1. Truly disconnect.

In today’s business world, we are constantly tethered to our BlackBerries and “always-on” connections. As a result, when we truly disconnect from time to time, the effect is almost magical.

By “disconnecting,” I mean being totally out of touch with work.

On a recent trip to Baja, for example, I did something that might seem a bit over the top: I “black holed” all my e-mails during that week. Everyone who e-mailed me got an automatic response letting them know who to contact for help or support while I was gone, and asking them to e-mail me again after my return if they still needed me. Then their e-mail was deleted.

Most businesspeople are scared to death to do this, worrying that they might miss something incredibly urgent. Then they come back from vacation and are even more stressed out than they were before they left, because they’ve got 2,313 e-mails sitting in their inbox.

If you just sorta disconnect instead of completely disconnect, there’s always a tiny voice in the back of your head replaying, over and over again: “Wow! I wonder how much e-mail I’ll have to catch up on? I wonder what’s going on back at the office?” You’ve got to totally cut this off to free up more “Psychic RAM” in your head.

2. Refocus on your successes.

Many times, the feeling of burnout occurs because things are NOT going “right.” Keeping in mind that “right” is a relative term (and I believe everything ends up the way it should be, no matter what), the way to overcome this form of burnout is to change your focus.

Focusing your energy on what’s wrong only creates an endless spiral of more and more negativity. Instead, take out a piece of paper and start making a list of every “victory” you’ve had during this year, this quarter, this month, or this day. When you do that, selective perception kicks in… and you’ll see that there is significantly more good than bad going on.

3. Set a major goal that you cannot achieve on your own.

I admit, I’ve only just started doing this. But I can already see how it leads to a powerful change of direction, intention, and motivation. And that can get anyone out of a funk.

I’m talking about setting what Jim Collins and Jerry Porras call a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” or BHAG – a concept they introduced in their book Built to Last. This is the kind of goal that rallies the troops and gets them to transcend what they themselves thought was possible. One famous example is Microsoft’s original goal of “A computer on every desk and in every home.”

Our company’s 2020 BEHAG is three-fold:

• Motivate, inspire, and educate 1,000,000 young entrepreneurs to start their own ventures.
• “Maverick-ize” 1,000,000 successful entrepreneurs to buy into the philosophy of making more, having more fun, and giving more.
• Have 1,000,000 cumulative items checked off entrepreneurs’ BIG life lists.

And the ultimate goal is to change the way business is played. To me that means bringing more fun into business and never doing things the same way they’ve been done.

4. Get back to the fun.

Think back to when you were a kid – to the things that got you really jazzed and excited. What did you like to do? For me, it was playing sports, drawing, and making people laugh. That’s why I still play ice hockey and beach volleyball. Why I’ve taken art classes and stand-up comedy classes. I make sure I incorporate activities into my life that give me enjoyment by making them a priority.

How many times have you heard yourself saying, “I’d love to ___ BUT I can’t because I’m too busy.” That’s total B.S. What you’re really saying is that you have not made that activity enough of a priority in your life. Or that you feel guilty about having fun.

For most entrepreneurs, work is our default setting unless we have something else scheduled. Don’t settle for enjoying life only when you can squeeze it in between business. Put fun activities, rewarding experiences, and exceptional adventures on your calendar and protect them like you would any other appointment.

As Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz say in their book The Power of Full Engagement, “The richer and deeper the source of emotional recovery, the more we refill our reserves and the more resilient we become.”

Give all four of the above ideas a try when you’re feeling burned out or when you’re trying to break free. They’ve worked for me – and they’ll work for you too.

[Ed. Note: The inspiration for Yanik Silver's Maverick Business Adventures came during a period when he was feeling personally burned out. Now, Yanik sees it as a way to help other entrepreneurs avoid or recover from their burnout. Find out all about it right here.

