Category: Business

WHY ARE ROLEXES SO EXPENSIVE?

Posted on by Alastair Walton

I recently worked for an ecommerce brand that sells watches.

During my research I discovered some interesting things.

Some of which may be useful to copywriters and marketers.

For example, why are Rolex watches so expensive? After all, there’s almost no functional difference between a $20 watch and a Rolex.

Both do exactly the same thing…

….so why does the Rolex go for $100,000 or more.

Before we can answer this question you have to understand the following.

You see, is a Rolex expensive, costly, or simply over-priced? People usually describe items with a high price point as being “expensive.” This generally refers to things which cost too much and do not justify their price. A lot of the time this is because people don’t know why that thing is expensive. If you don’t know why a Rolex goes for 6 figures, you’ll probably think that it costs too much. You may even see it as being “overpriced.” Not only that, you’ll view the price as a negative thing, and may even be put off from buying it. On the other hand, someone else may see that item as being cheap.

But why is this?

There are several reasons.

To start with, it mostly comes down to how someone perceives value.

If the person thinks the item will provide them with value, they will naturally see it as being cheap. The exact opposite is also true. If the person sees no value in the item they will view it as being expensive. For instance, some people won’t spend a thousand dollars on a watch, but will happily spend that same amount of money on wine.

Why?

Simply because they see value in the wine.

It ultimately comes down to this:

Does the person see value in the item…and…does this value reflect the price? If they don’t see any value in the item, they will see it as being expensive.  If they do see value, they will see it as being cheap and worth the cost.

So the real question is this…

How do you create this perception of value?

There are a few ways:

1. Time and effort

It takes watchmakers at Rolex 12 months to build one of their timepieces. This time and effort is reflected in the price. This is why you should always mention the time and effort that goes into building your product. If you’re a service provider, talk about the length of time that it took to learn your skills. After all, someone with decades of experience can always charge more than a rookie.

2. Availability

Rolex only produces a limited number of watches – around a million of each model. It’s this exclusivity and unavailability which really drives up the price. If you cannot have something, you simply want it more. This is why you should never seem too desperate to take on a job, or work with a client.

3. Complexity

Putting together a luxury watch is an extremely complex task. Some of these watches have more than a thousand parts. It takes a highly skilled person to perform this task. Once again this is why the price is so high. The lesson here, is that you should always talk about how difficult it is to build your product. Also talk about the quality of your materials and so on.  

4. Branding

You pay six figures for a Rolex because…well…it’s a Rolex. The fact is that Rolex has spent more than a 100 years building their brand. People know that it’s a high quality luxury watch, and that it will last forever.

This is also why you should work hard on building your own brand, and developing a reputation for quality and trust. A big part of this again, is exclusivity. Instead of focusing on selling as much as possible, you should concentrate on building your brand and making it more exclusive.

Ultimately, this will allow you to charge higher prices…

…and also make selling products straightforward, painless, and trouble-free.

Alastair Walton

THE GREATEST COPYWRITING LESSON YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

Posted on by Alastair Walton

Today I want to give you one of the greatest copywriting lessons I’ve ever learnt.

This lesson is so simple, it will astonish you.

At the same time it’s so powerful, it could make you one of the most persuasive copywriters on the planet.

(This might be something you already know, in that case this will serve as a reminder.)

On the other hand, if you’re new to copywriting, this will make a great introduction.

This lesson is basically known as the direct response 40/40/20 rule. It simply states that 40% of your success is your offer, 40% is your list, and 20% is your copy. This is something that most newbie copywriters struggle to understand.

They think that copy is magic.

That becoming a word wizard is the key to success.

That it’s all about becoming the best and greatest writer of all time.

While this is true to a certain extent…it really isn’t the full picture.

You see, as I’ve just mentioned, the copy actually accounts for very little. What’s a lot more important is having a great offer that goes out to a great list. Get this part right and the copy really doesn’t matter. Even substandard copy will convert.

On the other hand, even the world’s greatest copy can’t help a bad offer to a bad list.

And that’s really the point I’m trying to make.

You see, no matter what you’re selling your prospects are buying your offer.

The better the offer, the greater the chances they will buy.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling tee shirts or a newsletter.

The offer is everything.

