Did you know…
It’s said there’s about $20 that’s been left on the moon, right at this very moment, that’s going to be some of the most valuable currency ever to whoever goes and picks it up.
Back in the day, Astronauts on the Apollo moon missions would take $1 and $2 notes into orbit, and to the moon – sign them – and auction them off when they got back to Earth.
I don’t know how much Astronauts got paid back then, but it’s an interesting way of making a few extra bucks, right?
The reason they chose paper money is simple: It’s really expensive to send stuff into space, even more so back then.
NASA controlled every last ounce of what went into space, so small stacks of bills were easy to smuggle aboard.
I’m not sure how much the Astronauts sold their moon-flown notes for, but there’s a couple of good lessons for every entrepreneur:
Firstly, Perceived Value.
There’s nothing actually special about a $2 note that’s been to the moon, but collectors are willing to pay thousands for one.
Why? Because it’s been to the moon, that’s why.
It’s like Apple products, while other phones & computers may be just as good, you never see Apple having a ‘20% off sale’…
They’re positioned as a premium product that automatically makes you one of the ‘cool kids’, especially if you have the laptop and the phone and the watch and the ear buds.
Then there’s genuine scarcity: Assuming you place value in a $2 moon-note, there’s only so many of them which have actually been to the moon.
Genuine scarcity is so powerful because people know they have to get in or forget about it. And we can smell when people are faking it – like when you see an ad that says “There’s only 27 copies left of my digital ebook…”
And there’s the story itself: The idea that you’re holding something that’s been taken by some of the most awesome people ever, fired into the sky on a huge rocket, at great expense, and taken further away from Earth than almost any person or object has been, then brought back through a fiery re-entry to land safely on the ground.
The story surrounding your offer is one of the most game-changing marketing strategies you can use.
People buy the story of a Rolex watch, when a simple $20 digital watch tells the time perfectly well.
Constantly develop your story: Why should someone be interested in your business or offer, besides the obvious benefits?
Flesh that story out and see how much more powerful your marketing becomes.
And if you’d like to really master stories that sell, then check this out.
It’s a collection of my best copywriting trainings, including 75 Story Starters you can use in your own marketing.