As most of you know I’m in the process of putting things together to be able to start making a living out of this. I’m having a huge battle with myself about pricing the products though. Not because I don’t think my products aren’t worth anything, but because I simply don’t know how much to charge. I’m not going to go into how I’m going to monetize just yet (it’s a few months away yet) Instead I’m going to show some examples of people doing it already.
First things first though, this isn’t a blogger bashing or a put down on any product people decide to sell. Nor is it a cheap way for me to get affiliate sales, I’m not affiliated to any of the links on here.
David Risley has just launched his BlogMasters Club in which he has designed a teaching programme which is aimed at making your site produce money. Long story short it’s 16 modules and 6 bonuses. There are two options, option 1 is currently $87, going up to $97 a month for 6 months, or option 2, which is a single payment of $397 which again is going up soon.
Now this is a lot of money, but by following David’s modules I could make that back easily and then some. So could it still sell well if it was even more expensive? Or would David make a lot more money by reducing the price?
Jordan Cooper offers private comedy coaching for bloggers. I gotta admit, I’m looking seriously into this, again two options 1st $75 for 1 hour of one to one coaching (which he is extending by half an hour at the time of writing for no extra cost) and 2nd option is $397 for 8 individual 1 hour sessions.
Now Jordan is a veteran stand up comic and I haven’t come across this type of service before. Should Jordan be charging even more for his knowledge? Should he be making a fortune by spreading his genius by selling it at a premium, or could he make more by offering the course less, but class teaching multiple people at the same time?
Nathan Hangen is the hot name at the moment because of his joint venture Beyond Blogging. Nathan has other books available for sale, but this one is $47 for the ebook. Other formats are available.
You will probably have heard of his book, because the affiliate banners are everywhere and good for him. Could he actually charge more for it? Once you factor in the affiliate commission everyone is earning, Nathan’s bit won’t actually be all that much, so should he charge more or ditch the affiliates and charge less?
Darren Rowse has made a fortune from this game. One of his more recent ventures is the ProBlogger forums now $5.95 a month which gives you constant access to a forum dedicated to bloggers by bloggers.
Now the forum has a few thousand active members at the moment and it is a community, but could Darren charge more for the access to this forum? It would probably mean less members but would he earn more from this? Or should he reduce the price even more which in turn could produce even more members and even more dollars?
Some examples there or different products and prices, all clearly making money and power to them. I don’t hate anyone for making money online, I will start monetizing in my own way in the coming months. Why? Because I want to do this full time, I work 60hrs a week and come home to work on the site, so my motivation is to make money.
How do you decide what a product is worth or how to price something of your own? Do you make it exclusive by charging a lot for a product that you believe is worth it? Or do you sell it as cheap as you can and hope that millions sell?
photo credit: UggBoy ( have fun doing it )
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{ 74 comments… read them below or add one }
I paid $97 a month last year to sit on David Risley’s course and it was worth every penny. I would guess it accelerated our two blog’s progress by around three months, which in terms of my time is worth way, way more than I paid.
Having watched Jordan in action, I’d say he’s offering value to anyone who wants training in that sphere. Not something I’d want to do though.
I’m not at all biased as the unmentioned co-author of Beyond Blogging. It’s probably the finest book written on the subject and contains so many insights into what makes bloggers successful, that it’s worth at least 100 times it’s cover price, which includes a step by step work book. If I was short of cash I’d invest in the paperback version from Amazon which is less than half the price.
The Problogger forum? I joined at $1.95 a month, but I’d be happy to pay the current price. I don’t gain personally from it, but try to help the many newbie bloggers who are on there by answering their questions. Even at $6 a month, it’s so cheap any serious blogger would be crazy not to he part of it.
The Bentley Continental could never be described as value for money. But it is the finest GT (in the true sense of continent-crossing Gran Turismo) car ever made. The W12 engine is sublime and every aspect of the design is optimised for high speed, comfortable travel. I guess it only can be considered as good value if your regular transport is a Lear.
On to your general question. It honestly depends on how many you think you can sell. If you have an audience of 150 people, and you think half of them are likely to buy your product, you have to price it at a level that will give you a decent return on the time invested.