If you're constantly feeling burned out at work, you may be in the wrong job. Starting your own business can give you freedom you never imagined. The freedom to set your own hours, pursue your interests, make as much money as you want, and even have some fun. Discover how to start your own Internet business right here.]

If that’s the way you feel, you either have some serious micro-managing issues that need to be worked on… or you need to remember why you went into business for yourself.

You might think you’re indispensable, but everyone (including you) is replaceable. If employees are left to fend for themselves without the “big boss” insisting on approving everything, most things would still get done. Maybe not quite the way you would do it, but the end result would be close enough… and you’d have the freedom to enjoy your life.

In fact, I think freedom is the operative keyword for entrepreneurs. (That is why you struck out on your own, right?) And unless we exercise that freedom by stepping away from the office from time to time, it slowly collapses – and we become nothing more than highly paid servants to our businesses.

[Ed. Note: Starting your own Internet business is the epitome of freedom. You'll have the freedom to concentrate on your passion... the freedom to set your own hours... the freedom to work from anywhere in the world. Best of all, you could finally have freedom from financial worries. Get started building your own Internet business with help from ETR's experts. They'll show you how to set up a website, create products, make sales, and much more. Act by 5:00 p.m. Saturday and you could get 80% off this powerful program - plus a $2,000 bonus. Get the details now.

For more about how much freedom you can have with an Internet business, check out master Internet marketer Yanik Silver's website www.MaverickBusinessInsider.com. He breaks new ground in online marketing every day... and still finds the time to "get away from it all."]

My father reminds me that July 3, 1976 was his “independence day,” since that’s the day my family came to the United States from Russia.

My independence day was on July 1, 1999. That’s the day I left my father’s business to work on my own.

It was one of the hardest decisions of my life. You see, I had worked for my dad since I was 12, and he thought I was eventually going to take over the company. I had that same thought – until I got the “entrepreneurial bug.” In fact, my wife Missy and I were talking about this recently. She remembered that when she met me 11 years ago, I had only one thought: “How can I grow my father’s business?” I stayed late, working on new ads and marketing pieces. I was in early, calling my accounts to try to make sales.

I had been studying direct marketing, and that was really paying off for my dad’s business. (Actually, his company still uses a lot of the ads I wrote in 1998 because they still work today.) But with every ad I wrote, I was getting more and more aggravated. Not because the ads weren’t producing sales. They were. But because everyone in the company seemed to be an advertising “expert” – even though they’d never studied or read anything on the subject.

For every ad I wrote, I had to fight to get it out there. I got sick of it, and decided to create my own product so I could write ads for myself.

My first product was designed for dermatologists – to help them get new patients for cosmetic procedures. It was a big kit – a manual, tapes, reports, diskettes, etc. – and I was selling it for $900.

I ran my first ad in April 1998 in Dermatologic Surgery magazine. I got 10 responses, and sent them the 20-page sales letter I’d written. Not one order.

I waited…

Sent out a follow-up letter to the 10 respondents.

Nothing…

Then I sent a third letter, reminding them that the deadline to get all the free bonuses was only 10 days away.

Finally, on the very last day, one order came over my fax machine. (And I still remember that doctor’s name.)

What an incredible feeling! It took me a little over a year to finally quit my “day job” – but with that first sale, I realized I had the power to chart my own course. I think it has to do with the confidence you get when you know you’ve created something that people want and are willing to exchange money for.

The first sale is usually the hardest – but also the most rewarding. And I love it when I can help turn on that light in other people.

So when will your independence day be?

When that day comes, I bet you’ll never forget it. No matter how bleak things looked up to that point, you’ll look back and realize that your “impossible” situation was simply opportunity staring you in the face.

Take my good friend, Jim Edwards. His independence day came about because he got fired. I remember the conversation we had right after it happened. We were throwing around some ideas that he might be able to pursue now that he was “free” – and we came up with “33 Days to Online Profits.” Right then and there, we outlined each of the 33 days, and moved forward from there. “33 Days” has been a tremendous six-figure income earner for both of us since the beginning, and it’s still going strong.

