Hey Warriors,

In direct response marketing, it's quite important to understand persuasion and influence. Your ability to compel people to buy from you in a niche market is paramount, and for YOU, getting good at this is critical to your success.

Most miss these incredible steps because they are too busy chasing magic buttons and gizmos and schemes and loopholes in a vicious cycle that never ends until they SNAP out of it and finally "get this"

Maybe this post sparks something for you.

(1) People buy reputation.

We all do it. I mean, before I buy a book on Amazon, I still read the reviews, even if it's a cheap $7 book. I read the reviews not because of the seven dollars. I read it because of my time. I do not want to waste my precious time reading some crappy book.

Well, it's the same for your products, offers, emails, posts, videos, audios, software, etc.

People buy reputation and we are in the reputation business. Go turn a market on to you and watch the money fly in. I could talk about just this one point for hours and even days! It's that critical. Go build your reputation.

(2) People buy quick hits of hope

This is the lottery ticket mindset and this is a huge reason why people buy in any worthy niche. They want a quick hit of hope. If you want to lose weight and are stressing about it, or motivated about it, you might buy a book or program on weight loss.

The sheer act of buying is like "doing something". Buying is like "taking action" and we quickly feel better about our situation because we just "did something" about it. 

When you sell products, many buy them and never use them. Why? Well, because just buying from you was action on their end. They did something.

You have to provide hope and pitch them on quick results. Would anyone buy my wight loss offer if I said this will take you 2.6 years to lose that beer belly?

Give hope. Money flows.

(3) People buy because they are friggen lazy slobs of goo who lay on couches and eat buckets of ice cream and Doritos. They should make Dorito flavor ice cream. lol

Funny, but true. This is why "done for you" offers do so well. Most people are just coasting and drifting around not doing anything. They are out there looking for an outlet to plug into and feel better. They are lost, dabbling, distracted and all over the place.

Here you come with a solution that is served up on a silver platter and presto! They come flocking to your offer. Sell Done For You offers and watch your life change. Think about your niche and ask yourself... what can I do for them because they "Aint" doing a thing themselves.

(4) People buy Celebrity And Story

Authority can squeeze in here too, or credibility or legend even, but the fact of the matter here is humans are drawn to "celebrity" and "story". 

For example, you can be a talented, amazing speaker on stage, who dazzles the crowd with stories and laughter... charming the audience... but have ZERO SUBSTANCE to what you are teaching or speaking about... and people will rush the back of the room to buy your home study course or program.

People (humans) are drawn to "star appeal" and celebrity. This matches-up with "reputation" above but it can also be manufactured through story telling and self promotion. Money gravitates to self promotion regardless if we like it or not.

(5) People buy PROOF factors

This is why the WSO section is a big buyer section and works so well. The responses to the offers in the thread is what can create buying frenzies. One crazy, awesome post or testimonial by a buyer can provoke a buying frenzy.

Testimonials, stats, endorsements, "as seen on", titles, monikers, awards, etc you name it, all that stuff helps boost proof factors to your offer.

(6) People buy because they are uncomfortable or in trouble or desperate or emotional

Many people buy because something is severely motivating them behind the scenes. They are about to get fired, divorced, be put in jail, lose a house or car, have to move in with mom, unemployment benefits are about to run out, about to retire, etc.

Something is causing them to get off the couch and get their butts moving. Pressure has set in, stress, motivation, a spark, something!

They are now uncomfortable and need to do something. So, the easiest thing to do is... "buy something". Or depending on their financial situation... "get someone else to buy something for them".

Again, most take "buying something" as a form of "taking action to solve a problem" even though the sheer act of buying that thing is not true action. 

Listen, you can tap into this #6 technique here by just being someone who actually "sells something". Be a "seller" not primarily a "buyer". Go sell something instead of being the one who is trying to buy your way to success like 95% of the others out there do. You cannot learn your way to success, you can only "SELL" your way to success.

(7) To not miss out

People will buy just because something is about to be taken away from them if they do not buy. In other words, humans hate to lose something. This is why in sales, we use "take aways" all the time. You can give someone a warning that it's about to be sold out or there are only 4 left, and people will buy JUST because of that.

