Wednesday, March 12, 2008

I'm interested in your input

Hello,

I know we have MANY new readers to this blog because of the tracking I do through google analytics but I also know that many of you have been with me for a month or more. During the time you've been with me [however long] you'd undoubtedly learned a bit about marketing your work.

So, I'd like to now learn from YOU. I'm asking for input from all of you [please leave it in the comments section so we can talk about it.] Also, if you have other friends who are a part of the writing world and they'd like to chime in, give them the link to this blog.

I've been trying to think of a way to best structure my writing career coach to benefit the largest number of people. I have two scenarios I'm considering. I'd like you to tell me which one you think is the best and why. Or, if you have a different idea please share it with me.

This benefits you because I want you to keep thinking of ways to adjust your business to best reach your customer base. Sometimes, the best way is simply by asking.

For those of you who do NOT want to leave a comment but would simply like to vote, I'm putting a survey on the right hand side of this blog for you to vote.

Goal
My goal as a writing career coach is to help people who want to take their writing business to the next level. I am very aware of how much it can cost to do that. While learning can be expensive [take college for example] I don't want it to ever be a burden.

Option 1
My first idea is to offer a 10% discount on Writing Career Coaching and Content Editing to any customer of my Writing Career Coach Course. My fees will be going up because I've learned ways to give quality edits much quicker than before. I also have much more experience. This is also why I would like to offer the discount to people who buy the course. Many problems I find can be solved by a quick overview. This will SUBSTANTIALLY reduce the number of hours I spend on a person's project and make the entire project cheaper in the long run for clients.

Since my beginners product is $35 and offers coaching with it and my other products are only $15 each, the products will pay for themselves in the first edit [on book length projects].

This would also allow me to work with MORE people because I only have 15-20 hours each week I can spend on coaching/editing. By having people learn a bit BEFORE working with me, I will spend less hours on each person's edit and I can work with more clients.

This is the way I'm leaning but I want your input.

Option 2
The other idea is to raise my rates by a lower percentage but NOT offer discounts. The upside is it will be easier for me by having a standard rate I charge everyone. The downside is the edits may be slower as I find problems in a project that may have been discussed in one of the suggested resources.

Okay, so what do you think?
I truly want to do what is best for everyone. I have my own projects I'm working on so I only have a limited amount of time to spend each week. I want to give each person the time and care they deserve, but I also find myself quickly approaching the point where I cannot take on more clients because I'm spending so much time on each project.

As a customer, which would you prefer?

And if you'd like more information on having me work with you on your project, email me. I'm happy to take time to talk with you.

So think like a marketer and a customer now. And speak up.

Your coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter

1 comment:

Suzanne said...

Hi Tiffany,

I've been thinking about this since you posted the question (yeah, it's taken a while to comment!).

I was thinking that I would prefer to have one low cost all the time rather than having discounts. But, if, as you said, problems that can be addressed by purchasing one of your products ahead of time can mean a lower overall cost due to faster editing, then the first option may indeed be a better option.

In terms of marketing, it would definitely be easier on you to have one set price.

On the other hand, the time you save on writing that has already been improved by paying heed to your course could also be used to have more clients and help more of us. I guess that depends, however, on how many people will actually use what they've bought from you to improve their writing.

Having considered it more, I think option 1 is better.