I just want to address this issue of SCARCITY and the use of it in marketing.

I have been Tweeting on Twitter about this subject for quite a while now but occasionally someone decides to take issue with this subject… I kinda get the feeling they think that SCARCITY is simply just some marketing tactic designed to SUCK PEOPLE IN or a CON JOB at best. Maybe even a gorilla tactic.

Well they are half right. Yes it is a very powerful marketing tactic that you should be using in your marketing. Especially if you are doing any form of product launch. But using scarcity as a marketing tactic is NO CON JOB.

Let me explain, but first I want to show you a tweet I sent and the complaint I got back today…

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Just to clarify, the conversation starts at the bottom.

My tweet : TIP- Use SCARCITY in your product launches to create buying momentum

The reply : do people still believe that ?

My reply : That tells me you don’t understand scarcity… let me know I will gladly explain it for you

The reply : pls don’t patronise me

My reply : Ummm, would you like to learn something here that might help you or continue on your way

Conversation over…

So as you can see this person took issue in the beginning with the SCARCITY tactic and using it in marketing. I offered to show them what it actually was but they weren’t interested in learning something new.

Normally I wouldn’t take the time to write a post about this but this is the second time someone has taken issue with scarcity with me and so I just want to clarify what scarcity is in marketing. Especially electronic marketing where product can be duplicated at the click of a mouse.

Now, here is the other issue this guy had with scarcity…

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This came from my post on the blog I did back May called Jonathan Budd & Mark Hoverson MLM Launch Formula. As you can clearly see, another misguided opinion about scarcity.

So what the heck, what is it about this subject that get’s people mad? Let’s have a loot at what scarcity is here to find out…

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Two Types Of Scarcity In Marketing

There are actually two types of scarcity (that I know of) that can be used in marketing. They are…

Scarcity By Design

This is when you have for example a physical product that you only have a LIMITED quantity of. Let’s say you have a special edition book that sells for $39.95 that is personally autographed by the author, and you only have 200 of these books to sell.

Once you run out of the 200 books, that is the end of that product. Even though your customers can obtain a book after the 200 have sold out, there is NO WAY that they can purchase an autographed book. That is what you would call scarcity by design because the product (200 books) was designed with a limited quantity in mind.

So if you were selling this product you could say in your marketing that this book is for sale at $39.95… BUT… the first 200 ONLY will get an autographed book from the author. This could also be called a “never to be repeated” offer.

Do you think there would be a rush on that book to get a copy of the first 200 with the authors autograph? Absolutely there would… and you have just seen SCARCITY at work in marketing.

Another example is that your product could also just be out of date or superseded in some way, in which case you have scarcity by design. The product, let’s say a new car for example,  was only designed to be around for a selected period of time before a new model was released, so scarcity is designed into the product life from the beginning.

That is a classic example of scarcity by design. So now let’s look at scarcity by choice…

Scarcity By Choice

So then how does this principle of SCARCITY work in an electronic world were an item like an eBook can be electronically reproduced? This is where we can have SCARCITY by CHOICE. And this is where people get confused about this subject because they haven’t yet seen this aspect of scarcity at work.

Scarcity by choice is simply this… let’s say you wrote an eBook on a particular subject but you only wanted to let 200 people have the book for various reasons. It might be a HOT marketing tactic that you have discovered or something similar and you simply don’t want to let everybody on the planet have access to it. Can you see that?

How about this… let’s say you had a service that you are promoting like some specialized Pay Per Click training for example and you only want to sell your expertise to 10 very quick customers that get in fast. That is scarcity by choice because you “choose” not to work with more than 10 people.

These are example of scarcity by choice at work and it’s what you need to understand and learn how to do.

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How To Use Scarcity In Your Marketing

So then let’s bring this down to our level and have a look at how scarcity could work in promoting a product you are selling. It could be your own product or even an affiliate product.

Let’s say Guru Dave might be promoting a product called Marketing Guru Dave’s “One Click To A Million Dollar Day” training course. The product went on the market for $697 and you decide to promote the product to your list of 1,000 people. What you could say to your list is this…

Buy the product for $697 from my affiliate link and if you are in the first 10 people to order you will get a 1 hour private coaching session on how to market your business on Facebook.

