Here’s a valuable question for the Web 2.0 world: Can people really appreciate a bargain? Everybody loves “free” — but do they love it at full value? My thinking is that LinkedIn would be a much more valuable place to network if it charged members $350 a year, but would anyone pay a buck a day for Facebook?
This is a question that has been bugging Brian Brady — gnawing at him as only a good marketing problem can. We priced BloodhoundBlog Unchained at $149 and sold a bunch of tickets. We bumped the price to $199 and sold a bunch more. We’re getting to the point where we’re going to have to make seating distribution choices — and Brian wants to raise the price to our estimated retail — dollarized — value: $350.
We know that amount is low. The next time we do this, the early-bird price will be more than that, and the last-minute price will be more than double that amount. We’re going to give you a year’s worth of ideas to deploy, so, even at $350, we’re still only a buck a day. If you do just one extra deal as a result of something you learn at Unchained, the ROI could be 20-1 or more.
Looked at that way, Brian is right: It’s plausible that, by charging too little, we’re encouraging people to set their expectations too low. I find that amazing, considering how much value we deliver here at BloodhoundBlog every day. But I was stunned to discover that people didn’t know that Unchained will not be the typical buy-me! buy-me! vendor show. I would have thought that my own graduated hostility to vendors would have made that plain.
In the other corner, there is me, slugging it out for the starving grunts in the trenches. No one is really starving — I hope! — but our lean months have become our lean years, and there ain’t too many of us getting fat off the fat of the land just now. I would rather keep the price as low as we can for as long as we can, just to help people get even more bang for the buck.
But — fair warning — the time is nigh. At some point fairly soon, we will be raising the price to $350. If you want to get Unchained for $199 for all three days, or for $149 for the two-day main conference, you need to get going. That extra hundred-and-fifty bucks will buy a lot of Margaritas at the end of the conference sessions.
At some point, I will be the advocate for higher prices — much higher prices. When we know for sure that all the real Guerrillas have bought their tickets, I will want to raise the price on the remaining supply to the Inmanosphere Special Price: Four figures for standing-room-only — with no lunch or cookie breaks.
Details:
- Dates: Sunday, May 18 through Tuesday, May 20, 2008
- Hours: 8 am to 4 pm for all three days
- Location: The Heard Museum Event Center in Downtown Phoenix, AZ
- Airlines: Southwest Airlines, USAirways and Alaska Airlines all have low-cost, frequent flights into Phoenix, as do many other airlines.
- Hotels: Click here for a map of nearby hotels
- Weather: Sunny and hot during the day (bring a bathing suit), cloudless and mild at night
- Food: Lunch and coffee and cookie breaks during the two-day main conference
But wait: There’s more. If you’re not completely convinced — beyond convinced — that BloodhoundBlog Unchained has delivered on its promises, we’ll refund 100% of your ticket price. You’ll still be out your travel expenses, but Phoenix in May is heaven on earth. You might just decide to move here!
If you’ve been thinking to yourself, “I need to sign up for Unchained when I get the time” — make the time. We’re going to have a ton of hard-headed, practical, money-making content. If you want proof of that, just work your way backwards through BloodhoundBlog and look at the material we’re covering here. But when the price goes up, it will go up by a lot. If you want to latch onto the bargain of the year in useful, on-target, no-sales-pitch Social Media Marketing training for Realtors, lenders and other real estate professionals, get your tickets for BloodhoundBlog Unchained now, before the price goes up.
Technorati Tags: blogging, BloodhoundBlog Unchained, real estate, real estate marketing, real estate training
Keith says:
Let me know when the next date is gong to be as I cannot get to AZ for the April event.
March 27, 2008 — 6:05 am