Game of Scones (Biz Lessons From the Pie Wars)

Here’s a winner-loser tale to chew on…

(Trigger warning: If you dislike silly puns, you may wish to move on.)

It plays out every Saturday morning at the Tower Grove Farmers Market, down the street from Story Power HQ in St. Louis.

Many Saturday mornings, Melissa and I visit the market to stock up on produce and other farm-fresh goodness.

And every time we go, we witness Pie Wars.

The market has a central lane where most of the foot traffic flows.

On one end of the lane: the Damn Fine Hand Pies stand.

On the other end of the lane: another hand pie vendor who shall remain nameless.

Picture the duel. Two hand pie bakers standing face-to-face on opposite ends of the square. Tumbleweeds dance across the lane. Dramatic music sounds.

It’s Pie Noon — The Showdown at Market Square.

Except “showdown” is not the right word for it. This is no contest.

One guy DOUGHminates this bake-off.

Every time Melissa and I visit the market, we see a line — 20 or 30 deep — at the Damn Fine stand

The other hand pie guy? Lonely as a surfboard shop in the Sahara. Just him and his hand pies. No one in line. And I mean no one.

Melissa and I see the lonely baker, stealing glances at that Damn Fine line. Crust-fallen and confused. He must be wondering, “What gives!?”

I wonder that, too.

We’ve tried hand pies from both stands. They’re both fine — damn, fine, really.

But one baker rakes in all the dough while the other scrounges for bread crumbs.

Here’s my theory…

Damn Fine Hand Pies has built a loyal following, and has great word-of-mouth marketing. But not everyone in that line knows about them.

Lots of people arrive at the market not knowing about the dueling hand pie stands. They’ve never tried either baker’s pies. They show up at the market, and they see two stands.

One stand has a crowd of drooling people, pining for those pies.

The other has a lonely baker, serving no one.

Which line would you choose?

Most people follow the crowd.

They look at that line and — consciously or subconsciously — think, “Those hand pies must be damn fine!”

The mere presence of a happy crowd sells the product.

Marketers call this “social proof.”

That’s why McDonald’s puts “Billions and Billions Served” ” on their signs.

That’s why customer reviews take up most of the real estate on Amazon product pages.

That’s why you should have testimonials and other social proof all over your content — like sprinkles on a cupcake.

Next week, I’ll host a live training called, “How to Turn Your Content From Ignored to Adored So You Can Sell More With Less Effort”

I’ll share simple-to-implement social proof strategies and tactics — among other lessons — in this training.

Want to know more? Reply to this email with “Hand Pie,” and I’ll send you the details.