Make More Money From Your Ideas

"We discussed some time ago about me producing monthly podcasts. I have already recorded one interview. My dilemma is whether to charge subscribers/visitors. Some of my peers don't charge but use them as a marketing tool. Do you have any thoughts on this? If you do, I’d be delighted to hear your viewpoint."

There's no simple answer to this question. I suggest you try it both ways and see what works. For example, I've just started a monthly audio subscription program, where people get the first 2 months free and then pay $29 per month. Lots of sign-ups to the free option, and now I'll wait to see whether they convert to paying clients.

Find out more about creating products.

Labels: pricing

"I have just published my first book which sells on Amazon.co.uk for £14.99 and I am thinking of either giving it away as part of a series of bronze, silver and gold programmes (1,2 and 3 months long) or offering the book in e-format. How would you 'value' that ebook? Would it be more than the published actual book? I just want the value they perceive in the programme to be as high as possible."

Because you've already published the book, its value is already established at £14.99. Even if you convert it to e-book format exactly as it is, it's hard to justify any higher value.

However, if you take an extract of the book, and expand it into an e-book, workbook, manual or self-study course, you've got an entirely different product, which doesn't have an established value. In that case, you can put a higher value on it.

Labels: e-books, pricing

"How do I know what the right price is for my product?"

There's no definitive answer to this question. The best way to do this is by testing. Slice up your target market into different groups at random, and offer your product to each group at a different price. That will tell you which price point is the most responsive.

Other things to consider when setting your price:

• Value: What results can they expect to get from the product?
• Competition: Who else can give them the same results?
• Scarcity: Do you offer results that aren't widely available elsewhere?

There are a number of other things you can do to increase the perceived value of your product, so that you can charge a higher price.

Labels: market research, pricing

"Is it true that high priced e-book products are not tending to sell?"

No, not necessarily. If it's (a) high perceived value for money, (b) from a well-known authority and (c) difficult to get elsewhere, it will always sell. But most people fail on (b) and (c).

In other words, they don't persuade people to buy, mainly because they don't convince them of the value of their products.

Labels: pricing

"I want to sell my distance learning course for £397 but it is an international audience. If I put the price in dollars it looks a lot higher as the number will be nearer $716 which looks a lot higher than 397 on paper. Should I keep it as £ but have currency converter next to it showing various other currencies?"

Personally, I think you'd be better off considering the value for money you're offering, rather than the currency.

Is US$716 good value for the material? And does it stack up well against the prices charged by other places offering the same education? If so, then it makes sense to quote in US dollars (assuming that's your main market). In fact, it's BETTER because you're quoting a price in a familiar currency to them.

I think this is more important than the 397 vs 716 issue. People who buy your course probably buy other things on-line, so they know about currency conversions, so they are not going to be "tricked" into buying something just because it says 397 rather than 716.

Labels: pricing

"How do I convert visitors to purchase my big ticket items?"

Build a relationship. It's extremely unlikely that a complete stranger will visit your site and buy a big-ticket item right away (This is also true of smaller items, but even more so as the price goes up).

So think "relationship" first, not "sale". Get them to sign up to your newsletter. Give them an incentive to do so - for example, by giving a high-value e-book for new subscribers. Then start - and maintain - a dialogue with them, until they trust you enough to make a big-ticket purchase.

I've seen seminar promoters successfully sell $3,000+ tickets to their seminars. But they rarely do it on the first contact. They get you on their mailing list, run free preview teleseminars with the speaker, send you free downloads, and just keep in touch until you're ready to buy!

Find out more about sales conversion.

Labels: pricing, sales conversion

"Are e-books typically priced higher than printed books or booklets? My tips booklet is priced at £5 but I've converted it to an e-book and thinking of seling it for £7 - is that about right or way off?"

Here's the simple answer: Pricing depends on the value you offer; the more value you offer, the higher the price you can charge.

There are a number of ways of demonstrating the value of your e-book - e.g.

• Showing them how much money they can make from it
• Offering a money-back guarantee
• Adding relevant bonus products to boost the value

Here's a video that demonstrates the money-back guarantee idea.

The other thing to remember is that if you charge a low price, it's easier to get people to buy it, but you require more customers! So if your marketing is great, you can afford to charge a lower price.

Pricing is just one of the factors in writing profitable e-books, but it definitely is important.

Labels: e-books, pricing, providing value