I have a friend who told me how she got booked for a handsome sum to do a speaking engagement. The person who set the whole thing up for my friend told my friend after booking it, "If we would've set your price any lower, they wouldn't have taken you seriously. And you would not have gotten booked."

This is the opposite of what many people think. They think if no one is buying, their prices are too high, and lowering the price will attract buyers. It usually does, but only in the short term, and you can never raise the price again and keep those customers. The customers who buy into cheap will only buy cheap.

Another way of looking at things when you need sales: Raise your price. When people see a high price tag, they're immediately put on their heels. There must be something real and valuable behind that number for it to be so high. We would be lucky to afford it.

Two sandwich shops can get their bread form the same baker, meat from the same butcher, and one shop sells their sandwiches for twice the price. And people buy it. Why? The atmosphere. The prestige of the presentation. People buy into this stuff because they want to feel like they have something that not everyone can get. And they're right. Why not position yourself as that thing and profit from it?


In life, you tend to get what you expect, what you ask for. Charge $1, you'll eventually get it. Charge $100, you get it.