As human beings we’re not that great at admitting when we get things wrong. It’s the reason why people can often stay attached to their opinions in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence.
Well I’m here today to say I got it wrong. Horribly wrong.
Pricing ‘How To Be Rich and Happy’ at $97 was a mistake that I hold my hands up to.
I’d just like to explain the thought process that went behind it and also behind what I want to achieve with this blog and my life coaching business in general.
I want to make a shit load of money!
Seriously I do, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. And the reason I want to sell a load of books is because I can then make even more money by charging my clients that can afford it an absolute fortune to work with me because I’m a famous author!
That’s a shocking admission, isn’t it?
The best kick I get out of Life Coaching bar none, is helping people that can’t normally afford to hire a coach.
Unfortunately, although I don’t lead an extravagant lifestyle I do still have to pay my rent and put food on the table. As such my ability to coach for free is limited. I’m usually backed up by at least 3 or 4 months and never even mention it here anymore or on my static site, because last time I did i had 50 people contact me and I felt a bit overwhelmed.
Both myself and John also want to make a load of money so we can print off hardback versions of the book and give them away to schools. That will be expensive and may take some time to do, but it’s part of the big picture.
We also want to be able to reward our awesome designer and SEO guy, Dave Raymond who hasn’t taken a penny off us, because he too believes in what we’re doing.
Less than 20% of books that are purchased ever get read. I would imagine that figure is much lower if you add ebooks into the equation. I really don’t want people buying this book and not reading it, seriously, what’s the point of that?
I want people to buy it, read it, absorb it, read it again, do the exercises and then implement the change they want to see in their lives.
By charging somebody $97 we knew we would get committed people. People that took their self development seriously, because the sheer act of spending $97 demonstrates a certain level of commitment and dedication to self improvement.
The irony is, I think the people that have already bought for $97 will get what we’re trying to do. They’ll also now know about the Rich and Happy matrix that puts value and worth way above cost.
However, we’re not just trying to sell an e-book, we’re trying to sell the concept of paying $97 for an e-book first and even with some stunning reviews, it’s something most people are struggling to get their head round. I understand that now.
So as of now, the book is at $47.
If you have bought at $97, worry not. I’ll be contacting you with an offer.
Sorry to hit your reader or e-mail with this post so soon after the post on procrastination, but I wanted to move quickly on this.
Thanks for your patience and support, I really do appreciate it!
Tim Brownson is a Certified Life Coach and has been unsticking people and helping them reach their true potential since 2005. If you would like to know how he can help you
Tim, if all your decisions had been 100% on the money the first time, you’d have had nothing to teach me.
And I mean that 100% sincerely and 100% giggling at how hokey it sounds.
My mum would say I was just being ‘Scotch’ but I guess I am just one of the 20% because I read every book I purchase and is given to me.
I would still buy your book, well when I get paid this month, at $97 because I would hope the refund would send a copy to the school of my choice for others to enjoy.
I will also need to pay my IT person to download said ebook, because I keep not getting them- so JD now sends my copies of his books via pdf file….
When I finish my book it will be worth big bucks too, because I am worthy of it and so is my work.
I do have a rule – food and bills first – before I buy another book or give away my partner’s money ….
I’ll be back :)
Tim, for what my (completely non-expert!) opinion is worth … I think this is a really really good decision.
Big kudos to you and John on doing it, and on explaining the reasoning.
This is wonderful! I think you’re making a good decision – the price definitely held me up. Once people start hearing about it from their friends and family, you can always raise the price if you feel so inclined. While you’re getting started though, I agree, it’s hard for people to buy into something when they don’t know enough about it ahead of time to know whether it is worth it.
I am really enjoying reading your book and I am excited to know that you’re making it more available to people who are in need of reading it. Thank you.
Hi Tim!
I love this post. I think it shows that you have good intentions, and goals a lot of us can relate to.
Even though I was never on board with the $97 price tag, I understood the idea that what you have to share is valuable. Your writing has helped me immensely, as I’m sure it’s helped others, as well.
