How Can I Charge For Something That People Expect For Free?

[iMarketer]

Before you go getting all excited thinking I've got answers, this post is more of a question.

I just had a great idea for an info product (due to my own frustrations in this area). I did some KW research, found out that a LOT of people are searching on some keywords that would work for the product, and there are only one or two ads on the keywords in Google. Now, I love the fact that there is hardly any paid competition, but all the top search results are dominated by ways to solve this problem for free. They don't deal with the exact problem, but they're all "tips" or "how to" sites, listing free advice.

So I KNOW that the market wants answers - they're feeling the pain, same as me, by the hundreds of thousands. That's a perfect place to start for a product. However, does anyone have ideas how to get past the fact that it seems people have become accustomed to seeing a lot of free information out there?

I'd love to hear your ideas...

Jonathan

[Kyle Tully]

Originally Posted by iMarketer

Before you go getting all excited thinking I've got answers

The thought never entered my mind

Originally Posted by iMarketer

So I KNOW that the market wants answers - they're feeling the pain, same as me, by the hundreds of thousands. That's a perfect place to start for a product.

Actually the perfect place to start a product is with a starving crowd of proven buyers. If they're not already buying then it's likely not worth your time.

However, if you do want to go after this market (and you have been warned), then you need to be able to provide a solution faster, easier, longer lasting etc than the free stuff, and be able to justify your price based on those factors.

[iMarketer]

LOL

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

Actually the perfect place to start a product is with a starving crowd of proven buyers. If they're not already buying then it's likely not worth your time.

Hmm.. proven buyers eh? Yes, that makes sense. Well, these would be the type of people who would be frequently buying industry magazines and the like...

I wonder what sort of results I would get if I were to run an Ask Campaign on those keywords?

[dburk]

Hi iMarketer,

Why not advertise a free report and then followup with a comprehensive paid solution.

[X]

There's always a way or an angle -

People won't pay for "spiritual principles",
but they will pay for "the secret" or "the
law of attraction" or "the attractor factor",
etc. IE, spiritual principles that will help
them get the **** they want.

Or, offer the "solution" as a free bonus
to something they have to pay for - the
only way to get the bonus is to buy the
package - and, of course, the main product
is something relational that they WOULD
pay for.

[myob]

Give away something free that people would expect to pay for. One superb marketing idea I learned was from a Real Estate agent. She wrote a rather comprehensive book on how to sell your home without a real estate agent, and save 10's of thousands of dollars from commissions. She gave way free by advertising in the real estate section of major metropolitan newspapers. (The ad is still running after 12 years now)

The genius this is that when people get their free book (over 300 pages) they do try at first to sell their home using the exact same procedures that any real estate person would do. When they see just how difficult it is, they then start looking for a real estate agent. And who do they contact first? Why the author of the book who has her contact information on the front cover, back cover, and brochure included!

[Dan Grossman]

If people think what you're selling will solve a problem for them, they'll pay for it readily.

Look at WordPress plugins. There are thousands of free plugins, extensions to a free blogging package. Nobody has to pay to set up their blog.

Yet I'm set to make over $200,000 this year from selling plugins alone, with no advertising except the occasional forum post. I optimize for search engines to catch the people looking for a solution to the problem I solve, and they open their wallets readily to buy the solution.

[ArTsYwRiTeR]

A product can either cater to a need or you can create a need. Remember when bottled water was starting out....people were questioning why pay for something that is "free"? The marketing peeps created a need for it and look at how big the bottled water industry is now.

[AndrewCavanagh]

This may sound a bit crazy but if you're the only person in a niche offering a paid information product when everyone else is giving away information free...

And if you have a really good sales letter with plenty of teaser bullets about what's in your information product...

Then you'll set yourself apart from your competition...even if a lot of it is the same information.

The reason is that people will tend to think of you as a real expert because you're charging for information...that increases the perceived value of the information you sell.

But I would repeat the warning that if no one is selling information in this niche it may not be the best niche to sell to.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[lindajess]

Maybe come out with an ebook about this. Take all the "how to's" and write them out. Offer them up as an ebook, as well as build your list and give people free info, something different than your book, yet along the same lines.

Does that make sense?

[iMarketer]

Thanks guys! Lots of ideas here...

AndrewCavanagh - I can see your point, it's a funny quirk of buyer's psychology. Just as in the same way that in a market where everyone is selling $50 products, if you present /sell yourself as being worth more, you can command a much higher price even if you are in fact selling a very similar product.

I'm thinking I might run an ask campaign, figure out what the top 10 or 15 biggest frustration inducing problems are in the market, then turn a freelancer loose on all the free info out there. Coupled with a good salesletter, it might even work out.

If my final product is a how to ebook though, what would be a fitting freebie to start list building?