Physics of Marketing Law #12: Are You Profiting From Your Uniquenenss?
As markets tighten up, gas prices and the prices for everything else go up, getting and keeping more money is probably taking up more of your brain space lately.
But profit comes from more than pricing. Profit comes from the fulfillment of a unique promise or experience. And that is the most pure definition of differentiation – or uniqueness.
Physics of Marketing Law #12
People people pay more for uniqueness
This is why differentiation is such a big deal. It’s not about building awareness – because building awareness doesn’t pay the bills. It’s about giving your customer a good reason to choose you. Then it’s about giving them more value than what they pay for. And finally it’s about making it easy for them to give you exactly the amount of value that they perceive you deserve. More is better. 
I’ve been reading Rafi Mohammed’s Book "The Art of Pricing" (which I highly recommend). In it he talks about the "Multi-Price Mindset." This is where you make it easy for your customers to buy, by giving them a variety of price points to choose from — so that they can choose you instead of someone else.
There is so much more to this to chat about. But for now – think about this:
- What sets you apart?
- Who are your ideal customers?
- Come up with a series of price points that you think they will find attractive.
- Develop a unique value-rich offering for each level – but make sure they can experience your uniqueness at each level.
- Don’t be afraid to launch.
Tell me what you’re currently doing with pricing.
I can’t remember if I twittered you about this yet or not, but I love this blog!
I own a small (4 chair) hair salon and we have found a way to differentiate ourselves in a VERY crowded market place. (You might be surprised at how many salons there are in any given city.)
We worked really hard at becoming good (great, even) at our work. There is no one in our market that is better skilled or better educated than my staff. But we don’t have the same marketing budget a larger company might have. So we decided to market what was different about us.
We’re the salon where you can “wear your pajamas and cuss.”
All our marketing is designed to get people to our website where we can give them a peek into the salon and decide for themselves if it feels like their “kind of place.”
It has worked wonders for us.
Also, a few years ago I stopped apologizing for wanting to make a living. I don’t see myself as “the help.” I see my clients as my peers. It is entirely reasonable that I have a standard of living in a range similar to my clients.
You can read our manifesto here: http://azarra.com/howtochoose.htm