Here’s a great example of this:

I once read about a copywriter who was hired to sell a stock advisory service for an investing guru. This service combined subscriptions to all four of the gurus newsletters, plus additional stock picks and portfolio allocations. This service was going to be extremely expensive – $6776 a year! The copywriter came up with a brilliant offer. You see, the list they were selling to were already subscribers to one or more of these newsletters. So they decided to credit these people for these subscriptions. This is where the magic came in. If someone was already subscribing to these publications, they would get a credit of $11,294! As you can imagine this was a great hook. And this hook was used to great effect in the headline. Which turned out to be:

“Get $11,294 to cancel your subscription PLUS these services FREE”

I’m told this offer worked like crazy…and brought in millions in orders.

And it was all thanks to this great and believable offer.

That’s another important thing I want to stress.

The reason this worked so well is because people believed in it. What you have to understand is that no one buys unless they first believe. And boy did they believe. Readers could clearly see how it made sense to cancel their subscriptions…

…and get all 4 newsletter for FREE, just for joining this new service.

This was really the ultimate win-win offer.

And with an offer like this how could the reader possibly say no?

They couldn’t.

Alastair Walton

DEEP VS. WIDE EMAIL LISTS (WHICH IS BETTER?)

Posted on by Alastair Walton

When looking at email lists I like to classify them as being either “Deep” or “Wide.”

Here’s a quick explanation of what I’m talking about.

(And why this concept is so important for marketers.)

1. Deep Lists

Deep lists primarily refer to a list of buyers. More specifically, I’m talking about a list of buyers who have spent serious money. This can be anything from $297 all the way up to $1997, or more. Another feature of these lists is that they are usually small. For example, you often hear people brag about making money with a list of less than a hundred people. This is how they do it.

When I talk about deep lists I’m also talking about your relationship with that list. People with deep lists have cultivated a relationship with their audience over years and sometimes decades. The audience sees them as a valuable source of information and guidance. They are effectively a guru in their industry.

This means that when you mail high ticket offers…well…the list converts.

And with every offer mailed that relationship grows deeper and deeper.

Then, on the other hand, you have…

2. Wide Lists

A wide list refers to a list of people who have yet to convert. It also refers to people who may have bought low ticket offers. It could also mean you have a list of freebie seekers who will never convert. Another feature of these lists is that you have subscribers who don’t read your emails, or who rarely read them.

Now, this type of list can make you money. For example, if you have 10,000 or more subscribers, and you make a low ticket offer, you’re almost guaranteed to make sales.

Will you make as much as you would with a deep list? Probably not, but it really depends on what type of offer you’re mailing…and how many subscribers you have.

Another problem with wide lists is that these types of buyers can be a pain in the butt. These are the people who feel nothing about asking for a refund and ripping you off. Wide lists can also be a problem because running a list takes money.

So now that you understand this concept here is the real question:

Which type of list is better?

Deep or wide…

The truth is that neither is perfect.

What you really want to do is aim for a mixture of both.

To start with, you want to get as many subscribers as possible and build a wide list.

Really build up that subscriber count and never stop doing this.

Ideally, you want new people subscribing on a daily basis.

You then want to start filtering out people, converting your subscribers, and building a deep list

You do this by mailing as often as possible.

People who aren’t interested in what you’ve got will unsubscribe.

(Believe it or not this is actually a good thing.)

You basically want people to stop wasting your time and shit or get off the pot.

This is basically the art of curating and manicuring your list.

You also want to build and strengthen your relationship with your audience.

This means getting them to know, like, and trust you.

Next, sell a mixture of high and low ticket offers.

High ticket offers also help to get rid of people, especially those who were never going to buy.

That being said, you shouldn’t only sell high ticket offers. It’s a good idea to mix in the occasional low ticket offer. You see, there could be people who like what you’re offering, but who aren’t ready to commit to spending a lot of money with you. These people need a taste of what you’ve got to offer, before they commit to a bigger meal. This is why it’s a good idea to occasionally throw in a low ticket offer.

The bottom line is that you have deep and wide lists.

You goal, as a marketer is to build a mixture of both.

By doing this you’ll maximize conversions…

…and ultimately turn your list into a money making machine.

Alastair Walton