Law 8: Make Other People Come to You — Use Bait if Necessary — Meaning, Examples & How to Apply It
Create the conditions. Let them come to you. Law 8 is about understanding incentives, building leverage, and giving others a reason to make the first move.
The person who controls the conditions of an interaction often starts with an advantage.
When you constantly chase people, opportunities, approval, clients, or negotiations, you frequently enter situations on someone else’s terms.
They choose when to respond.
They decide how much attention to give you.
They know you want something from them.
And the harder you pursue, the more obvious your need can become.
There is another approach: create enough value, curiosity, opportunity, or incentive that other people have a reason to approach you.
This is the central lesson behind Law 8: Make Other People Come to You — Use Bait if Necessary.
What Does “Make Other People Come to You” Mean?
Make Other People Come to You means creating conditions that encourage others to approach, respond, negotiate, or act on your terms instead of constantly pursuing them on theirs.
The “bait” doesn’t have to mean deception.
It can be something genuinely valuable:
an opportunity
useful information
access
expertise
an attractive offer
curiosity
scarcity
a solution to a problem
The principle is about incentives and positioning.
Instead of asking only:
“How can I get to them?”
ask:
“What would make them want to come to me?”
What Is Law 8 of the Laws of Power?
Law 8 is commonly summarized as:
Make Other People Come to You — Use Bait if Necessary.
The strategic principle is simple.
When someone else must move toward you, they often reveal something.
They reveal:
interest
need
priorities
urgency
willingness to negotiate
what they value
You also gain greater influence over the conditions under which the interaction occurs.
This doesn’t mean you should never initiate.
It means constant pursuit can weaken your position, particularly when the other side already knows you need them more than they need you.
Why Making Others Come to You Can Be Powerful
Imagine two companies negotiating.
Company A desperately needs the deal.
Its representatives call repeatedly.
They send follow-up emails.
They offer discounts before being asked.
They continually ask:
“What can we do to make this work?”
Company B sees the urgency.
Now imagine Company A has several potential buyers and says:
“We’re finalizing allocations this week. If you’re interested, let’s determine whether there’s a fit.”
The product hasn’t necessarily changed.
But the perceived balance has.
In the first situation, Company A appears to need the buyer.
In the second, the buyer has a reason to decide whether it wants access to Company A.
Positioning changes negotiation.
“Use Bait if Necessary” Does NOT Mean Manipulate People
The word “bait” can make Law 8 sound inherently deceptive.
It doesn’t have to be.
The strongest bait is often real value.
A business attracts customers with a useful product.
An expert attracts opportunities by demonstrating expertise.
A company attracts talented employees by creating desirable working conditions.
A negotiator creates movement by offering a meaningful concession.
A leader attracts allies by offering a compelling objective.
The principle becomes destructive when “bait” means deliberately misleading people or promising something you never intend to provide.
That may produce a short-term reaction.
It also destroys trust once discovered.
Sustainable power usually comes from making the incentive genuinely worth pursuing.
Law 8 Example: Negotiating a Job Offer
Suppose you want a particular job badly.
You tell the recruiter:
“This is exactly the company I want to work for. I’d really like to make this happen.”
That enthusiasm isn’t necessarily bad.
But if you also reveal that you have no alternatives and will accept almost anything, your negotiating position weakens.
Compare that with someone who has developed enough market value that several companies are interested.
Now the conversation changes.
Instead of:
“Please choose me.”
the dynamic becomes:
“Let’s determine whether this opportunity is right for both of us.”
The strongest form of Law 8 often begins long before the negotiation.
Become valuable enough that opportunities begin competing for your attention.
Law 8 Example: Attracting Customers
Imagine a consultant who spends every day sending generic messages:
“Do you need consulting services?”
They are chasing attention.
Another consultant publishes detailed analyses of expensive problems their target clients regularly face.
A company finds one of those analyses and says:
“We’re dealing with exactly this problem. Can you help us?”
