Work Yourself Up!

How to Set Prices for Information Products

The prices for information products are largely determined by the product owner. That’s far more freedom than that of a book on the shelf at a major retailer. Print books have to make enough to pay the author, editor, printing, marketing, publisher profit and cut to the retailer.

Information products only pay the owner and affiliate sales. No inventory to store, no big upfront costs and if it doesn’t sell, just transfer it to an archive file or hit the delete key. When you consider all of those factors, the information product owner has freedom to set the prices with one exception - what will the market pay?

That’s the tricky part. Ebooks are well established in every genre from textbooks to popular topics so the price is dependent on the market and the following of the author.  Let’s say you’re starting out and lack that major following, how do you price your product?

Start by surveying the prices on comparable information products on at least a dozen sites or vendors. Have you noticed that many information products end in “7?” Popular pricing is $17, $27, $47.

This price seems to click with many buyers.  Other frequently used price points are $9.95, $19.95, $39.95. The “.95” is borrowing a retailer’s trick of making the price sound less than it really is.

After all, $19.95 isn’t a full twenty bucks since buyers tend to ignore the impact of retail tax or shipping. With information products delivered electronically, the $19.95 is the true price, leaving a big nickel for whatever a nickel still buys.

It’s not the nickel - it the psychological satisfaction of spending less than twenty dollars. The $17 products have the same appeal of spending less than twenty dollars.  Look for the middle ground in pricing.

Avoid starting too low or the value of your product won’t be seen as worthwhile. Even if you start slightly higher than comparables, you have room for a price reduction or a “special offer” at the next lowest price point.

Think of how many times you see the infamous television infomercials that flash the price as $129 with reductions that end up at $39.95. The buyer gets excited about getting a discount when the product was never going to sell at the inflated price in the first place. It’s about letting the buyer win.

Price only matters as part of the equation.  Don’t give your buyers a reason to focus on the price. Keep them focused on the product and the excitement of the purchase and they’ll be willing to pay based on the perceived value and not the dollar amount you put on your product.

Follow the Problem

A well known catch phrase from a popular movie is “follow the money.” For Internet marketing, the best advice is “follow the problem.”  The most effective online products are those that address problems.

How to break into Internet marketing. How to lose weight.  How to avoid foreclosure in a down market. These are problems that drive people to search engines desperately looking for answers.  How do you know what people want and need to know?

You have to research and listen into the online conversations in your niche. Start with keyword research for your topic.  Check in with Google Labs and find out what the trend of online interest is based on up to the minute searches.  Over days or weeks, you can see when the trend shifts and a new hot topic rises.

Another expanded Google tool, the Google Talk Labs, lets you get involved in conversations about trend topics. You have a chance to interact and possibly influence the conversation. At the same time, you want to drop into several discussion forums that focus on your niche.

Don’t be a lurker, be involved. You can use a different name - just make sure that you contribute to the conversation. Nothing will get you barred from a forum faster than showing up with a sales pitch instead of being a participant.

Once you make several posts and join the conversation, then you earn the to right to offer suggestions or recommendations. That’s another reason why you want to use a name other than your own name so that you aren’t obviously recommending your own site.

When you get a hint of a problem from comments in the forum, be bold and ask, “Does anybody have a good resource for how to . . . ” If no one has a suggestion, there’s a product waiting for you to develop.

You can also get a feel for problems by scanning major blogs like Technorati and Boing Boing. Subscribe to blogs that are popular with followers of your niche interest. Chances are they will comment on those blogs.

If you find that there’s a product to address the problem, take a look at it. What can you do to improve, simplify, expand or add a new twist to that answer? Is it a high priced product? Then you need to develop something at a slightly lower price point.

Is it too cheap and vague? That’s your cue to add more substance, get endorsements from reviewers and position your product as the premium solution. Millions are made online by solving simple problems where the public is using the ‘net to find a solution.

How to Use Waiting Time Productively

Do you get impatient when you have to wait in line at the bank or sit for an extra hour at the doctor’s office? Instead of getting frustrated with wait time, put that time to good use. As you look over your daily to-do list, identify places that you are likely to have to wait.