I look forward to writing a review, and I can’t wait to hear about your future success with the book!
Lori
And yet, there are ebooks that sell like hotcakes at $97, and people will even rave about what a steal they are at that price. Or does that work only when the topic is internet marketing?
Anyway, at half the price, you’ll probably get far more than twice as many sales. And while you may get some buyers who don’t actually read the book because their investment wasn’t as significant to them, it’s really up to them to take action.
I have to agree with everyone else here, it was a good decision. It’s just a shame my affiliate income will drop for future sales :P
- Glen
This feels like a good choice.
Gotta sell twice as many of your books now…
JJ
Thanks a lot everybody, I appreciate the support.
I have to confess that I always felt a tad uncomfortable with the cost. Not because I didn’t think it’s worth it, but because we were wide open for criticism from people that simply looked at the price.
Like the person from the comments in the last post that felt qualified to say the book is BS even though he’s never read it.
@ Hunter – Such is life I guess, maybe if we’d called it How To Be Rich and Happy in Marketing we’d have been ok ;-)
I know we just talked about this, but I just wanted to say that I’m really proud of this decision, Tim. It takes a lot of courage and integrity to make a decision like this, but it’ll help you stand behind your product.
As a plus, it makes it easier for your supporters – like yours truly – to talk about it, as well.
Bravo!
When you made the original announcement I had to bite my tongue as I saw what was going to happen (I had hoped otherwise though).
I don’t think the problem is actually the price.
The main problems I see are:
1) The downloadable excerpt (which claims to be 3 chapters but I think is 3 sections) does not give a clear enough indication of any value that the book might contain. I think you would need to give 3 real chapters of content for people to assess whether the book is going to be worth the $97 or not. From my perspective I have not seen evidence in the sections I read to warrant a $47 price tag either – so I’m not anticipating you will get a massive increase in sales – or a doubling in sales – by reducing the price. Having said that I admit that with a money-back guarantee people who thought it wasn’t worth the $97 or $47 could always get their money back (but as another side issue most people don’t like to ask for their money back which is why a lot of internet marketers offer such guarantees – that’s not a criticism of your guarantee just an observation that people might not make a purchase, because they feel they might have to ask for their money back).
2) I think the title is wrong. This was something I mentioned way back on this blog (I think you asked for feedback on your proposed title). I just think you made a mistake in titling the book – not with the price. The trouble with using the word “rich”, because of its connotations with money, is that it puts the book into a category that is already swamped – and swamped with a mixture ranging from snake oil, to not very good, to very good, to excellent. Unfortunately a lot of the books that come under the genre fall into the snake oil category. This puts you e-book into the “get rich for $97 bucks” category, which is somewhere I think you really don’t want to be.
I think this is by far the biggest problem with the book – but combined with 1) above is just deadly. I also think most of your likely market are not particularly interested in being “rich”.
3) Lack of precedence – what I mean by that is where is the evidence that this book is worth $97 dollars? I think you should have given out a number of free copies to the community and go some solid peer reviews. This is one big advantage of traditional publishing routes (where you have a publisher and a printed copy and a marketing push) – although of course that doesn’t always stop rubbish filtering through – the process is a little more open than with e-books.
Now I am NOT saying the book is not worth $97 or $47 dollars, just you have to understand people standing the other side of the transaction. Give them a little bit more of a basis to go on, so they don’t feel like they are taking a flying punt with their dosh.
I think if you retitle, get some free copies (30 or 40) out there to be reviewed on some of the better sites (and link to the reviews), and make the first three or four real chapters downloadable, I think you might be in with a shout, even at $47 bucks (which is still not cheap).
p.s. I hope this is taken as constructive criticism. I’ve been a fan of your site for years.
@ Cahrlie – Thanks man I appreciate your support!
@ Tony – Absolutely no offense taken mate I know you well enough by now!
You make some good points and ones we have been considering. I’ll answer them for you so you know where we are.
