Books & Media Mentions

Books

Tim Ash is an expert on evolutionary psychology and a bestselling author who has worked for top companies around the world.  He has applied his knowledge of persuasion to online marketing initiates to produce over $1,200,000,000 in value.

 

Unleash Your Primal Brain: Demystifying how we think and why we act

By Tim Ash

Check out Tim Ash’s latest book!  Unleash Your Primal Brain: Demystifying How We Think And Why We Act retraces the fundamental “why’s” behind our actions from an evolutionary perspective. From the rise of the earliest life on earth, to our uniquely human recent adaptations, you will come away with a deep understanding of our of how the brain evolved, and why we act the way that we do. It is the operating system that describes how all 8,000,000,000 people on the planet behave.

Available worldwide:

  • Print paperback
  • eBook
  • Audiobook narrated by the author
  • Several translations (Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Chinese)

 

Visit the book website: PrimalBrain.com 

 

.

Introduction

It’s dessert time!

There is a juicy apple in front of you, and a slice of chocolate cake.

You are free to choose.

Or are you?

The choice was made for you – hundreds of millions of years ago!

This book is about the commonalities all 8,000,000,000 people on earth share.

Our ancestors were molded by ruthless survival pressures from the earliest days of life on the planet. Adaptations which worked long ago are still inside of us – also shared with insects and reptiles. Later additions are common to all mammals from the tiniest shrews to the most massive whales. Some capabilities were bolted on relatively recently, and are only shared with our primate cousins. And the runaway explosion of humans on the planet can only be explained by our bizarre species-level evolution.

The only way to understand how our brains work is to examine the complete evolutionary arc.

I don’t care if you are young or old, rich or poor, introverted or extroverted. It is not about our individual differences. This book describes the basic operating system of how we all deal with life.

Drop a rock. It falls and hits the ground.

Once you understand brain evolution, many of our behaviors will become more predictable. To a scary degree, we are reactive animals ruled by passions, and not the rational geniuses with free will that we like to imagine.

First the bad news: The notion that people make decisions and choices to maximize objective self-interest has been demolished. People are not rational – far from it.

Now the good news: We are finding out exactly how and why we act in these seemingly irrational ways. In other words, there is a method to our seeming madness.

My view of the brain is heavily influenced by evolutionary biology and psychology. I don’t believe we have arrived at a perfect brain design, or that humankind deserves an exalted and special place in the universe. Rather, we are a band of super-cooperative apes who have come to dominate the planet. In the process we have wiped out whole ecosystems in our voracious destructiveness. At this moment we are by far the most dominant force shaping the very destiny of life on earth.

We evolved for a particular environment, but our rapid social advances and mushrooming populations have created a bewildering new world. On the timescale of this dizzying change, evolution has effectively stopped, and we must rely on what has gotten us this far. By retracing the path that our distant ancestors took to get here, we can understand the stunning abilities and glaring weaknesses which we have inherited.

Sometimes our reactions and responses are appropriate and uncannily helpful. In the blink of an eye we can assess complex situations and reach critical life-or-death decisions. At other times, we are seemingly our own worst enemies – repeating the same mistakes, even when we know the results will be counterproductive, or even deadly.

Unlocking the true nature of the human brain is the last frontier. Recent work in fields such as biology, neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, medical imaging, social science, and behavioral economics is combining to show us the inner workings of this evolutionary marvel.

This book is designed for you – the curious and intelligent searcher for truth.

I want to give you the essentials, and draw you a map of the wondrous terrain inside of the human mind.

You will forever be altered by the journey we are about to undertake together. It may seem like an alien landscape at first. But you will gain valuable perspectives which will allow you to live your life with a new appreciation of what makes us tick.

Forget the advanced technology all around you – let’s explore inside of the bony skull which guards the treasures within…

Get ready, it’s going to be a wild ride!

Praise For The Book

“In highly readable style, Tim Ash moves readers from the basics of brain functioning to the evolution of its regularities, quirks, and affordances. In the process, we gain invaluable insights into human decision-making and behavior.”

Robert Cialdini – Author of Influence and Pre-Suasion

“Tim has studied the research on behavioral science and evolutionary psychology and written an excellent book that explains much of human behavior. If you want to know why we do what we do, then read this book.”

Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D. – Author of 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

“A fascinating and thrilling look into our minds and what matters.”

Jay Baer – Founder of Convince & Convert, co-author of Talk Triggers

“This book would be very helpful for anyone who wants to understand what truly drives attention, emotions and cognitive arousal, from the perspective of psychology! Very addictive read by an author with great experience and academic knowledge. I highly recommend this book!”

Dr. Hedda Martina Šola – Director of the Institute for Neuromarketing, Associate Professor at Oxford Business College

What a wild ride! Tim’s ambitious book takes us from early life on earth, to the bizarre qualities that make us uniquely human. Sleep, memory, herd instinct, motivation, language, culture, cooperation – it’s all in there. A must-read book that will literally blow your mind!

