Following yesterday’s brief observation on scarcity, a wise reader and friend of the list asked, “What are your thoughts around scarcity?”

(Something I needn’t have left as a topic for another day, lol 🙂

Here’s an embellished version of my answer:

I don’t like when people manufacture scarcity. (When it’s not “real”).

Like, fake “only 3 left in stock” notifications.

But I can’t deny that it’s super powerful.

Examples of (what I believe are) true scarcity:

  • You can only sell preorders of your book in the time before it’s launched.
  • You can only sell 10 spots in your mastermind because more than that would detract from the experience.
  • You can only have 100 people in your webinar (because you’ve decided not to pay for the next tier of service).
  • You have to draw the line between early bird and regular somewhere, and you’ve drawn it on X date. (It’s sort of manufactured, but, in this case, fair, I believe. You want to reward people willing to put faith in you right away, plus you want early cash flow.)
  • You only have time/space for 20 reservations per evening at your restaurant.
  • You only made 500 copies of your album/book/photo/t-shirt.

And, so, if you’ve got an offer, and there’s any way in which it is truly scarce, lean into it! It can be your super selling power.

(But please don’t just make stuff up to stress out your buyers and make them act without thinking.)

More thoroughly,
James