This is scarcity, lack, urgency and it works.

I could try and sell 100 units of something and it might take me all year to sell 100 units. However, if I say, only 100 people will EVER get this and the first 100 are the only 100 and it will close right when the 100th person buys it... and 44 of them are gone already... POOF! all 100 sell out in a day versus a YEAR!

That's the power of lack and scarcity.

Ever see people fighting over those $100 TV's on Black Friday?

Anyway --

Those are some of the reasons people buy and how you can tap into that stuff and earn yourself much more money in direct response marketing. And after 10 or 11 years of doing this to the tune of millions, I can tell you that one of the biggest keys to getting people to buy from you is:

Getting them to know, like and trust you! K, L and T. There are 1,000 different things you can do to get people to know you better, like have a story... or reveal personal stuff... or speak to them on video so they can see your personality... etc.

There are also 1000+ different things you can do to get them to like you and trust you, etc.

It's critical.

So, don't hide behind the Internet or your computer.

Go help your brothers and sisters solve a problem and provide value to them. Share, teach, help, assist, give... go throw yourself out there to the market and watch what happens.

Merry Christmas!

Eric Louviere
The Million Dollar Marketer

PS - One more thing as I'm reminded just before I hit the "submit new thread" button on this post... you also want haters. Haters are everywhere and they are part of the fabric of this business. Any time you stick your head out of the sand, you're going to get whacked. It's like "Whack A Mole". I often get a little disappointed when I don't get haters (there's a ton of them here on the WF). Heck, half the reason I scooted on over here was to try and wrangle up me some haters since I've been a little light on getting haters lately. lololol

While I think your post has some good information, it reads like a Guide to Hype. This isn't necessarily a bad thing: when used appropriately, hype can help to drive sales. But the key word there is appropriately. And it should also be mentioned that the sort of tactics you're advocating can be a turn off to some types of customers. 

Take the idea of not missing out. If there's legitimate scarcity, by all means, say so. But if someone were to try to tell me that an ebook, a piece of software or something else that really shouldn't have any scarcity contraints on it is only available in a limited run, I'd likely roll my eyes and find something else to buy. Which isn't to say that this sort of tactic wouldn't work on someone else. But the point is you need to decide if most of your customers are like me or if they really will be the kinds of people to respond to that kind of marketing.

Similarly, certain tactics may work in some niches, but not in others. Having a giant inflatable gorilla might get attention for your used car lot, but it's probably not the kind of tactic you'd want to use at a Rolls Royce dealer when you're trying to project an image of sophistication and elegance. The same can be said for most of the tactics you advocate.

I also think you've missed out what I think is the best way to get people to buy from you: have the best product on the market. Yes, there are people who could sell bottled water to a fish, but I find that the most successful businesses aren't the ones that are most adept at reaching into their bag of tricks in order to convince people to buy something shoddy, but those that have real products that meet real needs for real people. With the bust businesses, at the end of the day the business makes more money than they spent on delivering that product or service and the consumer derives more value from that product or service than the amount of money they paid. 

Yes, by all means learn to sell and market -- you won't be successful if you don't. But in my business, I find that my best marketers are former customers. A genuine recommendation from a real friend or relative is worth a thousand times more than anything you and I can ever say. And it's a lot cheaper too!

All that said, it's not a bad list. I just think people should really think carefully before deploying these sorts of tactics. Used appropriately, they can be very effective, but used inappropriately, they can do more harm than good. For instance, if you use too many of them too often, people will likely focus on the hype and not the product. 

In the end, it all boils down to who your customers are, what you're selling and what your business goals are. But that's always the case, isn't it?

some of the best products never catch fire and never make a dent in a market, while the one's that have huge backing, big exposure, awesome marketing, become best sellers and generate the most revenue.

Ricky Bobby can have the best "list building" product in the galaxy, but if Frank Kern comes out with a list building product, he'll beat Ricky Bobby all over Internet Land.

Some of the best selling products are the most simple and has the least "content" and are more "performance" or story telling or entertainment, yet the products loaded with content move slowly.

