M02.07 More On Niching Down

Every month, Kentaro delivers a report on the status of BodyChance's marketing to all the staff at our Operations Meeting on Monday. I am looking at last month's report, and there is a salient niche lesson that will interest you all. The report tracks the number of new people who visited the studio in May (39) and of those, how many decided to take membership (15) which gives us this month's conversion average (38%). Three years ago, looking at a similar report, our conversion average was 5%. We've come a long way, but that's not what jumped out. I already know the amazing array of experiments we have conducted over the years to improve our conversion rate. What we also track in our report is the number of people who paid for an Intro and converted to membership, and the number of people who got a "free" ticket to attend an intro, and converted to membership. Conversion rate of paid people = 50% Conversion rate of free people = 12.5% So, if you had a choice, which of those two groups would you want to encourage to come to your sessions? Rhetorical question! Niches are not created equal. Once you have focused into a niche, Pareto's Law kicks in: 20% of your niche will account for 80% of your business. So the puzzle becomes: how do you locate and isolate that 20%? The first step is to create some little difficulties. Putting it more bluntly – don't look cheap. Some people value value, and if you look cheap, you have immediately lost a je ne sais quoi air about what you offer. My strategy has always been – make the published rate high, then offer some interesting scheme that helps get the price down. Take my London workshop for example. (Did you realize it is explained on this website?) On FaceBook yesterday, one teacher grizzled:

I have received the overview of your 1-day 'masterclass' in London and would be interested to know how the content of this differs from the knowledgeable workshops which are available to students and teachers in London on the subject of marketing, for a fraction of the price.

My guess is that the teacher saw the £294 price tag of one ticket. Personally, given what I have spent in the past on similar workshops, that is quite cheap – but I can see how some people might consider it expensive. Anyway, I am delighted by the comment, as the perception is that that "Jeremy's workshop is expensive" and that is the image I wanted to project. However, what isn't immediately apparent, until you did deeper into my pricing, is that you can come for £98 if you are truly motivated. You just need to convince two other people to come with you. One cheeky teacher has used my own wall to tout for his two attendees – I love it! This gets people immediately into the spirit of jostling and selling and negotiating – the very skills that my workshop is designed to encourage. So the people that really care know there is a way for them to get in cheaper, but I still don't come off looking cheap. There's an added advantage in this too. By structuring my pricing this way, I am creating an opportunity to invite a teacher or trainee who might never have even heard a workshop was happening. A friend of a friend – often it could be that person who turns out to be a star student. At BodyChance, we have been experimenting with pricing systems like this for years, and I encourage you to do the same. Your niche needs to appreciate you, and you do that by putting a high value on what you offer them. Those of you interested can go ahead and book a ticket on my London workshop now (BTW there is an option of a single ticket for less than £294 too!) Also – Full and Pro Members should check out the Audio Directory – I just put up something new that you are sure to enjoy…