Best book on persuasion and building community

What a coincidence - I am in the middle of this book right now.

It is a fantastic book backed up with tangible examples (psychology studies, mainly), and if you are in the business of persuading customers, I suggest you grab a copy. It covers most of the content from the Psychology 331 (Social Psychology) course I took at university, and is a worthwhile read.

This was one of the first books I read as a copywriter, it's a tremendous reference and because it's based on human nature, it's timeless.

Cialdini's more recent collaboration - Yes! - is also interesting, rehashes the basic principals, but then adds in some more current research, scenarios and applications.

It looks like a good read, and the blog post offers a good online of the main points.

I've read this book twice now. More than any other book on persuasion out there (and there are a lot now, including Sway, The Paradox of Choice, Covert Persuasion, Habit), Cialdini's is stellar. The popular Persuasion, Emotion & Trust course that Human Factors International offers is based almost entirely on this book. (So save yourself $2000 on the course... and just read the book.)

Keep Cialdini's "weapons of influence" in your back pocket when trying to persuade anyone -- but especially when writing your own web copy and/or creating A/B or MVT tests of your web copy. The concept of Reciprocity is one that more 'freemium' startups should be thinking of when trying to monetize.