If 20% of all internet marketers sell 80% of their all their info-products at a sub-$2,500 and above price tag… how would you know which product or internet marketing authority you should listen to? It’s a hit-and-miss most of the time, isn’t it? Sure, you would try out their product (since offering an ironclad guarantee officially made an entry into Marketing 101), read forums (and don’t you miss out on THE warrior forum!) or check out their YouTube channels. Perhaps it would make sense to visit their website to know more, only to be routed to their latest swanky info products that guarantee a 400% ROI!
It’s amusing but the new “normal” as of today.
The amount of money there is on the internet is ludicrous! And our friendly online marketers know a thing or two about that. What doesn’t make sense (to me) is their pricing strategy. I don’t understand how every product they offer has a hefty price tag to it? Value? I don’t think so. Besides a rare set of entrepreneurs who’ve got the best intentions in mind most out there basically want to strike rich. Or could there be more to the story?
Perhaps there is — the remaining 80% (the rest of them) aspire to be internet entrepreneurs too! They’d like to be part of the gold rush of the internet. And whom would they look for? The 20% above them… who ironically make (a chunk of) money by selling them just the information the rest of them need! Let me break this down for you: the target audience of the 20% is the 80% whose target audience is one of us! What?
This doesn’t make any sense! Does it? Or, does it?
Yeah, yeah, I understand what a “niche” is and I’m sure yours is the next best thing after sliced bread (yikes, the modem would be a great “contemporary” analogy) but that doesn’t give you the permission to break anyone’s bank. I’m not your ideal customer because I don’t agree with your value proposition or your pricing strategy. Simply because they’re not in alignment. Gaining a 100,000 YouTube subscribers doesn’t make any sense to me or even the next YouTube star. Why? Because if they’re being real and committed to their dream they would focus on honing their craft than gaining fans. Almost every internet celebrity I know gets there because their primary focus was on refining their skills and redefining themselves on the way up. Everything else was just relative.
I’ve seen programs sold for $497, which weren’t even worth $4.97! I shouldn’t have to pay a dime for something that’s available for free! An information product doesn’t do justice if it doesn’t have any sweat equity. That literally means you need to work your butt off to ensure that your customer/client receives at least 5x of what you’re charging. And not just on paper but for real. If you won’t buy your own product why the heck it’s even listed on your website?
As a service professional, there’s a tag attached to my services but it’s not ridiculous. I spent ample time to ensure that my fees make sense to the market that I serve. That’s the most important aspect for sales and business development. And that applies even if you’ve got an international market. You have to think global but act globally. The price I demand has to be at least 10x less than the value I offer.
Yes, I know at some point in time I need to think about creating e-courses and/or live events (“passive income” as they would like to put it) to create more impact or reach out to more people but charging $2,999 or $5,999 wouldn’t make any sense when I know it shouldn’t cost more than $999 or perhaps just $99.
I guess the problem is that we’re all obsessed with mark-ups despite that we don’t even have a single dime attached to an overhead or production cost. Why even bother? I don’t have an answer for that.
I think I’m just complicated. Or perhaps I’m just human.
P.S. Money isn’t evil. How we think about it can be.
P.P.S Marketers fu*&($ ruin everything!