Get Paid to Stand in Line?

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“This year’s top grossing film!” “Billions and billions sold!” “5 out of 5 stars!”

Movies like The Avengers, chains like McDonald’s, and best sellers on Amazon all have one thing in common…

They are the marketing equivalent of the “popular” kids. Have you ever wondered why something popular seems to continue to be popular? Why do the things “on top” seem to grow even bigger?

Popularity generates a form of social evidence that something is good. As a consumer, you tend to think, “Well, if that many people like it, it must be great. I’ll get one, too.”

This is an important principle for you as an affiliate marketer. Popularity is like a snowball; it feeds on itself and grows as desire grows.

Get Paid to Stand in Line

If you have been following my blog, you know that my family and I recently relocated to Oregon. In Portland (technically a suburb of Portland called Beaverton) there is an amazing bakery chain called “Beard Papa's”.

Beard Papa’s is an international chain that began in Japan. Currently they have locations across America as well.

While Beard Papa’s carries several varieties of baked goods, such as cheesecake and tiramisu (my wife’s favorite), where they really made their name was in their dozens of flavors of cream puff. And, yes, they are delicious.

If you ever get a chance, you should definitely check them out. But, that’s not why we’re here…

Let’s talk marketing. More specifically, this idea of popularity.

When Beard Papa’s first rolled into New York City, the rumor is that the company truly understood this concept and actually paid people to stand in line out in front of their stores.

Potential customers would walk by, see the incredibly long line, and join in because — as you guessed — if Beard Papa’s is so popular with other people, it must be great, and they wanted it, too.

Anecdotal Evidence?

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I have not been able to find any actual evidence that this occurred. And when I questioned the Beard Papa’s staff here in Portland, they looked at me like I was crazy. (Of course they denied it… but the uber-conspiracy theory guy in me says they know something. Pretty sure the Flat-Earth Illuminati Skull and Crossbones folks are peddling cream puffs, but I can’t prove it, so I digress.)

Your Reader’s Fears

Let’s face it; most of us are scared to death to make a wrong decision (or, worse, get scammed!), particularly when it comes to buying something. We lack faith in out instinct, and we’re scared of making a bad decision.

Moreover, this fear grows exponentially when it comes to online purchases. How many times have you bought something online and discovered it a total nightmare to exchange or return something that turned out to be wrong?

And this describes your readers, my dear friend. You know you’re great. I know you’re great. Kyle, Carson, and the rest of your Wealthy Affiliate family knows you’re great.

But, unfortunately, your audience doesn’t. At least not yet.

So how do you overcome your reader’s natural fears?

The Power of the Testimonial

What if within your article you mention one or two other people that loved the product or service you are promoting?

What if, in their own words, you allowed current users to tell their story of what your product or service has done for them?

Examples:

  • “Over 1000 moms (and a handful of dads) have purchased our ABC Widget online in the last 3 months!”
  • “Wow! I have been using Barb’s Wishful Face Cream and my friends all tell me my face GLOWS!”
  • “Better Life Living’s new stationary bike is currently in use in over 500 health clubs throughout Minnesota.”
  • “Billy-Bob’s air-cushioned dress shoes are the #1 choice for busy Intel engineers on their feet all day.”

And so on…

Oh, and by the way, if you are just getting started, you can actually use other people’s testimonials. For instance, when I first began promoting WA, I naturally had no testimonials.

So, what did I do? I “borrowed” the testimonials the WA already had. You can do that, too. Unless a product just came out this morning, chances are that the vendor has at least a handful that you can tap into.

Make Me Feel Safe

The bottom line is that people like people who are like themselves. And they tend to trust them as well. So, common sense should tell you that if one of your readers like something, chances are that others will as well. So, if you can provide some form of social proof that helps alleviate a reader’s fear of making a mistake, I promise you will double, triple, or even more the number of affiliate sales you make.

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Recent Comments

26

Another gem. I’m always fascinated by the psychology that goes into advertising / marketing. Thank you for posting such a great article!

Thanks :-)

Hi AJ, I never thought of that before great idea thanks. Veronica.

Thank you.

Totally agree with the testimonials. They can make a big difference to any business. I'm just not to sure howvto implement this with a company such as Amazon
Jim

I'm not sure what Amazon's policy is on using "testimonials" from the comments section, so check on that, but if nothing else you could default to the old generic "4.7 out of 5 stars" type thing... it's better than nothing.

Anecdotal Evidence?
Thanking you in advance, AJ.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I have not been able to find any actual evidence that this occurred.

And when I questioned the Beard Papa’s staff here in Portland, they looked at me like I was crazy.

(Of course, they denied it… but the uber-conspiracy theory guy in me says they know something. Pretty sure the Flat-Earth Illuminati Skull and Crossbones folks are peddling cream puffs, but I can’t prove it, so I digress.

Make Me Feel Safe

The bottom line is that people like people who are like themselves. And they tend to trust them as well.

So, common sense should tell you that if one of your readers like something, chances are that others will as well. So, if you can provide some form of social proof that helps alleviate a reader’s fear of making a mistake, I promise you will double, triple, or even more the number of affiliate sales you make.

AJTrimble

P@PMindra

You're welcome. Thanks for sharing :-)

The "Cheers concept" .. where everybody knows your name..

Hahaha... YES! Thanks for sharing :-)

Hey AJ,

Borrowing testimonials is similar to borrowing success stories..

I have done the latter before. They are fun and create better traffic.

No sales yet though. Still plugging along.

Blessing,
Maxine

The "secret" to success in anything? Still plugging along :-)

Hang in there. Your time will come.

Yes, it will AJ.

... ahhh - Beaverton ..
When We first moved to The Coast, I was still working in Beaverton (Doing swing shift Phone and Online Tech Support for DELL)
Commuting every day from Seaside to Beaverton S U K D!!! .. But, I did it for almost a year, before waking up one day and saying: “ENOUGH!!!”

... ok .. Nothing to do with your thesis, but it just popped into one of my few remaining Cafeine-Overloaded brain-cells .. heh!!

Hahaha... I hear you. I had a meeting the other day in Hillsboro. My wife texted me and asked how things were going. I said, "Other than the fact that I'm half-way to the coast at the moment, I'm great!" lol

Interesting post. A brilliant idea to pay folks to stand outside. Great idea if you have the depth of pocket to use it.

Yeah, I thought it was quite clever. Actually wish I would have come up with that. lol

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