Issue #2088
- WEALTHY: The best investment I ever made (Michael Masterson)
- HEALTHY: Is your 2-packs-a-day habit bad for your career? (Suzanne Richardson)
- WISE: Zig Ziglar on the obstacles to making sales
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- The Cabbage Patch Kids marketing technique (Sandy Franks)
- Why aren’t you on vacation? (Bob Cox)
- It’s Fun to Know… but is it art?
- Add "bugbear" to your vocabulary
He’d Have Called Them Crazy – Or Worse!
With the Internet, it’s now possible to spend no more than a few dollars, write a couple of very basic ads, and have instant access to millions of potential customers all in a matter of minutes.
If anyone had told Jim Sheridan he could bank thousands in just 24 hours. . . without any product of his own. . . without spending a penny on getting it or promoting it, he’d have justifiably said they were nuts.
But Jim made a decision that he would overcome his skeptical nature and give it a go. Boy, is he glad he did! That one deal alone banked him $187,296 in one day.
Take a look at how Jim brought in over $187,000 in a single day!
- Patrick Coffey
A Different Way to Think About Wealth
If you were to ask me "What’s the best investment you ever made?" you might expect me to say my home in Florida. Or Rancho Santana in Nicaragua. Or even ETR.
But you’d be wrong.
My best investment – without a doubt – was the investment of time I put into about a dozen human beings.
The great thing about investing in great people is that the return compounds geometrically. I mean that literally. Because great people, well taught and motivated, hire and train and motivate other good people. And that enlarges a business in a geometric fashion.
Great people will not only make you rich, they will make you happy. They will make you happy by simplifying your life. After some early years of spending a lot of time on them, they will become independent. Yet, because they appreciate what you did for them (assuming you did, indeed, do something substantial for them), they are happy to help you out forever in the future.
Let me put this another way: I am completely sure that more than 70 percent or 80 percent of the wealth I have acquired was created not directly by me but by people I believed in and mentored. Put differently: If I had spent my career trying only to make myself rich, I’d be a much poorer person today. And, yes, poorer in every sense of the word.
How are you doing when it comes to investing in people? If you had to make a list right now… create a list of people you are mentoring… how many names would be on it?
Not everyone is in a position to mentor as many people as I am, but everyone can invest in someone. Who are you investing in?
"Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust."
Zig Ziglar
Scarcity – the Value of Limited Supply
By Sandy Franks
Have you ever noticed that the more inaccessible something becomes, the more people want it… no matter how inconsequential the item may be in terms of their actual needs?
This type of reaction was seen at its worst in 1983, when Christmas shoppers nearly rioted in their quest for Cabbage Patch Kids. Interestingly, the manufacturer of the dolls was quoted as saying: "We really create the market. We create the demand itself."
In conjunction with that statement, the company faced charges of false advertising by the Consumer Affairs Department of New York’s Nassau County, which accused them of "harassing" children with advertisements for dolls that were unavailable – offering goods without intent to supply.
Adding fuel to the fire, the dolls were constantly in the media. News programs regularly ran video clips of Cabbage-Patch-seeking mobs, creating a great deal of social proof that this was the hottest toy on the market… and, at the same time, confirming its scarcity.
Whether an intended tactic or not, the limited quantity of Cabbage Patch Kids, combined with the false-advertising charge (supporting the fact that supplies were limited) and the media coverage (tremendous social proof), created a situation that clearly shows the potential power that psychological influence can play in marketing.
Scarcity lends a sense of urgency that otherwise would not exist. Just think about it. What four words make you – and most other people – really want something?
"YOU CAN’T HAVE IT!"
When we hear those words, a desire starts to build within us. Whether the item in question is something we actually need has nothing to do with it. Suddenly, owning this elusive product becomes important.
You can use the principle of scarcity to create desire in your own prospective customers. And you don’t need to make any false claims to generate high demand. You do it by designating a specific, limited number of items to be sold, by placing a ceiling on the number of spaces available, by putting a deadline on the offer… or any combination of the above.
Limiting the Number of Items
When establishing any type of a limit, you need to make sure you have a reason for it. If you have 10,000 widgets in inventory, it would be difficult to justify offering only 3,000 of them just to spur sales.
However, if you have just received a shipment of 125 super-charged, top-of-the-line widgets that aren’t normally available in the United States… that’s another story.
You’ll want to let your customers know that there are only 125 available for sale. Tell them that they will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Remind them that this may be their only chance to own one. Back that up by letting them know that an offer of this type may never be seen again.
Build in urgency. If they don’t act right now, they may miss the opportunity completely!
The limited number can be reinforced by performing a countdown … sending your prospects additional letters or e-mails informing them of how many are left. This can be an effective tactic, because, as the number dwindles, the reality of the scarcity increases the urgency to order – or miss out.
Limiting the Number of Slots Available
The same tactic used in limiting the number of items for sale can be applied to the number of slots available. The reasoning behind it will (usually) be very different – but, again, it has to be realistic.
A trading service, for example, will often limit the number of their subscribers, because they are dealing in thinly traded securities. A seminar will limit the number of their participants, because of available space. And, sometimes, limits are placed simply for the sake of exclusivity. After all, what’s so special about belonging to a 50,000-member club?
Limiting the Time of the Offer
Placing a deadline on an offer can spur a nice flurry of sales. But, once again, you have to make it realistic. If your deadline is far out into the future, your initial advertising campaigns won’t generate a lot in the way of sales, because there will be no sense of urgency.
Inversely, if you make the deadline too soon, you severely limit the number of responses you’ll get. And extending the deadline to pick up more sales kills the believability not only of this offer, but of your next deadline offer as well.
