better for both sides.

Listen to Social Triggers Insider Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher

You can download Derek’s podcast with Daniel directly from SocialTriggers.com here. But you can also subscribe and get all the Social Triggers podcasts automatically. You can subscribe to Social Triggers through iTunes here or, if you are like me and have an Android phone, you can subscribe to Social Triggers through Stitcher.  To subscribe through Stitcher you should click here.

P.S. You can find Daniel’s discussion on empathy vs. what the other person is thinking at 18:50 min in the podcast. Here’s the link again to the Social Triggers Insider podcast on Stitcher: http://stitcher.com/s/profile.php?fid=23837

P.P.S. Derek also has a very interactive approach. He not only invites people to comment – after listening to his podcasts or watching his videos – he also actually reads and answers his email.  In fact, when I got his notice about this podcast, saying it was available on iTunes, I wrote Derek and asked if it was also available for my Android phone.  I told him if he could tell me how to subscribe to the Social Triggers podcast with an Android, I would  be happy to write this post.

So, thanks again Derek. I really appreciate all of your hard work, and please let me know if I can do anything to be of help to you.