18 Feb 2008 04:33:57 | Dean Phillips
Ted Nicholas is a marketer with a proven track record. He has
opened, operated and sold 21 profitable businesses, and is
responsible for the direct or indirect publishing of hundreds of
books and publications. Ted Nicholas is a well- known and
respected leader in the information marketing business.
Ted Nicholas has mastered the art of selling. His million dollar
best selling books and other successful ventures will show you
how you can use the power of the written and spoken word to grow
your business.
His business development strategies are designed to help you
achieve higher profits and lower taxes. Ted has assisted
hundreds of entrepreneurs in building successful businesses. His
skills as a copywriter and direct mail marketer have earned him
the title "Guru of Direct Mail Marketing".
All of that notwithstanding however, in my not so humble
opinion, he has also perpetrated one of the biggest and most
inaccurate fallacies in the history of marketing.
Ted has convinced countless number of marketers to, when pricing
their products and services end their prices with a "7."
For example, instead of pricing your product at $19.95, price it
at $19.97. Or better yet, he advises dropping the change
altogether and pricing your product at $17.00 or $27.00 or
$97.00. His research supposedly proves that the number seven
dramatically increases sales.
Even more remarkable is how many marketers accepted this fallacy
as gospel, without doing any real testing of their own.
I have no idea what scientific formula Ted used to arrive at his
conclusions, but with all due respect to Ted Nicholas, his
theory's a bunch of bull!
How do I know? Because I thoroughly tested his theory myself and
discovered no discernible difference in response or profits.
I also base my conclusion on perhaps the greatest authority in
marketing: Televison infomercials.
If you want to see marketing at its absolute finest, watch
television infomercials. Yes, I know many of the products are
garbage and don't work as advertised, but the marketing itself
is simply brilliant! And their market research is second to none.
In other words, producers of television infomercials are masters
at pricing products for optimum response.
And almost without exception, every infomercial I've watched
over the years, regardless of the product, have prices that end
with a five or a nine. For example, $29.95, $39.99, $249.95.
Of course, you don't have to take my word on this, you can check
it out yourself at:
http://www.AsSeenOnTV.com
This website features literally thousands of the famous tv
products you've seen advertised over the years. Just check how
they price their products.
And I'll take it one more dramatic step further. I'm sure you've
heard of Ron "Veg-O-Matic" Popeil. But just in case you haven't,
I'll give you some background information.
Ron Popeil is the undisputed "king" of infomercials and a
multi-millionaire many times over. Over the last 40 years he has
sold more than a billion dollars worth of products. He was voted
by "Self" magazine readers as one of the 25 people who have most
influenced the way we eat, drink and think about food.
The 70 year old Popeil is still going strong, his latest
product, the "Showtime Rotisserie and BBQ"--which he
invented--flies out the door by the thousands every week.
Here's his website:
http://shop.ronco.com/
Again, check out how he prices his products.
This man has sold more than a billion dollars worth of products,
so I would say he's got this pricing thing pretty well mastered,
wouldn't you?
In conclusion, the number "7" may be lucky in dice, but in
marketing, it's just another number!
About Author :
Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher
and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at
mailto: dean@lets-make-money.net