Then you can go prepared with an easy to carry project or reading.  You can even keep something in your car or briefcase that you would enjoy doing while waiting. Perhaps it’s catching up on popular magazines or business journals.

You might take that time to plan your next decorating project and identify the items that you need to purchase. Here are dozen ways to use wait time productively and make the time pass faster:

1.    Read a motivational book that will change your mindset in ways that will empower you to reach new goals.

2.    Scan the directions to a building project or clothing pattern and get the process firmly in mind before you start to cut.

3.    Bring a pile of coupon pages collected from several weeks of newspapers. As you clip the coupons, add in the proper tab of a coupon file

4.    Plan what you need for a birthday party, barbeque or other social event that you are hosting or coordinating

5.    Carry a small tote with knitting, crochet or mending to work on while you wait.

6.    Sketch at random in a small sketchbook that fits in your pocket or purse.

7.    Study for an upcoming test or review material so you help your child study

8.    Download a podcast onto your Mp3 player. Instead of just music, choose a podcast topic that you want to learn about and listen to it with ear-buds

9.    Use your day planner to make a to-do list for next week

10.    Play games on your cell phone, just turn off the noise so that others are not bothered

11.    Work crossword puzzles or Sudoku

12.    Daydream – there’s nothing wrong with zoning out while you wait.

Why depend on finding new magazines or someone interesting to talk with when you are stuck waiting? Bring your own “on hold” activities so that wait time become productive and seems to go by faster.

Get Your To-Do List Under Control

Is your to-do list almost too long to read every day? Or have you simply given up trying to keep a current to-do list. Don’t give up; get your to-do list under control to compliment your time management strategies.

To begin, you need to understand that a to-do list is a “hot list” not a planning pad, wish list or long term idea starter. Your to-do list is for tasks that must be accomplished in 48 hours or less. For anything further ahead, use advance planning list or add the items to your day planner for the appropriate due date.

Start by writing down every task you need to complete on individual index cards. Arrange the cards in three piles: Must Do, Need to Do, Want to Do. The “Must Do” pile is the tasks that have to be completed in 24 hours.

Take any “Must Do” items that could wait an extra day and place them on the next day’s to-do list. These are what some time management systems call the “A” level tasks.  Next sort the “Need to Do” or “B” level tasks. These are important to do in the next day or two but not as imperative as showing up for a presentation or catching a plane.

Finally, deal with the “Want to Do” or “C” level tasks that could be done any time in the next several days.  Some time management systems suggest that you toss out the “C” tasks or add them to a “Someday” list for when you have extra time.

Of course, that’s humorous since you need a time management system because you are already overscheduled.  If you want to include these, just make sure they don’t serve as a distraction from necessary items. For example, you might enjoy surfing the net for collectible books but you don’t need to do that “C” item when you have an “A” list report due in four hours.

How many items can you manage on a daily to-do list? It depends on whether each item is a one step process or multi-step process.  With complex tasks, you may only be able to reasonably complete 3 or 4 “Must Do” items in a day. As you are adjusting to this time management technique, make a note by each item about how much time you expect to spend on this task.

You can create a paper to-do list or one on your computer, just as long as it’s easily accessible during the day. When an item is done, cross it off, make a checkmark beside it or in some way be able to see what’s done from what needs to be done.

If you use an electronic to-do list, you can add color background for each level. The advantage of color-coding items is that you can quickly see how many yellow highlighted Must Do items are left compared with the green highlighted Need to Do items.

At the end of the day, transfer any remaining important items to the proper category on the next day’s to-do list. When you finish the day and see most or all of the “Must Do” items finished and crossed off your list, it’s a great sense of relief and motivation to keep your time management system working for you.

Autoresponder – Your Electronic Personal Assistant

The best outcome of your first online marketing campaign is a big response.  The worst outcome is being overwhelmed by thousands of responses awaiting your response. Online buyers expect instant response to their information requests.

So not only will you frustrate your potential clients, but you’ll wear yourself out trying to handle this alone. That’s where you hire the inexhaustible personal assistant, the autoresponder. Just set up your autoresponder to perform all of the tasks you need, and then you’re free to move on to the next campaign.

