It’s well & truly winter in Cape Town now!  I’ve been so busy the last few weeks – preparing materials, meeting with my long-term supporters, performing & presenting – that the late nights & early mornings finally caught up with me.  After spending the past 2 days in bed watching cricket & struggling with the sniffles (shame, my daughter also has a cold), I woke up this morning ready to tackle the week!

And what a week it is going to be …

If you’re in Cape Town next week from Saturday 13th to Tuesday 16th June (this coming week), I highly recommend you take the time to visit the Cape Town Book Fair , at the CTICC.  It is a reader’s paradise & I’m really looking forward to it.  Be warned! If you love reading as much as I do, put a ‘daily limit’ on your cards BEFORE you arrive – I learnt this the hard way last year.

I’m happy to announce that this year my book, “The Serious Business Owner’s Guide To Creating Customers For Life“, is going to be on display at my publisher’s stand & I will be there for a book-signing, chat & a performance.  My book will be on sale, at R 75,00 (instead of R 99,00 at Exclusive Books)  but if you already have a copy then bring it with you – if you are willing to provide a written comment, I’ll give you another signed copy free!

I will be at stand J2a on Saturday 13th June from  13h00 – 15h00 & Monday 15th June from 13h00 – 15h00, so if you were planning to come let me know & I’ll see you there!

• Find out more about the Cape Town Book Fair at www.capetownbookfair.com
  
• Entrance fees & hours
• Here’s the floor plan

But this is the best part …

I’ve had a chat with my publisher, Barbara Meuller from New Voices Publishing & I’ve convinced her to create a very, very special offer.

As you may know, I strongly recommend publishing your own book & many of my clients & friends have asked me how I do it.  Well, I can explain it but why not ask someone who does it professionally?

I suggested to Barbara that she run a half-day workshop on how to write, edit, print, publish, distribute, sell & promote your own book in South Africa.  This workshop is worth about R 2 500,00 at least, but together we’ve come up with a unique opportunity.

Come visit the New Voices Publishing stand at the Cape Town Book Fair at stand number J2a & you will receive a free ticket to this half-day ‘How to Publish Your Own Book’ workshop!

This is a BOOK FAIR EXCLUSIVE, however Barbara has given me a few pre-booked tickets to the workshop which I would like to personally distribute.  I only have 5 right now, so if you would like to pre-book a ticket at no charge, please click here.  The date of the workshop has not yet been confirmed, but I let you know as soon as Barbara has secured the venue.

To pre-book one of these limited seats, click here.

I hope to see you there!

As a business owner, you may be anxious about how you’re going to get more customers &be tempted to drop or discount your prices. This kind of ‘domino effect’ is really unnecessary & I predict that businesses that fall into this temptation in order to get more business will not see it through to their next financial year-end.  However, serious business owners who understand that ultimately you can never compete on price alone who will be able to resist the urge with the knowledge that a policy of pricing to value is far more sustainable in the long term.

Here’s true story example provided by Julian Franklin of ‘Julian Franklin Productions’ ['Selling on Price' 7 May 2008] of precisely what happens when business owners make the basic marketing mistake of thinking that their cheap prices will help them:

Everybody loves a good deal. Sometimes this means a great product at a good price. Other times it means a good product at a great price. I have learned over the years to prefer the former rather than the latter, but that’s a topic for another article.

This is about selling yourself on price. I hear so many performers lamenting the new guy who “undercuts” them. No one can undercut you unless you are the low-price leader. And if you are the low price leader, then you INVITE undercutting.

Take for example, how excited I was when the “$1.00 Bazaar” opened near my house. Any magician will tell you it is a great place to go to find inspiration. The dollar store inventory constantly changes because they purchase their stuff from people who couldn’t sell it in a normal store. This is usually because it is of poor quality, flawed design, or of very dubious value, but again, I’m getting side tracked.

So I shop there and am pleased with the fact that the junk I’m buying never costs more than $1.00. This is a very good thing, because generally it is not worth any more than a dollar and sometimes I think I get ripped off.

So you can imagine how elated I was when a new store opened up across the street with a big sign advertising “Nothing over 99¢”.

YEE-HAWW!

And they claim the best selection of low quality merchandise in all of Texas. Yes, that’s a mighty big claim because there is a LOT of low-quality merchandise here in the largest state in the continental  United States.

“Giant 99¢” didn’t fail to deliver on their promise of a great selection of unsellable refuse. On my first visit I was awed by the incredible selection of wall-to-wall junk and not a single thing was priced (or worth) a single penny over 99¢.

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering, “How in the world could things in Texas possibly get any better for the bargain hunters?” But some of you already know the answer….

Yes, that’s right, we got our very own “Mr. 98¢” store! The grand opening was spectacular! They had day-old donuts, tofu hot-dogs on stale buns, and one of the least expensive entertainers in the city. He wasn’t there when I arrived 20 minutes after his show was supposed to start. And he still hadn’t arrived when I left 45 minutes later, but the store manager held pretty high hopes that he would eventually show up. You know, provided he wasn’t involved in another DUI or something.

