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"The first lesson of economics is scarcity. There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it." Thomas Sowell "Fruitful" Marketing Lessons From an Overabundant Tree
By Charlie Byrne My hometown "Paradise by the Sea" of Delray Beach, Florida is not only blessed with miles of gorgeous sandy beaches... lined with dozens of casual, eclectic, and gourmet restaurants... and overflowing with hip clubs and art galleries... It's also home to a huge number of... drum roll, please. Mango trees. I mean, really. It's almost ridiculous! The trees rise to the sky on practically every street -- in front yards, vacant lots, village parks, and any number of other accessible, public spaces. Hundreds upon hundreds of mangos hang off every tree. Branches bend down from the weight, putting the succulent fruit within the grasp of any man, woman, or child who cares to enjoy it. And it was on one of my morning runs last week that I realized there was something terribly wrong with this picture! All this wonderful fruit right there for the taking, but none of it had been picked! I examined no less than seven trees, and couldn't find a single stem missing its mango. Why? Why, for example, hadn't I taken one myself? The answer, of course, was simple. It's the same reason folks don't take the coconuts that are falling off trees all over town. And the same reason why I never went to the top of the Empire State Building when I worked in New York City... and walked past it every day. Because I could do it whenever I wanted! And that's why Delray Beach's overloaded mango trees are an ideal illustration of two closely related marketing principles... Urgency and Scarcity In marketing terms, urgency means that the supply of a product is limited by time. Ever get involved in an eBay auction when the clock was running out? How about getting up at 5:00 a.m. to be one of the first customers in line for a day-after-Thanksgiving "Black Friday" sale? If so, you know the power of urgency. Scarcity means that the supply of a product is limited by quantity. Both urgency and scarcity arouse the human desire to want that which we can't have. Right now in Delray Beach, we have an unlimited supply of mangos, and they're going to be around for a long time. So there's no scarcity... no urgency. As a result, you literally can't give them away. If you're not tickling your prospects' emotional impulses to buy NOW, I'm willing to bet your products are suffering from a similar fate. When you apply the principles of scarcity and urgency to bring your marketing alive, your sales can increase dramatically. I've seen it many times -- and I'm talking about increases of 100 percent to 1,000 percent. In fact, this is probably the simplest, cheapest way to multiply your revenues instantly. Our colleague, "Product Launch" guru Jeff Walker, knows all about it. He's brought in, and helped others bring in, more than $53 million in the past five years in all kinds of markets. Virtually all of Jeff's success is built around the mastery of scarcity and urgency. According to Jeff, "Scarcity is probably the single biggest mental trigger there is. No matter how many times I've seen it used, it's always breathtaking to see how it moves people to action. I've seen WAY too many people underestimate the power of adding a scarcity component to their marketing. If you fall into that trap, you will be leaving a huge amount of money on the table." So how can you pick up all that cash you've been leaving on the table? There are plenty of ways, even if you are selling a product that is in infinite supply -- an e-book, for example: -
Urgency: Add a bonus for a limited length of time. -
Urgency: Reduce the price for a special holiday sale. -
Scarcity: Add a bonus -- but only for the first 150 buyers. -
Scarcity plus Urgency: With this "launch and retreat" approach, you sell a specific quantity of the product during a specific period of time, and then take it off the market. ("This Memorial Day weekend only, I'm offering just 100 of these information-packed e-books. Sale ends Midnight Monday or when the 100 are gone -- whichever comes first.") Taking your product "off the market" at a specified date and time might sound scary. What if a bunch of prospects show up at your website the following week looking to buy what you just stopped selling? Wouldn't you be kicking yourself over that lost opportunity? Perhaps. But I can pretty much guarantee one thing. The overwhelming number of sales you'll make during a scarcity/urgency campaign will make the number you might lose utterly insignificant. In addition, when you "re-open" your next campaign, you'll already have a certain amount of "pent-up" customer demand providing fuel for your fire. One Important Caveat to Keep in Mind... You want to add scarcity and urgency