Do you see that? You need to use scarcity by choice as a LEVERAGE tool into your marketing to create a buyers rush or to induce people to buy the product through your affiliate link. Because if someone on your list wants to buy the product they now know that they can get a special bonus from you for purchasing it through your link.

It goes on every time there is a launch, and if you are aware of it you will pick up some great ideas on how to market your business or products. Scarcity will give you LEVERAGE in your sales process to help leverage people into making a decision NOW rather than later.

And that’s it, that is how you can use scarcity in marketing, especially in an electronic format.

Scarcity is a known marketing method designed to bring on a buyers rush or to induce people to buy FROM YOU specifically. It’s NOT a CON job, unless you break your word and sell more than you actually said you would. It’s a very powerful marketing tactic designed to put more money in your pocket.

And there you have it. I hope that makes sense, and if you have taken objection to scarcity being used in the past by someone then please drop me a note below. I would love to hear your feedback.

Have a great day, week, month, year… life!

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Do You Have Any Idea What The Real Product In Your MLM Home Business Is?

When discussing home business opportunities I often hear people talking about the products or services their company offers and they speak about them with increased passion. Heck some people even fall in love with their products.

To me… falling in love with your product is a “No No” in this industry (GASP – shock horror). Yes I know that might “weird” some of you out but I will explain this later.

Having a great product that you are proud to introduce to your friends, family and prospects is a valuable thing to have because we really SHOULD be proud of and have a passion for what we are selling.

But I just want to bring you back down to the reality level of what your product really is because knowing what your REAL product is will affect your decision making ability on the next biz op you are presented with. It will also affect HOW you present your opportunity to your prospects.

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You see…

There are actually two types of products for two types of customers in the home business industry that you need to be aware of, and you need to know which category you fall into as a customer.

Consider McDonalds…

Think about the product that McDonalds offers its customers. Hamburgers, fries & drinks… right? Correct… but only as a consumer. McDonalds offers those products to everyday people like you and I at a consumer level.

But what if you were in the market to buy a McDonalds franchise? What’s the product then? It’s the system. The McDonalds system is now the product that we are talking about.

Knowing this changes the whole sales dynamic at work here and this is how it works with your biz op.

So then if you are buying a McDonalds franchise; does the hamburgers, fries & drinks matter? Should this become a consideration in the equation? The answer is yes it matters because without those products you have no system. The consumer product is actually a part of the system, but it’s not ALL of the system.

What About Your Home Business Opportunity

So now how does this work in your home business opportunity? Your product that you are offering and talking about to your prospects are two totally different things when you are talking to someone that is looking for a home business opportunity as opposed to someone that is interested in your products.

Yes your company’s products are vitally important when talking to a consumer but they are less important when talking to a business prospect. They are still important when talking about your system because they form part of your system, but your prospect is going to be much more interested in the system than the product.

To somebody buying a McDonalds burger meal the food is important but to someone else looking at buying a franchise the product is just a means to an end. Your product to somebody looking for a good system is merely just a means to their end.

Here is some startling news for you… what you are really selling in your home business opportunity is a system and the system sells the product for you. If you like, you are selling a mini franchise and that franchise sells products to consumers.

Your system then is a system for turning product into cash. That’s it!

Why Make This Distinction?

Well like I said in the beginning, way too many people fall in love with their products and turn into product geeks and it clouds their thinking when it comes to business building.

People who buy a McDonalds franchise are business builders and people who buy the product are consumers. Do you see the difference? You are looking for business builders first if you want to build a big home business, so don’t muddy the water by falling in love with your product.

The last thing a prospective business builder needs is a product geek.

Comparison…

I remember the first time I heard Robert Kiyosaki say that if your house is your biggest asset you are in trouble. That statement of his caused uproar in many circles, especially with the old school industrial age thinkers who really DID think that their house was their biggest asset.

But it was the truth of that statement that rocked people’s boats. And it’s no different to you with your brilliant product that you are head over heels in love with.