If, on the other hand, you can get access to other people’s audiences, and increase your reach to 100,000, then if half of those buy it – you can price it cheaply.
Start with a cost price for the whole project, based on your time invested, design etc, and then work out how much you need to make to net a reasonable profit. Then have a good guess at how many you think you can sell, and you’ll arrive at your price.
Mike CJ´s last blog ..Why I unsubscribed from your blog
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 27, 2010 at 22:30
Hey Mike,
Brother I was hoping you were going to visit and offer your advice. I’m having a huge battle with this at the moment, to leave work I have to replace my full time wages which is about $50/55k a year so that’s the goal.
When you use affiliates, could that help with reducing the price and gaining someone elses audience as you say?
theinfopreneur´s last blog ..Are All These Products Too Expensive?
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 27, 2010 at 22:36
Also Mike,
Have you driven the GT? If so will you marry me lol
theinfopreneur´s last blog ..Are All These Products Too Expensive?
Affiliates are the way to increase your reach. But that has a significant effect on price as you need to make their commission worth their effort. Realistically, affiliates won’t go all out to sell your product for a small amount.
Yes, I have driven the GT. No, I won’t marry you.
Mike CJ´s last blog ..Why I unsubscribed from your blog
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 27, 2010 at 23:15
ha ha Mike you must be doing well to have driven a GT!
Yeah I think I’m going to go down the affiliate route, not sure if you can say, but what percentage of your book sales come from affiliates?
Twitter: bluepop13
January 27, 2010 at 23:05
I’m certainly not an expert in this field but what I’d suggest is to charge something based on what you truly believe your hard work is worth at first and then ask what people think.
On the same note, the price will figure itself out once you’ve got something going, in my opinion.
Can’t wait to see how this progresses for you…
I sent you my newest Guest Post by the way.
Good article!
Eric´s last blog ..Lets Help Each Other
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 27, 2010 at 23:08
hey brother,
Yeah I think you’re right, hopefully it will. The big thing I have planned I think should be priced quite highly, but then again I think should I price it low to attract more sales and more money?…. God knows
Thanks for the mention of the Club, dude.
To answer your title, though – NO. They’re not too expensive. It is a common mistake to think that low-balling price is going to get more business, but often the exact opposite happens. You end up attracting customers which are a lot of trouble. You end up making little sales because people don’t think your product is worth anything. It is just bad all around – especially in the info marketing biz.
Not to say go with a screaming high price, either. But, the trick is to find the balance. Usually, it starts with charging based on time of creation, or value to the customer. In other words, value of the benefits they’ll get from the product. Other than that, it comes down to testing to see what your market will bear.
Low-balling price is usually a sign of propitiation… trying to convince people to give you a chance. Usually a sign of a poor product, IMO.
I will say, though, just as a piece of advice from me to you here – you can’t train your audience to distrust marketing and then turn-around and sell something to them. There are many examples on this blog of bashing marketing. In fact, the very first time I heard of you was you saying you disagreed with everything I do in terms of marketing. And some of the people who follow you on this blog are of the same opinion. That’s not the kind of vibe you want if you’re going to try to make $50K per year at this.
So, there it is.
Hope that helps.
Twitter: Giveabrick
January 27, 2010 at 23:39
I wasn’t going to comment at all on this post (for reasons that will become clear in a moment) but I must because I actually agree with David’s last comment. I have to put my cards on the table and say that I’m not here to buy anything. That’s no reflection on you James. As I hope you know already, you have been a massive help, support and encouragement to me over the last 20 days. However, after spending a couple of years playing at the IM game back in 2003-2004, I’m not playing any more (hence why I wasn’t going to offer an opinion as to best-price) My reasons for being here are purely philanthropic and I have no budget
I’m sorry if my honesty upsets or offends any one but I can do nothing but speak as I find.
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..How to Live in Peace Without Being a Doormat
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 06:52
Hi Eleanor, what does philanthropic mean?