What can you do to achieve your independence?

Let’s start with this: What are you doing with your spare time?

• Watching TV… or reading books in your field?
• Playing cards… or practicing your copywriting?
• Yakking with your friends… or studying direct marketing?

It all comes down to the choices you make.

You shouldn’t let a single day go by without making sure you are taking at least one proactive step toward your own independence.

Being able to do what you want when you want may seem very far away right now. But don’t let that stop you from taking baby steps each and every day.

What else?

Learn to be different. The truth is, you need to become extraordinary if you expect to achieve extraordinary results. That means doing things others don’t (or won’t) do. It also means NOT listening to advice – unless it’s coming from someone who’s already successful at what you want to do.

I think you’ll find that only 5 percent of the people you run into are truly successful. Which means that if you simply do the opposite of what the other 95 percent are doing, you should be okay. In other words, don’t adopt a herd mentality. Think for yourself.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am not telling you to be elitist. But it is tremendously important to go through life with your eyes wide open. The truth is, most of your friends (right now) probably don’t want you to succeed. That would imply that they are losers. That would mean that they are failures.

Nobody is going to propel you to success except yourself. So get on it today… and prepare to proclaim your own independence day.

[Ed. Note: Serial entrepreneur Yanik Silver believes you can make more, have more fun, and give more back! Find out how with his Maverick Business Insider Introductory Package right here.

Now's your chance to proclaim your independence day and start building a lifetime free of financial worries. It's not too late to get expert guidance for your own moneymaking Internet business. With ETR's hands-on instruction, you could have your business up and running by July 18. But hurry - time is running out to join this exclusive event. Act by 7:00 p.m. Eastern this Friday and get a special hotel discount. Get all the details here.]

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I was 31 years old, and already on track to pull in six figures a year.

How did I go from a standing start to banking mega profits?

I did it with what I consider to be three inner secrets to Internet success. It has nothing to do with search engines or pay-per-click ads or any of the tactical stuff. It’s all about stuff that goes on in your head.

• Secret #1: Have “Cheerful Expectancy”

One of my main mentors was Earl Nightingale, who passed away several years ago. In his programs, he talks about having “cheerful expectancy.”

There’s a big difference between cheerful expectancy and hoping or wishing something is going to happen. When you have cheerful expectancy, you know it’s going to occur. And that doesn’t come from being a “Pollyanna” or looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.

It comes from having knowledge. And you get that knowledge by studying your field, whether it’s Internet marketing or neurology – by completely immersing yourself in it.

I learned from Earl Nightingale that if you want to be an expert on any subject, you have to spend at least an hour a day reading up on it. Knowledge gives you the confidence to have that positive expectancy. Your expectations determine your results.

• Secret #2: Do One Proactive Thing Every Day

You don’t need to do 100 things a day to be successful as an Internet marketer. Just do one proactive thing. By laying one little brick at a time, you will eventually build a big wall.

Don’t tell yourself, “Oh, I need to do e-zine ads and free-for-alls and pay-per-click search engines – and I need to do all this other stuff too!”

Agh!

Don’t overwhelm yourself. Just relax.

Make a commitment to do one proactive thing a day, no matter what. Even if you’re dead tired and worked a 14-hour day – come home and mail one letter or send out one joint venture proposal. I’m telling you, these little actions will have an immense impact.

One of my apprentices – Peter W. from the UK – is a perfect example of how powerful this can be. Peter was an Internet newbie and he also had a full-time job, so he was slow to get started. However, he took my advice and managed to do one proactive thing every single day. Whether it was something small (like writing one auto-responder message) or big (like writing 50 headlines), Peter was moving ahead. And, not surprisingly, he completed his first online project before most of my other apprentices.

• Secret #3: Make Quick Decisions

A lot of people have trouble making a decision. They don’t like to do it, because it cuts off their other options. Frankly, that’s the point. You want to cut off your other options so you’re forced to move forward. It can motivate you like nothing else.

