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Don't Get Infected By The Twenty Dollar Ebook Syndrome
internet business is absolutely intoxicating. It really
drives home the point that you can make a nice living working
from the comfort of you own home running your own internet-
based business. That feeling, sadly, is also something that
the majority of internet marketers have never experienced!
At my recent Internet Marketing How To Workshop, several
speakers admonished attendees, not to get stuck selling just
twenty dollar ebooks. We all reflected upon how it felt the
first time we checked our email and saw that we had an order
and had just earned twenty dollars. We admitted that this
use to get us excited. However, we also had to move beyond
that point, we had to shift our thinking to greater
possibilities if we were going to earn a full-time living
from the internet.
Study any successful internet marketer and you will see that
he offers a range of products at different price points. That's
what I do. My least expensive product is $9.97 and my most
expensive product is currently $2495. In between I offer
audiotapes at $197, videotapes at $297, and consulting at
$250 per hour. I offer this range, because different people
want the information I offer in different formats. Different
people learn best according to how their brains are wired.
Some people prefer learning by listening to audiotapes.
Some people prefer learning by watching videotapes.
Some people learn best by actually practicing and doing it.
They need to attend workshops or actual classes, although these
can be virtual classes too.
Some people understand best when you explain it to them on the
phone or via email. They need the two-way interaction to fully
clarify points.
Some people prefer to print something out and read it. I am
a reader who will read the same book several times if it
contains really good information... absorbing something more
with each reading. I also have tons of audio and videotapes
though.
As an information product marketer, your task is to offer your
product in as many different forms as possible so that you don't
overlook any segment of the market. You should offer ebooks,
printed books, course, CDs, and all of the other forms. The
amazing thing is that this in NOT that hard. If you've already
written an ebook, it's easy to be interviewed on the topic
and turn this into a marketable recording. It's easy to package
the audiotapes and transcripts, plus some additional notes, into
a three-ring binder and call it a course. It's easy to organize
your notes and then physically teach the material either at a
workshop, over the internet, or even at a local community
college.
The thing I see too many beginners get trapped into is creating
a great ebook on a topic they know a lot about. They check to
see what similar ebooks sell for and choose $19.95 or $29.95 as
the price. Then they settle back and watch the sales roll in.
These sales may be a slow but steady trickle, which satisfies
many people. It's thrilling to do the work once and generate
a continuous income stream from it. It's somewhat intoxicating.
However, the writer also becomes infected with the twenty dollar
ebook syndrome and never tries to create anything higher priced.
He reasons that his market has shown him that they want, and will
buy, twenty dollar products. He's afraid to risk offering them
something more expensive.
How do I know lots of authors get infected with this ailment?
I talk to and email them every day. When I suggest to them that
they need to create a $97 product or a $297 product, they tell
me that their customers can't afford these products. I have
news for them! Their customers are buying these products. They
are just buying them from your competition. They tell me their
customers won't spend a thousand dollars for a seminar seat.
I have news for them, their customers are spending two thousand
dollars for a seminar seat, they are just buying from the
competition. Your competitors are earning $500 commissions
... I do regularly.
The purpose of this article today is to prevent you from falling
victim to this "syndrome." Consider this. If you sell one $297
audio product and make $200 or more profit, you've just earned
more than if you had sold ten $20 products and made 95% profit.
And you've only had to deal with 1/10th the potential customer
service issues. And you've only had to process one transaction.
And believe, it or not, that sale was probably just as easy
... maybe easier.... than the $20 sale.
One other insight I'll share with you - people who buy higher
ticket items seem less prone to complain or request refunds.
They are people of action, so they buy the product, use it, and
get the results they sought. Many who buy twenty dollar products
are looking for some magic solution or all-encompassing answer
for only twenty dollars, and that doesn't exist. Part of that
expectation is admittedly due to the hype used to sell the
$20 products. We condition our prospects to expect something
for nothing... and in the process sabotage our success.
So your job for the next few days is to plan out how you are
going to convert your twenty dollar product or idea into
something much bigger. No excuses, just do it :-)
About the Author
Willie Crawford is a writer, seminar host and speaker, and
internet marketing consultant. He has been featured in tops
sites such as Corey Rudl's Secrets Of Their Success. Get his
free 20 Lesson Internet Business Success Course today at:
http://williecrawford.com