Yeah it’s totally cool, one thing when I monetize is I will never force the sale or comprimise the quality of this site so don’t worry
Twitter: rhyswynne
January 28, 2010 at 12:56
Philanthropic means that you are doing it for the good of humankind as a whole, rather than monetarical gain.
Rhys´s last blog ..Automated Twitter Accounts That Don’t Suck #1 – Tweet Your Blog
Twitter: Giveabrick
January 28, 2010 at 16:42
That’s reassurring to know
@Rhys Great definition, thanks
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..6 Ways to Give to Your Favourite Charity For Free
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 22:26
Eleanor, It doesn’t matter that you’re not here to buy anything your comments add to conversation and increase the value of James’ content.
Your perspective from a philantropic point of view add an extra dimension.
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 06:58
Woooo David,
Firstly I have never disagreed with ‘EVERYTHING’ you do and haven’t bashed marketing. I have said I’ll do it differently and not force the sale (again not saying you are). I know who you are referring to here, but this post nor any others has been a personal attack or anyone.
I do appreaciate your advice and time, but David I don’t ‘train’ my audience or readers to do anything and to suggest that I do, implies that the readers of this site have no mind of their own, which they do, the readers of this site are some of the cleverest people I have ever come across.
David, your advice is always welcome but in this case I think you have brought your beef with a certain post on another website across onto this one.
I’m not sure you really got my point at all, but that’s fine. We can take it to email if you like. No biggie.
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 21:40
Yeah I think it best mate, because I don’t understand things very well! lol
Twitter: bloggersmarket
January 27, 2010 at 23:53
As I start down the road to monetize my blog, I am struck with the model of Apple with their $1.00 downloads. I have decided to offer my latest effort “Blogging 2010 – The Essential Foundation” for just $1.00. I am going to raise this price two weeks after its launch to $4.95. I have 10 “manuals” planned in this series. Each manual contains about a dozen pages.
I have a major project under way for the spring that I will price for $95.00 take it or leave it. I know what I have to offer and I’m not about to compromise with this product. I have a year into it’s design!
That’s all I can offer …………. I can’t wait till I take on the membership challenge, now that is going to be hard to price!
Jeffrey´s last blog ..Whats Wrong. With Dah Postt ?
Twitter: donpower
January 28, 2010 at 00:39
Hey Jeffrey and James!
I read a report recently from Marketing Sherpa where they gave some real world stats for pricing your products on a sliding time scale (ie: buy today at $1, buy tomorrow at $2 and next week at $10 ). It was THE most effective pricing strategy over a bunch of standard pricing models.
I looked at the Sherpa site but I cold not find the original report unfortunately. But here is a link to a Sherpa search on ‘price’ – http://bit.ly/cqo6Yi
Sign up and you’ll get 1 week of free access and you can access any of the premium reports you find. Also, you’ll have permanent 1 week free access to all NEW reports.
Marketing Sherpa is ALL ABOUT REAL WORLD case studies and statistics. If you haven’t discovered it yet – do yourself a favor and check it out!
Hope this helps!
Cheers!
- Don
Don Power´s last blog ..Askimet, I am very love you FREE
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 06:48
Hey Jeffrey,
Thanks brother yeah interesting to watch to see how you make out
Twitter: TylinaVespart
January 28, 2010 at 00:16
It’s an interesting question really; I’ll end up struggling with it myself in a few months. I think that pricing it lower isn’t going to necessarily create more sales (there’ll be a few, but in terms of people actually using what they learn… depends what you’re going for).
With my stuff I’ll probably end up offering a couple for free, but my main ones will end up being decently priced. Possible package deals.
Watching to see how everyone else does it though.
Heather´s last blog ..How to Stand Out: The Difficulty With Portfolios
Twitter: ptcearner
January 28, 2010 at 01:01
To ur general question Deciding a price of a product can be done based on the hard work u hav done & the time u spent to bring it to life.These two are important things to determine a price. Moreover u got to take notice of ur potential customers(reach & buying of product) & they should feel the product was worth of every penny. Keeping it much lower won’t increase any sales.
krish´s last blog ..Tips to Increase Your Sales through Online Videos
Twitter: ralphcarlson
January 28, 2010 at 01:05
Wow,
This question is out of my league. Ask me next year.
