Read time: 2.4 minutes

Who do you want to take fitness advice from?
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​Somebody who is extremely overweight? Or someone with a six-pack?
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The answer is obvious. And there’s a lesson there…
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​The persuasion level of a message is tied to its messenger.
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​You’ll put more weight on business advice if it’s coming from someone who sold their company for $50 million.
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You’ll choose to learn how to grow an audience from somebody with 100,000+ followers.
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​What’s the mathematical formula that makes that person credible?

Don’t worry… I’m a marketer—not a math whiz. (I actually failed grade 10 math 😬)
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This formula is so simple even I can understand it.
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As Robert Cialdini explains:
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​Credibility = Expertise + Trustworthiness
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​People are loss averse by nature. We fear being taken advantage of or misled, and therefore we’re cautious about who we pay attention to.
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If you want to pre-suade someone to buy from you in the future, they must first believe you’re credible.
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​Let’s explore the two factors of credibility ⬇️

🧠 The Science Behind Credibility

Credibility is built on expertise and trustworthiness. Each is created in a different way.

Let’s start with the research behind expertise:

​Researchers hooked up participants to a brain scanner. The participants were asked to make economic decisions.

Making these decisions made the region of the brain associated with evaluating options light up.

Researchers asked the participants to make more economic decisions with one catch. This time they were given expert advice about which decision to make.

The part of their brain that lit up last time—the part associated with evaluation options—flat-lined.

Once the expert had spoken, participants stopped evaluating the options themselves.

What’s the lesson here?

People would prefer to outsource the mental labor of decision-making to an expert.

That also means that when an expert gives advice—like recommending a specific product or course of action—people are more likely to act on it.

This is why experts can be the best spokespeople.

Now, let’s look at trustworthiness:

Okay, Cialdini, you’ve got us hooked.
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To create “instant trustworthiness,” reference weaknesses as early as possible.
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​This creates immediate trust and makes people trust what you say after more.
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​Advertisers who talk about a product’s shortcomings before its strengths increase sales.
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​Trial attorneys who point out a weakness before the rival attorney can win cases more often.
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​Here’s the trick:
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Add “but” “yet” or “however” after you describe the weakness.
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​If I were pitching UNIGNORABLE, I could say something like:
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​“I can’t promise you’ll get 10,000 new Twitter followers in 30 days, but I can promise that the audience you attract will be the type of people who will actually want to buy from you.”
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​The goal is to direct people’s attention toward the favorable parts of your pitch after pre-suading them to trust you.

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​🤓 Pre-suasion in the Wild

Would you take my advice on audience building if I had 200 followers and 500 newsletter subscribers?
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​I hope not.
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​I have to show you that I’ve actually achieved what I teach.
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I’ve learned how to create un-ignorable content that’s grown my online audience to over 270,000 followers across Twitter, LinkedIn, and my newsletter.
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But I can’t expect you to know that when you first encounter me online. I have to tell you.
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I keep my newsletter subscriber count updated on my Twitter profile for a reason.

Showing that 60,000+ people read my newsletter boosts my credibility.

It increases the chances that someone who visits my Twitter profile will follow me because others clearly see me as an expert and trust my advice.

Another way to build credibility is to highlight your wins.

Neal O’Grady, my UNIGNORABLE co-creator, does this masterfully with this LinkedIn post.

​Neal’s story starts with a highlight reel of his accomplishments, but then takes an unexpected turn…

He emphasizes that endlessly chasing wealth isn’t what matters to him. Neal is more focused on chasing happiness.

This message will resonate with people who share that goal, making Neal appear credible and even more likeable. (Remember yesterday’s lesson?)

Let’s boost your credibility ⬇️

🎯 Today’s Pre-suasion Challenge

It’s time to think of yourself as a credibility machine.
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Every person that reads your content and clicks on your profile should know 1) how you can help them and 2) why you’re credible.​
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Step 1: Make a list of 10 achievements that make you credible

These don’t all have to be career-related. Remember, likeability is about all the similarities you share with your audience.
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​Think in terms of all areas of your life:

• Career
• Relationships
• Health
• Spirituality
• Personal Development
• Creativity
• Finance
• Education
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Step 2: Share content that highlights your credibility at least once a week
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​You want to reiterate your credibility constantly.
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Don’t think that people will read one tweet and deem you credible. They’ll buy in a little bit more each time you prove your credibility.

💥 The Short of It

The persuasiveness of a message is tied to the messenger.

No one wants to take advice from someone who (in their opinion) lacks credibility.

But they’re thrilled to take it from somebody that’s done the work, has proof, and is willing to share what’s working for them.

Your audience would love your advice. But they need you to show them why you’re a good person to take it from.

Showing them that you’re credible today will pre-suade them to buy from you in the future.

And speaking of getting people to buy… in tomorrow’s email I’ll share a final pre-suasion concept you need to know.

This concept saved Apple from the brink of bankruptcy and could even save your life if you’re in a serious accident.

I’ll tell you more… tomorrow.

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With ❤️, from Katelyn​

Katelyn Bourgoin​ ​Why We Buy 🧠​ ​Helping 265,000 smart people learn buyer psychology ​ ​Advertise with us >​ Follow me on Twitter & LinkedIn​

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P.S. Don’t let today’s examples intimidate you.

You may not have a large online following like me (yet) or run multiple 7-figure companies like Neal (yet), but…

I bet you’re an expert in your own arena.

Don’t wait until you have something to sell to try to start sharing your expertise.

Start pre-suading today.

(Kinda like I’m doing to pre-sell you on joining the UNIGNORABLE waitlist before it's too late.)