#172 sold out

With the announcement that Hostess is closing, there is suddenly a Twinkie craze -- stores have been emptied out, entrepreneurs are selling them for hundreds of dollars on the Internet and people are creating a nostalgia mania for the calorie-laden treats.

I haven't had a Twinkie in probably 25 years, and suddenly I want one!  If all the people who are now buying Twinkies had purchased them at even a fraction of the pace, Hostess would probably be alive and well today.

Humans are a funny lot.  As soon as something is scarce, the interest in it skyrockets.  As soon as we are told that we can't have something, it makes us long for it. 

How do you turn that psychology into something that benefits you?  Can you provide a service for a "limited time"?  Offer something to the "limited few"?  Make your restaurant smaller so there is a cache about eating there?  Have events in smaller spaces so you sell out and turn people away -- creating a buzz for next time?  

Instead of offering everything "a plenty", think about how to use scarcity to your benefit on occasion.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com