133. The Best of The Brainy Business in 2020

Jan 1, 2021

Hello and Happy New Year everyone! While 2020 was nowhere near the year any of us were expecting it to be, I’m always looking for silver linings, so it seemed worth taking the time to celebrate the top content and accomplishments here at The Brainy Business over the past year. I finished my book, which comes out in the first half of 2021 and I’m so excited to be able to talk more about it soon!

I was also a guest two separate times on New Day Northwest, a Seattle area afternoon talk show on the NBC affiliate here. The Brainy Business won Best YouTube Channel in behavioral science from reader votes via Habit Weekly, which was such a huge honor, and I also started teaching applied behavioral economics through Texas A&M University for the Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics! We’ve had one cohort start already in the fall and if you’re interested there is still time to join us for January classes, which begin on January 18. 

I want to thank you all for listening, subscribing, sharing, connecting on social media, and for reaching out to let me know your wins and the behavioral economics concepts you have applied in your own businesses. Those are some of my favorite messages to get – I truly love hearing from you, so please continue to reach out (and use the links below to connect on social media).

I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation.

Show Notes:

• [00:49] Today we are going to celebrate the top content and accomplishments here at The Brainy Business over the past year.
• [03:30] First, I want to thank you all for listening, subscribing, sharing, connecting on social media, and for reaching out to let me know your wins and the behavioral economics concepts you have applied in your own businesses.
• [04:37] The top countries and states with downloads in 2020.
• [06:11] I’m going to tell you about the top 10 downloads of the year, which will be followed by the top 10 downloads of all time.
• [07:31] The tenth most downloaded episode of 2020 was number 99 on bikeshedding. Bikeshedding is constantly keeping people spinning their wheels and not making progress on goals. 
• [09:01] The ninth most downloaded episode of 2020 was number 84: How to stack and bundle products and services so they are most appealing to potential customers.
• [09:57] Coming in at number 8 is episode 87 on social proof and how to use herding to boost engagement and sales. 
• [11:01] Number 7 was the very first of 2020, episode 81: How to Finally Change Your Behavior So it Sticks. 
• [12:10] Number 6 is the first interview to make an appearance with author Brian Ahearn, which was episode 104.
• [13:50] The 5th most downloaded episode of the year was also an interview, episode 101 with Dan Ariely, where we discussed Shapa, the numberless scale.
• [15:07] The 4th most downloaded episode of 2020 was episode 91 on the coronavirus and how the human brain responds to pandemics.
• [17:15] The third most downloaded episode was on Confirmation Bias, episode 102.
• [18:23] The second most downloaded of the year was number 83: How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics
• [19:08] And the most downloaded episode of all of 2020 was number 86, A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Peloton!
• [21:57] Next we are going to talk about the top ten most downloaded episodes of all time since the podcast launched in June 2018. 
• [22:18] The number 10 most downloaded episode of all time was episode 102 on Confirmation Bias.
• [22:26] The ninth most downloaded episode of all time was on Selective Attention Biases which was episode 50.
• [24:04] Number 8 was the episode on Game Theory which was episode 62. In this episode, I got to talk about how life and business are a game and figuring out if you know the rules. 
• [25:19] Coming in at Number 7 was episode 5, our first throwback to 2018, The Truth About Pricing. 
• [26:07] Number 6 is How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics which was number 83. 
• [26:17] Number 5 was episode 61 on color theory. When it comes to color, this one thing matters more than anything else. 
• [28:05] The fourth most downloaded episode of all time was number 86 on Peloton.  
• [28:10] Number 3 was another behavioral economics analysis episode. It was the analysis of Starbucks which was episode 73. 
• [29:04] The first two episodes of the show continue to be number 1 and number two on the list.  Number 2 was episode 2 which was The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make. 
• [29:13] The number one most downloaded episode of all time was episode 1, Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain.
• [31:33] In 2021, I am definitely planning to do some of those company analysis episodes. I am also going to continue to do interviews.  We have some VERY exciting ones coming up! 
• [33:08] I also write for Inc. Magazine, here are the top ten articles I’ve written there.  
• [33:53] Number 10: The Font Size on Your Price Tags Could Be Reducing Your Sales by 28 Percent. Here's How to Fix It
• [34:17] Number 9: Forget Brainstorming. Try Questionstorming.
• [34:45] Number 8: Why You Hate Seeing Your Face in Video Meetings
• [35:24] Number 7: These 5 Simple Concepts of Behavioral Economics Can Drastically Improve Your Marketing Efforts
• [35:50] Number 6: Still Trying to Multitask? How to Make More Time for Deep Work
• [36:23] Number 5: This Simple Framework Can Help You Sell More of Anything
• [36:56] Number 4: Why You Should Ditch Your Flimsy, Paper Business Cards Right Now
• [37:44] Number 3: 1 Simple Brain Trick That Can Help You Overcome Self-Doubt Forever
• [37:59] Number 2: Feeling unproductive? This brain bias could be to blame
• [38:32] Number 1: A Starbucks Barista Asked Me This 1 Simple Question, and Using It May Be a Great Way to Boost Your Sales
• [39:16] Getting people to decide to buy from you is much more difficult than getting them to buy MORE things from you once they are in the purchasing mindset. So, it is easier to get people to add on things than to get them to buy initially.
• [40:03] There is so much to learn and implement. I hope this episode opened your eyes to some exciting content from The Brainy Business you may have missed or want to revisit. Find them all at any time at www.thebrainybusiness.com/podcast 

For a complete list with links, check out the Top Content of 2020 blog post.

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. 

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Past Episodes and Other Important Links:

• Sign Up For The Texas A&M Certificate Program
• Planning Fallacy

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