Amongst internet marketers, a powerful secret psychological weapon is a relatively unacknowledged knee jerk reaction most of us have to ‘missing out’. Smart marketers capitalise on this by offering limited time or limited numbers of whatever they are selling. I’m not here to judge the tactic: I can say it works because I’ve been caught many times myself.
But.. I’m learning that if a marketer is going to do that he or she has to be darn careful not to be found out.
I received the fourth in a series of sales emails from a guy who sells electronic water ionizers to a huge list of people who sign up to learn about the alkaline diet. The series of emails he sent me go like this: (The red is where I identify the scarcity principle at work)
Email 1.”Because time is tight, I’m gonna get right to it..
Over the last couple of days…
You’ve heard (and seen) me talk about the XXXXX Ionizer I use at home…
And people have been asking if there’s anyway to TRY one out themselves…
Well here’s the deal:
I literally just got off the phone with XXXXX…
I’ve been quietly hard at work for you over the last couple days…
And just got final confirmation of some really EXCITING NEWS:
I’ve been able to setup a special opportunity for 50 people…
To TRY the SAME XXXXX Ionizer I use at home – risk-FREE…
At a MASSIVE discount off the regular price…
Here’s the link:
www.xxxxx
That link will explain everything you need to know and how this deal works…
Now, before you click on that link…
I do need to tell you this:
You see, because XXXXX only agreed to make 50 units available for this special program…
If you’re interested (or even just curious)…
I strongly recommend you go ahead and check this out now…
Because based on the HUNDREDS of video comments…
And DOZENS of private emails I’ve received from folks telling me how EAGER they are for this opportunity…I have no idea how quickly these units are going to get claimed…
So if you’re even REMOTELY interested…
Go ahead and check this out now, while you’ve got this email open and you’re thinking about it.
Here’s the link one last time:
Email 2: Important XXXX Instructions: The Calm before the storm)
OK, I’m opening the XXXXX offer tomorrow morning…
This is the first time I’ve had any discount on the XXXXX in over six months, and it’s unlikely to happen again this year.
PLUS it’s by far the biggest discount ever, anywhere, in the history of the XXXXX company…
In fact, this is only the second time I’ve done this in the past 24 months…
And as ever, XXXXX have strictly limited the number of units I can sell at a discount to just 50 (fifty!).
Remember, XXXXX is like Apple, you almost never see a newly-released, newly updated iPhone available at a discount… (Can you imagine getting the next iPhone 7 at a discount, the day before it’s released?)
And XXXXX are the same.
So they’ve limited my offer to just the first 50 people on a first-come-first-served basis…
Back in August when I last ran a promotion that was nowhere near as good as this…
It sold out in under 24 hours…
And this time it will probably be no different.
That being said, this should not be a panic situation for you.
If you want to make sure you get one then just jump on tomorrow as soon as you see my email, place your order and you will be fine…
I’m going to open the promotion TOMORROW (that’s Wednesday, February 11th) at 8am eastern U.S. time (that’s New York time) / 1pm GST (London time).
IMPORTANT: I will be sending you the link once we “go live”…
To find out what that means in your local time, you can use this time zone converter:
Time Zone Converter
I’ll be sending you the link when we open up in just under 24 hours.
Until then, stay alkaline 🙂XXXX
Email 3: Subject: Exciting News!
Is following the tried and true marketing system. It’s a copy of the first one.. just to make sure the 100,000 people+ on his list gets it.
Email 4: Heading: Bad news!
“I’ve got some GOOD news and some BAD news.
The bad news is…
Remember that email I sent out yesterday?
The one giving 50 people the opportunity to “try before you buy” a brand-new XXXXX Ionizer in your home? Well the bad news is…
We completely sold out of those 50 units – in just under 24 hours.
(I could NOT believe how fast we sold out… WAY faster than I expected…)
In fact, if you tried ordering yesterday but you couldn’t get your order through in time…
There’s a good chance that it was because we had to shut down the shopping cart after we oversold.
That’s the bad news.
But………
The good news is this:
I’ve managed to get another 30!
I’ve been on the phone with XXXXX, seeing if there’s something we can do…
XXXXX were so blown away by the demand and how passionate people were .
They’ve decided to make 30 more units available, on a first-come-first-serve basis…
But that’s it.
Just 30 more.
(You still get all of the bonuses too)
The only catch is…
Because these units still need to be prepped and go through their final stages of production…
It’s going to take an extra couple days for them to be shipped to you.
But that just means you’re getting a brand new, fresh unit.
Which at the end of the day…
With the special deal I’m offering?
Is really no big deal.
So anyway…
Here’s the link to grab one of the last few units before they sell out again:
www.XXXXX
p.s. You might be asking ‘why only this many units for sale?’
Well here’s the thing…
XXXXX are a lot like Apple when it comes to pricing.
