You’re probably screwing this up (pricing philosophy lesson)

Yesterday we talked about pricing… specifically premium pricing.

I walked you through the mindset of someone who buys premium products – and why they buy at prices that up to 99% of people think is absurd.

But there’s one major piece of pricing psychology that I didn’t have room to get into that is especially relevant at premium prices.

It’s one that almost every entrepreneur who sells their own products struggles with. At least, the ones I’ve worked with.

In fact I used to struggle with it until very recently when I started working with a coach.

And to be clear, when I say "struggle" – I mean thinking about it (and ultimately writing it) in a way that ends up drastically reducing sales.

And that is the guarantee on your product.
Listen closely because if you’re like most entrepreneurs I’ve talked to, I’m about to challenge the way you think about guarantees and rip it to shreds.

The entire purpose of a guarantee is to give your customers confidence they’re not screwed if they invest in your product and you fail to deliver on your promises… ESPECIALLY if they’re dropping premium prices on you. It’s a mutual agreement that you (the seller) HAVE TO deliver on your promises.
Here’s the way most struggling entrepreneurs I’ve talked to approach their guarantees (and how I used to do it):
They live in a scarcity mindset that tells them their customers (and most people) are out to rip them off.

So they’re convinced that if they have a generous refund policy – like telling customers they can refund any time for any reason over the next 30, 60, 90 days – they’re going to be hit with tons of freeloaders ripping them off by buying their products, using their products successfully, and then asking for a refund.

Even just one refund coming through is enough for their scarcity mindset to kick into hyperdrive and making them scream, "See?!?! I told you!!"

So they give weak refund policies if they give any at all – like making the refund policy only 7 days, with all kinds of stipulations attached to it like "if you went through more than one module, unfortunately we can’t offer you a refund".

They make it scary to invest in their products.
But from a buyer’s perspective, that’s essentially like saying, "I don’t believe in my product enough to stand by it."

And the best buyers won’t buy.
Yet here’s the thing: if your product is actually any good and delivers on its promises, it doesn’t matter – people won’t refund (any more than they would otherwise).
Part of having a healthy money mindset is understanding that money is abundant, people are good, and no one is going to "steal" money away from you.

These days, when I work with entrepreneurs selling their own products and they’re offering wimpy or non-existent or customer-unfriendly refund policies, I almost have to hold a gun to their heads and say, "You NEED to offer 30 days minimum – no questions asked, no ‘proof’ needed. And honor the refunds immediately if they come in. Just try it and see what happens."
They resist and resist and resist (just like I did) because of their deep hard-wired belief that money is scarce and no one can take it away from them once they have it…
Until they try it and sales skyrocket – especially at higher price points.

Ning’s money coaching offer I mentioned yesterday is a perfect example of this.
As a recap, the course is $2997 for 8 weeks of coaching.
During those 8 weeks, you work with Ning – one of the most successful copywriters working today with over $50mm generated since he finished CopyHour 8 years ago – to completely rewire the deep money beliefs that are keeping you from feeling comfortable selling products, charging higher prices, and feeling worthy of making as much money as you want.

It’s a no-brainer if you’re a copywriter or entrepreneur who’s looking to make six or seven figures annually but find yourself constantly self-sabotaging when you make offers.
In fact it’s a no-brainer if you’re looking to make your first $3k/mo… or get out of debt… or just break through whatever money plateau you’re stuck at now.

I believe the investment will pay off at least 100x and likely more over your lifetime.

But $2997 is still a big investment. Even someone with the healthiest money mindset in the world doesn’t want to risk that much money without a strong guarantee.

So Ning offers a 60 day guarantee – no questions asked.

What that means is you can literally go through the entire 8 week training and if you don’t think it’s right for you for any reason… you send one email and get your money back, no questions asked.

Now I want you to pause for a second and monitor how you feel when you hear this.
For someone with an unhealthy money mindset, this seems insane. "But won’t people rip you off?"
As a consumer you might even think Ning’s got some kind of catch to his guarantee. Like, it seems too generous, right? Since there’s a good chance he’d be ripped off by all his customers, then there’s got to be a catch – so you’re not safe to invest your money.

In other words – you might believe it’s not real.

These are all signs that you have deeply unhealthy money beliefs wired into you – that since childhood it’s been beat into your nervous system (likely from the messages your parents gave you) that anyone being this generous with money must be a scammer, because money is a scarce resource and "normal" people are more careful with it.

Again, it all comes back to feeling deep in your nervous system (due to faulty programming from childhood) that money is scarce – and then unconsciously acting in a way that supports that.

