I have the following statement posted on my blog:
"Sorry...I'm completely booked with writing and consulting projects for the foreseeable future. So, I'm not accepting any new clients at this time. When my schedule opens up again, I'll announce it here."
That statement is 100% true. I'm not accepting any new clients. But it wasn't true when I first posted it 3 years ago. Back then, I didn't have any online clients. I had plenty of offline clients, but zero online clients. And when potential clients would contact me requesting to be put on a waiting list, I'd fake it. I'd get back to them after a week or two and tell them I suddenly had an opening in my schedule. That's how I built up my business to where it is today. Using the principle of scarcity increased my perceived value, as well as demand for my services.
Now, some might call that gimmickry, or being dishonest - but it's called MARKETING. And that particular method of marketing is very effective. Of course, you have to have the goods to back it up.
You know, it's a funny thing about human psychology...The harder something is to get, the more people want it. It's always been that way. It's called The Scarcity Principle, and it's the reason why all around the world, people stood in line for hours for the new iPad 2.
So, how can you use the principle of scarcity to your benefit? Well, you can do something similar to what I did on my blog - post a statement of limited or non-availability for your product or service. You can also use that same technique in your marketing materials.
However you choose to do it, use the principle of scarcity...it works!
NOTE: There is a video version of this article on my YouTube channel.
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I've always believed in leveraging the principal of scarcity to build demand. It does so many things, not the least of which help boost your value per project.
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest more VOs ignore any jobs, other than those that really interest them, that are priced below a certain minimum. I personally don't look at anything on Voices.com with a budget lower than $250. I still get 3-5 interesting projects to consider everyday. That's all I can handle because of the demand for my services from other engagers built over time. Scarcity does NOT render quality work scarce. MH.
Thank you for your comments.
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