The truth is you need to fall in love with your system first then your product second. I have never been a product geek… to me home business was always about the system.

Don’t get me wrong I have bought great products from network marketing companies but it was never the product that attracted me to the system, it was the system that attracted me to the product.

Do you think someone buying a McDonalds franchise cares more about the product or the system?

Conclusion…

In the end there is really only two things you need to be focused on to build a BIG home business…

1. Market the system that sells the products
2. Teach your team to do the same

So there you go, I hope that demystifies the distinction between product & system and the level of importance you need to place on them.

But I have a few final questions for you…

1. Are you stuck in your home business?
2. Are people leaving your team as fast as others are joining?
3. Are you aware of the attrition rate in downline building?
4. Do you realize how much the internet has changed the home business industry?

The truth is we live in a different world today that what we did in those pre internet days and building a successful home business is not as easy as it used to be.

If you feel that your business isn’t performing as it should then are probably a victim of those changes that have occurred and you need to find out NOW what you need to do about it.

Click on this picture below to download your free copy of Mike Dillard’s Coffee House letter, the shocking truth that is happening to home businesses all over the world.

This report could save you years of wasted time and thousands of dollars spent on your business.

Here is the link…

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Got questions or comments? Please post them below.

There are two aspects to marketing your online business that you MUST be aware of in order to market effectively and give you maximum impact in your business.

If you are not aware of these two aspects or you don’t take advantage of the difference between the two you could be leaving your marketing efforts “short changed”.

The two aspects that I am talking about are…

1. Marketing For Response
2. Marketing For Exposure

Let’s have quick look at these…

Marketing For Response

When you are marketing for response you are creating some form of content that is designed to give you an immediate response. That’s why it is called direct response marketing because you are looking for your reader or listener to respond immediately.

This could be a PPC ad where the reader will click on a link or a video where the viewer can visit your web address, or it could be a Twitter tweet that is written in such a way to get the reader to “click through” to a web page to buy a product.

Whatever it is that you create; the sole purpose of it is to get that instant response from the recipient. This is important because without that form of marketing you will be leaving a lot of your sales “on the table” for other marketers to take advantage of.

Think of the Guthy Renker “Anthony Robbins” type infomercial. They usually contain lines like “Order within the next 15 minutes” or “Be among the first 50 people to call this number and you will get…” etc. It’s all about getting you to respond… NOW.

Marketing for response is content designed to get you to respond immediately.

The other type of marketing is designed more for creating exposure.

Marketing For Exposure

With this type of marketing you are not creating content or an ad piece to try and get people to respond immediately. You create the content piece purely for exposure.

It’s all about keeping the company name or product at the top of a person’s thinking so that when they decide they do need or want what you are marketing; your name or the product name comes to mind first.

This is often called “Top of mind awareness” and it’s a powerful tool to use in your marketing.

Think of a product commercial on TV. Let’s say for example a shampoo commercial. You will notice there is no “buy now” button at the end of the commercial, or there is no “be among the first 50 to call this number ” etc.

A commercial like that is not designed to get you to respond NOW, it is designed to keep the product at the top of your mind so that when you do need shampoo, you will think of buying that product.

See how that works?

So then let’s have a look at how this affects your business.

You need to keep these two marketing aspects in mind when you create a piece of content and ask yourself… “Is this for direct response or is it for exposure?”

Knowing which one you want to create first before you begin will help you not to “muddy” up your content.

A lot of my marketing I do for exposure, especially what I do on Twitter and Facebook. This blog post that you are reading here is also about “exposure” for me. It is designed to keep my presence out there on the web and to expose my ability, my value and my name to the recipient… you!

If you are following anything I do you will find a lot of my stuff is purely designed to bring value and to create exposure. And that is exactly what you need to be doing with your content.

You need to have both types of marketing working in your business to gain maximum impact from your marketing. You need direct response to get people to respond NOW… click this button, fill in this form, go here and do this. This is all about getting the response immediately.

And you need exposure type marketing so that your followers will come away thinking that you are a person of value that has something to offer others and that you know what you are talking about. You also want to have your name out there as much as possible in any way that you can.

