The KISS of pricing death
Published: Fri, 10/23/20
“[Gene’s book Kisstory] was not sold in bookstores (who would normally take fifty percent of the sale price) or through a distributor. There was no publishing house, which normally took the lion’s share of profits to split with. . .With more than 90,000 books sold to date Kisstory has made almost twelve million dollars. I went against the wisdom of the publishing world that said the marketplace wouldn’t bear a $158.95 book. I didn’t agree with my bandmates that it was too expensive and should cost somewhere around $50 or $75. I stubbornly stuck to the notion that it was never the price but only whether or not you got bang for your buck.”
One of the single “most asked” questions I get from Email Players subscribers is:
“Ben how do I price my offers!”
To which my answer is always the same:
Price for consumption.
What price is going to best get your book/newsletter consumed?
Go too cheap and people are far less likely to consume it.
Go too high and enough people to make it worth your while may not buy it all, much less consume it.
That’s a very subjective thing, of course. And it is a function of knowing your list, communicating with your list, and constantly selling to your list so you can feel and interpret what they want, how much they are willing to pay, and what the ideal price is. But that is the reason why Gene Simmons commanded $158.95 ($269.21 in 2020’s money) for a book about his band with zero “benefits!”, and why the late Jim Straw raked in $997.00 for a 160 page eBook (PDF!), and why I routinely get (for example) nearly $1,000 for some of my books… with people still wanting to buy more of my offers afterwards.
It’s also why copying someone else’s price is the kiss of death.
It’s extremely stupid & lazy, too.
Something else:
As important as pricing for consumption is, it is actually the second thing I do when it comes to determining how much I charge for a particular title. The first thing I always do is run a reliable mathematical formula — you can do with the calculator on your phone, with 3rd grade math skills — that works perfectly for selling books and newsletters or anything printed/physical, in my experience, that must be calculated first.
This “formula” makes sure you always have enough profit margin.
It also gives you a hard minimum price to start with first, too.
What is this magical formula, you ask?
You can find that little zinger on page 183 inside my new “elBenbo Press” book.
Plus, I also go a lot deeper than this email does into my “price for consumption” teaching (there are many “moving parts” to it), as well as give guidance — not hard answers, since every business is different — for adjusting the economics of your offers so a lot of problems publishers struggle with when it comes to pricing, printing, mailing, and fulfillment all but evaporate.
But a warning:
Do NOT just buy this book on blind impulse.
What it teaches is not easy and fast, if it was everyone would be doing it. And if it didn't require a lot of hard work and hard thinking everyone would be doing it.
Plus, it is very much a “Ben Settle 400-level” training.
For better or worse, that means it is not at-all newbie-friendly. And while I’m not saying you have to have all my other books or be an Email Players subscriber to use it… I will say the longer you’ve been reading my emails, the more of my books you’ve read, and the more of “me” you are familiar with, the more suited you are for this information.
It’s also my most expensive book yet, too.
But, during the launch this week I am offering it at a thick $300.00 discount off the price listed on the sales page until tonight, Friday, October 23 at midnight EDT.
Here is the link:
https://www.EmailPlayers.com/press
Use code SIZZLE at the checkout.
And make sure you see the price change before entering any info.
Ben Settle
P.S. If you are interested in buying this book, read the sales letter very carefully before pulling the trigger. This book is not only expensive, but the information inside requires substantial amounts of effort, ambition, patience, time, and discipline to learn, master, and profit from.
Don’t say you weren’t warned.