to your marketing, but you want it to be genuine. As Michael Masterson told me, "There has to be a legitimate reason for the scarcity. If you're faking it, customers will see through it and it loses its power." He suggested a few ways to "make it real" for them: Explain that you had only 100 of the special reports printed up. (Why not show the actual invoice?) Or that the fire code limits the conference room to 75 people. (Why not take a photo of the actual sign in the room?) If you're selling personal coaching services, explain that you have only so much time. If you're selling an investment advisory service, explain that if too many people get the same recommendation, they can initiate a buying frenzy that artificially pushes up the price. I'm just touching the surface here -- but you get the idea. P.S. By the way, right now I'm about 45 minutes south of Delray Beach at the Turnberry Isle Resort for Early to Rise's 5 Days in July Internet Business Building Conference. I no longer work for ETR. But they drafted me for this event as an expert presenter, as well as a "roving reporter" telling ETR readers about the goings on in daily dispatches. And strategies like using scarcity and urgency in your marketing efforts are coming fast and furious. ETR has brought together the top experts working in Internet marketing today and let them loose. Conference attendees have come with nothing -- no business or marketing experience, no technical expertise... and they'll be walking out just two days from now with a fully functioning Internet business -- website, products, and all. If you couldn't make it the live event -- you can still take advantage. We're filming the whole thing and making it available on DVD at just 10 percent of the cost of the conference. You can get all the details here. -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended ----------------------------------------------------- "Fast Responders" Get It For FREE If you act right now to claim your copy of Ready, Fire, Aim... you qualify for the special offer we're reserving exclusively for "Fast Responder" readers... folks who are used to getting in on the best ideas early... and having the opportunity to make money from them the fastest. Respond today and you'll be rewarded right away. You'll receive Ready, Fire, Aim absolutely FREE of charge! (Others will have to pay $27.95 to buy it at a bookstore.) But please keep in mind: This special offer could expire at ANY time. So it's important to act quickly to lock in your FREE copy of Ready, Fire, Aim. Let me show you how...
"A gift." "Hi to all! Just wanted to finally send in a note. Hadn't before because I figured you were getting plenty of comments from people more in-the-know. ETR is a gift. A really nice one. So, you just keep doing what you are doing. Thanks for ETR and all that goes into it! Best wishes for your continued success!" D.F.
Washington, IL -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Your Own "Perfect Home Business" in Less Than a Week ETR's "5 Days in July" Quick-Start Internet Business Building Conference is underway right now in Miami Beach. And even if you couldn't make it... that doesn't mean you're going to miss out. You can still start your own profitable "Perfect Home Business"... And you can do it using the very same secrets that have helped Agora, Inc. (Early to Rise's parent company) bring in an average of $295 million dollars a year. Best of all, you can do it on your own schedule... without coming to Miami... and for about 10% of the original cost. That's over $4,000 in savings... PLUS we're throwing in a special bonus, valued at $1,000+ (if you act fast).
The Language Perfectionist: Let Me Emphasize This One By Don Hauptman Is anything amiss in the following three sentences? -
"I must stress that I was neither consulted on the matter of changing the grades, nor was I asked to sign the alterations in the grading sheet." -
"At the outset, I would like to stress that it has been a pleasure working closely with my World Bank colleagues...." -
"Stress the point that users are getting security warnings when visiting their site." A basic rule of good writing is never to use a long word when a short one will suffice. In most cases, this dictum is worth observing. But every rule has exceptions. In the above cases, I would substitute emphasize for stress. Why? The word stress has multiple meanings, ranging from force or pressure to a serious psychological condition. Also, it's a noun as well as a verb. Thus, its use in some contexts might momentarily mislead the reader or provoke irrelevant associations. (Example: "In our final tests of the new car model, we should stress the braking system.") In contrast, the word emphasize is unambiguous. [Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
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