I don’t know about you…but I am having a hard time believing that it’s 2020 already. 2019 was such an amazing year with so many milestones for The Brainy Business. This episode will be digging into the top content from 2019. Links to all of the articles and episodes are below along with a link to the post with the full list. My subscribers will receive all of these links along with over 40 freebies I’ve given away (if you want to be on the list, download any freebie — including the Master Your Mindset mini-course — and you’ll be automatically added). 

I want to take a moment to thank you all for listening, subscribing, sharing, connecting on social media, and reaching out to let me know your wins and the behavioral economics concepts you have applied in your own businesses. These are some of my favorite messages to get – I truly love hearing from you. I’ve received messages from all over the world, including Poland, Romania, Spain, South Africa, India, Italy, Ireland, and more. 

Wherever you are, if you love the podcast and behavioral economics, please do reach out through your favorite social app to let me know who you are. I love connecting with each of you, and it really is me responding. I’ll kick off this show with sharing the top countries that have downloaded the podcast and then move on to the top shows and articles, and I might throw in a few surprises along the way.

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Show Notes:

• [00:59] I talk about many milestones in this celebration episode 80. Celebrate! It’s More Important Than You Think.
• [01:39] You can also find everything here The Best of The Brainy Business: 2019.
• [03:58] The top countries downloading The Brainy Business begin with the US and are then followed by the UK, Canada and Australia. 
• [04:23] India has pushed past Germany to claim the number 5 spot. Brazil is still number 7 and Mexico retained its number 8 spot. The Netherlands has made its way into the top 10 claiming the number 9 spot, and South Africa rounds out the list. 
• [04:43] Ireland came in at number 11.
• [05:12] The top 10 states in reverse order begins with North Carolina at number 10, followed by Colorado, then Georgia, Virginia and Florida at number 6. The state with the fifth most downloads is Illinois, number 4 is New York, then Texas at number 3, Washington is number 2, and California is number 1.
• [07:07] The top 10 downloads were found by doing a sort of all the downloads of the podcast.
• [07:53] We begin the countdown with 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode.
• [08:05] I also call this the “I’ll start Monday” effect, because it is the concept behind all our new diets, exercise plans, failed resolutions…as well as efforts to save more money, quit smoking and generally change behavior.
• [09:01] Changing behavior doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it out to be, and understanding time discounting is a big way to help combat that.
• [09:34] Two of the top 10 were analyses of businesses, including episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis at number 9 and episode 73. Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis at number 5.
• [09:38] I used real world examples and talk about what top companies do in business that outline various concepts from behavioral economics and how you could use the same concepts in your own business.
• [10:33] Number 8 on the list was episode 59 on the Pain of Paying: Why The First Item In A Purchase Is The Hardest: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode.
• [10:44] This episode was part of a series that talked about partitioning as well, and how adding little barriers can impact behavior.
• [11:14] Getting someone to buy one thing is the hardest part, but once they have bought something it is easier to add on more items. This is why loss leaders are effective.
• [12:11] While we are talking about paying for things, I want to give a little shout out for The Truth About Pricing, episode 5, which was a top downloaded episode of all time, but didn’t quite make the top 10 in 2019.
• [13:11] The next episode is 62. Game Theory: Life And Business Are A Game…Do You Know The Rules?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode. This was a really fun episode and so important for understanding negotiations and communication with anyone you know.
• [13:30] The big tip I will give from this is to understand the difference between playing to win…and playing not to lose. They are not the same thing and result in vastly different outcomes.
• [14:18] Next, we have episode 45, which was an Overview of Personal Biases, part of the 8-part series on all the biases, and episode 50 on Selective Attention Biases made the top 10 as well, it was actually the third most downloaded episode of the year.
• [15:23] Next is episode 61 on Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else. This was a topic a lot of listeners asked for and something that comes up so much in branding and marketing discussions. Colors absolutely do matter, but it might not be in the way you think.
