by Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva®

The past two weeks my dining regime has been upside down. I’m doing some remodeling to my condo in Tampa and with the war zone of construction, I have not had a kitchen. So I’ve been eating up a lot more fast food than I normally do. To my surprise it’s been pretty tasty and shockingly affordable.

Meet the 59 cent cheeseburger from McDonalds. Protein, vegetable, niacin and great starch, too. How do they do that and make any money? Then, I met the $1.69 small Orange High C. Now the math works and so does the psychology.

I enjoyed these cheap burgers, and they made me feel good, too.

This is a simple strategy that can work with selling creative services also. Create an offering that is a ton of value at an unbelieveble price. Deliver it with a smile, use good ingredients and make your customer feel as important as if they were buying 1,000 burgers for the entire office. Using this menu concept to solve propects’ business issues provides a great way to encourage trial buying. Showcase the very attractively priced product or service and then give equal focus to other offerings that have your normal margins.

If you are a writer, maybe you offer a first assignment at a flat fee below your normal rates.
If you are a printer, why not print double the quanitity for same price.
Or, if you are an agency, package some type of marketing audit (for a flat fee) that provides a check list of the prospect’s current activities with a scoring card.

Sure, this may bring in the over-the-top penny pinchers, which you can spot and weed out or direct to other better suited vendors, but it’s also likely to bring in some very good candidates for your other menu items. This not only lets them test you, it lets you test them.

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She is has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos, Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com, an idea engine for creative professionals and business. Her work has benefited large and small organizations in the United States and around the world.