And something magical seems to happen when you make a decision. I don’t understand it and I can’t explain it. But when you set your mind to do something, all of a sudden you meet people who can help you get to where you want to go. It’s like once a decision has been made, your mind gets tuned into it and all kinds of “freaky” coincidences start occurring.

Don’t be afraid of making the wrong decision – just make a decision. If you make a mistake, who cares? What you want to do is get all your mistakes out of the way, learn from them, and move on. Don’t be afraid of failure. Fail quickly. That will speed up the time it takes you to succeed.

(Michael Masterson calls this the Secret of Accelerated Failure.)

That’s a great thing about being an Internet marketer. You can test your idea and find out if it’s going to work right away – in days instead of months. Sometimes hours. If it doesn’t work, you say “Next!” If it does work, you keep on making it better.

As Michael Masterson says, “Ready, Fire, Aim!”

That’s what I did with our first product, InstantSalesLetters.com. I got it to the point where it was good enough to test. I quickly found out that, yes, there was a market for it, that I could sell it. And then I kept adding to it and making it better.

If you want to be a successful online marketer, that’s what you have to do.

• Expect that it will eventually happen.
• Do at least one thing every day to get your first product idea ready to test.
• When you’re ready, don’t hesitate. Make the decision and get it out there. If it works, keep making it better. If it doesn’t work, fail quickly… and go on to your next idea.

[Ed. Note: Serial entrepreneur Yanik Silver believes you can make more, have more fun, and give more back! Put his three Internet Success Secrets to work, and you could have your own powerhouse Internet business in no time.

Need a little help with the details? You can find out how to set up a website, pick a product, and get your own business off the ground in just 5 days this July. Get all the details here.]

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The first step, of course, is to get the first draft of the copy down on paper (or computer screen) as quickly as possible. I always tell copywriters not to worry about getting every word right. Just “let it all hang out.”

Then, the real work begins: the editing. That’s when you transform your copy from decent to good – or even great. As copywriting expert Clayton Makepeace says, “The more compelling you make each section of your sales letter, the greater your response and average order will be.”

In my last article for ETR – “4 Simple Ways to Turbocharge Your Writing” – I said that the best way to do the editing is to focus on one thing at a time. And I walked you through the first four phases of the process.

There are four more steps to take in order to polish your copy to perfection. Put them to work for you, and you’re sure to end up with sales letters that blow past your competition.

1. Call Out the Bucket Brigade

In this phase of the editing process, you smooth out and “stitch” everything together by using “bucket brigade” copy transitions. Like the old-time firefighters who transferred buckets of water from hand to hand, these phrases keep propelling the reader forward. Phrases like these:

• And that’s just the beginning…

• As you read on, I’ll tell you more about how…

• But before we go into that…

• But better still…

• But don’t take my word for it…

• But I’m jumping ahead. Let me tell you how this all came about…

• Here’s more…

• Fact is…

• Here’s the deal…

• Here’s the scary part:

• Listen, there’s more. Lots more…

• My strong hunch is…

• Needless to say…

• What this all boils down to is…

• What’s more…

• What’s the catch?

• Then it hit me…

Anytime you can use a copy transition, you will improve the readability of your copy and move the reader closer to the sale. (I have compiled 226 copy transitions that I use on a regular basis.)

2. Read It Out Loud

I don’t know what it is about reading sales copy out loud, but it gives you lots and lots of insight into how good (or bad) it really is. All the bumps and rough spots jump out at you.

Even better than reading it out loud yourself is to have someone else read it to you while you take notes on a printout of the copy. One big advantage of this is that he is completely impartial. He won’t stress certain words to make the meaning clearer. And if he stumbles over a phrase or sentence or paragraph, you know that’s an area you need to rework.

