When your customers already know and like you, make it easy for them to pick by reducing their choices.

If you’re as rich as Bill Gates you can do anything. Feel like flying to Tahiti? Queue up your jet and go. Can’t decide between shirts? Buy one of each, all of them, or the entire chain if you want. The possibilities are endless.

They are for you too, actually. Think of all the things you could do, right now, that you don’t.

From Central PA you can be in New York City, Washington DC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, or Atlantic City in the time it takes you to go to dinner and a movie. Technically nothing’s stopping you – but you’re far more likely to go on a date in your hometown than explore somewhere you’ve never been.

Now think of your life in the eyes of a  favela kid in Rio. You can drive a normal American car from the Atlantic to the Pacific for about $400, which is only around four days’ wages for the average American household. You’re Bill Gates to Paolo, but you’re not happy as you imagine Bill Gates to be.

Why?

Because too much choice paralyzes us.

We’ve all stood wide-eyed in front of a shampoo wall at the grocery store, trying to pick the one we want. If Wal-Mart only carried one brand, the question we’d ask ourselves changes from “Which shampoo do I get?” to “Should I get shampoo or not?”  The latter is obviously a much easier choice, and we’d feel more satisfied after making it.

Woot.com takes full advantage of limiting choice. They sell one product per day and nothing else. You either want it or you don’t, no deciding involved. I’d never be in the market for a $150 onion knife but because it’s on Woot.com I at least considered it.

Think about reducing choice with your products and services. Once you’ve demonstrated value, change your customers’ question from “Which option do I pick?” to (the already proven) “Should I buy here or not?”. This is easy when you have a strong brand or a strong sales team. See Apple.

People don’t like to be told they can’t do something, but they’re less stressed out when they only have a few options. Help them out!

Once valuable things get commoditized, smart businesses find creative ways to earn revenue.

Record companies got fat over selling people a whole album of music based on the success of a couple singles. The music couldn’t be separated from the media it came on, so albums were sold just like shoes.

Now, a song on a CD is the same on iTunes and on BitTorrent. Music is everywhere, and everyone can get music if they want it. Just google “[name of song] youtube”. It’s not exclusive, so it’s cheap.

What is exclusive? Concerts.

The band can only be in one place at a time and people know it. So they are willing to pay for the privelege of seeing the band in person.

Most business authors work like this too. Big time names like Seth Godin update their blogs all the time and their books bring some royalties. But they make a killing from their 5 to 6 figure speaking fees.

You can hear what they have to say for no or little cost, but “the show” of having them come speak to you will cost a premium. And people pay it, because it’s worth it.

So what’s your show? How can you create an exclusive experience that people will love paying for, in an age where information is steadily devalued?

Penelope Trunk wrote a mind-blowing post this week.

She argues that people fall into two categories — the interesting and the happy — and she backs up her findings with academic research. Take the quiz in her post to see where you stand.

Her theory is a bit too pigeonholing for my tastes (and her commenters’ too), but she’s on the right track. People either tend to want to do more or are happy where they are.

So which are your customers? Here are some common traits in each group, adapted from Penelope’s quiz:

Happy People Traits

• Live close to family
• Homogeneous social circle
• Friends who pray
• Friends who are fat
• Conservative

Interesting People Traits

• Have lived all over the place
• Diverse social circle
• Goal-oriented
• Buy the best things
• Strong opinions on subjective topics

I see the difference in two circles I run in. Dickinson people are chock full of interesting; my college friends have started companies, traveled the world, and move cross-country on a regular basis. Yet nearly all of my high school friends live quiet lives within driving distance of their families in York.

Contentment is the issue here. Driven people always push forward and embrace change. This manifests as unhappiness with the present and a history of interesting adventures. But people who are content with their situation see no reason to change up what’s working and tend to turn down life-changing (and interesting) experiences.

Which are you? As Penelope says:

People with interesting lives do not get offended that they cannot be happy. Happy people are offended that they cannot have interesting lives.

If you’re offended you’re probably happier than most. Lucky you!

Kate and I were on the first leg of our shopping trip and we walked into the Gap to look for some jeans for me. I got a really nice pair of Gap 1969s for Christmas so we looked for more. I found three pairs my size, all different styles, and went to the counter to pay.

I handed over my jeans. The clerk noticed the size and picked up a pair laying next to her.

“These were a return and they’re your size. Would you like them?” she asked.

I thought, “She’s upselling me, just say no. You bought the jeans you want, get out of here without spending any more money.”