Ralph´s last blog ..The Top 10 Reasons to Post Daily
Twitter: NotAProBlog
January 28, 2010 at 01:43
I’d highly suggest you check out this week’s post by Johnny B. Truant: You’re worth more than you think because he sums up what I believe quite well.
Your price point doesn’t *have* to be determined by your market. Sure, it’s definitely a consideration if you’re offering something similar to other products/services in your niche… but it’s not the be-all end-all.
This is especially true because we’re coming to the end of a long era – differentiating on price alone is no longer going to be effective and even profitable at all. Once scarcity is diminished, continually low-balling each other on price gets to the point where *no one* can actually stay in business anymore. There’s a certain breaking point where the cost of goods and/or time just makes in infeasible to offer it at any lower of a price.
(if a toilet seat cover costs $8 to produce & you sell it at $8.27 to have the “best deal” – is the amount of money you’re making on it, even it huge quantities actually worth the effort of even selling it?)
My comedy coaching for bloggers course was priced out at the same general rate I currently get locally for my stand-up classes. I worked out the math of how much my time was actually worth to people here and computed it accordingly. The fact that all my students the past year thought they got *insane* benefit out of working with me just validates it’s value in my eyes. (if anything, maybe it means I should charge more)
Combine that with the case that I don’t believe there’s anything being offered in this market similarly, I have positioned it so I am essentially only really competing with *myself* on price. So why not charge exactly what I think it’s worth with the backup in my mind that others have gladly paid this with no problem and given me kudos afterwards on it’s merits of value?
Jordan Cooper´s last blog ..Leveraging Other People’s Audiences To Create Buzz
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 06:44
Hey man, yeah great point, some people will not like the pricing but some will, but ultimately it comes down to what your time is worth.
I think your onto something here Jordan, thanks brother and I’ve bookmarked the link!
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 22:17
But you don’t need every one to like it. Remember, you’re only after 1000 true Fans
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Professional services faces this “problem” all the time. People will gasp at a $300/hr price for their lawyer wondering how an hour can be worth $300. But you aren’t buying the hour, you’re buying their years of education, training and experience, and you’re buying an outcome (eg the $10,000 it costs you to get divorced buys you your half of the $500,000 property pool).
Paul Cunningham´s last blog ..Blogger Interview: Rhys Wynne of The Gospel According to Rhys
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 06:43
Interesting way of looking at it, good angle. I think charging more is possible one of a few ways to weed out the ones who are serious too, maybe?
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 22:15
Paul, you’re right. It’s not that they are getting an hour, they are getting solutions.
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
My wife says I’m as cheap as a Congressman spending his own money so something really has to provide value to me for me to buy it. If there are free or low cost alternatives, I’ll often opt for one of them.
For my main product, Blog Content Wizard, I picked a price that would keep the product affordable enough for people while insuring that I would make a profit. If I had brought affiliates into the picture, I would have had to have at least doubled the price and I would have probably made more sales but less money per unit sold. Also, with more sales, my support costs would have increased as would fees. Having sold products on eBay for a few years I’m pretty sensitive to problems like having $10K in revenue and 12K in expenses for a month.
Frank C´s last blog ..Earn Online Cash with .Info Domains
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 06:41
Interesting Frank,
I think I know what you mean about ebay, I used to import games consoles and sell them wholesale, initally it was good money then I started getting hit hard with taxes and fees etc. So I totally get what you mean when it has to be enough money for me to warrent putting in the time to sell it
Pricing a product is often very hard. The question I would ask myself is “If I was to buy this product, would I pay this price? Is the product providing value for my money?”.
Aaron´s last blog ..Benefits of hiding your affiliate links
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 06:37
Hi Aaron,
yeah that’s the angle I have been coming at, now we live on a tight budget so I would be reluctant to pay out for anything really. I do think my time is worth a lot though
The more recognized you are, the more you can charge and people will pay. Your measurable success determines what price you can reasonable set in comparison to your peers who have reached equal success and recognition. You just compare and price a little lower to make yourself a better value.