The principle of scarcity works. As long as you apply it to realistic, truth-based offers, you’ll see your sales soar.
[Ed. Note: Sandy Franks is the editor of Monthly Copywriting Genius, which reveals the secrets behind the strongest direct-response promotions in the mail, in space advertising, and on the Internet today, from the best copywriters in the business. Sign up for ETR's next Info-Marketing Bootcamp to get the benefit of Sandy's marketing expertise in person.]
The One Event that Moves Every Stock in the Market
There is one event which takes place four times every year and is responsible for some investors making absolute fortune in the market. In fact, nothing else moves a stock quite as fast… or as predictably.
The opportunities around this even are so great that Wall Street spends BILLIONS on research to maximize their profits. Now, one former insider is prepared to let the secret out.
Last quarter, investors who tested this system were rewarded with 100% winning recommendations! Here is YOUR chance to profit!
3 Major Misconceptions About Taking Time Off
It’s summer. Time for a break, right?
If you just said "No way," you’re part of a sad American trend. According to Business 2.0, American workers collectively reject a staggering 1.6 million years’ worth of vacation time every year. And between 20 and 50 percent of those who do cash in a few vacation days bring work with them.
Here are three major misconceptions that are keeping many workers from enjoying a vacation:
1. If I’m not here… the work won’t get done.
WRONG.
It is a poorly structured business plan if the plan relies solely on your endeavors and cannot continue for a week without your attention. And you can do your part to override this problem by planning ahead for your absence. If necessary, add an extra 30 minutes to an hour to your schedule each day for a few weeks before your trip. Use that time to complete projects that must be done before you leave and take care of tasks that would otherwise need to be handled during the time you’ll be gone.
2. If I’m not here… I’ll lose my clients.
WRONG.
Clients understand that there will be blocks of time when you cannot be available. (Keep in mind that clients schedule vacation time for themselves.) Make your absence easy on them by letting them know ahead of time when you’ll be gone and for how long.
3. If I’m not here… something will come up that only I can fix.
WRONG.
It’s not productive to run around like Chicken Little, yelling "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" The sky will not fall the week of your vacation. You may be invaluable at your job, but if the fate of the company truly rests on your shoulders, you need to make some serious changes.
You don’t have to sacrifice your work life to make time for yourself. You CAN have both.
[Ed. Note: Bob Cox is co-founder of the first TV shopping network and the author of The Billionaire Way.
Get Robert's weekly Power Surge Messages to quadruple your chances of meeting all your goals this year. Join over 700 ambitious Early to Risers who receive his inspiring, motivating, and energizing advice every week as members of ETR's Total Success Achievement Program.]
As If You Needed Another Reason to Quit Smoking…
By Suzanne Richardson
Your boss wants you to quit smoking.
You see, your little habit is costing her money. Not only is she shouldering indirect health-care costs (smoking costs the U.S. $75 billion each year in direct medical expenditures, according to the American Lung Association), she’s also aware of how little you actually get done!
A new study of over 14,000 Swedish workers shows that smokers aren’t as productive as their smoke-free counterparts. Plus, they call in sick an average of nearly eight more days than non-smokers.
Another study, this one of 5,500 women enlisted in the U.S. Navy, found that the job performance of regular smokers lags behind that of non-smokers. Dr. Terri Conway of San Diego State University said that smoking has been linked to "decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and long and more frequent work breaks."
If you care about your career – not to mention your health – you might want to consider just how much your nicotine obsession is costing you.
If you’re having trouble stopping, check out the American Lung Association’s website, which has lots of resources to help you.
It’s Fun to Know… but Is It Art?
British artist Damien Hirst, whose previous work includes a shark cut in half and suspended in two tanks of formaldehyde, has produced another piece that is a "head" of its time – a human skull from the 18th century covered by 8,601 diamonds. The sale price is $99 million.
(Source: BBC News)
What If There Was A Way To Legally Beat A Traffic Ticket?
“When Attorneys Get Speeding Or Traffic Tickets, This Is What They Do… No Points, No Increased Premiums & Definitely No Stupid Driving School. These Tricks Work Like Magic.”
If you’re like me then the simple sight of a police car in your rear-view mirror is enough to send shivers down your spine, but…
When the lights start flashing…
There Goes That Safe Driver Discount…Right? Not anymore…
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Bugbear
A "bugbear" is an imaginary monster (like the boogeyman) used to scare children. The word is often used for an object of dread or apprehension.
Example (as used by Gunter Grass in The New Yorker): "Try as I might to turn [my father] into a bugbear, he was not made for the role."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007
Similar Articles:
- The “Hidden” Hot Button to Getting More Prospects to Say YES! – If you have not read Robert Cialdini’s monumental work, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – gr…
- Verisimilitude – “Verisimilitude” (ver-uh-suh-MIL-uh-tood) – from the Latin for “truth” – is the quality of seeming t…
- Word to the Wise: Paucity – "Paucity" (PAW-sih-tee) – from the Latin for "few" – is scarcity or scantiness. …
- Someone Is Better at It Than You Are – There is only one number one, only one best at anything. Thankfully, we live in an environment where…
- 5 Ways to Make Your First Product Launch a Resounding Success – Every time you launch a new product online, you have the chance to drastically increase your profits…
- Know What You Want to Accomplish Before Every Meeting – JSN was one of the best negotiators I ever worked with. How did he do it? He took the time to prepar…
- A Gift for a Bad Customer – “Here you go – 20 percent off anything in the store,” the saleswoman said. She handed me a slip of p…