Now the potential client initiated the conversation.
The consultant has created informational bait by demonstrating genuine expertise.
The difference isn’t merely marketing.
The second consultant enters the conversation with greater perceived authority.
Law 8 Example: Negotiation
Suppose you want another company to accept a partnership.
You could repeatedly pressure them for a decision.
Or you could identify what they genuinely want:
access to a market
technology
distribution
credibility
lower costs
a particular customer segment
Then structure the proposal around that incentive.
You aren’t forcing them toward you.
You’re giving them a reason to move.
The better you understand what another person values, the more effectively you can create conditions that attract voluntary action.
Law 8 Example: The Meeting
Suppose two departments disagree.
You immediately travel to the other department, accept their meeting time, enter their environment, and begin defending your proposal.
You have allowed them to define much of the interaction.
In another situation, you have information or authority they need.
You say:
“I have the numbers that should resolve this. Let’s review them in tomorrow’s planning meeting.”
Now they come into a setting where the information, timing, and agenda are more favorable to you.
This doesn’t guarantee victory.
But controlling the environment can affect the conversation.
The Psychology Behind Making People Come to You
People value things partly according to how available they appear.
Constant pursuit can communicate:
I need this interaction more than you do.
That perception matters.
When someone voluntarily approaches you, the psychological starting point is different.
They have already demonstrated some level of interest.
They may also become more invested because they chose to move.
This is why effective positioning can be more powerful than relentless persuasion.
Instead of spending all your energy convincing people to want something, create circumstances in which the right people already have a reason to want it.
How to Apply Law 8 in Real Life
1. Stop Chasing Without a Strategy
Initiating contact isn’t weakness.
Repeatedly pursuing someone who shows little interest can be.
Before another follow-up, ask:
What has changed that gives them a reason to respond now?
If the answer is nothing, sending the same request again may not improve your position.
Create a reason.
2. Understand What the Other Person Wants
Effective bait begins with incentives.
Ask:
What do they value?
What problem are they trying to solve?
What are they afraid of losing?
What opportunity would be difficult for them to ignore?
The answer should shape how you position the interaction.
3. Build Something Worth Approaching
The strongest application of Law 8 is not a clever trick.
It’s becoming attractive to opportunity.
Build:
expertise
reputation
relationships
resources
useful information
a strong product
a valuable audience
rare capabilities
Then people have a reason to find you.
4. Create Curiosity Without Revealing Everything
Sometimes you don’t need to present your entire proposal immediately.
Give enough information to establish relevance.
Then allow the other person to ask for more.
This connects naturally with Law 3 — Conceal Your Intentions and Law 4 — Always Say Less Than Necessary.
You don’t need to reveal every detail before the other side has demonstrated interest.
5. Use Options to Reduce Desperation
The fewer alternatives you have, the more likely you are to chase.
One employer.
One customer.
One investor.
One supplier.
One opportunity.
Dependence changes behavior.
Options make it easier to negotiate calmly because walking away becomes possible.
One of the best ways to apply Law 8 is therefore to build alternatives before you need them.
6. Let Silence Create Movement
You make an offer.
The other person doesn’t immediately respond.
Many people panic.
They send another message.
Then another.
Then improve the offer without being asked.
Sometimes the stronger move is to wait.
Give the other person space to decide whether they want what you’ve offered.
This is where Law 4 — Always Say Less Than Necessary becomes particularly useful.
Don’t negotiate against yourself simply because silence makes you uncomfortable.
7. Control the Environment When It Matters
Where and how an interaction happens can influence its outcome.
Consider:
who attends
who sets the agenda
what information is available
when the discussion occurs
what alternatives exist
who must make the next move
You won’t always control these variables.
But you should notice them.
Power often exists in the structure surrounding a decision, not only in the arguments made during it.
When Law 8 Can Backfire
Waiting for everyone to come to you can become passivity.
Opportunities often require initiative.
Customers don’t magically discover every good product.