Let me think of an example... hmm... ok, Suze Orman... that financial lady... many financial experts who have degrees coming out their ears cannot stand her... but I wonder who makes more money?

Sure, sometimes, going for having the "best product" works and it's real nice to think that way... all fluffy and righteous-like, but the dirty truth is it's a HUGE MISTAKE! 

It's a big... neon festering... monster... disastrous... mistake to go for creating and depending on "having the best product" out there. And, although I love it when people chime in, it's another thing when they are flat wrong.

So... just go out there and try your best to create the best product in the land... and make sure you DEPEND on having the best product in the land to put food on the table, much less get RICH!

Some of the products I thought would turn the market upside down and be game-changers where people would chant my names in the streets of the Warrior Forum ended up being duds... yet some of the other products I thought would be nice little products some might like ended up being huge million dollar earners.

You go out there and sell, that's what you do. This is business and going all timid and "nice righteous guy" will get you crushed in this game. Although, it can probably make you a little bit of money here and there.

Anyway... thanks for playing, next?

That's a great way to get a trickle of customers. And hopefully you're selling high ticket private jet airplanes that cost millions each or you'll be depending on your customers to put food on the table and that's also a huge, godzilla like mistake!

90% never do a thing.

5% might tell a friend and 99% of those friends of the friends wont do a thing

5% will tell multiple friends for a day or two, but 99% of those who were told will not do a thing.

Which brings you down to a microscopic percentage of people, and unless you are selling to millions of people or selling really high ticket, then that "depending on referrals" is a dangerous game to play.

Most I have found who play that game are not good at:

-- Advertising
-- Marketing
-- Tech
-- Driving Traffic
-- Email marketing
-- Segmenting
-- Split testing
-- Copywriting
-- etc.
-- and marketing in general...

Again, it's a mistake to depend on "my customers going out there and doing all my marketing for me"

Lastly, this is why it's hard to make MLM work for most out there. Same principle...

You go recruit 100 people into your downline or whatever they call that, and what percentage of those 100 will ever do anything? 5%?

Ok, I'll give ya 5% will do something, but for how long?

Certainly not consistently for a long time that's for sure, which brings you down to maybe 1 out of 100, if that.

Ok, Ok, I'll stop.

Sure, sometimes, going for having the "best product" works and it's real nice to think that way... all fluffy and righteous-like, but the dirty truth is it's a HUGE MISTAKE!

First of all, my argument isn't about being "righteous-like", it's about running a successful business. And my guess is you're only knocking being the best because you've rarely (if ever) had the experience of being the best at anything. But if you can't be the best, at least you can be the loudest, cockiest, and the most swaggering, self-aggrandizing and bombastic, right? And despite what you may think, I mean none of those as insults: as I said in my first response, the sort of techniques your advocating actually do work in certain circumstances. My only point -- and one you seem to completely failed to read or to comprehend -- is that these techniques aren't always appropriate for all situations.

I also think it's telling that in your response all your examples of successful uses of these techniques come from what I would describe as "Santa Claus" markets. Examples of Santa Claus markets include weight loss, self-help and of course, making money online. What makes them Santa Claus markets is that they all target people who are looking for a magic button, a magic pill or a magic mindset that's going to somehow turn their lives around, without any work or effort on their part or without changing their own behaviors in the ways that they already know would give them the effects they wanted. 

Nevermind that if you want to lose weight, you're better off eating a balanced diet and getting exercise. Nevermind that if you really want to make money online, you're better off working really hard to deliver real value to your customers. It's comforting to believe in a Santa Claus who will bring you a package of weight loss or free money under the Christmass tree -- and who knows? Maybe he does really exist. I've never been to the North Pole. Have you?

Of course, Santa Claus markets also have an interesting advantage for the marketer -- it's easy to blame any failure in delivering on your promises on the customer. Are you not losing weight? It must be your fault for having that piece of birthday cake! Not making money? Obviously you didn't follow the directions!

In other types of markets, this just doesn't cut it. If a large number of users are unable to make phone calls with their new iPhones, it's almost certainly Apple's fault. It could be a hardware issue, it could be a software issue, it could just be a user interface that's not intuitive. 

