Biz Lessons From a Munchy-curing Girl Scout

Another episode of Business Lessons from the Dispensary…

In yesterday’s episode, I shared the tale of a dispensary in Baltimore that took product demos to new highs. Read that here.

Marketing master (and Story Power email subscriber) Ted Prodromou chimed in on LinkedIn and said my story reminded him of this one…

In 2018, a savvy Girl Scout set up shop outside a San Diego dispensary. In just six hours, she sold — get this — 300 boxes of cookies.

The dope dispenser loved it. By some stroke of cosmic luck, Urbn Leaf carried a strain called GSC, a.k.a. Girl Scout Cookie.

On its Instagram page Urbn Leaf encouraged followers to stop by and “Get some Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC.” They encouraged followers to find a find a friend to “tagalong.”  (Get it?)

Some in the scouting community were steamed. GS rules require scouts to stay in motion. These “walk-about” rules say a scout can’t park on a property to sell cookies.

This Scout was selling her cookies from a wagon. So maybe she was in walk-about mode — even if she was walking VERY slowly for six hours in front of a pot shop.

But that’s not the point!

A quick story to get to the point…

In his copywriting and sales classes, marketing legend Gary Halbert asked students, “If you and I both owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to see who could sell the most hamburgers, what advantages would you most like to have on your side to help you win?”

Responses varied. Better meat. Special buns. Lower prices. And so on.

Halbert’s answer:

“The only advantage I want is a starving crowd.”

You can have the best product. You can craft the most captivating marketing messages.

But you won’t profit (or win any merit badges) unless you find a crowd that is hungry for your product.

You can’t create desire for products. You must identify and tap into existing desires in the marketplace. To do that…

…you have to find the people with the desire.

Find the starving crowd.

And that’s exactly what this munchy-curing, cookie-dispensing Girl Scout did.

Let’s give that girl some GSC — Girl Scout Commendations!

One last thing…

Speaking of Ted Prodromou…

He and I run The Mastermind Book Club, and on Thursday, we’re hosting our monthly live meeting to discuss When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead.

That’s the memoir by Jerry Weintraub, a agent, concert promoter, and movie producer who worked with Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and others. He produced several great movies, including Ocean’s Eleven (2004 version).

And his memoir is a hoot! One great story after another — loaded with business lessons.

You don’t have to read the book to join the Club and meet with us. At the meeting, we recap highlights and discuss how we can apply lessons to our own businesses.

The idea is to learn and implement.

The Club is free to join. Click the button below for details and to join the Club. Members receive emails with all the details about the event.