Another thing I do during this editing phase is make sure the copy is geared to the prospect’s benefit. I do it by changing some of the “I’s,” “We’s,” and “Me’s” to “You’s” – e.g., changing “We are giving you 6 must-have bonuses”to “You’ll get 6 must-have bonuses.”

Much stronger that way.

3. Sleep On It 

At this point, let your copy sit for at least a day. If you don’t have the luxury of an extra day, even a few hours will help. When you come back to it, it will be with new eyes and a fresh perspective. You’ll find errors that weren’t apparent before, and better ways of saying what you want to say.

Every sales letter is significantly improved with rewriting. I will often do three, four, or even five rewrites before I’m satisfied.

4. Grammar and Spelling – the Final Phase of the Edit

On my final pass-through, I check the grammar and spelling. Often, I will have someone who is better at “proper English” take a look, too. I take their suggestions with a grain of salt, because sales copy is more “conversational” than formal writing. Still, I definitely want to make sure I don’t make stupid mistakes like confusing “their” and “there.”

Despite the importance of the editing process, most copywriters don’t bother with it – or, at best, give their copy one or two quick “final” reads. But if you take the time to do a thorough job – going through all eight phases, one by one – you will see a guaranteed improvement in the selling power of your writing!

[Ed. Note: As master Internet marketer Yanik Silver (www.MaverickBusinessInsider.com) says, careful editing can make the difference between mediocre and blockbuster sales copy. Learn how you can spend two days with one of the best copywriters in the world and get all his most powerful secrets to writing copy for the Web right here.]

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You see, once most people learn about copywriting, they can usually crank out some pretty decent letters. But where the rubber meets the road is during a part of the writing process that most people don’t want to think about, let alone do. I’m talking about the editing. Today, I’m going to reveal four of the steps I take to hone, polish, and sculpt my sales letters.

Of course, before you start editing, you need to have something worth editing. And you really cannot write and edit at the same time.

So, when you sit down to write, I suggest that you turn off your internal editor. (You know, that little voice in your head that says, “That’s dumb” or “Blah!” or “Nobody is going to care about that.”) Then write quickly. Get it all out as soon as you can, and edit later.

When you begin editing, focus on one thing at a time. This is one of the biggest secrets to ending up with a great sales letter. It’s like when you buy a new car and all of a sudden you start seeing your make and model everywhere. The same number of Mini Coopers were on the road before – but now you have selective perception. Our brains are trained to seek out what we are hunting for, so most people will do one “general” edit and catch a few big problems. But that’s not good enough.

Phase 1 Edit: The First 500 Words

The opening is one of the most critical parts of your sales copy (after the headline), so that’s what I concentrate on first. Studies have shown that once a person gets past the first 500 words, he won’t stop reading until the 5,000-word mark. So one of your major goals is to get people to read through those 500 words.

Most writers start a sales letter with a lot of “warm up” – getting ready to say what they want to say. You need to be ruthless and get rid of the fluff. To make your copy more powerful, see what you can cut from the beginning of the letter. You’ll usually find that your best lead-in will be further down the page. (When doing copy critiques, I often X out the entire first page – or two! – or several of the initial paragraphs.)

Phase 2 Edit: The Flow of the Copy

The next thing I do is read through the entire sales letter with one thought: “Does this paragraph/section/copy block make sense where it is?”

What I’m looking for is a logical and persuasive flow to the copy. If I am writing to an audience that is especially skeptical, I will move my “Authority” and “Proof” elements closer to the beginning. If I’m using an analogy or a story, I make sure it is positioned in the best spot to keep readers engaged.

Phase 3 Edit: Graphics, Embellishments, and the Overall Look

The next thing I pay attention to is the “look” and “feel” of the entire letter.

Just like a top chef doesn’t want the spices to overpower the food, you don’t want the graphics and embellishments to overpower the copy. A pinch will do it. So, to make sure I’m not overdoing the bolding, italics, underlining, bullet points, check boxes, fake handwriting, etc., I use what I call my “Squinty Test.”

