In 1999, I was selling knick-knacks out of a cardboard box to anyone and everyone walking down the street in New York City. This was not a "normal" job by any stretch of the imagination. For 10 hours each day, I'd walk around and approach complete strangers, asking if they'd like to purchase whatever was in my box that day - from funky flashlights to photo-albums to Disney books.



This suburban Jersey-boy was most certainly out of his element.

That's not to say I didn't learn anything though. Quite the contrary - there was one fact of absolute immeasurable value that came from this experience - ownership.

Have you ever gone to a new or used car lot? Notice how the salesman is quite eager to get you to sit in the car. He'll open up the door without you asking, adjust the seat for you and encourage you to hop in. This isn't necessarily to help you see what the car's like. It's to make you feel something. It's to make you feel ownership.

As soon as you sit in that automobile your mind connects you to that steering wheel just as your hands touch it. For a brief moment, it's yours - although you probably don't consciously recognize it. You might even take it for a test drive and then comes the part where you step out of the car, the door shuts, and the salesman ushers you away.

This is a technique that's used everywhere with physical products. Go to a jewelry store and they'll put the ring on your finger or hold the necklace up around your neck and have you look in the mirror. All of this causes a reaction in your mind that says, "This is mine." Then, it's taken away.

That feeling of loss is subconsciously devastating - which is why some great salesman are so good at doing it in a very subtle way. What was briefly yours - that new car smell, the feel of it gripping the road, the command of being behind the steering wheel - is suddenly taken away with a simple "THWUMP" of the door slamming and you're once again stuck on the outside looking in. You've tasted how sweet the car is and you want that feeling again. Feeling ownership is empowering and that subsequent feeling of loss is immensely powerful when you don't know it's coming. That could motivate you to make some relatively rash decisions.

Working online, this is a very difficult thing to pull off. Some people use "sample chapters" of an eBook or "sample audio" but nothing quite takes the place of feeling something physical in your hands.

Is this technique manipulative? To a degree, absolutely. It's smart business, though. If you have a sample CD of your business - complete with some audio or a presentation - it carries much more weight than just saying, "Look at my website". Handing someone a DVD or even a nicely-arranged folder - anything that takes up space in physical reality - immediately makes them feel some level of ownership. That's when you get taken more seriously and when your business benefits. It forces people to pay more attention to you.

Next time you're shopping - whether it's for a new car or at an office supply store - pay attention to whoever is helping you. If you're shopping for a computer program, they might just place it in your hands for you to have a look at it. When they're talking about how great it is and you're looking at the cover graphics, pay attention to what signal your fingers are sending your brain. It might just be, "This is mine," even before you've paid for it ...