But even if the iPhone technically works, if users can't figure out that you have to click through seventeen screens to make a call, I very much doubt that Tim Cook would tell his design team not to worry because as you so nicely put it: "they are friggen lazy slobs of goo who lay on couches and eat buckets of ice cream and Doritos." All they need to do is click through sixteen more screens, right? But that's exactly the kind of attitude embodied by many (though certainly not all!) MMO sellers. Instead the MMO formula too often (though again, not always!) is this:

1. Hype!
2. Hype!
3. Hype some more!
4. Deliever a shoddy product.
5. Blame the customer when it doesn't work

But my point is while you may be able to get away with substituting hype-filled marketing for a genuinely good product, that's not a luxury most businesses have. Again, I'm not saying that your tactics are bad -- I'm just saying they don't work in all situations.

To illustrate, let's go back to our iPhone example. Let's imagine that you were coaching the Apple marketing team and so you were evaluating their iPhone landing page based on the advice you provided above. Here's the landing page: iPhone - Apple

Now let's grade it!

"(1) People buy reputation"
I think the iPhone is doing a pretty good job on cashing in on its reputation. Apple has certainly built a brand for themselves -- and they're landing page reflects that. Good job Apple!

Score: 1/1

"(2) People buy quick hits of hope"
Unfortunately I don't see any lottery mindset here. The idiot marketers at Apple have completely failed to mention how buying an iPhone will make you rich or thin or solve any of your other problems. All they keep blathering on about are things like features...

Score: 1/2

"(3) People buy because they are friggen lazy slobs of goo who lay on couches and eat buckets of ice cream and Doritos. They should make Dorito flavor ice cream. lol"
On the one hand Apple does stress that the iPhone has a featureset that makes a lot of things easier. They mention iOS 9, iCloud and Apple Pay. But unfortunately, they really aren't pitched as "Done For You" offers. I mean you still need to turn on the phone, you still need to set up the iPhone to work with your email account. In short, you still need to do the work; the iPhone just makes doing the work easier. So it's not really a "done for you" solution. But can we be generous and give them at least 1/2 a point? I think so.

Score 1.5/3

"(4) People buy Celebrity And Story"
There are certainly plenty of celebrities who use iPhones. But looking at the iPhone website, there is basically no "star appeal" whatsoever. And really all those un-asked for celebrity endorsements really count as using your customers as marketers -- and we all know that that sort of thing is useless, right?  Sorry, can't give Apple a point here.

Score: 1.5/4

"(5) People buy PROOF factors"
Another dud for Apple. No testimonials. Not a single one. Even though the iPhone is probably one of the most reviewed products in the history of the world. Definitely a big fat zero here.

Score: 1.5/5

"(6) People buy because they are uncomfortable or in trouble or desperate or emotional"
Yet another big Apple marketing failure! Their copy doesn't seem in the least targeted on preying on the anxieties of their potential costomers. Don't they know that their customers "are about to get fired, divorced, be put in jail, lose a house or car, have to move in with mom, unemployment benefits are about to run out, about to retire, etc."? Apple can fix all of these things with an iPhone and should definitley be touting that in their web copy.

Score: 1.5/6

"(7) To not miss out"
Oh, Apple, what's wrong with you? Don't you realize that you're supposed to create scarcity? Instead of trying to sell millions and millions of iPhones, what they should be doing is limiting the amount of iPhones they sell! Perhaps to match the amount of book sales the OP claims he made on his "Best Damn Internet Marketing Book Ever Written" they should limit the stock to 2,000. I'm sure that would make Apple a lot more money! Alas, they didn't do that, so I'm force to give them another goose egg.

Final score: 1.5/7

Given their final score, obviously the crappy marketing team has a lot to learn from you. Maybe they'll buy your book! (That is if you haven't discontinued it in order to create some sort of false scarcity.)

Originally Posted by Eric Louviere  That's a great way to get a trickle of customers. And hopefully you're selling high ticket private jet airplanes that cost millions each or you'll be depending on your customers to put food on the table and that's also a huge, godzilla like mistake!

