Increasing Price on my Course (CFFU)

[JustAskBenWhy]

I am in an interesting space whereby I am on the inside, so to say, of both real estate and IM.

Due to RE, I've not had traditional employement in about 4 years. To diversify my cash flows (and to do something very different), I created a course in 2012.

Cash Flow Freedom University (CFFU) has retailed on my website for $295 since day 1 - I'd never hiked the price. My students are succeeding, and in large part what is driving their success is unprecedented access I grant. Literally, upon registration everyone gets my cell phone number...

This renders CFFU un-scalable. However, it is the right thing to do, at least in principle. My students are reasonable about how they reach out, and yet, I know that having my eyes and ears on their deals really and truly drives their success! Thus has been my dilemma...

When 50 students was all there was, this was a non-issue. However, CFFU has grown a lot, and giving out my telelphone number, which in so many ways places me on call, makes things unsustainable on my end at $295. So - finally I decided to hike the price...

It's damned if you do, and damned if you don't. I want this knowledge to be accessible, hence I want to keep the price down. Yet, to do it for $295 I'd have to stop providing personal access, which is soooooo important.

I am concerend about what to expect. At the mercy of the marketplace. But I sort of don't care. Hiking the price is the only way forward. I am doing it as of July 1st!

@Justin Gesso - it's all your damn fault!

 

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[JokerCrazyBeatz]

Lets hope this works out for you

 

[Greg R]

Cash Flow Freedom University (CFFU) has retailed on my website for $295 since day 1 - I'd never hiked the price. My students are succeeding, and in large part what is driving their success is unprecedented access I grant. Literally, upon registration everyone gets my cell phone number...

This renders CFFU un-scalable. However, it is the right thing to do, at least in principle. My students are reasonable about how they reach out, and yet, I know that having my eyes and ears on their deals really and truly drives their success! Thus has been my dilemma...

When 50 students was all there was, this was a non-issue. However, CFFU has grown a lot, and giving out my telelphone number, which in so many ways places me on call, makes things unsustainable on my end at $295. So - finally I decided to hike the price...

It's damned if you do, and damned if you don't. I want this knowledge to be accessible, hence I want to keep the price down. Yet, to do it for $295 I'd have to stop providing personal access, which is soooooo important.

I am concerend about what to expect. At the mercy of the marketplace. But I sort of don't care. Hiking the price is the only way forward. I am doing it as of July 1st!

@Justin Gesso - it's all your damn fault!

@JustAskBenWhy I am very familiar with you and what you have brought to BP and the R.E. Community. You have definitely built up credibility and have brought tons of value to the community.

Now for the tough love.

1. I think you are cutting yourself way too short to charge $295. Even if you raised the price to $1000 you'd be giving your students a steep discount. If you built the best real estate course out there you can easily charge $1000 without giving your phone number. Then you can up sell them another $1000 to have direct access to you (via email). Value is in your customers perception. If the customer perceives that your $1000 course can bring them $50k-100k wouldn't it be worth the trade off? Personally, I would look at a $295 course and probably think that it wouldn't be worth my time. I am sure you have a great product. You're worth more.
2. The types of people you are attracting with a $295 course is most likely going to be the mid to lower end of the market. These types of people ask for refunds more often and demand more of your time which is probably why your having this problem in the first place. I would opt for the higher end market.
3. With your online biz, I see that your making a lot of assumptions. You think that your students NEED direct access to you when it is probably not true. Test out removing yourself from the equation. If people stop buying because you've removed yourself from the equation, you know that YOU are the product, not your course. I would take a step back a assess your plan. People should be buying your course because Ben made it and Ben puts out great products.

You're on the right track dude. Keep grinding.

I look forward to seeing you around.

 

[Justin Gesso]

@JustAskBenWhy I am very familiar with you and what you have brought to BP and the R.E. Community. You have definitely built up credibility and have brought tons of value to the community.

