Crazy $10 Bill Guy

Hey folks. Short post today, but it's something that's had the gears turning in my head all day.

I was listening an older episode of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast with guest Seth Godin. (You can find it linked here or on iTunes.) The whole episode was really great and well worth a listen to.

There was one quick metaphor that Seth brought up mid-conversation that really stuck with me. I can't remember it word-for-word, so I've paraphrased it below:

As an experiment, anonymously place a $10 bill in your neighbor's mailbox today. Do the same thing tomorrow and the next day and the next day. After a few days, go ring her doorbell and reveal you've been the one leaving the $10 bills in her mailbox each day. Then, offer to sell her another $10 bill for $1. If you had gone up to her to her and tried selling the $10 bill for $1 on the first day, she probably would not have purchased it. But since you have established already that you're crazy enough to leave $10 bills for free, then she's much more likely to purchase that last $10 bill.

There is a lot to unpack in this metaphor, but since I'm still thinking on it myself, I'll hold off for today. Does this metaphor impact the way you think about business?

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