A final point about former customers. Happy former customers not only market for you, but they also buy from you again and again. And it's much, much easier to sell something to someone who's already been a happy buyer than to try to find new customers all the time. But they also can and do talk and recommend businesses and products -- though obviously there are some people who are more influential than others.

I know this because I frequently meet people who know and love my business. For instance, when I moved into my new home a little over a year ago, at least four of my new neighbors on my street were excited to learn that I was one of the business co-founders. And many of the people that I meet mention how they learned about my site through a friend, perhaps someone who recommended our Facebook page or someone who recommended they look at our site to do some shopping. And many really do mention how they recommend us to their friends.

Your experience with former customers sounds different, but I'd chalk that up to two reasons. First, with your site's Alexa rating just under 300,000 (an admittedly imperfect measure) and your bragging on your site about having sold a "whopping" 2,000 books seem to suggest that you don't actually have that many customers to begin with. And given your obvious disdain for the people you ostensibly serve (they're "friggen lazy slobs of goo", they're "desperate" and "emotional", etc.) I'm guessing that of the few customers you have are generally not very satisfied. 

In light of the above, it's no wonder you don't think much of the idea of past customers being good marketers. That's obviously not going to be a winning strategy for someone whose business motto seems to echo P.T. Barnum's "There's a sucker born every minute." But just because something doesn't work for you doesn't mean it won't work for someone else. And just because something does work for you doesn't mean that it will work for someone else.

Regardless, my point is not to "depend on my customers going out there and doing all my marketing for me" -- as I said in my first response, you won't be successful if you don't know how to sell and market. But I do think leaving the product out of "how to sell" is foolish. There are no doubt a long history of products that have beat out better products mostly based on their superior marketing. But I think that's the exception rather than the rule.

So while bravado and name-calling might get you ahead in some industries, they won't in mine. And while your 500-or-so Twitter followers might be impressed when you tweet vacation pictures from Disney World (I guess to show just how much money you make?), my 1.5 million Facebook followers (with a TaT currently running well over 1 million) are far more interested in quality content and quality products. But at the same time, I'm pretty sure that tactics I use very successfully probably wouldn't play as well in an MMO context. Your techniques are probably much, much more effective than mine would be -- which is a big reason I steer clear of MMO niches. 



So you do what works for you, I'll do what works for me.

Certainly Eric's post is right in so many ways. 

As someone who has been in sales and marketing online and off, and started up businesses in a variety of market places, I have found it is certainly true that people believe what they see rather than what is. 

It is almost always the skilled marketer that makes more than the creator, unless the creator is the marketer... in-which case the creation will often be heavily focused on those things that will make it sell, rather than the proclaimed purpose of the creation. 

It is my opinion that as marketers and product creators that we understand what is, (the need to market in a way that will get results), while remaining responsible product creators by producing products that are genuinely useful to the market place (i.e. buyers). 

In real world examples, the clapper was created by an inventor who almost went broke when a marketer came in and bought all rights to the invention. It saved the inventor from bankruptcy, but made little or no profit for the creator. 

The marketer on the other hand sold millions of dollars of the product. 

The people who bought were often the same market, but the difference was how it was marketed that changed people from just looking and thinking... "oh, thats nice"... to deciding... "that looks useful... so I am going to get it". 

Victor Kiam is a master marketer and someone who routinely buys fledgling companies and markets their products until the company is sound and sells the company for a nice profit. 

He is the one who bought Remington shavers and made the commercial "as close as a shaver, or your money back". He also bought Royal, a company that made a high end metal vacuum cleaner that cost hundreds of dollars, and reequipped the the manufacturing plant so that it could make a cheap plastic vacuum that had a pretty color and a sexy name. Compared to the original Royal, it was a piece of junk (in my opinion), but it was cheap, a pretty color and had a sexy name and the marketing was spot on, so it became one of the most popular vacuum cleaners on the market in the U.S.. 

It's name is "Dirt Devil" - Essentially, a disposable vacuum. 

I think most would agree that an electric shaver is unlikely to shave as close as a razor, so selling it based on that guarantee is hype. But if it does a reasonable job, (even if it is not as close as a razor), most buyers will be satisfied with a close shave and the convenience of an electric razor over the inconveniences of a straight razor. 

