I could write a great intro to this post here, but I think the lesson here will be much more valuable for you if you just follow along, OK?
But I'll give you a little teaser.
This will make you stop thinking about money and concentrate on things that really matter.
If you feel it after reading this post, please leave a comment, I'd love to hear what you think!
What would you say is the value of this?
The image and the link above are affiliate links, so if you go and click it, and end up buying the iPod or something else from Amazon, I'll be getting a commission from Amazon. I have iPod Touch 32Gb model myself (might be older generation) and I love it. You can always go directly to Amazon, or any other online or offline store and buy your iPod without clicking the links above.
I didn't make this post to sell you iPods, but it'll all make sense soon. And if you paid attention, you just received a free lesson on how to disclose affiliate links according the new FTC regulations.
But now, back to the subject at hand.
What do you think is the value of the iPod Touch, 32Gb and all?
Maybe around 200 dollars?
300 hundred dollars?
OK, that would be about right...
...if I had asked what do you think it COSTS.
But I didn't. I asked what do you think it's VALUE is.
Understanding Value
I'm using the Apple iPod Touch as an example on this post. I will show you why VALUE is way more important than COST or MONEY.
I could be talking about cars, real estate, information products, services, even food. I just happened to be listening to my iPod when this idea popped in my head.
Anyway, here's another way to look at something as trivial as a pocket-sized media player, like iPod:
- There are thousands of entertaining and useful applications and games I can enjoy and use.
- I can listen to educating podcasts with it when I'm on a bus.
- I can watch eCourse videos on it while on a train.
or the other way around
- I don't need to bring books and magazines with me when I'm traveling.
- I can turn hours I sit on a bus, train, car or plane into my benefit by listening and watching educational information or
- I can be playing games if I feel like it.
Let's say I would use ten hours reading eBooks and watching videos to learn something I want. And on the other hand, I would be sitting twenty hours in a bus doing more and less nothing, perhaps reading a bit, until it would make my eyes hurt because of the moving vehicle.
With my iPod Touch, I turn those twenty hours into power-hours, listening to all kinds of podcasts, learning about all kinds of things and getting a few laughs while at it. And I have ten hours at home to do whatever I want as I don't have to go and find, read and learn everything while sitting on a computer.
So I'm using my time more efficiently, learning a lot (which I love) and I have more time to do other things I enjoy.
How do value that?
There's no price tag for making my life more enjoyable really.
How Would You Sell It?
If someone would come to me and say, here's a great mp3-player for you. It costs $300. Buy it.
...I probably wouldn't go for it.
Come on, it looks sweet and it will make you look cool! I know you want it. $300 $280.
...I do like to look cool. But I think I'll pass. I don't really need it.
Selling is hard, right?
What If You Didn't Have To Sell Anything?
You could just show what VALUE it brings...
What you showed me that with this little device, I would get a chance to turn all the hours I'm wasting sitting on a bus every month into something useful.
I could make the most boring hours of my day into something I look forward to. And I could spend ten more hours with my wife at home instead of sitting on a computer.
I don't even have to ask what it costs now. I want it, I want it bad.
I want to be at home, way smarter than I was when I left, hugging my wife. Where's the cashier??
It's a Different Mindset!
I bet you're thinking about getting one for yourself too! OK, maybe not, but it's an interesting way to look at something which is "just a media player".
Yes, there are many media players out there and this is just one of them, but it's the one I have and like, so I used it as an example.
And this post isn't about iPod Touch and it isn't about the joy of portable media players we dreamed about in the 1990's.
This post is about value.
Create something and try to sell it, you will have hard time, well, selling.
Create and show value, and people will rip if off your hands.
Create value and you will make difference.
9 comments.
An excellent post. Cost and value are so different. What would it cost me to replace my PC as compared how much is my PC worth to e at this point. What with all my code stored on it. Hours and hours of work worth thousands of dollars, thousands of pictures and home videos, not to mention other types of documents and media. Yes cost and worth are different.
They also mean different things to different people. A PC seems to be more expensive to someone who earns $200 a month as compared to someone earning $2000 dollars a month
.-= Robert Bravery’s last blog ..What is blogging all about? =-.
You’re both right. My laptop is worth a lot more to me than the amount I paid for it in the store because of the content I’ve added to it.
I think anything you create to sell, whether an ebook, course, or physical product, is going to have competition somewhere. The trick to getting it in people’s hands it’s so much to make your price lower, but to show why yours is worth even more than you’re asking.
Nice post, you almost convinced me to buy a iPod Touch(again) I already have one.
.-= Static’s last blog ..Epic GVG screenshots (Part 1) =-.
Good post for sure, really makes one think about values in a different light. Most people tend to think price first, as you’ve pointed out. This is where we miss the boat on many occasions.
.-= Jimi Jones’s last blog ..MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer – A Must Have WordPress Plugin =-.
It’s a classic lesson in selling. Your cost and value difference is really about the difference between features and benefits.
A feature would be “Prius uses computer technology to integrate both the electric motor and gas engine to provide drive…”
So what?
The benefit is “…which means that your gas bills will be halved, saving you $1000 a year.”
It’s the mistake so many sale people make. Spewing out a list of features without attaching the “which means that.”
People buy benefits not features.
.-= Mike CJ’s last blog ..Eight quick time saving tips for bloggers =-.
An excellent philosophical post to make you sit up and sit back and think things through.
.-= Kevin Tea’s last blog ..My Top 10 Tech Predictions For 2010 =-.
Hi Antti,
I agree with Mike. It’s a fundamental of marketing. You don’t sell features, you sell benefits.
.-= Gordie Rogers’s last blog ..How China Changed A Young American. =-.
Very interesting post!
I would also like to have an Ipod Touch!
.-= David Shaw’s last blog ..Is There A Need For Blog Etiquette? =-.
true enough selling is a hard task to do especially if the buyer is unaware of the benefits. I wonder if there are really honest sellers who really present value of the product. I’ve tried selling digital cameras before and I am honest.
.-= Rian’s last blog ..How to Select an Essay Topic =-.