That being said, I am betting you are paying for “convenience” you can find almost anything they have to “teach” for free just by reading the hundreds of articles on problogger, this site and many others. So it isn’t like you are paying for information you can just find online and read everywhere, you are paying for the convenience of getting it all in one place and in a video presentation instead of having to scour and read tons of articles and posts.
Dragon Blogger´s last blog ..SanYo Incognito: Great Mobile Phone and a Great Unlimited Plan
Twitter: segedoo
January 28, 2010 at 17:19
Very right. As a new entrant, you’re better off starting charging less and when people see the value you deliver, they will notback down when you charge more.
I think there is some price paying to do.
Meanwhile, thanks for your email
Cheers,
olusegun
Olusegun´s last blog ..What Does Blogging Mean to You?
Twitter: nhangen
January 28, 2010 at 22:48
It’s not just convenience. Sometimes you are just paying for someone to put it in the context required for you to understand it.
Nathan Hangen´s last blog ..Protected: On Action Leading and Passing the Test [GCN-1]
Twitter: AussieSire
January 28, 2010 at 07:16
Personally the worth of any product is what a person will pay for it. I read a post awhile back where someone said you should charge people what you thought you were worth, which is all well and good, but what if others didn’t agree with your valuation? Simple answer is you won’t make any or get very little sales.
How much to charge, well that depends on the product and the relative value to the consumer.
Sire´s last blog ..If Women Controlled The Earth
Twitter: NotAProBlog
January 28, 2010 at 07:29
Sire, but that’s the fallacy in many people’s thinking. Although it sounds logical, it’s likely more effective to focus on it from a different angle.
In that train of thought, you’re *externalizing* their worth – allowing others to control the valuation of your product, service or time. You’ve set your price at X, your customers think it’s worth Y and then you shift the amount downward at them.
Instead of thinking that way, *internalize* your worth and keep control of you own valuation. You set your price at X because that’s what you truly believe and don’t budge from it. Now, if your customer think it’s worth Y, you *don’t* shift the amount downward at them. You goal then is to improve yourself, your image, your content and do something to shift *them* upwards to you. Show them why you’re worth that amount.
In the first case, you’re subject to things out of your control. (which obviously also makes it psychologically easy for you to justify it)
In the second case, you’re in control and only answerable to the effort you put in on why/why not you’re getting any customers. (which is usually very hard psychologically to admit to yourself)
Do you see the difference?
Jordan Cooper´s last blog ..Leveraging Other People’s Audiences To Create Buzz
Twitter: AussieSire
January 28, 2010 at 08:37
True, but that does not mean you will get what you wanted, you are merely using it as a starting point and working your way down to a level where both parties are happy. This is business, and if you are not willing to budge there is every chance they will go elsewhere.
The only time you can command a price and not have to budge is when you offer something that is unique that no-one else can supply, then you have real bargaining power.
Sire´s last blog ..My Take On Having Ads On Your Blog
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 22:13
I think that’s when you launch a sale!
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Twitter: KiwiGordie
January 28, 2010 at 09:35
Today this question is beyond any of my experience, listen to the more experienced guys. One thing you may have to do first off is offer a cheaper product and then really go for the jugular price wise with subsequent products.
Gordie´s last blog ..How To Meditate (For Beginners).
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 10:09
interesting tactic, yeah i think that could be a good idea too. To me this is the one thing I’m really going to nail if I want to realise the dream.
i’ll do it though
TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..Are All These Products Too Expensive?
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 16:59
James,
I reckon you should charge $7 for the ebook you currently give away. There’s enough people willing to testify (myself included) that your system works.
You could even go the whole hog and charge $10!
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Low pricing can have a negative impact on your sales just as high pricing can. Every budget customer you pick up with a low priced product might cost you a customer who is looking for quality.
Price creates a perception of value. SEOBook is $300/mth, or there are SEO ebooks/courses at $97, $47, and $27 price points out there. Which do you think will teach you the most?