!) Yep! We know this, the issue we have however, is that the next session s very long and dives head first into values.
We’d have to let people read all of that section or it may just confuse them. However, to give them all of the section when that would amount to about 1/4 of the book and probably the most important part (according to reviewer feedback) may be going a tad too far.
But you are right that maybe we need to snatch sections and bundle them together as the download.
2) The title has received great feedback. In fact I can honestly say you are the first person to say directly to me you don’t like it. Again we know the risks we’re taking, but we think it epitomizes what we’re doing, so anything else would have been a cop out.
3) That’s exactly what we did. We gave out about 40 copies and have had to date about 13 reviews gone live with more to come. The feedback has been stunning. Every single review has been massively positive and every single review said the book was worth the money.
Unfortunately the ‘A’ list bloggers are hard to get to read anything because they get inundated. I get 2 or 3 books a month so imagine how many Leo from Zen Habits gets! He has got a copy of HTBRAH as has Problogger, Naomi at Itty Biz, Seth Godin, Jonathan Fields and a load of others, but it’ll take time.
I have personally written to everybody that bought the book at full price offering them a refund. To date only 5 have replied, but 2 of those said they didn’t want the refund because the book was worth the $97!
I completely agree with Tony, I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m a big fan of yours as well and own your other book, but I couldn’t justify the cost without more of a sample of what I could expect from the book.
Ok so I was just thinking about this.
I have been writing this blog for over 3 years now. I have spent thousands of hours writing stuff and giving it away as well as two e-books that I originally gave away even though they cost me about $500 a piece to put together excluding my time.
What I am about to say is not a dig at either you Paul or you Tony.
Both of you guys are regular readers and both said you are fans. You must have read lots of my material and know what I bring to the table. You know there is a genuine money book offer on the book and you can read the first 3 sections that will give you a flavor of Johns writing.
Yet you want more proof in the form of more free stuff? How about I send it on a sale or return basis as John suggested with his reader?
Tracys Review – http://ihatemymessageboard.com/reviews/how-to-be-rich-and-happy/
Tracys interview – http://ihatemymessageboard.com/reviews/an-interview-with-tim-brownson-and-john-strelecky/
Steve’s review – http://mywifequitherjob.com/book-review-how-to-be-rich-and-happy-by-tim-brownson-and-john-strelecky/
Johnnys review – http://johnnybtruant.com/what-tim-and-john-have-to-do-with-pie-and-why-you-should-check-them-out/
Debs review – http://debowen.typepad.com/8hours/2009/10/berichandhappy.html
Vlads review – http://vladdolezal.com/blog/2009/how-to-be-rich-and-happy/
Hunters interview – http://hunternuttall.com/blog/2009/10/how-to-be-rich-and-happy/
Christines review – http://www.adifferentkindofwork.com/2009/10/04/how-to-be-rich-and-happy-a-book-review/
Glens review – http://www.pluginid.com/how-i-operate-online/
Alis review – http://www.aliventures.com/review-rich-and-happy/
Wait, wait, wait…what I’m getting from this conversation is that I’m not an A-list blogger.
Damn.
Just damn.
You know, I can understand why somebody would want a review from a bigger name. After all they have reputations earned by consistently providing value and wouldn’t be likely to risk that by pushing something that was rubbish.
However, I’d like to think that reviews by smaller bloggers like myself have value, too. I’m guessing the people who want to read this book have a lot in common with me. I’m mostly a stay at home mom who, with the help of Tim’s coaching and now HTBRAH, has a plan in place to be able to work at something that I love full time when my kids go to school and still be able to give my family the time they need and I want to give them.
That’s a rich and happy dream I think a lot of folks can relate to. And I do hope that by reading how I am making it work for myself, others are inspired to take the steps to make it work for them, too.
I say this not because I was in any way offended by the comments above, just wanted to remind people not to discount the smaller voices reviewing this book. I’d encourage folks to read them all and see if there is anyone YOU can relate to and find out what they thought of the book.