Now for the tough love.

1. I think you are cutting yourself way too short to charge $295. Even if you raised the price to $1000 you'd be giving your students a steep discount. If you built the best real estate course out there you can easily charge $1000 without giving your phone number. Then you can up sell them another $1000 to have direct access to you (via email). Value is in your customers perception. If the customer perceives that your $1000 course can bring them $50k-100k wouldn't it be worth the trade off? Personally, I would look at a $295 course and probably think that it wouldn't be worth my time. I am sure you have a great product. You're worth more.
2. The types of people you are attracting with a $295 course is most likely going to be the mid to lower end of the market. These types of people ask for refunds more often and demand more of your time which is probably why your having this problem in the first place. I would opt for the higher end market.
3. With your online biz, I see that your making a lot of assumptions. You think that your students NEED direct access to you when it is probably not true. Test out removing yourself from the equation. If people stop buying because you've removed yourself from the equation, you know that YOU are the product, not your course. I would take a step back a assess your plan. People should be buying your course because Ben made it and Ben puts out great products.

You're on the right track dude. Keep grinding.

I look forward to seeing you around.

Wow, what an endorsement in point #1. I agree though...Ben has really changed the way I execute on RE investing. Good stuff.

And interesting on point #3. From what I've heard from Ben, that's really where the magic happens. After people understand his content, then they get to the execution and WANT his help to nail it down. That could even be a separate engagement.

 

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[JustAskBenWhy]

@JustAskBenWhy I am very familiar with you and what you have brought to BP and the R.E. Community. You have definitely built up credibility and have brought tons of value to the community.

Now for the tough love.

1. I think you are cutting yourself way too short to charge $295. Even if you raised the price to $1000 you'd be giving your students a steep discount. If you built the best real estate course out there you can easily charge $1000 without giving your phone number. Then you can up sell them another $1000 to have direct access to you (via email). Value is in your customers perception. If the customer perceives that your $1000 course can bring them $50k-100k wouldn't it be worth the trade off? Personally, I would look at a $295 course and probably think that it wouldn't be worth my time. I am sure you have a great product. You're worth more.
2. The types of people you are attracting with a $295 course is most likely going to be the mid to lower end of the market. These types of people ask for refunds more often and demand more of your time which is probably why your having this problem in the first place. I would opt for the higher end market.
3. With your online biz, I see that your making a lot of assumptions. You think that your students NEED direct access to you when it is probably not true. Test out removing yourself from the equation. If people stop buying because you've removed yourself from the equation, you know that YOU are the product, not your course. I would take a step back a assess your plan. People should be buying your course because Ben made it and Ben puts out great products.

You're on the right track dude. Keep grinding.

I look forward to seeing you around.

Thanks indeed, Greg! I try to add value...

I think that the pricing is difficult for me because of what's in my own head. I do, actually, buy into the anti-guru rationalle so prevelant on BP. I want to always give more value than what I get. However, I don't want to undercut the value of my time. So this pricing issue has been an internal struggle

I will consider your thoughts very carefully. One thing is for sure - $295 is no longer sustainable.

 

[Greg R]

Thanks indeed, Greg! I try to add value...

I think that the pricing is difficult for me because of what's in my own head. I do, actually, buy into the anti-guru rationalle so prevelant on BP. I want to always give more value than what I get. However, I don't want to undercut the value of my time. So this pricing issue has been an internal struggle

I will consider your thoughts very carefully. One thing is for sure - $295 is no longer sustainable.

Dude from what I remember you built up a sizeable cashflow portfolio that most can only dream of.

Just of out curiosity, why an ecourse?

I was originally going to go that route but realized that I wasn't passionate about it.

Side Note: I remember you saying that you either sold your portfolio or are not buying any more is that true?

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[JustAskBenWhy]

Dude from what I remember you built up a sizeable cashflow portfolio that most can only dream of.

Just of out curiosity, why an ecourse?

