People are always seeking emotional stimulation. Just one of those fundamental human things.

Joe Vitale said that if people are happy, they will pay to be sad. If they're sad, they'll pay to be happy. If they're calm, they will pay to be angry. And so on.

Isn't that exactly what happens when we go to the movies?

Having fun is one of my favorites. And being fun is a seriously underrated business concept.

In a social situation where, all else being equal, people will always gravitate to the most fun person in the room.

Yeah, they might crowd around that hot girl at first... but if she's boring, she ain't got no staying power. Sexy gets attention, but rarely keeps it. Except for, you know... in those very rare, spectacular cases.

But at the end of the day, they usually end up surrounding the most fun person in the room. Not funny, mind you. Fun. (And when girls say they want a "funny" guy, they really mean fun. As in, someone who can make them laugh.)

Years ago, a company who sold industrial networking devices by mail order (generally un-fun stuff except for hardcore geeks) sent out a promotion to their customers that was all about pie. Yes, pie.

They said:

"Right around the corner from our offices here, there's this bakery and they make possibly the best apple pie in the world. Most people don't believe me when I say this, until they have a slice for themselves.

So I came up with a crazy idea. I thought: our customers would probably LOVE this pie too. I mean, who doesn't like pie?

And everyone at the office thinks I'm insane. But I really want to do this.

So here's the deal. This week we have a special offer for our new XYZ device. If you pick one up right now, I'll buy you a slice of this pie. I'll send it to you right along with your brand new XYZ device thingy.

You're going to love it!

To order, just call this number... blah blah"

They didn't phrase it exactly like that. I just made all that up. But that was the gist of it.

And it worked like crazy.

Most people in business want to keep everything serious and -- quote -- "professional."

All that professional means is: you show up where you said you'd show up, at the time you said you'd be there, doing what you said you'd have done.

There are no laws against being fun. Being a human being does not prohibit you from building an amazing business.

And even if every single company in your field does exactly the same thing. If there's no difference in value. And maybe it's impossible to provide more value.

How do you differentiate?

Here's a big secret: the USPs (unique selling propositions) that work best aren't the logical ones that can be succinctly stated in a neat phrase like "Fresh hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less, or it's free."

Yeah, that's an amazing USP and that built a great business.

But the businesses that people really fall in love with have vague USPs. Maybe they don't give you the best value... but they make you feel good when you buy from them. Maybe they're the most fun or the most interesting or the most something else.

When you can give people emotional experiences, you're playing in a whole other league.

It's hard to compete with that.

And hey, guess what... being fun... is more fun!