The most poisonous advice for someone trying to grow their business?

“Work smarter, not harder.”

Sure, sounds good, right?

But here’s the problem with this cliche…

It promotes the notion of a “silver bullet” that’s going to make you successful overnight, which inevitably results in unrealistic expectations and disappointment.

Make no mistake: building a business means putting in the time and getting your hands dirty, plain and simple.

Don’t get me wrong though, this doesn’t mean you’ve got to pound the pavement and desperately hunt for prospects!

Far from it.

In fact, once you know how to practice the REAL “law of attraction,” you’ll have qualified prospects beating down your door so you’re not fighting tooth and nail for peoples’ attention in today’s busy marketplace.

Hint: this ain’t about thinkin’ positive; it’s all about simple, “schoolyard” psychology.

So read on and you’ll learn all about one of the most fundamental economic principles and how it applies to your business.

Now that sounds pretty smart to me!

Why Marketers Must Root Themselves in Value

At the end of the day, attracting prospects all boils down to VALUE.

And speaking of boiling, let’s break down a brilliant lesson in attraction from one of the most unlikely of sources…

The potato.

Okay, you might be wondering what can advertising aficionados learn from an ugly, misshapen vegetable that’s damn near inedible until it’s properly washed, cooked, and seasoned?

A lot, actually!

Believe it or not, the history of the potato is a shining example of how value and perception can take something seemingly ordinary and make it downright irresistible in the eyes of the public.

See, back in eighteenth-century Europe, people saw the potato as something sinister, farmers regarded the it as totally alien, and others associated it with disease and filth.

In fact, growing spuds was outlawed in France out of fear of leprosy until 1772.

When folks of the day looked at potatoes, they didn’t see French fries or something you serve beside your steak, slathered in butter and sour cream.

They saw an abomination!

Here’s real kicker, though:

This negative sentiment was widely shared, despite the fact that many Europeans of the era were suffering from rampant famine.

Yup, they were literally STARVING, and all the while…

They essentially had a miracle right in front of their faces!

…which could completely solve their woes, but they didn’t perceive it that way.

This anti-potato sentiment was pretty much universally shared until Mr. Antoine-Augustin Parmentier decided to put the spud on a pedestal.

Parmentier was a French pharmacist that served as a prisoner of war to the Prussians.

During his time as the prisoner, he ate his fair share of potatoes, which were primarily used as pig feed.

Over time, Parmentier discovered that saw the potato’s potential as a sort of old-school “superfood.”

Following Parmentier’s release as a prisoner, grain prices in France had skyrocketed.

He realized that this was a prime opportunity to position the potato as the dietary staple of the French, ultimately replacing the likes of bread, which the public could no longer afford.

Parmentier then conducted a series of publicity stunts to pique the public’s curiosity and make potatoes seem as good as gold.

First, in a classic display of reverse psychology, he surrounded his massive potato garden with armed guards to “discourage” peasants from stealing his beloved superfood.

Then he hosted lavish dinner parties serving potato-only dishes to nobles.s

And finally, he even convinced the king and queen to wear potato blossoms on their lapels!

As a result of Parmentier’s sort of “viral” marketing campaign, public interest grew and perceptions shifted.

Within a few years, the potato became a staple of European cuisine and the continent’s food supply doubled in short order.

And the rest is history.

The Not-So-Secret Psychology of Attraction

The story of Parmentier and the potato is “Marketing 101,” but it’s something so many of us lose track of us when we get stuck in the weeds of creating a piece of content or coming up with an ad.

That is, the need to create desire and the need to be exclusive.

Parmentier knew that he couldn’t sway public opinion about potatoes by labeling them as dirt cheap.

He instead positioned them as something that was so precious that they were worth stealing and reserved for the nobility.

The same rules apply to the world of modern marketing, too.

While it might be tempting to try to emphasize what you’re selling as “budget” or “affordable,” doing so lowers the value of what you’re trying to sell.

Sure, there’s nothing inherently wrong with the likes of McDonald’s or Wal-Mart, but there’s no denying the negative connotation of something that’s “cheap,” for lack of a better word.

And importantly, these sorts of brands can thrive of being the budget option, can you?

Probably not.

Listen: people are naturally drawn to and value what’s scarce and exclusive.

Think about the hordes of people that line up for the limited edition Apple product or pair of Air Jordan’s.

That’s the sort of effect you want to have on your prospects.

When you try to take the budget approach, you both cheapen your product and your personal brand.

You need to do the opposite.

But how do you achieve that same effect yourself?

The Choice Between Passively Attracting Versus Actively Pushing

When’s the last time you purchased something from a door-to-door salesperson?

What about the guy shouting at you to try his homemade beef jerky while you’re walking by and minding your own business at the farmers market?

Even if you were interested in whatever these people were selling, aggression and desperation are both turn-offs, right?

Your prospects play by the same rules!

And you have the same type of choice with your prospects.

You can knock down people’s doors and hope that they respond to what it is you have to say.

Or you can attract people through content that speak to their needs.

That’s how you become valuable.

And while people love buying things, they don’t like is being SOLD.

So as soon as you try to push something too hard, your prospects will immediately shut down.

Sure, they might not slam the proverbial door in your face, but their answer to your pitch will ultimately be a resounding “no.”

Not only is this act of chasing down prospects time-consuming and ineffective, it’s downright exhausting.

If you’re wearing yourself down trying to hunt your next sale, it’s time to make a change!

That’s the beauty of online marketing, though.

It’s so much easier to strategize and brand yourself as a valued resource, versus the budget option in the eyes on your prospects.

You can transform your marketing practically overnight

When you create content that resonates with the desires and pain points of your audience, you’re sowing the seeds of passive marketing.

When you run ads that grab the attention of your prospects and encourage them to click, you know that your message is connecting.

And when you plant a trail of breadcrumbs so your prospects can investigate what you have to offer, you become so much more than a commodity—you become a valued, scarce resource.

It’s simple supply and demand, perhaps the most fundamental of all economic laws.

So rather than worry about where your next customer is coming from or trying to pursue your prospects, encourage them to come to you!

The alternative is the desperate, face-to-face approach that’s time-consuming and more like taking shots in the dark.

The choice is yours.

Given how easy it is to run ads online to attract prospects these days, no marketer should have to chase down prospects in pursuit of their next sale.

Now that’s what working “smarter, not harder” actually looks like.

Hungry prospects are out there!

Like you learned above, many marketers fall into the trap of cheapening themselves or their products in pursuing after more business.

Big mistake!

Just like the potato, which transformed from poison to panacea, so too can proper marketing elevate your business from nuisance to sought-after cure for your prospect’s ails.

It’s all boils down to positioning.

So if you want to know where to find the hungry prospects who need what you got, then we have just the webinar for you.

We put together a FREE, step-by-step tutorial that reveals our exact advertising process in a 100% FREE online workshop, hosted by none other than Tim Erway, our co-founder and CEO here at Elite Marketing Pro, who’s responsible for generating over 30 million dollars in online revenue (and counting).

Simply pick a time and register right here.

You’ll discover how you can put together a profitable ad campaign in just 10 minutes a day with as little as $10 in initial ad spend.

In fact…

We’ve used the exact formula to turn a $10 test campaign into $141,246.30 in sales.

And Tim will show exactly how we did it.

So if you haven’t registered yet, what are you waiting for?

Pick a time that works for you to attend Tim’s traffic workshop right here.

Thanks to Andrew Draughon for the content of this article.

Here’s to your success!