Interesting conversation on this, thanks for letting us have a peek at your process.
I agree with Tony on #1, I think it would be more effective if the download was a true “free sample” that would allow the reader to get some real-life benefit. That’s especially true for folks who haven’t been hanging out on your blog, so we haven’t seen your genius in action. :) Ideally, the sample would, itself, provide more than $100 worth of value. A bundle is an excellent idea, with samplings from later in the book.
Cool project, I hope you do really well with it! FWIW, I think the title is good.
@Tim: well it sounds like you are doing all the right things – especially with regards the reviews and links etc – I must admit I didn’t see them when I originally looked at the Rich and Happy site – and the only review I saw was one you linked to from here which was actually a partial review. I would encourage you to get those links into a really prominent position if you haven’t already done so.
Yeah I think the title thing is just me being anally retentive then – I just don’t like the word “rich” :) It sounds like it was simply a case of you getting some serious negative feedback on the price issue and you doing something about it – kudos to you that is great!
On the point you have already given away a lot of free stuff – yes you have, and it really is great stuff which is why I keep coming back to read your site! In my earlier comment I wasn’t explaining “why I didn’t buy the book”, but suggesting why others might. They might not be even aware of your blog/site – especially if they went directly to the Rich and Happy site.
For myself I didn’t buy the book because I don’t feel I need it. I solved issues around money years ago and have a system that works well – and I consider myself to be pretty happy on the whole. If I was in the market for such a book I would have no hesitation in forking over the cash because I respect what you say. I was thinking more for other people who are less familiar with all your blog content and who don’t know your background. Sorry if it sounded like a “I want more free stuff” rant! :)
I’m sure these issues will iron themselves out in the next few weeks, especially as word gets around and people start hitting the reviews.
@ Tracy – I know what you’re saying and you know my thoughts on blogging superstars, do you even want o be one? You also know I am hugely grateful for your support as I am for all the people that have reviewed the book.
The fact is though, rightly or wrongly some bloggers have the power to sell books and some have much less power. When I ran an ad on Zen Habits a year or so ago I had over 300 downloads! And that without an endorsement from Leo.
@ Sonia – Your probably both right and that is something I am going to bring up when we all meet on Tuesday. Thanks.
@ Tony – LMAO, you know what? When I was thinking of the reasons why people may not buy it never even crossed my mind they may already be Rich and Happy! Thanks for pointing that out!
I thought is was funny the the only people who could afford a book called “How to be Rich and Happy” were rich people. I think they already have the rich part down.
Live and learn….
[...] week Tim wrote this blog explaining his decision to reduce the cost to $47 (which includes access to a library of instructional videos). I slept better that night than [...]
@ Laurie – Really? You think an investment of $97 requires somebody to be monetarily rich?
Wow, that’s one helluva limiting belief you’re holding onto there!
Hi Tim,
What an interesting conversation!
As one of your reviewers, you know I thought the book was excellent, and I supported the original price. Everyone gets things wrong from time to time and I admire your courage for coming out so quickly and saying you got it wrong with this.
The thing I can’t get my head round is, are you saying now that the reason you’d originally priced the book the way you had was because you wanted to make a lot of money? Don’t get me wrong; I don’t have a problem with you wanting to make lots of money. But I am a little concerned that you posted a comment on my site to one of my readers that was to the contrary. So, any clarification you could offer on this would be much appreciated.
Hi Tim~
Just thought I would add to comment that my review of How to Be Rich and Happy is up!
http://seeinggood.com/how-to-be-rich-and-happy-book-review/
Lori
@ Christine – Oops my sense of humor gets me in trouble sometimes! What I meant is I want the money so I can use it help more people by doing pro bono coaching.
Would I like lots of money? Of course because of the ability that gives me to do other things like giving free copies of the book away for instance.
Am I driven by the desire to make lots of money? Absolutely not, which is why I only see 3 clients per day and left a 6 figure salary to become a coach.
Does that make sense?
