Marketing Honestly Show – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode:

• Read the article on the website
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter
• Book me for a day to improve your marketing

In this episode:

• Read the article on the website
• Darkpatterns.org
• Twitter thread
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter
• Book me for a day to improve your marketing

Mentioned in this episode:

• Article on Marketing Honestly
• Honest Guide to Sales Webinars
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter

Webinars are a powerful tool for audience growth, marketing, sales, training and education.

There's no doubt about it. There isn't a single online marketing strategy I know of that can, in a matter of 60-minutes:

1. Tell your story
2. Establish trust with a cold audience
3. Teach a valuable skill or concept
4. Generate multiple new customers

But with great power comes great responsibility! There is a lot to know about webinars, so let's jump in and answer some of the most common questions about webinars.

Resources mentioned in this episode

• Original Webinar Guide on the Marketing Honestly Website
• Convert's Article: "6 Webinar Formats to Help Your Grow Your Business"
• Get a free ConvertKit account
• Crowdcast
• Demio
• Zoom
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter

Have you noticed that most online course prices end in number 7?

For example, instead of a $2,000 price tag, the course creator will market the course for $1997?

It's called "Charm Pricing," or sometimes "Psychological Pricing."

It's essentially a cheap psychological trick that virtually every retailer uses to give the perception that their product is cheaper than it actually is and to encourage a purchase.

You'll also notice that if the price tag is in the thousands, it will not only end in a 7 (sometimes 9), but often the comma separating the first and second digits is removed, likely to make the number seem smaller than it really is.

For example, $2,000 looks way bigger than $1997, doesn't it?

Does charm pricing actually work?

There have been some studies on this subject, and while the psychology of consumer behaviour with charm pricing is interesting, the studies reference retailers not online course creators.

And in these studies, some concluded that there isn't enough statistical significance to make a big difference in sales, that is to say... it only kind of works, maybe, sort of.

So my thought is that charm pricing isn't a magic bullet for generating online course sales, and I think you're better off charging a fair, even-numbered price (i.e. $200 vs. $197) because:

1. People aren't stupid, they know how much you're really charging
2. It makes you look like every other course marketer
3. Its use will not have a significant impact on your sales
4. Its use may backfire and give an impression that you're not being honest (since many dishonest marketers use it)

Are marketers being intentionally manipulative by using charm pricing?

No, I don't think so. There may be some marketers who use charm pricing because they believe it gives the perception of greater value, or a "lesser price" and ultimately encourage a few extra sales, but most marketers are doing it because it's what everyone else is doing.

As mama always said, "If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do the same?"

I just think that charm pricing is unnecessary, and may potentially have the opposite effect of what you're going for.

Now if you'll excuse me while I go update my prices to make sure I'm not a total hypocrite...

Resources mentioned in this episode

• Article "Why Do Online Course Prices end in number 7?"
• Honest Guide to Ethically Marketing Your Online Course
• Studies on Psychological Pricing
• Psychological Pricing on Wikipedia
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter

I received a question about the ethics of pricing your services based on how much the client can afford:

Resources:

• Article "Pricing your services fairly"
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter

• Read the post on the blog
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter

• My blog post about high ticket courses
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter

I’m Brad, and I’ve been doing the whole online business thing for a while now — since 2012, to be precise.

In August 2012, I quit my job and began working from home as a freelance web designer. Over the years grew my business significantly with the help of grit, determination, and the grace of God.

Client work, working from home, consulting, courses, webinars, marketing, automation, paid advertising, managing a virtual team, passive income…

These are but a few of the topics with which I am very familiar. Each has helped me grow my online business and allowed me to provide a meaningful living for my family.

While I do not claim to be a leading expert in the field of online business, marketing or even freelancing for that matter, I bring real-world experience to the table — both in the form of success and failure.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with, meeting and helping some really cool people who are contributing to the world in a meaningful way.

But I’ve also had a front-row seat to the ugly underbelly of the world of online business & entrepreneurship.

Referenced in this episode

• My blog post this episode is based on
• 1966 Volkswagen Beetle Ad with Wilt Chamberlain
• A great read about truth in advertising
• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter

It's National Honesty Day, did you know?

I'd prefer it if we didn't need a day to remind ourselves to be honest...

But alas, we do.

Anyway, I simply could not miss this opportunity to announce my new podcast and blog — Marketing Honestly.

It's all about providing radically honest and transparent marketing guidance for the everyday entrepreneur who wants to learn how to build an ethical online business, free from shady tactics and hypey-marketing.

You see... I really love the online business space. There are some good people doing great things that place service before sales, and people before profit.

But there's an ugly underbelly to online business, which is full of greed, selfishness, a rat race to riches, dishonesty, and using the powers of marketing to bamboozle people out of their livelihoods.

And in a world obsessed with shortcuts and pursuing convenience, people legitimately believe they can start a business overnight, get rich quick, and live a life of weightlessness and luxury...

Which makes the job of the digital charlatan very easy.

I mean, if you open your eyes, you can see it everywhere. The ads, the tactics, the pop-up guru of the week, the "proprietary methods."

What happened to the good old fashioned entrepreneur?

Who worked his arse off. Faced uncertainty and thrived on it.

Shouldered the risk that his mates wouldn't dare attempt.

He talked to real people with real problems so he could set out to make their lives better... by serving them.

That person knows humility, grit and failure... and doesn't brag about it.

Where did he go?

The world killed him.

And replaced him with a shiny veneer that looks good on Instagram, who is afraid of hard work, failure, and associates "service" as merely the last word in the acronym "SaaS."

It's time to resurrect the real entrepreneur.

The true lady or gentleman who is willing to work hard, be honest, and humble themselves to serve, solve problems, and provide for their families. Forging forward with full knowledge that they might fail.

But that person needs help because the internet-powered entrepreneur needs to wade through the charlatans, fake gurus, and neverending temptations to use the unethical tactics to get ahead.

And that's my mission at Marketing Honestly:

"To provide radically honest & transparent marketing guidance for the everyday entrepreneur who wants to build a sustainable online business that doesn't sacrifice their ethics & values."

So to my everyday entrepreneurs, on this National Honesty Day, let us pursue the authentic and less attractive path of ethical entrepreneurship!

Resources

• Record your question & get it answered on the show!
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (link for Apple users)
• Subscribe to the Marketing Honestly Newsletter