the AIDA concept. It represents the steps in a purchasing decision: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. The attention of the customer must be attracted, interest must be raised, desire must be established, and finally, the act of purchasing must be completed.

When I asked people why they share ideas with their friends, they consistently told me that they wanted to build a reputation as a thought leader. This would ensure that people would share valuable scarce information reciprocally with them. It’s not about altruism, then; it’s about reciprocity.

It turns out that social proof and novelty are nuanced phenomena that work together. In some circles, people know my site and my content; I already have some level of social proof. Those people know that if they share my posts, there isn’t much risk that they’ll be sharing bad stuff. I’ve been pre-selected. But they want to be the first person to s

1 The kinds of information the group is eager for 5. 2 What information the group already has and what it lacks 6. 3 The fears, hopes, and hostilities the group already has 7. 4 Customary and traditional ways in which the group deals with those fears, hopes, and hostilities

An informational cascade occurs when it is optimal for an individual, having observed the actions of those ahead of him, to follow the behavior of the preceding individual without regard to his own information.

Memory isn’t a big problem anymore. You have to be able only to copy and paste a link, not remember an entire epic poem. The change in the environment has introduced a different selection pressure into the mental landscape: attention. There are now so many ideas floating around the Web, they fight for simple awareness.

When I started working alongside a professional sales team, I was exposed to the AIDA concept. It represents the steps in a purchasing decision: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. The attention of the customer must be attracted, interest must be raised, desire must be established, and finally, the act of purchasing must be completed.

If your ideas reinforce my reputation, I’ll share them.

At each step, you can change the numbers in your favor: Increase the number of people exposed to your content. Get more email-list subscribers or Twitter followers. Create attention-grabbing content. Do lots of testing on your subject lines to increase open rates. Include powerful calls to action.