Are You Buying the Sizzle or the Steak?

Two decades ago I leaned a lesson about perceived value that will stay with me for life. There was a local homebuilder who had invested his life savings into developing a small community of single-family homes. He even hired an advertising agency to spread the word about the low cost, high quality houses. But none sold. He tried lower prices and better incentives but still sold none. After six months he knew he was beat and sold the entire subdivision to a competitor, at a loss. His competitor sold every unit within four weeks - by doubling the prices!

It was a matter of perceived value. The new owner appealed to the homeowners wish for a "dream house" and made the buyers believe their dreams were worth more. It's selling the sizzle, not the steak. It's why some people spend $5,000 on a watch that doesn't keep time any better than a $20 Timex. And it's the worst way to invest your company's marketing budget if you want to make money.

Here's a good example, and actually what convinced me to write this article... Last week a friend asked me to look into an SEO product that some mysterious Internet marketing gurus said was "a must have." He had joined a waiting list and finally his wait was over. He now had the chance to buy the new and improved version of this tool for $1,997.

He was chomping at the bit to "buy it before his competitor's did" but the hefty price tag made him a bit more cautious. Two thousand dollars would take quite a long time to recoup if he did not get the miraculous results expected.

My first thought was that he should use a free trial version to see if it lived up to its hype. But, unfortunately a free trial was not offered. Big red flag! You don't expect a free trial offer on a fifty-dollar product but laying out two thousand bucks just to see if you like a tool you have never even seen in action? That is kind of scary.

We decided to try an oldie but goodie method of looking for alternates... Google. He selected the five most important aspects of the product and searched those keywords to find possible alternates. The possibilities seemed endless and the transformation was almost instantaneous. He went from being afraid to miss out on the perceived opportunity of a lifetime to getting excited about a dozen new possibilities, most of which offered a free trial.

Within an hour he found an SEO tool he liked even better at http://www.TrafficTravisSEO.com. And get this. It was free! They also offered a Pro version that was less than one hundred dollars, with even that split into three payments.

So with a little research he avoided spending money to grasp at perceived value and has everything he wants in an SEO and SEM automation tool. But, and here's the best part, he also has two thousand dollars of unspent capital to use wherever he needs it. If a penny saved is a penny earned, he just made his next two weeks salary with an hour of research.

In closing, do not be impressed by waiting lists and the thought that something is only valuable if expensive. Reality could not be any further from the truth. The best bargains are typically those that require the least risk.