A couple of weeks ago, I found myself in London with the family, surrounded by glitter, music and people on roller skates.

No, we hadn’t accidentally joined a hen do. We were in town for my daughter’s 18th birthday to see Starlight Express.

We love trips to theatre – particularly musical theatre.

Starlight was quite the spectacle, and we had a great night – but I have to admit it wasn’t my favourite show. I guess roller skating trains aren’t really my thing!

But that’s not the story.

The real story happened before we even got to the theatre.

My wife had booked our tickets as part of Kids Week – if you don’t know it, it’s a brilliant national promo that happens once a year, where kids go free to top London shows with a paying adult. Which basically means half-price theatre tickets.

If you’ve got three kids like we do, it’s definitely worth checking out.

We’d got tickets through Kids Week before, but this year, my wife was prepped. She knew exactly when the tickets were going live, had reminders set, and was online at 10am sharp on launch day.

And what did she find?

A queue.

A 39,000-person queue.

For theatre tickets. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

THAT is the bit that made me sit up and take notice.

How on earth do you get that many people queued up, ready to throw money at you the second your offer goes live?

Enter: The Oversubscribed Business

If you've read Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley, you'll know this exact scenario is what he talks about. The dream state for any business is when demand exceeds supply.

When people have to move quickly to buy from you.

Like Glastonbury tickets. Or a new iPhone. Or... Kids Week.

The trick isn’t just having a great product or offer. It’s making it scarce, and making sure people know it’s scarce.

Kids Week gets it right on both counts.

Half-price tickets to top London shows? That’s a killer offer.

But the real genius is in the way it’s promoted.

It drops once a year. There are limited half price tickets available for each show. And the best tickets sells out really fast.

It’s also been building momentum year after year, thanks to a potent combo of social media, advertising, newsletter reminders and word of mouth. So it’s important to realise that getting to this positioning can take some time.

So What Can We Learn From This?

If you run a baby or toddler business - classes, nurseries, photographers, party entertainers, anything like that - there’s gold in this lesson for you.

Because, chances are, your business already has limited supply.

Maybe you only have space for 10 kids in your class. Maybe your venue only fits 30 families. Maybe you’re fully booked except for one Tuesday morning slot.

This is your advantage.

But do your customers know that?

You’d be amazed how many business owners keep this a secret. Instead of saying, "We’re nearly full! Book now to grab the last place," they quietly let the spaces trickle out.

Scarcity only works if people know the thing might disappear.

As Daniel Priestley says: "When there is more demand than supply, people value it more, talk about it more, and act faster."

How to Create Your Own Buying Frenzy

You don’t need 39,000 people in your queue. You just need more people than you have places available.

Here are a few ways to use the Kids Week effect in your business:

• * Cap your numbers on purpose. If your room fits 20, cap it at 12 and promote the small group vibe as a premium experience. You can always add more spaces later if you want.
  
  
• * Shout about scarcity. "Only 3 places left!" isn’t pushy - it’s helpful.
  
  
• * Create a launch date. Don’t just open your next term for bookings - announce it in advance and open the doors at a set time.
  
  
• * Build Anticipation. Get interested people to sign up to an email list or join a WhatsApp group where they can be the first to hear when sales are open. Trickle in messages about how many people are on the list vs the number of places are available so they know they’ll need to move fast to grab a ticket.
  
  
• * Encourage referrals. Got raving fans? Tell them when your next launch goes live and ask them to share the news. 
  
  
• * Reward fast movers. Offer a cheeky bonus (early bird discount, freebie, VIP slot) for people who book on day one, or for the first X many bookers. Let them know that VIPs get first dibs 24 hours early.

It’s not hype. It’s intentional marketing that makes people act.

Final Thought

People love to be part of something that feels exclusive.

And no, you don’t have to be West End Theatre to make that happen.

If you’ve got something valuable, something limited, and you tell the right people in the right way… magic happens.

Till next time,

Tim

PS. If you fancy testing out this strategy with an advert in the next edition of Toddle About, now’s the time to act. Booking deadline’s coming up fast - and we only have 3 spots left. 😉