Joel Comm, New York Times bestselling author, keynote speaker, futurist

Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions

By Tim Ash, Maura Ginty and Rich Page; 2nd Edition

 

Tim Ash’s bestselling books have sold over 50,000 copies in two editions and multiple printings. They have been translated into six languages: German, Korean, Russian, Polish, Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese. The latest edition is considered a must-read bible on Conversion Rate Optimization by serious practitioners.

 

Tim Ash - Landing Page Optimization book

 

Praise For The Book

“Tim has figured out what so many people don’t understand: your website can (and should) get better. Every single day.”

— Seth Godin, Author of Meatball Sundae

“I love it when someone who’s obviously a true expert shares almost everything he knows. I can’t believe the amount of useful information and actionable insights Tim has crammed in here.”

— Steve Krug, Author of Don’t Make Me Think.

“Tim’s Landing Page Optimization is a must-have for your bookshelf.”

— Bryan Eisenberg, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author

“Buy this book. Go rock it!”

Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google and author of Web Analytics 2.0

“This is the best business-focused, measurement-based guide to website design I have seen.”

— Don Norman, Cofounder of Nielsen Norman Group and author of Living with Complexity

Tim has authored 200+ articles & been featured in dozens of publications.

 

See list of recent appearances.

logo_forbes_190_100
logo_monetate_190_100
logo_search_engine_land_190_100
logo_mthink_revenue_190_100
logo_hinge_190_100
logo_search_engine_watch_190_100
logo_sli_systems_190_100
logo_inbound_org_190_100
logo_chinwag_190_100
logo_bruce_clay_190_100
logo_clickz_190_100
logo_toprank_190_100
logo_business_2_community_190_100
logo_feedfront_190_100
logo_usertesting_90_100
logo_moz_190_100
logo_visibility_190_100
logo_marketingland_190_100
logo_ebay_190_100
logo_digital_marketer_190_100
logo_website_magazine_190_100
logo_wordstream_190_100
logo_total_retail_190_100
logo_entrepreneur_magazine_190_100

Podcasts

Landing Page Optimization Podcast on WebmasterRadio.fm

 

From 2009-2016, Tim has recorded over 134 half-hour interviews with key figures in conversion rate optimization, traffic acquisition, neuromarketing,  web analytics, split testing. website personalization, and user experience.

Guest have included: Joe Pulizzi, Steve Krug, Richard Banfield, Susan Weinschenk, Roger Dooley, Mona Patel, Amy Africa, Scott Brinker, Jeremy Schoemaker, Neil Patel, and Avinash Kaushik.

 

Episode List:

Testing and Website Redesigns with Kevin Eichelberger

Testing the Mobile User Experience with Michael Mace

Web Usability and Informal User Testing with Karl Gillis

Conversion Killers with Ben Jesson and Dr. Karl Blanks

Testing Programs in Enterprise Companies with Brooks Bell and Gregory Ng

Multivariate Email Testing with Basile Fattal

Page Loading Speed Deep-dive with Tammy Everts

Payment Optimization with Rey Pasinli

Inbound Marketing with Mike Volpe

Split Testing Tips and Tricks with Justin Rondeau

Analytics and Conversion with Nick Iyengar

Content Marketing Essentials with Barry Feldman

What Constitutes Good Websites and Landing Pages

Decoding the Secrets of The Brain with Susan Weinschenk

Stop Ignoring Marketing Fundamentals with Theresa Baiocco

Optimizing Your Testing Program with Ton Wesseling

Mobile Optimization and Corporate Change Agents with Chris Goward

Personalization with Chris Gibbins

Creating Video Ads That Convert with Jake Larsen

Understanding Financial Modeling to Create Better User Experiences with Soren Ryherd

Mapping Content to Buying Stages with Arnie Kuenn

Segmentation and Smart Targeting with Janet Driscoll Miller

Understanding Your Customer From All Side with Graham Cooke

The Politics of Ecommerce Website Redesigns with Khalid Saleh

Psychological Architectures for Conversion with Brian Cugelman

Split Testing Best Practices with Peep Laja

Stirring Up Innovation with Mona Patel

Google Analytics Insights with Simo Ahava

CRO Strategy for Advertisers

Big Company CRO with Mike Loveridge

Essential Usability Research with Scott Gunter

Generating Revenue with an Ecommerce Site with Tom Bowen

Winning Through Analytics and Audience Surveying with Dan McGaw

Small Business Ecommerce Conversion with Alex Harris

Manipulating Attention on Landing Pages with Oli Gardner

Solutions For Segmenting Your Visitors and Mobile Ecommerce Mistakes Made with Zee Aganovic

