I follow Tony Robbins on Twitter. And the other day he referenced an article in New Scientist which revealed a study had confirmed single women are much keener to pursue a man who’s already taken than one who is single.

Basically, what they did is gave the participating women in each case a photo of the same guy.
Everything was the same except for whether their ideal mate was attached or not.

And here were the results: 59% of single women were interested in pursuing a relationship with a single man. 90% were interested when he was attached.

Now they are trying to speculate why this is the case.

One hypothesis is that perhaps the attached men were “pre-screened” by other women.

Another hypothesis is the competitive instinct.

Another is that they are unobtainable and therefore there is more desire.

Okay, so what can we learn from this as marketers?

Well, the bottom line is everything I have mentioned above is a psychological trigger which works to sell stuff to everyone you know as well.

After all, we are all wired the same way.

So…

Firstly, look for ways to show your product or service has been pre-screened by other  customers.

How do you do this?

Use testimonials & case studies.

You’ll see a bundle of examples at http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/quote (just scroll up the page) and they work like magic because others can actually see that you are a proven commodity and have delivered a quality product or service in the past.

Secondly, create competition for your product or service by getting so many leads coming in so you are not “desperate” for a customer to say yes.

After all, nobody wants to walk into the empty restaurant because they figure it really can’t be that good. And some nightclubs have been known to make people wait outside just so it looks like they are busier than they really are.

The bottom line is everyone wants to do business with people who are busy… people who don’t actually need their business… and people who are a proven commodity.

What do you need to do to put yourself in that position?

2 things:

1. Offer an awesome product or service. That goes without saying.

2. Master the art of getting more customers by getting your hands on
http://www.morecustomersmadeeasy.com

The busier you are… the more successful you are… the more in demand you become. But you’ve got to get off the starting block first by understanding the most important skill in business: getting more customers.

I noticed over the weekend that the book “4 ingredients” is the number one, two and three best seller in non-fiction books at the momement.

And there’s a very good reason for this which can be summed up in two words:

quick
and
easy.

After all, 4 ingredients is a very clever idea. And while it’s a cookbook, what the authors have done is look at what people really want.

And given the fact we are busier than ever, they figured we don’t want 27 ingredients
to our meals. We only want a handful.

So 4 ingredients was born and now they have sold over 1.4 million copies.

What’s more, they have tapped into the intitial success of the product and after the initial book, they came out with 4 ingredients 2 (always a good idea to produce another #2 book if the first one is a BIG HIT) and 4 ingredients gluten free (this is also great thinking as a good percentage of the entire population is now glutenfree).

Anyway, what’s this got to do with you as a business owner?

Well, what they are selling is as old as time, right?

Cookbooks.

But they have found a way of positioning these cookbooks to appeal to something people really want.

Cold Rock Ice Cream did the same when they had the idea of allowing people to add all their favourite lollies to their ice cream and combining them.

And they are one of the most expensive (as well as one of the most popular) ice cream chains around.

Let’s take a look at how another business could do this. Maybe a mechanic…

The only mechanic who offers a loaner car
The only mechanic especially designed for women
A mechanic which gives your car a free clean while it’s there
Or perhaps a fixed price mechanic

Are you starting to get the picture. The ideas above basically involve a mechanic doing exactly the same thing… offering exactly the same service… but with a twist.

How could you implement a little “twist” into your business and get an unfair
advantage over your competition?

I love watching Desperate Housewives.

And since it finished airing a week or so ago, I’ve been getting withdrawal symptoms.

Seriously, it’s the only show my wife and I actually enjoyed watching together.

She seems to like all of these sit-coms… and I just don’t find their quirky humour all that funny.

Everyone is different, I guess.

Anyway, let me attempt to dissect what makes Desperate Housewives a winning formula.

One word: evil.

It’s true.

Everyone appears nice. But underneath we all have a dark side.

I do. You do. We all do.

Now I am not talking about a super dark side like going crazy and beating others up or whatever.

I’m referring to something else we can all relate to.

It might be jealousy. It might be the desire for revenge. It might be the reality that we like to see our enemies slip up from time to time. It might be that we like to get “one up” on our mates. It might be that your “in-laws” drive you crazy and you do subtle things to annoy them. It might be competitiveness.

Whatever it is – if you admit it – they are there (along with all the positive, loving parts of you of course).

It’s just a part of human nature.

Whether you act on it or not… we’ve all felt these urges from time to time.

I was hearing a story the other day from when there were floods in the affluent suburbs of Sydney years ago and all the roofs were caving in.

Well, apparently the fight for tarps was on.

And the primal part of this normally very civil crowd came out. They were fighting over tarps to protect their family.

I’ve heard John Carlton talk about the fact the best way to understand human nature is to go to the zoo and watch chimpanzees and monkeys.

Because… as he puts it… underneath all our 21st century good manners and etiquette, we are still ruled by our primal urges.

To win the man or woman
To be the king of the jungle
To get one up on our friends
To protect our property

So what does Desperate Housewives have to do with this?

It taps into this part of our psyche and shows how it plays out on a day to day street and shows us what’s really going on underneath the beautiful veneer.

It allows us to peak into not only our own mind, but the mind of our friends, family, colleagues and enemies… the entire human nature.

And because we can relate, we enjoy watching it. (well, a lot of people do anyway!)

So what has this got to do with the advertising of your business.

Well, let’s take a look at a snippet of copy from one of John Carlton’s golf sales letters so you can see what I mean…

If you, too, can simply put your doubts aside for a short time, you can see for yourself just what it’s like to hit drives 50 yards farther than you ever dreamed possible… treat 150-yards like a chip shot… and slice strokes off your game so fast your friends will be afraid to play with you anymore!

Now the last part of that paragraph could have just read…

“and slice plenty of strokes off your game”

… but it doesn’t have the same power does it?

In fact, you could easily read that paragraph without noticing those last few words.

But on a subtle level these words say a lot… you’ll look great… your mates will be shaking their heads wondering how you do it… everyone will be talking about you at the club afterwards… etc.

And it’s these little things which create great copy.

You’ll find plenty of other ideas for writing great copy at http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/cashflow but even if you never get this program
make a commitment to notice things about human nature other people miss.

Not only will it make life more interesting, it will make you far better at communication and selling.