The Elements of Persuasion: Part 2 Scarcity

This is the simplest and most powerful persuasion technique. It may vary from person to person but this principle has gotten me to buy more products than any other. Since I love video games I will use that as an example.

A few weeks ago, I saw a new video game for the Xbox 360 that looked interesting but I wasn’t sure I wanted to buy it. I went into the local game store to look around and decide if I should spend the money.

I didn’t see the game anywhere so I asked the clerk. He said they were sold out and didn’t know when they would get more copies. Okay. No big deal, I thought, there is another store close by. After a short drive and a few more minutes of perusing the shelves I was told they too were sold out. Thus began a process I call “The Quest”. I spent the better part of a morning driving from store to store until I finally found one with a copy left. I bought it without question and drove home congratulating myself.

Do you see what happened there? It didn’t dawn on me until much later. I started out not sure if I even wanted the game. Then became a frothing idiot driving all over creation just to be parted from my money. The game maker knew what they were doing when they didn’t make enough copies to go around because nobody wants something more than when they cant have it.

Here is another example that has always irritated me. Have you or your kids ever went to get a copy of one of the Disney movies (Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Aladdin) just to find out that they are in moratorium? That’s because every few years Disney will take a movie off the shelf with plans to re-release it in 5 to 10 years. They do it to drive up the interest on a movie that nobody really thinks of buying anymore.

So, how would this carry over to your writing or marketing? Have limits on your services and products. Here are a few examples:

1. If you are selling an online class, make sure the seats are limited even though logically class sizes on the Internet are not a factor.
2. If you are selling ebooks, make them a lower price for a limited time or limit the number of copies that you will sell before taking them off your web page for a little while.
3. Give your clients a good deal but don’t undervalue your time when quoting prices for writing assignments. A client will pay the extra money to work with a writer that is in demand and busy with other projects.

Good luck with scarcity and don’t forget to read the other posts in this series, there aren’t many left!