But for someone with a healthy money mindset, it’s the exact opposite.
They understand that sure, maybe one or two people could claim a dishonest refund…

But the vast majority of people are honest.

And the amount of extra sales you make because of an ultra-generous guarantee like Ning’s will far outweigh any dishonest refunds.

Since people with healthier money beliefs feel all this deep in their nervous system, they see Ning’s guarantee as him saying, "I know my methods work and you will reset your money beliefs in the next 8 weeks, stop unconsciously sabotaging yourself, and as a result see money flow in almost effortlessly – while making your job as an entrepreneur 10x-100x easier. And if they don’t, it’s on me – not on you."

And then they buy.

Which is why you need to be generous with your refund policies as an entrepreneur.

Trust me – sales will skyrocket and refunds will not increase in proportion to those extra sales.

I can’t stress this enough – if you feel resistance inside you when you read lessons like this, and if you recognize yourself at all in my examples of poor money beliefs, you have massive money blocks that will unlock copywriting superpowers when you release them.
I know from personal experience that until you clear those blocks, you’re always going to struggle – because your brain and nervous system are wired to resist feeling comfortable both selling things to other people and accepting money from other people.

The fastest way to clear them is to work with a coach.

A good coach who specializes in this.

One who will:

  • Challenge your thinking
  • Give you exercises to push your limits & reinforce better thinking
  • And answer your questions as you go through those exercises & rebuild your money wiring.

    Ning is exactly that coach.

    He’s a powerhouse who has sold over $50mm with his copy over the past 8 years – and has coached over 450+ copywriters in his career on their money beliefs, both in his copy coaching programs and in his role as copy chief of Paleo Hacks.

    He’s focusing entirely on coaching to rewire money beliefs because he’s found that most of the copywriters he coached had fine copy fundamentals.

    Go through a course like CopyHour and you’ve got everything you need for success – whether you realize it or not.

    It turned out 90% of his students’ struggles were their money beliefs giving them resistance to all things related to selling – feeling ashamed to ask people for money, deeply feeling they were "scamming" people by asking for any money at all, and experiencing guilt over making money themselves (because of their deeply-embedded wiring that only "bad" people made lots of money).

    It also held them back from getting clients and charging those clients enough – because they never thought their work was worth anything.

    So they complicated their writing and self-sabotaged constantly.

    But when they lifted those money beliefs, writing copy, making offers, and pitching high-priced services became effortless.

    The big promise behind Ning’s money beliefs coaching is simple: you will sell more, and make more, than you ever have in your life after you complete the training.
    So if your goal is to be cracking six figures as a copywriter – you’ll be seeing results before the training is over that you’re on your way there.

    If your goal is to crack seven figures as an entrepreneur – ditto.

    If your goal is $5k/mo because you’re just starting out – yep.

    You choose what your goal is. Ning’s coaching will help you rewire the programming you’ve held onto since childhood (likely from your parents’ relationship to money) that causes you to resist achieving that goal – and turns it instead into something effortless and inevitable, the same way you turn the tap on your sink and expect to see water flow out abundantly.

    If the coaching doesn’t work for you? You have 60 days – the length of the training – to ask for a refund.

    In other words, you have literally nothing to lose.

    But if it DOES work, this is the kind of investment that pays off 100x or more over your lifetime.

    And it’ll definitely pay itself off in the first month applying it.

    I know Ning personally and have seen his results first hand.

>>> Click here to read more details about the coaching & sign up now
The training begins July 5th and runs weekly until August 27th. There will be assignments for you to do between each call – this isn’t about just passively sitting on calls, but about engaging your brain in a way that forces real change.
And for the next 48 hours only, Ning is offering $200 off with the coupon MONEY1 (if you’re paying in one installment of $2997) or MONEY3 (if you’re paying in three installments of $999).

Again – if you buy now and realize the next day, or a week later, or 8 weeks later that it’s not the right training for you… take advantage of Ning’s guarantee and get your money back.

(It shocks me how few people know how much time they can save by just buying things they think they want and refunding later if it’s not right for them. This is especially easy with digital products. They’d rather spend 3 weeks thinking over every tiny purchase and lose sleep. But I digress… this is a life hack lesson for another day.)
I hope this week’s lessons on pricing, guarantees, and money blocks have been helpful – and challenged you to think on the "beneath-the-surface" reasons why you may not be getting the results you’re after in copywriting or business, and how you can start to resolve them.

Have a great weekend!

— Derek