An example that I do of this form of marketing is my Twitter tweets. Have a look at this for…

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Notice there is no link to click, it’s just pure information to keep my name and my profile pic out there in people minds.

This works especially well if your viewers see that you have valuable content to give. When you post valuable content on a consistent basis people will come to remember you as a person of value, which is vitally important to build a healthy business.

Think of this…

If someone is thinking of joining your business opportunity with you, what do you think the first thing they will do is? I can assure you that your prospects will want to check out your content to make sure they aren’t joining forces with someone that doesn’t offer value or that can’t help them.

Creating high quality content that is designed for exposure is going to help you in your business just as much as writing content that is designed to get an immediate response and sell now.

You need to have both in operation in order for you to be marketing effectively and to create maximum impact.

What Do You Say & Do In A “Welcome” Video That Warms Your Prospects To You?

I thought I would write this post because of the great response I have been getting with my welcome video that I use in Facebook, Twitter, Ning sites and on my Blog here.

Here is my video…

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I constantly receive a steady stream of comments (daily) from people who have watched this video and liked it. There is something about the content in this video that resonates with people that makes them want to comment back to me in some fashion.

The goal of this video when I created it was simple… I wanted to greet them in a humorous way them to REMEMBER me.

I wanted the video to be different, that would get a response, and that would cause people to warm to me without mentioning BUSINESS at all.

Does it work? Like a charm!

So here are my HOT TIPS on creating a welcome video with content that GETS A RESPONSE…

1. Don’t mention your business
2. Don’t try to sell anything
3. Make it VERY friendly
4. Make it personal with info about you & your life
5. Try and come up with an ORIGINAL concept
6. Don’t make it too long
7. Don’t be BORING in your message
8. Include your lifestyle
9. Have fun

In the video I also mentioned things like…

1. The location of where I live
2. Towns that visitors to my area may know

And so that’s it really. Nice and simple and very personal. And like I said the response I get from viewers is exceptional.

It makes it very easy for anyone who has seen this video to remember me when I post in Facebook or other places.

So there you go… think about your lifestyle and where you live and get out there and create a welcome video to send to your followers.

Got comments or questions? Leave them below…

How To Know If You Are Pushing HOT BUTTONS With Your Content

Are you aware of the response your content is getting from the social media landscape? Do you realize that the quality of your content that you create is an indication of the health of your business and is directly proportional to the amount of income that you receive.

I have produced this video below to share with you some signs that you need to be seeing in order for you to know if your content is effective or not.

When it comes to creating good content, it absolutely MUST push peoples HOT buttons and get a response… and the social media community is a hot place to discover where you stand.

Watch this 10 minute video to see what I mean…

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Ok so tell me… is what I am saying here on the money? Is this a key performance indicator in regard to the quality of your content?

Your comments are welcome below…

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UPDATE :- This is an addition to the post that I am putting here on July 2nd 2010, 5 days after I created the post.

Another indicator of the quality of your content, which is something I forgot to mention in this video, is when people begin to repost your content on their Blogs. I have had this happen previously but here is one that has just occurred as a result of this post.

Visit Heather C Stevens Blog – Click Here

Quality content that you create will get posted on other peoples blogs which will not only create more exposure but you will also have the value of a Ping Back to your blog. Not to mention the traffic that you could get from it too.

Thanks Heather… kudos to you.

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UPDATE :- July12th 2010

I might keep adding to this post as things come up because I really think it will help you see some things here.

This graphic below is an indication of the type of feedback you want to be seeing when you connect with people in the social community.

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The conversation starts at the bottom and as I previously said it’s just an indication of the level of feedback you really want to be seeing in your marketing.

Something I have discovered is that creating good vibrations online is a skill that you must learn how to do. Your prospects and others who come in contact with you MUST be able to sense through your content that you are indeed a “genuine” person and not someone who is out there for themselves or who is impartial to the feelings of others.

For me it didn’t come easy in the beginning but over time as I practiced and got better, I started to get these types of responses.

Now don’t get discouraged if it’s not happening with you yet, stick with it, it will come to you as you do more of it.

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