“No, thanks,” I said. “I’m all set.”

Mission accomplished.

We walked around the mall for about another hour then got in the car to leave. As I strapped in my seatbelt I thought, “Man, I should have bought those jeans.”

Wait, what?

It was flabbergasting. I couldn’t shake the feeling – my mind kept reminding me that I should have bought those jeans. Plans to sneak back to Park City began forming in my head. I contemplated calling the store the next morning to ask them to hold them for me. These thoughts were completely irrational given my decision, yet they persisted.

I had already made the decision not to buy the jeans, but nevertheless I felt a need to get them.

Which makes me think that I was purposely made to feel that way.

Am I crazy? Has anything like this ever happened to you?

Me, shopping

Last Sunday night my fiancée Kate and I got a babysitter and went to Park City to cash in our Christmas gift cards. I don’t usually shop retail (especially for clothes), but the after-holiday specials cut out most of the markup.

On our way into the mall we got coffees at Starbucks. BTW I usually hate shopping. But shopping + caffeine was actually exhilarating and productive.

My mind raced the whole time. I pounded out the ideas on my BlackBerry and, after decoding them later on, I had tons of ideas for new blog posts!

They all have to do with the tricks retail stores use to get you to spend more. The first realization came as we visited Forever 21.

Create Value through Scarcity

Fendi Store - Nothing's in There?

When you go into a high-end specialty store (like Fendi or Gucci) you never see tons of clothes. All of the products are spaced out and sparse. It feels almost…empty.

Forever 21 Store - Packed with Goods

Then go into Forever 21. It’s packed to the gills with merchandise. There’s something for every style, trend, and fashion. And there’s a much longer line at the checkout register.

Which wins?

Well both, but for different reasons.

You expect to see quality stuff when you shop at Gucci and Fendi. And they lay out the store so sparingly to give you the (subconscious?) impression that there is a limited supply of product.

It’s Econ 101 to know that as supply decreases the value per item increases. Pre-entrance branding has already primed to expect product quality. You’ll be a little more willing to shell out $200 for those shoes when you only see 3 pairs in the whole store.

Forever 21 has no international branding to support a perceived-value game like the big boys. So they slash the per-item margin and load the store up with tons of clothes. More choices at less cost means that you have a great chance of finding at least one thing that suits you.

They make their money when a ton of people buy one or two things. It doesn’t matter that you only spend $20 (rather than $200) because 1 in 3 people that walk in will do the same. At Fendi it might be 1 in 10. Or 1 in 20.

The Difference

Forever 21 gives you the choice to find what you want, and Fendi says “Here’s what we have, and there’s not much to go around, so it’s worth paying a premium for.”

All of this, of course, is communicated subconsciously by the store layout.

Manipulations of your decision making process make it easier to part with your money. And there are tons more subtle ways retail stores do it.

Next week we’ll cover the sensory tricks stores use to lull you into a highly-suggestible state. And I’ll share my experience with being ‘brainwashed’ at the Gap.

As most of you know I’m a huge fan of TED talks. They’ll change your life.

Susan Blackmore’s presentation on memes and temes struck me to the core and altered my perception of reality and marketing.

She talks about memes and how they influence the world around us. In the most basic sense, memes are units of culture. Earrings, computer monitors, cars, any idea that is passed along and copied is a meme.

You might have heard the term in relation to internet memes (see Kanye West and the Star Wars Kid). People take the central idea and share it all over the place.

Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme” in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene as a way to explain the spread of ideas and culture. He observed that these memes work just like genes in their “desire” to be multiplied.

So your need to tell your best friend about the coolest new website works just like your sex drive. Genes make their hosts want to copy them and memes make their hosts want to share them. Human minds are prime meme-replicators because we have the brain capacity to understand and communicate abstract ideas.

Memes and Marketing

Now I’m not doing Blackmore or Dawkins any justice in my explanations. But if you think of brands, products, and brand narratives as independent entities that want to be spread and want to go viral you can come to some pretty exciting conclusions.

A great idea influences the behavior of its host to share it. It has agency. It wants to get out and tell the world.

If your product sucks nobody shares it, obviously. But maybe it’s because your meme is evolutionarily deficient. If your product/story/mission/meme is worthy, people actively try to spread it. Hugh Maccleod calls this the social object. Seth calls it the purple cow. Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell call it fostering word-of-mouth marketing.

They all reflect the same idea: your meme needs to be good enough to thrive in the cutthroat world of ideas. But once it is, it makes people share it.

Is yours?