Okay, I got it.
Your saying that makes me wonder whether you couldn’t say something overtly in your pricing about a percentage of it going to offer pro bono coaching/free copies of the book to people who’d value them, but can’t afford them. So, in other words, be positively up front about your sense of social responsibility? Just an idea.
@ Christine – I’ll not do that. I wouldn’t have even mentioned it in this post if I didn’t thought I needed to.
It can look manipulative and phoney to people that don’t know you and in the final analysis I want the book to sell on its own merits.
@Tim- it is a limiting factor if you don’t have $97 to invest. I would try to buy it with 97 dollars worth of grocery store coupons but I don’t think that would go over big with your co-writer. I’m sure it is a wonderful book, but I can’t buy it on my good looks…Watch what you say Tim!
@ Laurie – I have to say that I offered it you to my initial client rate of $27.
Having said that, I do know plenty of people that $27 would be a stretch. I also know some people where $27 is a stretch but they make it happen if they saw the value ;-)
[...] also experienced a lot of racism here. It was very interesting to check out though and thanks to Tim Brownson for the [...]
Here’s my perspective as someone who had never read any of your material as recently as 2 weeks ago. I’d heard your name from several other folks I follow, but never bothered to click over and see what the fuss was all about.
I heard about the book through either Glen Allsopp or Johnny Truant (can’t remember which one was first), and came over, read the sales copy, watched the video, and read the free sample. I was intrigued, but like many people, I was somewhat put off by the price.
As for the title, had it simply been titled “How to Be Happy”, I would have probably dismissed it as fluff. Somehow adding the “rich” element gives it an air of practicality that I found appealing.
The free sample did seem light. After reading the sales copy on the web site, and watching the video, I felt like I’d already heard what the sample held. But then I dug into your blog, and realized it was all a massive “free sample”. Very pithy stuff, and wittily presented. Now I was even more intrigued, and feeling like this was something I could really use.
I had a debate with myself about the price, wondering at what price would I just go ahead and buy it. $27? Sure. $37? I think so. $67? Geez, I don’t know. This all seemed especially ridiculous when weighed it against the 12 month money back guarantee, but nevertheless this is the thought process I found myself in. I guess I came up thinking that a price over $50 made me uncomfortable, but a price under that eliminated whatever angst I had. Why? Well, maybe some of the self-reflection this book will provoke will help me eventually answer that question.
Not surprisingly then, with this price drop, I went ahead and took the plunge. I’m barely into it so far, and can’t therefore give a review. I understand the initial thinking behind the higher price, but if it created an obstacle for those who would be truly dedicated to the process (at the expense of having more people who never do anything with it), then I think you’ve made the right choice. Thanks!
@ Doug – Good sum up and thanks for taking the time to do so.
We have seen a spike in sales since we lowered it so maybe we have overcome that mental barrier.
As I said above the irony is that when people have finished reading the book I hope they’ll start to make future decisions based on worth/value and not on cost.
Feel free to comment back here when you have read it. I wont filter comments so if you hate it, say so!
BTW, we are making the free download twice as long from next week because you are also right about it’s basically the same info as on the sales page and video.
Hi Tim
I had no hesitation in hitting the buy button on How to be Rich and Happy as soon as I saw your half price discounted rate you offered your blog readers – and not because of the discount so much as the value I knew I’d get from it. That and the fact that I get so much value and enjoyment from your free blog, insights, ideas, humour etc made it a no brainer for me and an opportunity to give a bit back. I’m probably with Doug on the thought process about the higher price, but only for the simple reason that I recently spent out a lot on other training – not because I doubt the book’s worth/value. Have only skimmed it so far, but planning to read it on my up-coming holiday – and very much looking forward to it and feeding back.
All the best for now
Tamsin@nudgeme
I really appreciate the honesty! Even though each of us is out there running the hamster wheel trying to amass our own fortunes, its not everyday that someone is bold enough to admit it!
I applaud your honesty! I have learned a lesson here today…
Cheers