Irrational Behavior with Bart Schutz

The Emotion of Conversion with Talia Wolf

Video for Conversion with Greg Jarboe

User Experience and Conversion with John Whalen

So You Want to be a CRO Consultant? with Daniel Gonzalez

How to Make Email Marketing Convert with Hunter Boyle

Increasing Your Website Conversion with Amy Africa

The ROI of Content and Social Media

Email Pitfalls and Best Practices with Craig Swerdloff

The Power of User Research with Alfonso de la Nuez

Site Search Micro-Conversions with Jordi Torras

Business-to-Business Conversion with Anita Perez

Testing, Testing, Testing with Kyle Rush

Creating Offers That Convert with Jeremy Schoemaker

Designing for People in a Multi-Device World with Richard Banfield

How Not To Do CRO With Christina Inge

User Research for Higher Conversion with Pamela Pavliscak

The Power of Simplicity with Ben Hunt

Animated Characters for Conversion with Jake Levant

Paywall Optimization with David Torchiano

Site Speedup and Easy Device-Level Customization with Ari Weil

Testing Screwups and Igloo Building with Joel Harvey

Real-time Website Personalization with Karl Wirth

Quantity Versus Quality in Software Downloads with Joel Kleinman

Content, Content, and Funeral Homes With Joe Pulizzi

Social Media for Conversion with Jay Berkowitz

The Culture of Conversion with Joe Doveton

Expanding CRO Quick Wins With Stephen Pavlovich

The Power of Words with Jeff Sexton

Social Media ROI with Dennis Yu

Optimizing the Lifetime Value of Existing Customers with Michal Parizek

Making Phone Calls Pay Off with Irv Shapiro

Dominating Search Results with Angie Schottmuller

Deep Dive into SEO and Conversion with Jeff Ferguson

Reaching New Audience Through Partners; Limitations of Responsive Design

War Between Sales and Marketing with Jeanne Hopkins

Intersection of PPC and Conversion with Robert Brady

Conversion Rate Optimization, Radical Redesigns and Voice Impersonations with Mike Perla

Running Effective Click-To-Call Campaigns with Jason Wells

Small Business Conversion with Jenny Halasz

Predicting the Conversion Impact of Site Content with Aaron Maass

Quantitative and Qualitative Insights with Feras Alhlou

Content Marketing and Social Conversions with Kipp Bodnar

Real-Time Persuasion Profiling with The Science Rockstars Arjan Haring and Maurits Kaptein.

Insights and Landing Page Testing for Mid-Sized Businesses with Keith Hagen

The Customer Creation Equation with The Conversion Scientist, Brian Massey

Overcoming Timing and Pricing Objections with Charles Nicholls

Advanced Testing with Eric Hansen

User Experience and Intrinsic Motivation with Mona Patel

LinkedIn for Business Results with JD Gershbein

User Experience Toolkit with Ian Everdell

Video Conversion Secrets with John Cecil

Analyzing Analytics with Bill Bruno

Conversion Rate Optimization with James Niehaus

Website Conversion Rate Optimization

Usability and Conversion Rate Optimization with Steve Krug

The Irrational Brain with Roger Dooley

Offline Conversion Tracking with Jeff Eckman

Strategic Conversion Mistakes with Larry Marine

The Intersection of Technology and Marketing with Kate O’Neill

Surprising Split Test Results with Anne Holland

This Dog Can Hunt! E-commerce Secrets From Rob Snell

Local Search and Conversion with Andrew Beckman

Testing in the Trenches with Brendan Regan

Decoding Online Lead Generation with Jay Weintraub

Social Media in a Blender with John Lawson

E-commerce Conversion Killers with Linda Bustos

Common SEO-Related Conversion Problems with Gillian Muessig

POS and Curbing Customer Anxiety with Neil Patel

Brain Science and Online Persuasion with Patrick Bultema

Modern Content Management Systems with Oli Gardner

Conversion Rate Optimization with the Conversion Scientist, Brian Massey

Pay-per-click Conversion Alignment with Bill Leake

Recovering Shopping Cart Abandoners with Charles Nicholls

Improving Conversion Rates with Jon Fougner of Facebook

Understanding Users Pain Points with Larry Marine

Decoding Web Designers with Matt Mickiewicz

Spiders and Real People with Gillian Muessig

Content Network Success Secrets with David Szetela

Landing Page Segmentation and Competing on Cycle Times with Scott Brinker

Split Testing in Large Companies with Brooks Bell

Conversion improvement for Display & Mobile with Jonathan Mendez

Landing Page Testing and Compliance with Anne Holland

Headlines and Direct Response Secrets with Brian Clark

E-Commerce Catalog Optimization with Lance Loveday

Merging Direct Response Copywriting with SEO with Heather Lloyd Martin

Web Analytics for More Effective Online Marketing with Avinash Kaushik

 

Talk to Tim