There is a general misconception about what triggers an information cascade or what we typically call going viral.

 

The myth is that your message with enough visibility will magically travel from person to person, driving sales of your book or product.

 

Wrong.

 

Purchase of a new product is a behavior change, and behavior adoption is a complex contagion.

 

A behavior change requires reinforcement and support.

 

Even if you are a regular book purchaser, adopting a new author is a behavior change.

 

Therefore, introducing systems to support new behavior adoption will create the conditions for the spread of a complex contagion.

 

You need to build a system that helps an individual adopt the behavior, then collect adopters of this behavior into a community to reinforce adoption.

 

Research has shown that most information cascades can be traced back to groups where there are strong ties and word-of-mouth recommendation. That recommendation is then adopted in the group and passed to other groups.

 

The cascade spreads further because of amplification.

 

Amplification: We live in a world where certain activities become amplified.

 

Let’s take book sales as an example. Most online bookstores (certainly Amazon) highlight better-selling products.

 

When sales convert, this key indicator triggers further store visibility to similar customers.

 

If your advertising engagement and clicks improve, your ad's visibility improves versus poorer converting competition.

 

The issue is that you have to trigger these amplifiers. Without the original signal, there is nothing to amplify.

 

Or worse, they amplify a lousy signal.

 

A subscriber list of engaged buyers is the signal.

 

As I discuss in-depth in Advantage, this stock of readers will start the signal that algorithms and advertising amplify.

 

Therefore, list building is critical to how all of your first and future launches will go.

 

After writing Advantage, I changed how I build my lists. You are experiencing this as you read. If you’ve gotten this far, you have some level of interest in this subject and are eager to learn more.

 

Others won’t have made it this far because what I’m sharing makes little sense to them. They will not be on my subscriber list, and that’s a good thing.

 

They haven’t gotten this far to see what I’m offering, nor are they as knowledgeable as you because they haven’t read this far.

 

By filtering cold traffic and building a list in a similar way, you'll create a pure signal.

 

It won't be strong at first, but it will be unadulterated. Then with each launch and promotion you'll strengthen the signal.

 

So how do you create your signal through the use of story and an autoresponder?

 

What I’ve done is pulled together some templates and scripts for  authors to use.

 

These tutorials and instructions require you to sign up for access.

 

I’ve put together content that shows you how to use qualifying pages, autoresponder sequences and epilogues to;

 

• qualify cold traffic,
• improve readthough,
• and refine the signal,

 

If you are interested in accessing and seeing how I apply this process, sign up below. You’ll get access to a closed membership area with more information on designing an autoresponder sequence to help you build your signal.

 

I provide audio files to listen to and videos to watch, all to help you plan your autoresponder sequences.

 

Do you think of marketing differently than you did 3,200 words ago?

 

You’ve spent a lot of your time reading what I’ve written, and for that, I thank you for your time!

 

I hope that I’ve opened your eyes to a novel way of thinking about how to pre-qualify a prospect.

 

If you’re ready to learn more about building an autoresponder that creates qualified subscribers, then please join me inside.