You should charge more for whatever you sell. And you should be unapologetic about it.
That's true for probably 80% of the students and clients I deal with, and for 90% or more of businesses I encounter along life's way.
“But Ray, my business is different.”
Aargh!
If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times from clients and students in some variant form: “I can't charge a high price for my product, and I can't use direct marketing or info-marketing techniques, because my product is different. It's a commodity. It's physical, it's not an info-product. I have a lot of competition. Blah, blah, blah…”
Balderdash.
I learned a long time ago (from Dan Kennedy) — your business is not different.
If you feel you can't charge a premium for whatever it is you sell, you have failed to differentiate your offering… you have failed to show the value of your widget/idea/service over your competitor(s)… and you have perhaps simply failed to have the backbone to say, “This is how much it costs.”
Case in point: The Big Green Egg grill.
The company that makes this thing is not a client of mine, but they exhibit the qualities I look for and do my best to instill in my clients: a committment to good marketing, to having a premium product, to charging a premium price, to selling to a base of fantatical customers, and to using good info-marketing and direct marketing techniques to support said practices.
They sell barbecue grills for $1,000.
That's not a typo.
In a world where you can buy a grill for $9 at the drug store, or $30 at Target, these guys sell grills for anywhere from $350 at the “cheap” end to more than $1,000 at the high end. And they have plenty of add-ons and upsells too.
You could learn a lot from the Big Green Egg guys.
Worth studying and thinking about how to use the same ideas, techniques and approaches in your business – no matter what you sell.
Because, despite what you may think… your business is not different.