I print out each page, hold it in front of my face, and squint so all I can see is patterns, not the actual words. If I don’t see a good amount of white space and a balance of graphic elements, I make the necessary changes.

Phase 4 Edit: Double-Readership

I learned the concept of double-readership from Dan Kennedy, and it’s something you have to keep in mind when you’re writing copy.

There are two types of prospects: those who will read your sales letter, and those who will only skim through it, even after you capture their attention with your headline. So you want to make sure they can get enough information to make a buying decision just by skimming through the headline, subheads, and words that are set off by bolding, italics, etc.

If they can do that, you’ve done your job.

To show you what I mean, I’m going to write out the headline and subheads of a sales letter for one of my first million-dollar products. The headline and subheads only. Nothing else. Here’s what it looks like…

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Just by skimming through the above, you get the idea, don’t you? You get enough information to decide whether you’re interested in the product being sold.

There are other important edits you can make to your sales letters to make them stronger – and I’ll address them in an upcoming article. In the meantime, these four can tighten up your sales copy and make it much more appealing to prospective customers.

[Ed. Note: As master Internet marketer Yanik Silver (www.MaverickBusinessInsider.com) says, careful editing can make the difference between mediocre and blockbuster sales copy. Learn how you can get your hands on hundreds of powerful copywriting techniques from one of the best copywriters in the business right here.]  

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After buying two cups of lemonade from Spencer, I had to give the kid some advice. I told him that he should move to the corner, where he would get a lot more traffic… or at least put up signs directing people to his stand.

Did he do it? Nope. He just went on yelling, “Lemonade for sale!”

Find out where the traffic already is and plant yourself there. Then offer something those people want. That’s a secret of success for any business.

At a seminar for people interested in going into the food business, the late Gary Halbert said to attendees, “I’ll let you pick any advantage you want for your business. Name it.” People would say things like “I want the only McDonald’s” or “I want the best food.” After everyone had a turn, he’d say, “The only advantage I want is a hungry crowd.”

When it’s parked in front of a hungry crowd, even a “roach coach” gets business at lunchtime.

The same secret of success holds true for your website. You’ve got to get it in front of a stream of traffic that’s hungry for what you’re selling.

Here are just a few ideas:

• Add your offer to partners’ Thank You pages and Opt-In pages.
• Buy ads on relevant, highly trafficked sites.
• Make deals with other sites that rank highly in the search engines for your keywords and phrases.

If you’re not selling enough of your products – maybe it’s time to move your “lemonade stand” to where the crowd is!

[Ed. Note: As master Internet marketer Yanik Silver (www.MaverickBusinessInsider.com) says, you've got to get your business noticed by the right crowd if you expect to make sales. Discover 12 profit-boosting marketing strategies for getting your product in front of "hungry" traffic right here.]

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Wiener’s Circle is a hot dog stand that’s normal during the day but gets wild at night. It’s utter chaos. The gals behind the counter harass and crack jokes at their customers’ expense. Give it to them, and they’ll give it right back five times as hard. I couldn’t stop laughing. If you don’t know what to expect, you’ll be shocked by what you hear. (Look them up on Yelp.com or YouTube.com for the scoop.)

The BIG marketing lesson, here, is about creating a truly unique experience for your customers. Do so, and you’ll inspire word-of-mouth about your business that will attract people from far and wide.

There are hundreds of hot dog stands in Chicago, but several people told me that I had to check out this one. Yes, the hot dogs at Wiener’s Circle are good – but not better than some others I’ve had. But the craziness… now that’s worth the trip.

What are you doing to get people talking about your business?

[Ed. Note: As master Internet marketer Yanik Silver (www.MaverickBusinessInsider.com) says, giving your customers a unique experience can really get the buzz going about what you have to offer. Word-of-mouth isn't the only way to get people excited about your business. Discover 12 profit-boosting strategies right here.]