Aaron Wall sells SEOBook to people who drive thousands or even millions of dollars in revenue through their sites each month. He creates a product with the right value in its content and prices it for that market.
Define your own target market when you are creating your product and determining price. WPBeginner.com targets new bloggers by giving them free WordPress installs in exchange for using their affiliate signup for hosting. Costs the user no more than they’d be paying for hosting anyway and they get “free” blog setup. Meanwhile Yaro Starak sells Blog Mastermind for $1500 or more to a completely different target market – bloggers who are serious about building a money-making blog fast.
Paul Cunningham´s last blog ..Blogger Interview: Rhys Wynne of The Gospel According to Rhys
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 11:34
Paul I can always count on you for good advice, you know what would be interesting is if Yaro released some figures or percentages on high selling products versus low priced.
Your right though the higher priced product seemed more valuable, not sure how I would feel if I had to pay for it myself though?
Keep the advice coming paul. When’s my interview going up?
Yeah, but the results will skew depending on the product. A high priced Internet Marketing course will probably do better than a high price Paper Airplanes course.
Price is also not the only factor – look how many products (especially courses) use scarcity as a sales tactic. Get on Yaro’s list and just watch a few of his product launches and you can learn a lot.
Your interview is about 3 weeks off, roughly the 20th of Feb.
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 17:16
I think it all depends on the motivation. If you’d just been made redundant and had some cash and you couldn’t get a job, then you would probably spend the $1500.
With you James, you clearly have a lot of energy and drive and I suspect you’d never be out of work that long which is why you’d probably not be that motivated to find it. Just think, he only needs to sell 20-30 a year to give himself a good income. If he sold 100 a year he’d have an excellent income.
If he has high traffic, the chances are the number he sells is nearer a 100 than the 20…!
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 29, 2010 at 08:52
Paul, great examples you quote here and in a crowded market you only really have two choices: you can either go more expensive (and offer better quality) or go cheaper and give less (but it’s cheap, so there you go) .
People always establish value by comparision, so therefore it’s relative value as opposed to absolute value. Absolute value would be something rare or bespoke, whereas relative value would be where you have products that you are comparing.
For instance the SEO $300 might be excellent value in that it has 10 times more useful info that the book at $47.
When I used to have a professional wedding photography business I used to offer one product at $1500. I didn’t sell one, but I sold a hell of a lot of the $1000 product.
When the $1000 product was on it’s own that was expensive. When it was compared to the $1500 product it was good value.
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..Aliens have landed
In the end, the market generally dictates the price, surely?
So, I could set myself up as a very expensive consultant on, oh, let’s see, herding cats, charge £1000/hr but I wouldn’t expect to sell too many hours. I could lower that price progressively until I see demand pick up, and eventually find the ’sweet spot’…
John Clark´s last blog ..The iPad As Quorn
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 16:57
Supply and demand, you’re right.
But if you were world famous in herding cats and had a proven track record at it, how much would people be prepared to pay for it then.
Remember the Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) how much would you have paid to get him to come and get a croc out of your pool? Never underestimate the value of reputation.
Which is why some bloggers can charge $50 all day long for their ebook, the same content could be difficult to give away for an unherd of blogger.
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 22:37
Interesting point Matthew, I’m glad you made it here to contribute being the business guy round these parts!
Twitter: rhyswynne
January 28, 2010 at 13:06
I’m a firm believer in “everythings worth what somebody else is prepared to pay for it”, and e-products should be no different.
Take for example Beyond Blogging. It retails at $47. Some people did say it was expensive for an e-product, but really is it? You can buy a lot of crap for $50. I mean, it’s the price of a really bad video game. A night in a crappy hotel or a ticket to see your sports team get their arses kicked.
If you learn something or get a boot up the arse to do something from Beyond Blogging (hell I love these human interest stories, get shed loads of blogging books from about 2003 onwards), is it worth $50? I don’t know, but people obviously think that it is.
Rhys´s last blog ..Automated Twitter Accounts That Don’t Suck #1 – Tweet Your Blog
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 16:53
Rhys, you’re absolutely spot on here. Value is what it means to your buyer, not what it means to you.
