In The Field

Scarcity.

I’m learning about it. It may help explain about my continually dropping numbers on almost all socials.

The theory has been to post something like seven times a day on each social media. Supposedly, people will notice you and your work.

Really?

Most social media have become graveyards except for Tik Tok, which may be banned soon, and Twitter, which is the worst place in the world.

Between the devolution of social media and posting seven times day on all socials, peoples’ art, work, and comments have become common so the new thinking is scarcity.

It’s more or less the old thinking that less is more.

Here are a few examples.

Rolex watches are one of the premium brands in the world. Sure, there are even more flashy and expensive watches, but Rolex is the gold standard. They only make a limited number of watches. If, for some reason, they aren’t selling in a particular market, they buy them back so that the stores selling them don’t start discounting them through special offers or sales.

The company that is worth the most money in the world and whose owner is among the wealthiest people in the world is Hermes. They create scarcity. For instance, if you want this or that bag you better buy it now because there aren’t many of them available. They cost $15,000. They always sell out.

I tested it in a way. One of my musicians never makes much money when she tours. My theory was that her ticket prices were too low. So, I doubled them. Well, close. I raise the price by 80%

She was nervous. I said trust me, like a used car salesman would do. We announced the tour and that tickets were on sale. Sure enough of the first four concerts, all of the expensive seats were sold out.

The concerts aren’t sold out but they will be. Accordingly, the prices of lesser seats were raised as well. I haven’t heard a complaint yet.

We also convinced the ticket sellers to only post all in prices. So, if our tickets cost $150 per premium seat the seller lists them for $170. No service charge seen.

By the way, that’s a reasonable price for a legend in 2023.

At least we aren’t Taylor Swift’s people who sold tickets in the nose bleed areas behind a pole with no view for $700 each.

What does this mean for Storyteller? I’m not sure yet. Does scarcity mean fewer posts per week? Does it mean stripping it down and showing fewer portfolio pictures and raising selling prices?

I know I should raise prices because photographers have been in a race to the bottom for way too long. That has to stop. Many people think low price means low quality. They are probably right.

Anyway.

It looks like I have a lot to do.

Oh yeah. The picture. Down on the farm in one of the few green patches way out in the back. The rest is still recovering from winter.