The autoresponder catches those email requests and in a split second sends information back.  You can set the autoresponder to actually sound personal by sending the friendly, welcoming note that you wrote.

The autoresponder also captures the email information of prospects or buyers. That’s absolute gold for building your email list. Smart Internet marketers use this list to stay in touch on a regular basis.

No, you don’t have to irritate with daily emails. But you do want to give them a “sneak preview” and pre-sale buying opportunity for your new product along with many free tips. Another great use of the autoresponder is to send regular newsletters.

Offering a free niche market newsletter helps you get those valuable email opt-ins.  Some prospects want to learn more about your product before buying. The newsletter is a tool for developing trust with potential buyers. 

The fact is that buyers would rather choose products from trusted sources than take a chance on the unknown, so keep the relationship solid with regular, meaningful communication. Your autoresponder can handle multiple lists and different messages.

That gives you a way to tailor the email to prospects for each product. One of the biggest mistakes that marketers make is failing to target the message for each product prospect. They get lazy, write one message and one thank you note and then move on.

The autoresponder is capable of so much more work for you. Give each list a distinct name that relates to the product so that you can easily identify the list.    If the autoresponder tool seems daunting, take time to view the tutorials.

Even if you have an active list under management, scan the tutorials to see if there are new tricks you can learn for maximizing the effectiveness of your autoresponder emails.  Keep your electronic personal assistant busy and you’ll make more money online with less effort.

Get Green Online

The renewed interest in green living opens enormous opportunities for online marketers. With a constant stream of news about global warming, damage to the rain forests and escalating oil prices more people are searching on line to find “green” answers that make life easier and better without damaging the environment.

Cater to this green living revolution and you’ll have a wealth of product possibilities. Start by searching ClickBank and PLR article sites for “Green living” topics. Whether you find eBooks or a set of articles that can be combined into eBooks, you want to provide information on how the average person can go green. 

You can also take some of the ideas and create videos or podcasts to explain the methods. Many people live in housing built without green living in mind. Show them how to adapt their current home with simple and cost effective means.

Search for products that are “green friendly” and low to moderately priced to go with your low cost green theme information products.  Become an affiliate marketer for these products. Some excellent green products come from entrepreneurs who may not know about affiliate online marketing. 

Explain to them how you can help each other. Offer to add some free articles or an eBook to their website. You’ll open up new markets where both of you benefit financially. Create a “green” website.

You can even find web providers who claim to use mostly green equipment. Thinkhost.com uses wind and solar energy to power of its server capacity, recycles, sets up commuting plans for employees and donates generously to environmental causes. 

You can brag about this hosting service and make money as an affiliate marketer. While you’re at it, borrow from their concept about giving back. Designate a featured product on your site and pledge to donate 15% of each purchase to a nationally or internationally known environmental protection organization.

Use your information to create a “Green Home” mini course. Offer the 5 lessons as an eBook or on video. Each lesson is a chance to promote your other products. Connect with as many environmental product sites as you can get to add your free course.

Do the keyword research on various environmentally friendly products. You’ll find so many options - from hybrid cars to bamboo fiber clothing (which is soft and luxurious to wear). There are big ticket items such as home sized windmills, solar panels, solar water heaters, low flow showers or toilets and building products. 

Increase volume sales potential with eco-chic clothing, sustainable gardening, reviews of energy conserving appliances, low VOC paints and other practical ways to live “green.” This is one evergreen niche that you can feel good promoting!

Energize Your eBook Sales

You worked so hard to prepare an eBook that’s right on trend in your niche. After the initial burst of sales, all that remains is a trickle of buyers.  Even your returns are rising. So what just happened?

The information is solid and unique. Do you have to change the content to pump up the sales? No, but you may need to make simple adjustments to get those sales back on the rise and prevent more refund requests.

Give away free samples. You know how that draws people in the grocery store or at the coffee shop. Everybody wants to try something that’s free.  Let prospective buyers have a sample of your eBook.