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Twitter: nhangen
January 28, 2010 at 22:45
The next book is going to be $500 and only available for the first 20 people.
Julien suggests 5k to one person, but I want to stretch it out a bit
Nathan Hangen´s last blog ..Protected: On Action Leading and Passing the Test [GCN-1]
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 22:49
Holy … Dude that’s gonna make you a fortune. But thinking about it you know, yeah a lot of people are gonna be like WHAT, but you are only targeting 20 out of thousands…. When does it release?
Twitter: nhangen
January 29, 2010 at 04:28
Coming soon, that’s all I can say…
It’s all about being different and trying new things…that’s my favorite part of this.
Nathan Hangen´s last blog ..Protected: On Action Leading and Passing the Test [GCN-1]
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 29, 2010 at 06:02
Is it a collaboration ?
Twitter: allynpaul
January 28, 2010 at 15:25
Since all of my money online is made OUTSIDE of the tech and IM and MMO niches, I will tell you that I like to sell $7 ebooks/reports.
I write a very professional looking 30 page “how to” manual or something like that and i sell them like hotcakes!
One of my ebooks sold more than 400 copies last year in a span of 6 months. It was sold to real people who surf Google looking for info on a topic. It went on auto-pilot… I never touched it once I had the site built around it. no students, no followup, none of it.
What’s more: I include links inside the book to relevant products (usually on Amazon) and my $7 ebook buyers go purchase the products there on the back end.
To me, it ain’t about the price or cost, it’s about the return on my investment.
I can bang out a 35 page report in about 8 or 10 hours including time to format the PDF and all that, so $7 is a fair price to charge. And $3000+ in top line revenue is a nice return.
Again, keep in mind, this is NOT in the MMO or tech niche and the traffic is from search engines, not social. The info really never changes either because the niche is not a constantly evolving one like social media, tech and IM are. So the book can be sold for years.
The good thing about $7 ebooks is that you NEVER have to give refunds and you never get requests for such.
You can also use the $7 sales to build up your subscriber list and email them later with more products… again, outside of MMO.
AL
Allyn´s last blog ..Targeting The Long Tails In Internet Marketing
Twitter: segedoo
January 28, 2010 at 15:57
Hmm,
Great tactic.
I will digest this and adapt it to suit my plans to sell e-books online too.
What’s your URL for the books? I wish you all the best
Cheers,
Olusegun
Olusegun´s last blog ..What Does Blogging Mean to You?
Twitter: allynpaul
January 28, 2010 at 16:04
Hey man, you can learn it from John Ledger. just google “john ledger 7 dollar secrets” and you will see the philosophy behind it.
As far as showing you my sites, in my circle, we don’t do that. Exposing your network invites trouble and unwanted referral traffic. sorry.
Al
Allyn´s last blog ..Targeting The Long Tails In Internet Marketing
Twitter: segedoo
January 28, 2010 at 22:36
Thanks Man.
I appreciate it.
Cheers,
Olusegun
Olusegun´s last blog ..What Does Blogging Mean to You?
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 16:52
Allyn,
I’m not suggesting you are wrong in doing what you are doing and I will follow this link to the site you suggest.
However, James is planning to do this full time and I would suggest that whilst $3,000 is not an inconsiderable sum, it’s not going to provide a sufficient income for him, unless it’s part of a portfolio of products.
Matthew
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Twitter: allynpaul
January 28, 2010 at 17:19
matthew,
yeah, we are just from different sides of the coin here. (I do internet marketing, James does blogging) I have almost 250 sites, about 30 are monetized. Some of the sites make $500 per month, others only $40 per month, others just beans. Still others have bursts of income (like seasonal)
I am not the type to put all my eggs in one or two baskets, I spread the wealth across a network instead.
I made enough last year to make a full time living, but my definition of full time living is different than most, hence the reason I still have a day job.
AL
Allyn´s last blog ..Targeting The Long Tails In Internet Marketing
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 22:31
Allyn, Matthew and Olusegun, awesome to see so much contribution here.
Allyn is the guy who I take a lot of inspiration from. Makes big money, check his site to see how he made $30k recently.
