I recently read a blog written by Jarom Adair on CopyBlogger about how persuasive his four-year-old son was at getting what he wanted when he wanted it and even when he really didn’t know he wanted it. I have children and I know exactly what he’s talking about.

Jarom went on to tell a story of how his son got a woman in the grocery store to open a bag of chips for him that she hadn’t even paid for yet. Another story he shared was how he picked a stranger at a sporting event and — before Jarom could intervene — his son got the guy to buy him a large bag of Gummy LifeSavers from a vending machine.

As Jarom put it, his son was that skilled at “the art of persuasion.” So, have you ever had a bad period where no one was calling… no one emailed… no one ordered, just things were so slow even a snail could beat you? Well, you need to brush up on your persuasion skills. Listed below are nine things Jarom indicated as ways to get people to do what you want them to do – taught to him by his son.

• The art of ask
• Find the right angle
• Break the entire process down into manageable steps
• Emulate successful strategies
• Collect compliments
• Use rich language
• Paint vivid pictures for your readers
• Show them some love
• Tell them your hopes