I don’t write a lot of business-related posts because… well, actually, I’m not really sure why; maybe I should start–HA!
Let me begin again. I haven’t often written business-related posts, but today I felt called to share something about my business.
After all, being a professional writer, author, etc., IS a business. But if you’re multi-passionate like I am, the idea of only being an author kinda feels suffocating.
And that’s why there’s the writing empire.
A writing empire isn’t built from only offering one thing. An empire by definition means you’re doing/selling multiple things.
Over the past couple of days, I’ve been going through all of my offers and making sure things are still aligned. Anything that didn’t feel good/aligned I’ve shifted or gotten rid of.
[Note: for anyone not familiar with the term “offer,” it simply means your product/service; aka what you’re selling.]
I’m now super excited about everything I’m offering and for the first time ever, I feel like everything ties together and feels connected (as opposed to disconnected, which is how it used to feel).
We get so caught up in how other people do things and in all of the different methods and systems out there that we forget to check in with ourselves and decide what works for us. And that’s how we end up with businesses (and lives) that don’t feel good and leave us flat and uninspired.
So checking in–and feeling things out–can make a big difference.
When I checked in and felt things out, I got clear on what I’m offering and how it fits into my overall business and my vision going forward. And while doing this, I discovered I have my own little system for how I structure the offers in my writing empire.
Here’s what it looks like and what the different levels are:
1. Trip-Wires
A trip-wire is an offer you make to someone when they sign up for your email list. This is typically a low-cost offer that people can only access once and then it’s gone (it’s not something you offer publicly).
For example, when someone signs up for my email list (to get one of the freebies I offer), they’re redirected to a page that confirms their subscription and lets them know their freebie is on the way to their email inbox. And then it makes a trip-wire offer.
Right now my trip-wire is access to my Master Story Structure eCourse for only $7 (instead of $49).
So when someone signs up for my email list, they get the freebie I promised them and they get an offer to buy Master Story Structure for $7.
I’ve heard a lot of people say they hate trip-wires. I used to feel that way too. I used to think it was sleazy to give someone a freebie and then immediately sell them something.
And then I realized, there’s nothing sleazy about helping people. I have something–my Master Story Structure eCourse–that my soulmate clients need. It would be doing them a huge disservice if I just kept it to myself.
Not to mention the freebie they get is insanely valuable, so why not make an offer for something that will continue to add to that value? The way I see it, they don’t have to keep reading the page once they get the confirmation. They can close the page and go about their life.
If they read on, that’s their choice.
2. On-Boarding
This is something I made up (I think) because I started to notice that my books were driving people to my editing and self-publishing support offers. On-boarding is a word corporate people use when they’re bringing someone up to speed on something (a new hire, a new project, etc).
I believe it’s a really good idea to have a low-cost, on-boarding offer that you can sell to your audience. The reason is this gives you the ability to go above and beyond and deliver even more value to your people while also getting paid for it (as opposed to always doing everything for free, which is typical online marketing advice).
I do believe in giving things away for free and I’ve done a TON of freebie stuff over the years and continue to. But I also believe we deserve to be paid for the work we do, even if that payment is super low-cost.
On-boarding offers are also a great way to filter your audience.
Here’s an example: a book is an easy way to spread your message and demonstrate your value and your expertise/knowledge. It’s also an easy way for people to self-select and decide if you’re someone they want more from.
If someone isn’t a good fit for your community or doesn’t resonate with you, they’re not going any further than your book. Your book will be the filter that removes the non-ideal community/audience members.
It will also be the thing that filters ideal people into your community. Once an ideal person reads your book, they’re gonna want more from you.
And because the cost of a book is usually low (under $10), it’s a great way to attract new people. Someone who doesn’t know you most likely won’t drop hundreds of dollars on one of your courses, but they probably would drop a few dollars to buy your book.
And that’s why I really like the on-boarding offer.
Oh, and if you resent doing online marketing because you feel like you’re giving so much away for free or investing so much of your time/energy for free, an on-boarding offer could be a perfect fit for you.
3. Mid-Level
This is the level where I offer my eCourses, both self-paced and the ones I run live. My courses cost several hundred dollars to more than a thousand dollars, depending on which option you choose.
If someone is investing at this point, nine times out of 10 they’ve invested in something from one of my lower-cost levels (trip-wire and/or on-boarding).
You don’t want to just have offers that are low-cost. I mean, I guess technically you can do whatever you want. But I don’t recommend only having low-cost offers.
Low-cost offers are awesome–every business has them–but you also need things that cost more, so you can feel good about the amount of time and energy you’re putting into delivering that offer. If you don’t charge enough but have to put a lot of time and energy into delivering an offer, you’re gonna get resentful and eventually you’ll convince yourself you hate the offer when really what you hate is that you’re undercharging.
So have your low-cost offers, but be sure to also have at least one offer in the mid-level price range. Plus, once someone buys your lower-costs offers and loves it, you’ve got to have something else to offer them.
4. High-Ticket
The final level of offers in my business are high-ticket. I didn’t used to have much high-ticket because for a long-time I had a limiting belief that writers didn’t invest in themselves at that level.
And then I realized–wait a minute, I’M a writer and I invest at that level, so why wouldn’t other writers do the same?
So now I offer some higher-priced services that allow me to work one-on-one with people, developing and editing and self-publishing their books.
My current high-ticket offers are: Developmental Editing, an editing package that includes Developmental Editing and Line Editing, a couple of self-publishing packages where I help people self-publish their books (or do it for them), and I just recently added a brand-new high-ticket offer: The Book Hacking 2020 Mastermind, featuring Jack Canfield, USA Today Bestselling Author, Adam Houge, and Hollywood Producer, Ken Atchity (if you want details on that, message me!!).
Most people who are investing with me at this level have been through at least one of my previous levels (thou that is not always the case; some people jump into my high-ticket stuff right away). That’s why I like having different offers.
The cool thing about (and the reason I have) multiple offer levels in my writing empire is so that it gives people a chance to get to know me better, see the work I do and how I can help them, and self-select whether or not I’m a fit for them/their a fit for my community.
And there you have it. All four of the offer levels I have–and recommend–in my writing empire.
Dream life or bust,
jen
