We all want our copy to do better at persuading our readers.  Here are 25 psychological tips for making you that bit more persuasive.

1. Inconvenience the order – eg say “if operators are busy, please call again”, create the impression of demand as people follow what others do
2. Make the comparison personal – eg use an example that the person can relate to
3. When trying to stop negative behaviour, don't emphasise how popular it is
4. People veer towards the average.  This can be good when you're trying to improve behaviour but it also works to drag down the better people.  So spend time to congratulate those for their good work.
5. When customers aren't sure of themselves, don't overwhelm them with options.  Less is very much more.
6. If you offer a free gift, make sure you tell the customer how much it would cost to buy as a standalone
7. When pricing, make sure you book end your desired product with a premium and economy product.  That makes your desired product the compromise choice.
8. Fear – solution = inertia.  By all means use fear, but always accompany with steps to alleviate fear.
9. Reciprocity.  People generally want to return favours, so if you give you will receive.
10. Personalise messages.  Eg in an office environment attach a personally written post-it to the internal memo.
11. Giving gifts.  If you can make them both unexpected and personalised then you're onto a winner.
12. Incentives.  If you offer incentives, do it unconditionally.  Response rates then rise as people return the favour for you.  If you don't do this then it requires the consumer to make the first move.
13. Start small.  Try getting people to buy small first and build them up.
14. If you can get the user to write it down then they are more likely to follow through than if the agreement is passive
15. Get others to sing your praises eg if you have a receptionist, when they connect you, get them to spout your experience – hello, you need Adi, who has 10 years IM experience
16. Training on mistakes made and how to avoid them can be more effective than training on the positives.
17. Don't be afraid to highlight your weaknesses, as your competitors might well do and you'll look more trustworthy if you get in first.  Just make sure they're relatively minor ones.
18. If you include a negative make sure you also include a related positive.
19. Similarities matter.  Even small ones like the same birthday or name.  If you have similarities with someone, don't hesitate to point them out.
20. Mirroring.  Both with language and body language.  If you repeat back a persons request you are more likely to elicit a positive response.  Ditto for their body language.
21. Rarity and uniqueness are in, so highlight the differences between you and others, and also highlight any exclusivity you may have.
22. Highlight loss.  So rather than merely highlighting what a person might gain from something, highlight what they stand to lose by not doing it.
23. Because.  When you use because in reasoning it strengthens the argument considerably and is much more persuasive.
24. Rhymes are very persuasive.
25. Get people started.  If people are already on the way to doing what you want, they will more likely complete.