So I drove home with a smile on my face that nothing could shake. I found a new resource for invaluable merchandise (actually it’s really more “unvaluable” merchandise, but my spell checker won’t let me use that word).

Then it hit me as I was driving in the warm glow of satisfaction (or was it the warm glow of the faulty chemical glow sticks I got twelve for 98 cents that had leaked all over the backseat?). Regardless, I realized this was much more than an amazing retail phenomenon; this was much more than a resource for discontinued and recalled items at below cost; this was a business model like none other.

Finally I realized how an entertainer who had nothing of real value could finally compete. By simply lowering your price you can create the unique position of being the absolute cheapest entertainer in your area! What kind of a FOOL would possibly compete against you when you held such a low-value, low-profit position?!

And even if they DID compete against you (as “Giant 99¢” did against “$1.00 Bazaar”), you can simply turn the tables on them and lower your price even further (like “Mr. 98¢” did to “Giant 99¢”). The possibilities are limited only by the number of divisions in your government’s currency!

As I contemplated the vastness of this marketing strategy I passed a store that clearly understood the concept. They were beating everyone to the punch. They were selling everything for just 79¢!

Unfortunately they wound up going out of business. I wonder why?

['Selling on Price' 7 May 2008 http://julianspeaks.com Julian Franklin]

How do you charge what you are worth?

For many new business owners, this can be a frightening question – it requires self-assessment & judgement of how professional & valuable your services truly are.  I’m not saying that you should instantly become the most expensive company in your industry; rather, I’m suggesting you really try to understand your customers more so that you can price your product or service to match the value of your product or service.

Customers are not unhappy to make large purchases, as long as they have a perceived value – you haven’t heard of any of the the famous clothing & shoe designers going bankrupt recently, have you?

As I discuss in , one of the main purposes of your business is to ethically exploit your customers: many people are shocked by this, initially.  But it is vital for the sustainable success of your business & your personal wealth development that you begin to make serious decisions about the true value of what your business offers. Once you know the value, make that your price & then stick to it. Don’t let the temptation get to you, I promise it’s worthwhile in the long run!

Deliver so much more than what your customers expect – make a “magical moment” – so that they are more than  happy to pay your asking price. At the point when your customer as bought into you & your offer, you price is now longer ‘too high’ or ‘too low’ but it’s ‘just right’.

Today, take a brief moment to sit, think & do a self-assessment: am I worth more today than I was 6 months ago? Shouldn’t I be raising my prices since I have gained more insight, knowledge & experience?

The people who have become truly wealthy instinctively know what they are worth.

I suppose you & I don’t often think about where we will be spending our ‘Golden Years’ but I’m sure you hope that you’ll be able to live comfortably in a safe & happy environment. Besides discussing new developments in technology, medicine & business, the organisers realized that the delegates were also there to find new ways to look at encouraging their staff to provide “Wow!” moments.  They approached me to present my “Magic Moments” talk to a lecture hall full of care-givers, business owners, managers & supervisors.

The business-orientated content of the “Magic Moments” talk is based on my book, “The Serious Business Owner’s Guide to Creating Customers For Life“, but with several unique themes that were focused on the particular demands & work environments of the delegates. I think that senior citizens these days have generally better health, more freedom & so much choice available that when they decide where they would like to live & be looked after, they know that they can demand exceptional service.  I shared this idea with everyone, along with the tried-&-tested success techniques of “Customers For Life“,  & together we all committed ourselves to creating more “Magic Moments” for others in our pursuit of success.

We all had a really great time & the response was awesome!  In fact, they all enjoyed the presentation so much, that Geratec & some of the delegates have asked me to repeat this talk for their own staff.

By changing people’s perceptions from thinking about serving their own needs, to becoming passionate about looking after other people’s needs, they not only create a happier, safer & loving environment: it’s also very good for business.  By introducing the concept of “Magic Moments” as something that everyone can be involved in, while laughing & being amazed, I’m able to anchor the positive behaviour with a physical response!

I’m really beginning to enjoy these ’shows’ … especially after this response from one of the managers of Panorama Palms Retirement Village:

Thank you so much for a “MAGICAL MOMENT” morning. There were so many priceless moments in that session. This Panorama Palms & Geratec teambuilding will be remembered for a long time. I have listened to the staff at their different tea breaks and I hear they have not only been WOWED but they have learned some important and positive ideas. Thank you to all that made this teambuilding happen and we can refer to it when we want to talk about working as a team and creating wonderful moments for our residents.

Have a wonderful week

Ms Annemarie Heydenrych
Lifestyle Consultant
Panorama Palms Retirement Village

Thank you so much: it’s gratifying to hear such a heartfelt response.  It was my sincere pleasure to share my ideas & experiences with you!