Many buyers of vacuum cleaners are looking for something that is cheap and will still do at least a basic job of vacuuming. Dirt Devil meets this demographic need.

The marketing compels the buyer into action. 

The big problem I see, is that talented marketers use their skills to sell empty promises. Then buyers become jaded and the whole industries pays the consequences. 

So I would encourage all of the marketers and would be marketers to remember that buyers are very much just like you. They will be persuaded by hype, hope and charismatic presentation. 

But ultimately, those that actually open the product. (a significant number do not), and make the effort to go through it, will want to find the solutions and substance that was promised. Just as you want to get what you paid for... so do they. 

So do not get lost in the methods of marketing. Use them to compel buyers into action, and back it up with quality products, information and value.

Oh yeah, ok? yeah, uh huh, that's what I'm saying... lie to people. lol. I'm not saying to lie to people or misrepresent. Look, these are not my laws of the universe managing human beings, these are what they are. It's not my Earth, but it is what it is.

People will NOT buy offers too often that say: Lose 50 pounds of fat over the next 13 years following these steps. 

People WILL buy "lose 10 pounds this month" or "lose 3 pounds in 24 hours"

How hard is that to understand and should be basic common sense to anyone with half a molecule of brain matter left.

And as far as "hype" goes... call it hype, call it sizzle, whatever, it sells. AGAIN, these are not my rules and I did not invent them, but they are what they are.

If anyone are the liars here, it's the BUYERS! 

Buyers are liars.

(did he just say that out loud? Oh no!)

Case in point:

-- [Buyer]: I hate, hate, hate up-sells!

Meanwhile, they buy, buy, buy up-sells (this is not my law of the universe!)

-- [Buyer]: I hate, hate, hate shiny new objects

Meanwhile,they buy, buy, buy shiny new objects. (not my law)

-- [Buyer]: I hate hype and sizzle and buzz

Meanwhile, they SWARM to the products with hype and buzz and sizzle.

Here are more reasons why people buy:

-- to gain more comfort
-- to not miss out on opportunities
-- to get out of trouble
-- to gain more security
-- to gain more peace of mind
-- because they are bored and want entertainment
-- because they are living lives of quiet desperation
-- to gain more cleanliness
-- to do as the tribe does
-- Vanity
-- Gain Significance
-- Gain power
-- Rule supreme
-- to win
-- freedom
-- gain more health live longer
-- to be more beautiful

Don't get me into the 7 deadly sins now!

Don't get me into fascination now!

I can go on all day

I've been studying this stuff for a couple decades now. You're debating the wrong guy.

However, you naysayers, knock yourself out, it's quite entertaining on my end.

Hey guys, there's some really interesting posts here and although I'm being a bit cocky here for my own entertainment purposes, there's some good stuff here in this thread.

Yeah Mark, I like your post.

BUT, value is relative. A lot of you all are harping and getting stuck on the topic of value. Who is to say a product is valuable or not? It's in the eye of the beholder.

I bought a consulting offer for $8,000.00

The first call I had with the consultant lasted about 15 minutes and was just a quick call. that call to me was worth the entire 8k. That is before I even went to the workshop or logged into the site, or got on the group calls (I still have not watched or gotten on even one of the group calls yet)... and in 15 min. I felt the value.

At the workshop, one guy, during break was complaining that he felt he wasted 8k and was hoping it got better from there.

You can think your providing tons of value, and overload your offer with tons of stuff for example, yet your customers really dont want 18 more videos to watch and 44 more ebooks to download and sift through, as an example. Many just want the cheat sheet from the sales copy where you promised that!

See?

Now, we should all try to provide more value than what the price tag is asking, but that value you provide will NOT be the driving force to your income most of the time.

Just trying to help guys, just trying to help.

The side commentary and debating from some here is the fun side effect part... but truthfully, I'm just giving advice.

You bring up a great point. Apple does use scarcity. Actually, they probably use all of the techniques laid out in the OP. But they don't use them in every situation for all products -- in fact, I'd argue that for most of those, they use them sparringly, so that they can maximize their effects.