I do get the point of the $7 ebooks etc and I think it’s a great idea and probably something I’m going to start implementing.
I will get to a point this year in which I will be able to replace my full time wages from my online ventures.
But keep this coming, awesome info.
theinfopreneur´s last blog ..Are All These Products Too Expensive?
Twitter: segedoo
January 28, 2010 at 22:48
Yeah. But we shouldn’t despise days of little beginnings
Twitter: travisamorgan
January 28, 2010 at 18:26
I’m always one for simplicity.
What do you think your product is worth? For the amount of time and energy you sowed into it, what do you think you should fairly get in return?
What sort of a price will you feel good about? To where you’re not ripping people off, but you’re also not ripping yourself off. I find when I buy cheaper ebooks, I regard them and the information in them with less value, thus I only end up finishing about half of it and losing it somewhere in my hard drive. That could just be my problem but maybe it’s something to consider?
Just my thoughts.
Travis´s last blog ..Why Bad Things Happen to Good People
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 22:20
yeah you’re right brother, I’m with you on that, I think I’m getting a bit closer to understanding it all now
Pricing products appropriately depends on a whole host of things that are external as well as internal.
By external I mean things like your cost to produce, your marketing costs, the size of your market, the mindset of your market, the value you’ve established or credibility, the kind/type/size of product…
By internal I mean things like your mindset about making money, about taking money, about your value or worth…
Although competition factors into your pricing, the price you set reflects everything above and a bunch more.
Not sell, but we actually co-sult people on this very issue because it is such a big one. Pricing cannot be taken lightly. And almost everyone struggles with some aspect of it. I’ve been supporting myself in a self-employed state for over 20 years and that means setting prices and taking money for that long. It is not un-doable, it just takes some finesse, a bit of research and most importantly the correct mindset.
I suspect you’ll do fine James, pricing will come almost at the end of your product creation so keep at it.
Yolanda Facio´s last blog ..Coaches, Consultants, Mentors, and Ellen Degeneres
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 22:16
Thanks for the advice Yolanda, makes it easier to think about it in those terms. You’ll probably be getting an email from me in the future asking more advice!
Anytime, James.
Yolanda Facio´s last blog ..Of Kangaroos and Silence
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 22:41
James,
Firstly $50-55k I think is limiting your sights somewhat. I think you should aim higher.
Secondly, I personally do not agree with selling stuff cheaper once you have critical mass. The reason for this is that it will annoy the hell out of people who paid the full price and will damage your brand rather than to enhance it. Add more value to it by throwing in more extras (and giving those to the people who have already subscribed too).
I think the answer is to add new products and maybe sell extras to the customers who have already bought.
Finally, value means different things to different people and you only need to offer the right offer to the right customer. The more right customers you attract to your site, the more you’re likely to get the right sort of income.
P.S. Personally I don’t like the continental GT. I would much rather have Maserati Quattroporte http://www.maserati.com/maserati/en/en/index/models/Quattroporte-S.html or
or alternatively the Porsche Panamera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMPLoz0Klfo
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 28, 2010 at 23:03
Hey brother I love that new porsche. Yeah I’ve seen sites like that before where you buy then they reduce it, hate it. I think what I have in mind really is going to be worth a lot, just need to settle on a price. What do you think about monthly subscriptions? Is there a price limit?
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 28, 2010 at 23:39
Actually there’s two sites I subscribe to on a monthly basis. One is problogger.com and the other is a property forum.
From a business model perspective this is pure gold. If you get someone to buy an ebook off you for $30 that’s exactly what you get.
If you can build a poduct where people want to pay to subscribe, then a $5 a month payment is worth to you $60.
From a commercial perspective, it’s what you might call a ‘ no brainer’.
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..1000 True Fans part 2
Twitter: Bigredtomato
January 29, 2010 at 09:00
James,
Mike said he had driven a GT not that owned one!
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..Aliens have landed
Twitter: theinfopreneur
January 29, 2010 at 10:34
yeah brother owned one driven one all still where I want to be !
TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..Are All These Products Too Expensive?