inneraction

Hello,

I am just about to launch my SMS marketing service and wanted to get feedback from people to see how much they charge for offering this service to restaurants for example.

I will be managing the campaigns for clients for the most part and am considering one of the following:

1) Charging a monthly fee i.e. $85/month for 1,000 outgoing messages and free incoming. I use YeezMobile so I get free incoming and unlimited keywords (not interested in a reseller debate as I am very happy with Yeez and their pricing and system- I have a free account to demo and it works great!) I would then have some sort of tiered pricing strategy charging $70 for the next 1,000 messages etc. Something along those lines.

2) Charging a small monthly fee around $25-$50 and then 0.80 cents per subscriber. Maybe even 0.80 cents for the first 250 subscribers, 0.70 cents for the next 250, and 0.60 cents for each one beyond 500.

I want the pricing to be simple and make me money. Of course I will be adding marketing strategies and offer great service to these restaurants.

I am a student of Dan Kennedy and as he says, it is about creating value and a unique selling proposition so that pricing is a non issue.

Having said that, I still need a price strategy and do not want to compete on price, meaning I am not interested in being the cheapest guy on the block.

Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Oh, and of course I will be charging a $97-$147 set up fee or so. This will cover some of the marketing materials and pay for my time.

PS- how are people collecting payments? I thought to send a PayPal invoice to the business. Or should I open a merchant account- I know a lot of restaurant owners often don't have business credit cards. Again, open to suggestions.

Thanks!

Thoughts are so powerful they can trick your mind into believing anything.

Aaron Doud

You have to figure out what your market can handle and make a profit that justifies your work level.

I'd be curious if others in the business actively would share their prices.

Myself I would say charge a month in advance and ask 30 days notice for cancels. So get the first two months and the setup fee to start off.

Myself I would do it per text(that's my current plan now) but interested in others' experience.

BKH

I would say go with option one but that's the only way I have ever done it. It may work to try it by subscriber but my platform would not let me do that effectively. Also, I charge a management fee on top of my plans so if I'm charging $85 for 1000 messages I will also charge a monthly fee of $50 to manage the account. The management fee may go up with higher volume because I may be sending more messages out for them. Just a thought!

Probably 90 percent of my customers pay via paypal on a reoccurring cycle. I do collect checks from a few handfuls of my customers but it takes a lot of trust to do so because I am already paying my provider for the service before I get the check. I would recommend a merchant account of some sort for collections.

Best of luck to you,
b

BrashImpact

Just chiming in here...

Hands down the most effective model we have used has been a monthly fee just
like you would charge for SEO or Site Advertising.

Your going to want to control the sms side for clients, trust me when I say this, clients will abuse and mess up if left to their own accord. In addition by you maintain the sms account you become the Rockstar... The better results you can create for your clients the more demand and value you bring to the table for them.

With that being said, we will not take on a client for less than $197 a month, and we include 3000 texts in that package..If they go over that amount we bill at 2.4 cents per text and make a nice tidy profit... Please keep in mind that's the minimum amount for a low maintenance client...Higher costs for higher maintenance clients..

Pricing boils down to Results for clients and the Perceived Priceless value you bring to the party...

Regards,
Robert

Jay Rhome

I agree that a fixed monthly fee, adjusted for higher volume, is much better than "per message" fee. Make it as easy as you can for your clients to figure it out. And to have an incentive to work with you at first to get subscribers!

In consulting, I adjusted my prices according to the value I'd bring, so higher end consumers would get charged more. But as I advertise my prices for SMS services, I can't do that in this case like Robert is doing.

AwakenedImagination

I'm just starting to offer mobile marketing to my clients. SMS texting is the way that I'm getting my foot in the door but I am charging $249 base amount. This will include unlimited messages for the first 1,000 customers.

Of course if its a high end client will I will adjust the price to include more. My goal is to give each one of my clients 10x in value what they pay me for the mobile service.

I've got a lot of creative ways to help them get people to opt into to their list as well as helping them create good offers that convert.

AwakenedImagination

Another way to accept payments is with this service.
First Check Free - Check By Phone - Checks By Phone - ACH - Electronic Check
You will need to use reseller id 285
They also have a mobile app once you sign up so all you have to to take a picture of the front and back of the check and it will be processed. If you do it early in the morning it will be batched the same day.

steve solo

having a WP membership site works best,,such as extrememember(am not affiliated in any way) but the system works best...its goes as far as dealing with your own affiliates, payment, email broadcast etc....hope this helps!

Steve

Www.offerfortune.com A Mobile Marketing Empire.
5K 100% Opt In fresh mobile phone number Lists in any city, state and niche market for only $49..get signed up today and grab your free SMS marketing report!{check out the SMS marketing software for $45 one time fee}

inneraction

Just wanted to thank everyone for all of your great ideas! I am going to charge a monthly fee which I am still working out but hope to finalize by Friday.

And I will definately control the SMS messages for clients (may in rare circumstances let the client control them- i.e. in a bar that might use the Sports Squares or is giving away free shots at a certain time but will cross that road when I get there)

Thanks again everyone!

Thoughts are so powerful they can trick your mind into believing anything.

TheLocalCoach

If you are selling a commodity (Keywords and Messages) you will always be fighting for your price. As Dan Kennedy and others advocate, your value to the business is in making the technology work for your client: increased revenue and more customers. You can set your price based on how much you convince your client that you will help their business. Of course, then you have to deliver! And as Robert and others suggest, definitely manage the campaigns for your clients.