But let's return to Apple's use of scarcity that you pointed out, because I think it's very illustrative of my point that these techniques need to be used with careful thought and not just thrown on your sales page or into your email copy willy nilly.

The way Apple uses scarcity in their iPhone launches is very different than the way most people on the WF would have you use it. When they limit the launch of the iPhone, Tim Cook is not thinking, "if I say, only 100 people will EVER get this and the first 100 are the only 100 and it will close right when the 100th person buys it... and 44 of them are gone already... POOF! all 100 sell out in a day versus a YEAR!" Of course, if you miss the "launch" you'll still be able to get your iPhone -- you just might have to wait for the next shipment to arrive from their factories in China.

So why then does Apple use scarcity tactics?

Obviously I don't have a window into the Apple marketing team's minds, but here are some of my thoughts on why they might do so:

1. To manage the story that the press is going to tell about the launch. A new iPhone launch is probably the biggest product launch in the world. Bloggers write about the new iPhone long before the release, Apple's touting it in events and everyday people (yes, past customers!) are talking about it at the water cooler. This is great for Apple, but it's also a little dangerous as it's building up anticipation and expectations to astronomial levels. And these huge expectations are operating on multiple levels: the consumer, the press, and investors.
   
   Apple wants to try to control the messsage about the launch as much as possible. If they put 10,000 units in every store and sell 5,000 right away, the headlines will be something like, "Thousands of iPhones Remain Unsold!" And that's even if (as is very likely) Apple will be able to move those other 5,000 units rather quickly. On the other hand, if Apple only puts 500 units in the store, the headlines will be, "iPhone Sells Out in an Hour!" Big difference.
   
2. To help create some of the buzz described above in the first place. Many of Apple's hardcore fans are willing to wait hours in all sorts of conditions before stores open -- but if there was no scarcity, they wouldn't have to. These make for easy stories with great visuals, so the media gobbles them up. Meanwhile the rest of us talk about how crazy those people are to wait so long in the rain or snow while in subconciously we're eating up the message that this is a product worth waiting for.
   
3. To ensure that at least initially (when it's most critical), the bulk of their product is in the hands of their biggest fans. These are fans who will likely be more forgiving of any glitches or flaws and will take more time to learn how to use the product and all its new features. And they're also the most likely to talk about the iPhone to their friends and networks. (Yes, there are those repeat customers again!)

And it's also worth noting that Apple doesn't use scarcity in the same way for all their products. When a new Macbook is launched, it's pretty easy to get. Same for Apple TV. I'm really not sure about the iPad, but either way the point is that Apple is itself selective in how it uses scarcity tactics.

So that's at least my list of why I think Apple's using scarcity. And I'd stress again, that it in no way has anything to do with what the OP was talking about as far as only ever having a certain amount of units for sale. They are related concepts, but the differences between the two approaches have a huge impact.

I'd also point out that Apple's situation is pretty special. Most of us aren't trying to manage what's said about our product launches on the nightly news. And Apple also knows that they have a very dedicated fanbase who will almost certainly wait to get an iPhone if Apple runs out rather than switching to an Android device because they can get it sooner, which also isn't the case for most of us. For example, my business actually does have a small but loyal fanbase. But even in my business, I know that if what I sell isn't available from me, they'll just find it from someone else.

But all that doesn't mean that using scarcity tactics (in any form) will or won't work for you or your business. What I've been saying all along is simply that you've got to think really carefully about which tactics you use, when you use them and how you use them. For most of us, running a successful business involves much more than just bludgening our customers with hype. At the end of the day, we've got to back up our hype with results.

As I said in my original reply, I actually do think the OP posted some good information. My main problem is that there's no nuance to it -- no recognition of the differences in businesses or situations that might make one or more of the tactics he mentioned appropriate in one situation and inappropriate in another. The real way you get people to buy from you is to understand your customer well enough to know the best ways to reach them at a particular moment in time using a certain medium.

