Author: admin

Here are three top tips from the book Priceless, by William Poundstone. The book is both readable and useful and if you are interested in the psychology of pricing then this is the book for you.

Have a think about these points:

1. Low can be bad. If a price is set too low then people think something is wrong and don’t buy. The example in the book is cheap seats at the theatre, where people buy more expensive seats and ignore the cheapest seats. There is nothing wrong with them, but people are suspicious.

2. Add value with expensive items. Shops add high value items to their window display so that people feel they are buying  into a more upmarket range. Think about how watches are displayed. Does your product offering have a high value item to add value to the cheaper offerings?

3. Ninety nine doesn’t work. Prices ending in 99 look like they haven’t been thought about and are simply marketing ploys. However if you end a price in a 4 or a 7 then people assume the price has been carefully worked out. They are less likely to haggle and more likely to pay up and feel the price is a reasonable one.

Next time you are out shopping think about the price of items and whether you are making a rational purchasing decision or are being gently seduced by clever pricing.

Next week: Branding tips

Any day now my new book, called Riding the Rocket, will be sent to the printers in time to hit the shops for the end of August. As ever it has been a rush to complete the proof reading, tweak the cover and amend the original artwork we’ve used to illustrate the models and tools.

The book is subtitled: How to manage your modern career.

It’s based on years of career coaching experience and is full of real life stories and tips and tools. If you want to choose a career, or make a change, or excel at work, or avoid killing your career then this book is for you.

Over the last few weeks I’ve read the book three times to check and re-check the content, remove tiny typos and tweak the text. This is the bit of the process that I like least because line editing is a time consuming task that requires intense concentration for hours on end. The end result is a great book, but the process is no fun!

Who would be a writer?

This year the main book is supported by a companion ebook that contains additional unique content and a preview of the new material. It’s called Building the Rocket and will be available on Kindle in the next ten days. 

Until then, here are some thoughts about career management, taken from Riding the Rocket, to get us thinking about the nature of careers:

Richard’s reflection on the nature of careers
1. I’m the common denominator.
2. I’m a good person with skill and talent.
3. It can take a few false starts to find out about yourself and what you like and what you’re good at.
4. You have to listen to people.
5. It is possible to change course.
6. Loving what you do matters.
7. That it will turn out alright in the end.

We all have more power than we realise and we can take a breath, find our voice and be proactive in asserting ourselves. The responsibility for managing our career is ours and ours alone. Therefore, we have permission to manage our lives for our benefit.

As a mentor once said to me:

‘When you think about life and careers Richard the best place to be is – happy in the middle.’

At first I was a bit dismissive of this sentiment, but having thought about it, I can see that it is more subtle and more powerful than I first realised. So, this week ask yourself if you’re happy in the middle and what changes you could make to get there?

Have fun!

Next week: Three tips from the book ‘Priceless’ …it really made me think about how I price products and services.