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Elite Positioning Brings Higher Profits
Imagine spending the same amount of money on marketing andperforming the same amount of work to deliver your productsor services, but earning more money and keeping more afteryour expenses. That's what happens when you instituteelite positioning for your business. With elite positioning, you are not any old accountant,cabinetmaker, software maker or fitness trainer. Youdeliver superiority or exclusivity and therefore charge(and get!) more. Here are five ways to add an aura ofextraordinariness to your business. 1. Specialization. If as an accountant, you only workwith family businesses, clients perceive you as morefamiliar with and more skillful in dealing with theirunique issues and circumstances. Whether or not you reallyhave that much more expertise is not the crucial factor. The clients' knowledge that you specialize makes themcomfortable paying more for your services. 2. Selectivity. Suppose that as a cabinetmaker, youdidn't take any job that came along, but only those thatoffered interesting aesthetic or technical challenges foryou. In that case, clients feel grateful that you havetaken on their project and understand that if you areturning away projects, you of course charge more than yourcompetitor who serves one and all. 3. Better results. Do you have any very, very impressivetestimonials, awards or performance figures that prove youget superior outcomes from the work that you do? If so,highlight those credentials and raise your prices. Clientsunderstand that the software that never, ever crashescomputers costs more than the buggy kind. 4. Fame. When you're the fitness trainer who's justappeared on Oprah - or actually who ever appeared on Oprah!- you have a license to charge premium fees. As with mostother kinds of elite positioning, your skills aren'tnecessarily greater, but your visibility places you at ahigher level than colleagues who aren't trailing clouds ofmedia dust. 5. Self-confidence. Perhaps you don't specialize, turnaway clients, get better results or have fame. If you havebravado and nerve, you can charge premium prices anyway. This works only if you can say, "I charge $400 an hour" (orwhatever stratospheric fee you choose) without any waveringor uncertainty in your voice. Does this idea make youindignant? Then consider whether you're ready to chargemore. If you believe deep down that you're worth it, thenyou have what it takes to pull off higher prices. Stopletting fear hold you back! Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity and 10 other books. She runs an onlinementorship site, MarketingforMore.com, which supportsbusiness owners who are growing their businesses. Downloadher free report, "Charge More & Get It," at http://www.marketingformore.com/survey.htm . Or find outabout her upcoming Marketing for More seminars athttp://www.marketingformore.com/seminars.htm .
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