Unfortunately, too many people on the WF will read the OP and use his post as a checklist in everything they do. This is why so many new entrepreneurs' marketing materials look like someone has just thrown up a really bad infomercial. I've seen "Scarcity Counters" that reset when you refresh your browser, I've seen testimonials that were obviously faked and sales pages the length of War and Peace that still somehow neglected to provide any real information about the product or its features. And the list goes on and on and on...

Speaking of product, that's another area where I will not back down. It may be true that in certain niches you might be able to get away by hyping shoddy products. Despite my suspicions, the OP might actually be a "Million Dollar Marketer" even though he basically admits that his products are crap and that he thinks his customers are "friggen lazy slobs of goo". But I can't do that -- most of us can't do that. We have to treat our customers with respect; we have to deliver a great product.

And that's another huge lesson to be had in the Apple scarcity example. Apple is able to use scarcity so effectively only because they have an amazing product. Is it the best smart phone there is? For some people, no. There are people like me who just prefer Android. But for many, many others the iPhone simply is the best and they won't have anything else. It's a device that people have truly fallen in love with. If even one iPhone was a technological flop, I'd venture that the brand would be tarnished, the magic would disappear, and the marketing team would have a very hard time picking up the pieces. But thankfully for Tim Cook, Apple has some of the best engineers and designers on the planet, so they do release an outstanding product time after time after time.

But that's not true for most other device makers and so most of them don't use scarcity as a marketing tactic in the way that Apple does. It's not that Blackberry doesn't have smart people on their marketing team who don't know that you can use scarcity to drive demand. It's that their product sucks and so trying to use scarcity like Apple does would be a complete disaster. Blackberry is never going to be able to hype their way to success. It just won't work.

In the end we need to use the tools that are appropriate for our own businesses in our own very different situations. We need to think about the tactics that we employ and understand that they all of downsides as well as upsides. That's all I'm saying. (And I really didn't expect that to be so controversial or to be seen as some sort of attack on the OP!)

P.S. Thanks for your thoughtful response. It's a pleasant change to have a real discussion involving real facts and real examples rather than just a bunch of bluster.

Actually, Apple does follow the points Eric has laid out:

"(1) People buy reputation"
This one is obvious. You agree with it already too. 
Score: 1/1

"(2) People buy quick hits of hope"Has nothing to do with lottery mindset. The iPhone is marketed that its cool, sexy and if you don't have one you're not part of the in-crowd. Apple products have a cult around them. So, people are drawn to the iPhone because it makes them with it and cool, and plethora of apps it has will solve everything else. 
Score: 2/2

"(3) People buy because they are friggen lazy slobs of goo who lay on couches and eat buckets of ice cream and Doritos. They should make Dorito flavor ice cream. lol"
Everything is laid out easy to access. One button manages the whole thing. Bright pictures laid out in a simple grid that can barely be customized. Every apple product is locked down tight, simple to use and part of the apple eco system. Look at the games that are popular or the way most people text now days. Sounds simple to me. 
Score 3/3

"(4) People buy Celebrity And Story"
Two words....Steve Jobs... Two more words... under-dog. Apple is the little guy taking on the mean big microsoft. Its the rebel, the artist, the out of the box thinker. Its Steve Jobs brilliance and vision. Sounds like Celebrity and Story to me. Heck how many books and movies have been made so far? 

Score: 4/4

"(5) People buy PROOF factors"
Apple's social proof is so powerful it doesn't need to be put in their ad copy. They let the news and their users be the living, real time social proof. Yes its a good product, but it was the first and it is not the best. The early market dominance, the marketing hype and the cult of personality created ravening fans. Their voices are greater than any quotes or Facebook likes plugin. 
Score: 5/5

"(6) People buy because they are uncomfortable or in trouble or desperate or emotional"
Not owning a smart phone these days means you are not part of society. Its absence creates desperation or anxiety. Look what happens when your separate people who depend on their phone from it for long periods of time. Not to mention, you don't get to be part of the in crowd without one. 
Score: 6/6

"(7) To not miss out"
Then why are there lines of people and camp outs with each new phone's release? 

Final score: 7/7

Apple has a good product too. But they completely leverage all the tactics in the original post, masterfully so that you don't notice it. Its in the phone's very culture. If you read up on Steve Jobs, that has always been intentionally done too.