You know how you basically NEVER see an Apple product for sale at anything below full price?
That’s how XXXXX like to do things too…
So it’s extremely rare that they would have a special deal and they’re only letting me do this privately, to my own subscribers…
You don’t see me plastering this price everywhere – you guys are the only ones who see it…
So that’s why there are only 80 in total at this price, worldwide…
They kinda want to keep it under-wraps and are doing it as a bit of a favor to me.
They definitely want numbers limited.So when these last 30 are gone, that’s definitely it.
And that will almost definitely be in the next day or so…
So here’s my suggestion: if you want one – grab it now:www.xxxxx”
So.. you may say, yes, I’ve seen campaigns like that before.. So what?
Well, let’s look at this. He says he hasn’t run a campaign like this for six months.. but on November 16th 2014.. just 3 months ago, he sent this out:
“OK, so I have some important information about the XXXXX offer I’m opening tomorrow morning…
And I urge you to act fast, because there are only 50 units available with the discount, and once they’ve gone, the price goes back up by $450 / £300 to full RRP again.
The discount will go live TOMORROW (Monday) at:
10am UK time (GMT, London time)
6am NYC time (EST)
I will be sending you the link to get the discount the second it goes live, and I recommend acting fast.
Remember — this is completely risk-free.
You are fully covered by my 60-Day 100% Guarantee Trial Period – which means you can try the XXXXX in your home for up to 60 days…
And if for any reason you want to send it back you can, and get 100% of your money back.
Again, this is completely risk free.
This is the first time I’ve had any discount on the XXXXX since February.
In fact, this is only the second time I’ve done this in the past 18 months…
And as ever, XXXXX have strictly limited the number of units I can sell at a discount to just 50 (fifty!).
Remember, XXXXX is like Apple, you almost never see a newly-released, newly updated iPhone available at a discount…
(Can you imagine getting an iPhone 6 at a discount, the day it’s released?!)
And XXXXX are the same.
So they’ve limited my offer to just the first 50 people on a first-come-first-served basis…
Back in February when I last ran a promotion that was nowhere near as good as this…
It sold out in under 24 hours…
And this time it will be no different.
That being said, this should not be a panic situation for you.
If you want to make sure you get one then just jump on tomorrow as soon as you see my email, place your order and you will be fine…
I’m going to open the promotion TOMORROW (that’s MONDAY, November 17th) at 6am EST (that’s New York time) / 10am GST (London time).
IMPORTANT: I will be sending you the link once we “go live”…
To find out what that means in your local time, you can use this time zone converter:
Time Zone Converter
I’ll be sending you the link when we open up in just under 24 hours.
Until then, stay alkaline 🙂XXXX”
Anything seem familiar? Yep, the same campaign wording as the one I just received. 3 months. Not six months. Sent to the same list.
But wait, there’s more!
On September 10,2014 another one! At least this one is six months ago.
And guess what? Same wording!
“Hey, heads up…
I just wanted to let you know…Today is the LAST DAY to claim one of the XXXXX Ionizers at a MASSIVE discount, by clicking on the link below:
www.XXXX
Remember, after completely selling out of the 50 units XXXX made available for this special program…
I was able to convince them to make another 30 units available at the same price. But that was IT.
And right now? I don’t know if we’re going to sell out later today – or if we’ve already sold out by now…
But this is the reason why – if you’re interested (or even just curious)…
I HIGHLY recommend clicking on the link below now to claim your unit before they completely disappear forever:www.XXXX
Remember…
Because you’ve got a full 60 days to try out the unit in your home BEFORE you need to decide if you want to keep it… By claiming one these units now, you’re not making any sort of commitment whatsoever.
You’re just claiming one of these units so you can try it out for yourself.
Then if you like it – and the results you get from it, simply do nothing – and it’ll be yours forever at a MASSIVE discount off the regular retail price.
(And if for some reason you decide it’s not for you – simply send it back, and you won’t be charged a single penny.)
And the best part?
With this special program, shipping is FREE – and you also get over $300 worth of bonuses (including a FREE Alkaline Stick – which is the perfect companion to your Ionizer)
But don’t delay.
This opportunity disappears like a shadow in the night at the stroke of midnight tonight (Thursday)
(sooner if all units sell out beforehand – which is looking like that will happen…)
Here’s the link one last time:
www.xxxx
Yes there’s more.
But the question is.. is this real discount?
The biggest vendor in the world of the same water ionizer sent an email to me last week. Its title?
“Did you see this amazing deal yet? Up to $900 in Freebies!”
My question of this strategy is: is it for real?
If other dealers are offering mega discounts on this ionizer, is there even a special time limited offer at all, or is it simply an automated routine created to make sales using the scarcity principle? You be the judge!
But.. beyond the offer and the selling technique.. are YOU are half full sort of a guy, or a half empty sort of a guy? Because the scarcity principle will nail the half empty guy every time!