Do You Have a Black Apron?

How going AGAINST the grain can net you
A four to five figure income boost

Can I ask you a rather personal question: Do you have a black apron?

Now before you tell me its none of my business, let me very pointedly tell you its very much my business. Because it may just transform yours.

Because a recent trip to my favorite Starbucks (and you know how I love Starbucks) cemented something that I’ve been seeing as a powerful trend in information products. And what did it was something that the good folks out of Seattle call their Black Apron Exclusives™.

That’s a fancy name letting you know they’re going to charge you more for whole bean coffee than you probably paid (pound for pound) for you last car. And that you’re going to love every once of it.

You see, a Black Apron Exclusive™ is a half pound of coffee that costs almost 13 dollars. Yep, 25 bucks a pound for coffee! But this ain’t just any coffee. It comes in a sumptuous black box that looks like a museum piece. Its displayed on its own wrought iron stand. Next to the stand are beautiful four color brochures, weaving an amazing story about what’s in the box, the painstaking way its cultivated, and the exotic location where it grows.

And of course the name itself bespeaks mystery and affluence. So mysterious in fact that when I asked the barista what was the significance of the Black Apron, all they could manage was a blank stare.

But the bottom line is this . . . people buy it. They buy it in such quantities a sign now adorns the empty wrought iron stand asking “What’s next after Kenya Kirinyaga?”

The point my dear friends is this:

You have probably been competing on price, both with your products and services. While I don’t want you to stop that cold turkey, I want you to experiment going in the opposite direction: offering more and charging a premium for it.

Now don’t get me wrong, you’re not going to rip folks off. In fact, quite the opposite: you’re going to offer so much value what you’re charging will seem like a pittance.

Yep, the same person who complains about the price of bread at the supermarket will, in the next breath, boast about the 5 grand they saved on their $25,000 European vacation. People love a good deal (even if it costs them an arm and a leg) . . . people love being pampered . . . and . . .

. . . here’s the kicker . . .

. . . people are willing to pay you more if you offer them a great deal and take away a lot of their worries.

I used to think everyone wanted to make their own inexpensive audio products. And a lot of folks do. But a surprising number of folks are willing to pay me more . . . much more . . . to handle a lot of their problems for them.

They simply don’t care about all the things they can now do on their own. They’ve seen the power and control technology gives them and don’t want any part of it. They would much rather have me do a lot of that for them, and are happy to pay more to have that happen.

Now, before you quit your day job, I’m not telling you to come out with the first $1500 CD. In fact, keep your revenue streams for folks on a budget who are happy to do the work themselves.

However, I am telling you to take a deep breath and develop a separate product line which combines a bunch of the things you’re really good at. And I’m telling you to charge accordingly.

Now you may have some juggling to do. You may have to try a few different things at a few different price points to see what flies. But heck, if folks are happy paying 25 smackeroos for a pound of coffee, they will be just as happy rewarding you handsomely for a great deal on a bunch of things you’re good at. Things that free them from the burden of having to do it themselves.