Provide a link on your website that allows viewers to read a sample chapter. Then circulate that link to every site, forum and discussion group in your niche.  The more people who sample your work, the more potential buyers you attract. 

The free sample is another way to reduce requests for refunds. The buyer has a chance to see if this is the kind of information and presentation that’s worth buying.  You can also add a free look at the table of contents. An informed buyer is more likely to be a satisfied buyer.

Don’t be afraid to highlight the money back guarantee. Rather than prompt refunds, a strong guarantee of satisfaction actually reduces refunds.   Add a gold seal or other icon that shows a guarantee symbol.

Buyers want to know that their purchase information is safe. Instead of saying, “ Your order is secure” add to your link “Order Now on our Secure SSL Server” (or other appropriate security message).

Speaking of the Order Now link, apply this several times in your sales letter and in several locations on the sales page.  Each time you add more reasons to purchase or add a bonus offer, put in the Order Now link.

Don’t make your prospect search for how to buy. You want to grab them while they’re still overwhelmed by the urge to have what you’re selling. Inside your eBook is another place for the Check New Titles link.

You can add it in the copy a few times as long as you don’t interrupt the flow of the content. Have that link in the opening page with your welcome, in the signature line of your “about the author” page and on the last page of the copy.

If you already have a title for the next eBook, use that in the link. While the reader is enjoying your work, it’s a great time to promote another eBook. Make it easy for a satisfied reader to find and buy more eBooks from you.

Add a bonus survey at the end of the eBook. Ask your reader to “review” this eBook by answering a few questions for a Special Free Bonus Gift.  Add the link for the review. When the reader finishes, the review goes into your autoresponder and the Bonus Gift is sent immediately with a note from you. 

The Bonus Gift is the incentive to complete the survey. You can get useful information from your readers that will help in targeting your next product. But even if the survey information isn’t that important, it’s a way to build a relationship with your buyers. Let them know what you have to offer and give past buyers the first chance to get your newest information products.

Traffic Conversion by Doing the Unexpected

Techniques for traffic conversion are well known in the Internet marketing community, but most that are used are basic. They work well, but not spectacularly. What you need is to find a new twist on traffic conversion.

Perhaps what you need isn’t something different, but a different approach. You might find that taking an unexpected route is just what your site needs to increase buyer response.

Replace “want” with “fear.” Sure it’s great that a viewer wants your product, but desire isn’t as strong as fear. Make your sales copy emphasize the scarcity of the product and how terrible it would be to miss out. 

“You can spend hours trying to make those purchased templates look like a custom website but you’re stuck with a few colors and choices. Meanwhile, marketers with XYZ Web Page Super Package are up and running in an hour with the look of expensive graphics.” 

Now the reader pictures the competition making money while he’s still fighting with fonts. That’s fear – fear of being left out.

Long sales copy works only if it’s not boring.  In an effort to create the typical long sales letter, inexperienced writers just repeat the same information with little variation. This isn’t the time to “do it yourself.”

Professional writers know how to get that same information across in fresh ways so that each section of the sales letter is familiar, yet not repetitious. If you don’t have the skill do to that, then hire a professional copywriter. What you pay for a good sales letter is a direct investment in traffic conversion. Consider it a one-time expense for endless traffic conversion opportunities.

Raise the price. But wait, if sales are falling, why would charging more be better? You may have under-priced your product, which gives it a lower value in the viewer’s perspective. Add another section or package with a second information product.

Change the cover design. Add new delivery options so that a buyer can choose eBook, CD or MP3 audio product formats. These small changes give you a reason to bump up the price. And don’t get chicken by going from $9.95 to $12.95. Take the price up to $17 or $27 and hype the promotion.  You can do a limited time discount - “Order now to get the product for $12.95 because in 48 hours, the price goes to $17!”

Make a Limited Time Offer.  Create urgency by offering a one time purchase to a limited number of buyers for a short time. This plays to fear (“what if I miss it”) and scarcity (“I want it before someone else gets it”). 
Then take it off the market at the end of the offer. Nothing discredits you more than repeated “limited time” runs. Remove the product, make a few changes or updates and add something else to the package. Then - and only then - can you bring back the product without losing face and buyers.