Employers don’t automatically find every talented candidate.
Relationships require reciprocal effort.
Leaders sometimes need to approach people directly.
If you interpret Law 8 as:
“Never pursue anything.”
you may simply watch opportunities disappear.
The better interpretation is:
Don’t chase by default when you can create attraction, leverage, or better conditions first.
Initiate when initiation helps you.
Attract when attraction gives you a stronger position.
Make Other People Come to You at Work
In professional environments, Law 8 often means becoming a source of something valuable.
Maybe you’re the person who:
understands the critical system
can solve a difficult technical problem
has access to useful information
consistently delivers
connects the right people
understands a valuable market
can handle difficult situations
People begin approaching you because interacting with you solves problems.
That creates influence.
But there is a warning.
Don’t deliberately make yourself the only person capable of doing something simply to create dependence.
That can turn short-term leverage into organizational resentment.
Build value, not artificial dysfunction.
Make Other People Come to You in Negotiation
Negotiation is one of the clearest applications of Law 8.
If you desperately need the agreement, the other side may sense it.
A stronger position often comes from:
credible alternatives
patience
genuine scarcity
understanding the other side’s incentives
controlling when concessions are offered
being willing to walk away
The goal isn’t to pretend you don’t care.
It’s to avoid creating a situation where only one outcome is acceptable to you.
Options create leverage.
Make Other People Come to You in Leadership
Good leaders don’t need to personally chase every action.
They create systems in which people know:
what the objective is
what incentives exist
what success looks like
where decisions happen
why participation matters
People then move toward the objective because the environment encourages it.
This is a more sophisticated form of Law 8.
Instead of controlling every person directly, you influence the conditions that shape their decisions.
How Law 8 Connects to Other Laws
Law 3 — Conceal Your Intentions:
You don’t need to reveal your entire objective while creating a reason for the other side to approach you.
Law 4 — Always Say Less Than Necessary:
Once you’ve made an attractive offer or established your position, unnecessary talking can weaken it. Give the other person room to respond.
Law 6 — Court Attention at All Costs:
Attention can make people aware of your value. Law 8 turns that visibility into attraction by giving them a reason to approach you.
Law 7 — Get Others to Do the Work for You:
Both Laws involve leverage. Law 7 focuses on multiplying results through other people’s efforts; Law 8 focuses on structuring incentives so that other people voluntarily make the first move.
The broader lesson is that power doesn’t always come from pushing harder.
Sometimes it comes from creating the conditions that make movement toward you the logical choice.
Law 8 in One Sentence
Make Other People Come to You means creating enough value, incentive, curiosity, or strategic advantage that others have a reason to approach and engage with you on favorable terms.
Don’t chase automatically.
Give people a reason to move.
Train Law 8 Until You Recognize the Situation
Law 8 becomes difficult when you’re emotionally invested in the outcome.
A recruiter hasn’t responded.
Do you follow up again or wait?
A customer rejects your initial offer.
Do you immediately discount it?
Someone wants information from you.
Do you reveal everything before understanding what they want?
A negotiation goes silent.
Who should make the next move?
These decisions depend on leverage, incentives, alternatives, timing, and perception.
Power Master 48 is an independent iOS and Android learning app designed to help users study, practice, and apply the Laws of Power through interactive scenarios, quizzes, study decks, audio narration, daily training, and progress tracking.
Instead of simply memorizing Make Other People Come to You, you practice situations where chasing, waiting, creating incentives, or controlling the conditions can produce very different outcomes.
Final Thought
There is a difference between pursuing an opportunity and becoming dependent on it.
Law 8 teaches you to recognize that difference.
Sometimes you should make the first move.
Sometimes you should follow up.
Sometimes persistence wins.
But when you can create genuine value, attractive incentives, strong alternatives, or favorable conditions, you may not need to push people toward the outcome.
They begin moving toward it themselves.
Don’t only ask how to reach the people you want.
Ask what would make them want to reach you.