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If you get this principle right, you’ll be astonished by the sales results. A lot of marketers think they understand it, but that’s not the case. There’s more to it than simply saying “x number of units will be sold” OR “limited-time opportunity” or “buy before midnight tonight.”

Many buying decisions are made in response to an emotional trigger. So whenever you buy something, it’s always a good idea to step back and see if you can figure out what the emotional trigger was that motivated you to do it. Because if something works on you, there’s a good chance it will work on your customers, too.

Scarcity is one of the emotional triggers that works on me.

For instance, my first sports car was a Honda S2000. When it came out in 2000, the car was impossible to get. My local dealer had an allotment of two or three of them for the year. Only 5,000 were made, and about 2,000 of those came to the U.S. I searched all over the country, looking for the rare color combination I wanted (silver with a red interior). I found my S2000 about 800 miles away in upstate New York, and drove it all the way down to our place in Maryland in the pouring rain.

Here’s an example of an ad that applies the principle of scarcity in a way that’s believable. It’s from Porthos.com, a company I buy a fair amount of wine from.

By mentioning that less than 300 cases were produced, the ad telegraphs exclusivity, rarity, and scarcity without being over the top. Also, if you trust the company’s recommendations (and I do), you believe that this wine will most likely hit $100+ cult status. And notice this at the bottom of the ad: “NO SALES TO RETAILERS.” Yet another scarcity trigger.

Porthos does an excellent job of using scarcity to sell to their market. Most wine collectors are considered to be affluent and sophisticated consumers. As you can see, you can use this psychological trigger in a way that does not insult your customers’ intelligence.

Let me give you a few more examples…

The Enzo is Ferrari’s $600,000+ supercar, named in honor of Enzo Ferrari, the company’s founder. They produced exactly 399 cars. That’s it. Ferrari collectors know that when Ferrari tells them a car is a limited edition, it really is.

Only a privileged few can own a Ferarri, and not only because of the high price. Ferrari makes potential buyers apply to buy one of their limited-edition cars, placing restrictions on what may and may not be done with it. They enforce those restrictions by threatening to withdraw perks like factory tours and the chance to buy future Ferraris. I was talking to the owner of an Enzo at a car show in New York, and he told me you had to have been a registered owner of three other Ferraris to qualify for the privilege of applying for an Enzo.

You see a lot of special editions created for collectible and high-end merchandise like pens, cigars, and spirits. For example, I found the following pen on a website that keeps track of all their sold-out editions as proof that what they’re selling really is scarce:

I think verisimilitude – the appearance of truth – is the key to making scarcity work for your business. E-books don’t have it. You can say you’ll sell only 500 copies of your e-book, but there’s no “appearance of truth” in that. An e-book is just bits and bytes, so why would it be truly limited? I’ve seen some marketers use scarcity ploys that had me wondering if they really expected their customers to believe what they were saying. If your customers question your credibility… you’re done for.

To avoid falling into that trap, my advice is to combine scarcity with another one of the psychological triggers Robert Cialdini talks about in Influence: giving people a “reason why” your offer is limited.

[Ed. Note: As master Internet marketer Yanik Silver (www.MaverickBusinessInsider.com) says, scarcity is a powerful motivator when you're trying to get prospective customers to buy. I saw him at ETR's Bootcamp, and I'll tell you, his info blew me and the crowd away.

For more sales tactics from Yanik - and from nearly a dozen other world-class Internet marketers - pick up a copy of ETR's 2008 Information Marketing Bootcamp DVD Library. With their advice, you could learn how to make $1 million or more with your own Internet business in 2009. Get all the details here.]

The day before I left, Aspen was extremely interesting from a marketing perspective…

Aspen is filled with great boutiques, restaurants, and art galleries. I wasn’t planning on buying anything, but enjoyed looking in the galleries – and that’s where our story starts.

