Today I was reading a book (Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion) by one of my former Arizona State University social psychology professors, Robert Cialdini. He discussed an experiment that a university professor did some years ago. The professor sent Christmas cards to strangers. He got a number of cards in return. This illustrates the principle of “reciprocity.” That is, it seems to be built in to human beings and social systems to give back when someone gives you something.

In another experiment, a confederate pretended to be a research subject and brought some of his fellow subjects a soft drink during the course of the experiment. After the experiment was done, the confederate asked the other subject to buy some find-raising raffle tickets. The subjects who had received the soft drinks bought significantly more raffle tickets. Reciprocity again.

Give to Get Passive Income

We use this principle in Internet marketing by giving away free content and bonuses on our blogs, when people sign up for our mailing lists, and so on. The nice part about this is that everyone wins. The people who receive your free material get something valuable for no cost. You get more name recognition and perhaps, a new person on your mailing list.

What could you give to create passive income?

What are you giving away to increase your reach and your passive and residual income? What could you give away to build your mailing list, get more people to visit your website or blog, or to build your reputation as an expert?