Changing Prices On… Everything

One of my most hated tasks is setting the price for a new product. It's painful and it seems like I can never get it right. The bright side is that I've been able to learn a lot in the process and that has led me to a price simplification, effective immediately.

Let's start with the popular one, Working With OmniFocus. When I originally released it as a book, it was $17 at launch and moved to $22 dollars a week later. This worked well from a financial standpoint but it led to a number of emails from folks who missed the early discount. I have no issues with people asking about it, but it took time I wasn't expecting to give. And from a long term business stance, it also means that potential buyers may hold off on making a purchase thinking the price may come down again in the future. As opposed to playing these discount games, I'd rather it be set and consistent.

When Working With OmniFocus moved to a video course it seemed logical to me (and friends in the business) that raising the price to $37 was easily justified if not a little low. That may be true if I'm trying to make it a more exclusive membership, but I'm not. I would rather it be in the hands of more people and have a broader impact. Following basic supply and demand principles, that means the current price needs to be reconsidered.

Working With Ideas was plagued with many of the same issues. It was a lot more intensive to develop and after consulting others who have done something similar, I landed on $72. Again, this creates the feeling of exclusivity that I'm not shooting for. Especially considering I've left it at the introductory price due to a lack of interest.

And then there's Working With Alfred. This one is extremely new on the horizon and has a long way to go yet. But the pricing discussion for this one is the same. Where should it land and how can I price it to be accessible to a large number of users while covering my costs?

One thing I've learned in my pricing adventure is that I love simplicity and consistency. I also place value in reaching higher numbers of people with the resources I create. So that means I want to bring everything to a uniform price, preferably at the lower end of my comfort zone. Based on my experience and trusting my intuition, that leads me to $17 for each.

So effective today, Working With OmniFocus and Working With Ideas are each $17. And I'm no longer doing discounts or release pricing. It's also means that when Working With Alfred is released it'll be $17 as well. I'm keeping it simple and dependable.