What's the price of a hot cross bun in Auckland?
It could be $5, $6.50 or even $7. If it seems slightly ridiculous that seemingly the same product has different prices, it's because people are not buying the product itself. Or rather, they're buying what they perceive to be the “right price” for a product.
When it comes to a hot cross bun, no one is standing on street corners giving them away.
We know that we'll have to shell out some amount to tuck into all that sugar, flour and butter. However, when it comes to selling information, the waters get a bit murky. How are we supposed to know whether we should sell a product or give it away absolutely free?
The answer is: It depends.
With that vague answer in mind, let's leap into three considerations you need to have in place before you get paid for anything—whether it's hot cross buns or an information product. Those three elements when nicely stacked look like this:
1- A well-defined result
2- How the information is positioned.
3- Urgency of the problem.
I know, I know. These three points sound like something you've read or heard before. Yet, stay with me because we'll go deeper into these concepts in this article.
1- A well-defined result
For most of my life I've taken photos. Almost all of them were below-average.
I've loved photography since I was a teenager. I borrowed, owned and used quite a few cameras and always aspired to take pictures as well as those I saw in National Geographic. For most of my life, that dream stayed elusive. Then, one day, while I was in a tiny village in Vietnam, I saw a sign. Not that kind of sign. It was just a signboard which announced that a professional photographer was taking groups out for a photo shoot.
When I showed up the next day, I was the only one.
When the photographer told me his plan, I was less than enthused. He said we were going to a beach to shoot pictures of the fishermen. Growing up in India, I had seen many beaches and hundreds of fishermen. However, I had never strayed in the water with my camera. Why would I do such a thing? Why would I take a $3,000 camera and risk it from being destroyed by the salt and waves?
The instructor was having none of my nonsense.
He wouldn't let me stand on the shore. He insisted I get in the water. As the fisherfolk came in, I found myself bobbing in almost waist-deep water, taking close-up pictures. For the first time, I realised that photography wasn't something I had to do from a distance. It wasn't something where I tried to blend in and do a hit-and-run. The pictures I took on that trip weren't great, but when I posted them in online photography groups, people oohed and aahed.
But wait, was that what the photographer promised?
Not at all. One reason I was the only one on that shoot was that there was no demand for the photographer's services. He didn't promise any definite outcome, did he? All he said was “he was taking groups out for a photoshoot”. Instead, what he was really doing was “taking people out of their comfort zone, so that they could learn to take outstanding pictures.”
Which photography course would you sign up for: one that was specific or just a generic “let's see”? Do you want something that is tangible and measurable, or something vague and unclear?
At Psychotactics, we stumbled upon this concept of “specific results” back in 2010.
I was conducting the Headlines Course, and a client was insistent on the end goal. To fend him off a bit, I said: Well, you'll learn to write 8 different types of headlines. Each headline will be extremely compelling, and your audience will open your emails immediately.
But how did we sell the headline course before that point?
Well, we did what the photographer did. We said: Hey, it's the headline course. Fortunately, most people trusted us and signed up, but we blundered our way into understanding the value of the payoff.
What did we do next? We had to look at every course we did, every product we sold and ask ourselves: what happens when the client gets to the end of this course? What happens when the client gets to the end of this book? What happens when the client finishes listening to the podcast?
Why is this knowledge of “what happens” so very important?
Well, it's not as important as you'd believe. People buy into workshops, books and training even when there's no clear outcome. However, when there's a clear destination, they can benchmark if your promise is true or not. When you make good on your promise, guess what happens to the client? Yes, they want more of what you're selling.
Let's take the cartooning course, for example.
We make a solemn promise to everyone who joins the course. The promise goes like this: When you get to the 10-week mark, you will not only be able to draw, but you will also have your own character.
Think about the specificity of this promise for a while. The client is 99% sure they can't draw at all. They've tried to draw something or the other for the past 20 or 30 years, and it always looks like the work of a six-year-old. Then, there's a cartooning course that's not just making a generic pitch. Instead, it's giving you a target to aim for.
What happens next?
It's just like the movies. By Week 8, they already have a character in place. We said “Week 10”, but they get there earlier than before. Then we finish the course at Week 12 and ask: Would anyone like to continue? And immediately, most of the hands go up.
However, it doesn't stop there, either. We announce another course, launch another book, or hold a workshop, and the client knows one thing: there will be a promise, and you will keep it. Even if the client doesn't have much free time, they will sign up because they understand what really matters.
So what's the moral of the story so far?
Well, it's not one, or two, but three!
1: When a client is considering your product or service, they have a choice between the specific and the generic. Guess which one they will pick?
2: When they sign up and reach their goal, will they sign up for a follow-through?
3: If you have any other offerings for the client, are they less or more likely to sign up?
It's hard work getting clients, but even harder keeping them.
If you want to keep clients coming back, you need to a definite win for them from the very start. Why would you do otherwise? Do you want to spend all your time looking for new clients, or would you rather have clients that keep coming back?
Ok, so it's clear what works, but how are we supposed to know the result in advance?
Here's how to approach it step by step.
1: Start with the end in mind: Ask yourself: “If someone completes this course, what will they be able to do that they couldn’t do before?”
2: Make it specific:What's the transformation? What's the before and after?
3: Work backwards from a problem your client already has in place.
Let's take some examples that incorporate all these three.
Example 1: When you finish this photography course, you will be able to take dozens of photos of strangers, and they will give you permission to do so.
Example 2: By Week 10, you will have drawn a character you can use in a comic strip.
Example 3: By the end of this book, you’ll be able to repair your credit safely on your own.
The end is clear, it's a specific promise and there's a transformation.
Ok, that's the first element. Let's move on, shall we?
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