I was originally going to go that route but realized that I wasn't passionate about it.

Side Note: I remember you saying that you either sold you portfolio or are not buying any more is that true?

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

Actually, all of that is true, and then some. Interesting question...

In 2009 I needed to stop buying for several reasons. First, my wife was on bed rest with twins, so I was teaching my violin students as well as hers (at the point I was still teaching). Additionally, my portfolio had grown a little too big for residential notes, but not big enough for commercial. Growing pains, you might say. Due to all of that, and a few other things, I was forced to the sidelines for most of 2009.

Not being one to let time go to waste, I launched JustAskBenWhy; at first in a form of a podcast, before anyone else did these. However, without a name brand, it went nowhere. So, I figured I'd put all of my thoughts into a course, and just let it out in the world...not knowing if anyone would ever care about anything I have to say.

I launched in 2010, and for the next 3 years it just sat there, selling perhaps 3 per month at $295. I spent 2011 - 2013 buying and re-positioning buildings, and had no time to devote to this - it just did what it did. However, by 2014 my wife and I realized that we wanted to move out of Ohio, which meant that I needed to stop buying in Ohio. By then, I'd quit teaching violin, and frankly was bored out of my mind, and not sure what to do with myself...All I did was hang out on BP all day, which bumped my sales to 5-6/month, but that was it due to poorly optimized site.

I remember talking to @Justin Gesso, who by then had become my right hand man with all things internet, aside for becoming a close friend. I remember telling him that I was bored as all hell - to the point of light depression, to which Justin suggested I look into the 100-Day challenge, which I did...

As part of the challenge I needed to set a goal for 100 days. Since my RE was stable at that point, and since I didn't want to buy any more in Ohio, the one thing in my life which seemed to have lots of meat on the bone was CFFU. I thought, why am I happy with a little side revenue - why can't I create a business out of this. Especially considering that I was looking at relocation, it made sense to focus on growing the revenue stream which I could do from anywhere. So, I challenged myself to double sales of CFFU.

I am a teacher. I really like to teach. Whether it's vioin, or real estate, I truly just like teaching. We doubled CFFU. Then we doubled it again. Then we doubled it agin. Now, Justin and I are working on doubling it again.

This income synergizes well with RE, because the depreciation from RE facilitates low effective tax rate on internet income, where of course taxation can be an issue.

As we speak, my house is on the market, and I am in contract to sell one of my apartment buildings. And within 2 months I would hope that we are relocated to AZ. Once there, I hope to start buying RE again, and gradually bring my equity out of Ohio and into AZ all together. So - I guess, everything worked out well enough.

But, at the end of the day, while CFFU has become a viable revenue stream for me, the course is most definitely helping lots and lots of people. Different kinds of people, too. Some need to create something out of nothing, while others look to avoid mistakes since they need to preserve wealth they've already created. And the best thing is, RE and CFFU coexist increasingly well in my life. As I do more, and learn more, I become a better teacher, and can offer more value. So everyone wins.

That's the short story, Greg.

 

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[Greg R]

Actually, all of that is true, and then some. Interesting question...

But, at the end of the day, while CFFU has become a viable revenue stream for me, the course is most definitely helping lots and lots of people. Different kinds of people, too. Some need to create something out of nothing, while others look to avoid mistakes since they need to preserve wealth they've already created. And the best thing is, RE and CFFU coexist increasingly well in my life. As I do more, and learn more, I become a better teacher, and can offer more value. So everyone wins.

That's the short story, Greg.

@JustAskBenWhy thanks for the story.

As you probably already know, many people in this forum find value seeing the actual processes of it all (as do I).

I did not know that you started teaching R.E. in 2010 so that was news to me. You've been at it for a while.

There is a lot of satisfaction that comes from teaching and it seems like that's what drives you.

You should start a progress thread for this, I am sure that there are more people then just me interested.

It will also help hold you accountable