• [16:42] The number two episode of all time is Episode 2 – The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make this also has a related presentation which I gave several times in 2019.
• [17:05] The categories to avoid are: too literal, too much, too vague, too confusing and too boring.
• [18:02] Before I get to the most downloaded episode of all time and in 2019, a little shout out to episode 3, Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? Which was the 6th most downloaded episode of all time, but didn’t make the 2019 list.
• [19:06] The most downloaded episode of 2019, and the podcast in general, is the very first one, – Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain.
• [20:04] In this first episode of the podcast, I talk about behavioral economics in general, a little about my background and why I started the podcast, and how the brain works.
• [23:07] I want to give a little shout out for the content I created for CUinsight for all the credit union folks listening. My article 1 Word That Increased Sales by 38 Percent made their top 10 list for 2019 – woohoo! 
• [23:54] I wrote 27 articles for Inc last year, and expect to create a bunch more in 2020!
• [24:37] Number 11 on the most read articles on Inc is about counterfactual and prefactual thinking and How to Break the Negative Cycle of ‘What If’ Thinking.
• [24:53] I share a simple tip of incorporating the language of “next time, I’ll” into your life.
• [25:04] The importance of word choice also came up in the number 10 article, Why Rami Malek’s Choice of Self-Talk May Have Led to His Academy Award.
• [25:38] The next article is 3 Ways You Can Limit Everyday Distractions, which is based on insights from Nir Eyal’s book Indistractable.
• [26:32] The next article is Here’s How to Send a LinkedIn Connection Request to Someone You Haven’t Met Before Without Sounding Like Spam. It has some easy tips using their own algorithms to help you reach out in a way that makes people want to engage.
• [26:53]  The last release of the year has had a lot of traction already. These 5 Simple Concepts of Behavioral Economics Can Drastically Improve Your Marketing Efforts. This article is a summary of the top recommendations I give to my clients on how to include behavioral economics in their businesses.
• [27:28] Next, is called These Small Tweaks to Your Daily Routine Will Eliminate Unnecessary Mistakes and I was inspired to write it while I was traveling in London working with a client.
• [29:00] Number 5 is The Font Size on Your Price Tags Could Be Reducing Your Sales by 28 Percent. Here’s How to Fix It. The tips apply beyond physical price tags and are important for showcasing prices in any format (website, brochure, etc).
• [29:45] Effortlessly Increase Creative Ideas With These 4 Simple Brain Hacks is about priming and associations in the brain.
• [30:24] The third most read article is another new post from late December, called, Why You Should Ditch Your Flimsy, Paper Business Cards Right Now – this also gets into priming and brain associations, and is essentially outlining how the senses impact the way people think about your brand.
• [33:05] The second most read article on Inc is the first one I wrote for them! It’s called, 1 Simple Brain Trick That Can Help You Overcome Self-Doubt Forever This is very much in the mindset genre, and something I will work on with you in the Mindset Course.
• [35:52] The top content of 2019 with the most read article I wrote for Inc, which is called, A Starbucks Barista Asked Me This 1 Simple Question, and Using It May Be a Great Way to Boost Your Sales.
• [36:11] This article is about framing, and breaking free of the way we have always done things.
• [37:12] Asking a slightly different question can move the interaction in a much different direction.

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Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. 

Links and Resources:

• Episode 80. Celebrate! It’s More Important Than You Think
• The Brainy Business^® on Facebook
• The Brainy Business on Twitter
• The Brainy Business on Instagram
• Social Bee Podcast Episode 96 – the Psychology of Why People Buy – With Melina Palmer.
• Business Bros – Episode 167 – Melina Palmer (The Brainy Business)
• The Best of The Brainy Business: 2019
• The Brainy Business In The News
• Episode 81. How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks)
• Episode  14. Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode
• Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode
• Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode
• The Brainy Courses
• Episode 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode
• The Brainy Business Podcast Episodes
• Episode 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode)
• Episode 71. Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations
• Episode 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal
• Episode 18. Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode
• The Brainy Mindset Course Use the code BRAINY50OFF to take $50 off your registration and join us to tackle mindset!