The first part of any sales process is typically grabbing the attention of the prospective customer – and my attention was caught by a piece in one of the windows. It was cartoonish yet sophisticated. So I popped into the gallery. The piece was by an artist named Todd White, and it was called “My Heaven and Hell.”

The gallery had a bunch of White’s prints, and as I browsed through them I started getting the “story” of the artist from the gallery salesman, Johnny. He told me how White had worked on “Ren & Stimpy” and helped created “SpongeBob SquarePants.” I’m a big fan of animation, so this intrigued me.

If you have read Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, you know that this is a good example of one of the persuasive techniques used by salespeople. “Story”  helps the salesperson make a deeper connection with his prospect and start to set up the sale. (”Story” is important to the buyer, because he knows he’ll be able to tell it to people who admire the item after he’s bought it.)  

Johnny followed this with a laundry list of celebs who collect White’s work – an example of what Cialdini calls “Social Proof.”

Then he showed me a brochure with illustrations of prints by White that were no longer available because they had sold out. “He does them in very limited quantities (like 150),” Johnny explained. This is an example of another tried and true sales tactic described by Cialdini: “Scarcity.”

As I perused various pieces, Johnny would throw in an occasional comment. (For instance, he explained that “My Heaven and Hell” depicts the good and devilish sides of White’s ex-girlfriend.)

Every time I showed interest in a piece, Johnny asked me if I wanted him to move it to a better light. I declined several times, because I knew where this was heading. But, finally, I let him move two of the prints to a cozy little back room. (The purpose of the back room is to give prospects a chance to imagine how the artwork might look in their homes.)

At this point, what Cialdini calls “Commitment” and “Consistency” takes over. I’m making small commitments toward buying, starting with picking which prints I like the best. And psychologically, Cialdini tells us, once you’ve made a commitment, you’re more likely to behave in a consistent manner by sticking with that commitment going forward.

Meanwhile, I was offered a beer, Champagne, or water – an example of Cialdini’s principle of “Reciprocity” at work. Giving prospects a treat is a good way to make them feel like reciprocating in some way – presumably by making a purchase.

I’d been through this same kind of presentation before. Still, it was interesting to watch it unfold with my psychology hat on – especially since the gallery was doing something that I hadn’t seen before: They were playing a DVD about Todd White’s career, his press coverage, his works, and people who are his collectors. Another way of injecting social proof into the sales process, plus what Cialdini calls “Authority.”

When I kept going back to my favorite piece, Johnny asked me what it would take for me to buy it right then and there. I shrugged my shoulders. Then he said, “What if I can talk the owner of the gallery into giving you a crazy price on two of them?” I said I would be willing to negotiate price, but only on the one piece. In Cialdini’s terms, this is an example of reciprocation (by me) after a “Concession” (on price).

The owner then stepped in. He pointed out that the print I had chosen was hand embellished, not simply “a print.” And he talked to me about the frame itself – its multiple layers and how ornate it was. Cialdini calls this the “Value Buildup.”

Finally, the owner gave me a “Reason Why” he was able to give me a discount: It was the end of tourist season and the rent was due.  

We negotiated down to about 50 percent of the “retail” price, and shook hands. A few weeks later, a huge crate arrived at my house with my “All Lit Up Again” print by Todd White:

How many of the above sales tactics are you using to try to persuade customers to buy? If you’re using just one or two, it’s time for you to take a good look at Cialdini’s book.

[Ed. Note: As master Internet marketer Yanik Silver points out, understanding the psychology of persuasion can help you win over new customers. For more of his insights into sales and marketing, check out his blog at www.InternetLifestyle.com.

For more targeted strategies you can use to make sales – and take your business to new heights – sign up for ETR’s 2008 Bootcamp DVD Library. From the comfort of your living room, you can watch our speakers – including 2 hours of Yanik’s best secrets from his stunning live presentation – divulge techniques they’ve used to make at least $100,000. Who knows? With this advice, you could wind up making upward of $1 million in 2009. Learn more here.