With Kanye’s and Drake’s recent releases causing so much excitement, I want to you back to 2013 to another hip-hop release that caused a major stir.
You see, in 2013, an unsigned rapper named Ermias Asghedom had an idea. He would release his next mixtape for free on datpiff.com, but if you wanted a physical copy, it would cost you $100.
When he told them his idea, they thought he had lost it! Nobody would ever spend $100 on a mixtape.
Asghedom’s friends always admired him for his business smarts.
Unlike other rappers, he would never spend his income on diamonds, brand labels or cars. Instead, he would invest in appreciating assets such as real estate or into his own business.
When he told them his idea, they thought he had lost it! Nobody would ever spend $100 on a mixtape.
Despite what his friends said, Asghedom went ahead. He would only make 1000 copies available.
He knew people would be “proud to pay.”
In 24 hours, all 1,000 CDs sold out, making Asghedom, better known as Nipsey Hussle, a cool $100,000!
I think about this story when my clients say, “if I raise my prices, no one will buy from me.”
It’s natural to have these doubts, But if you want to transform your business into a 6-figure or 7-figure business, it’s a step you will need to take. What’s important in making a successful transition is how you do it.
It is the model I used to grow my own business into a 7-figure business. Let me tell you why his idea worked.
1. Virality
Bonnie Raitt said let’s give them something to talk about. In your business, if you’re not giving people something to talk about they are not going to talk about your business. They’re not going to refer business and you’re not going to get new customers. So you have to give them something to talk about.
Nipsey Hussle’s $100 CD got people talking. The idea actually came from a book by Jonah Berger called Contagious about why things go viral. In it, there’s a story about a cheesesteak place in Philly that has a $100 cheesesteak. Now people talk about this place because it makes them mad that they would have the nerve to charge $100 for a cheesesteak but guess what, they are talking about and what they’re not doing is talking about another cheesesteak place that is selling cheesesteaks for $3.49.
It makes them curious and then they want to see what kind of place sells $100 cheesesteaks. Virality. Are you giving people a reason to talk about your business? A lot of people were talking about why they would never buy the CD for 100. But they were talking about it. In this age of social media, you want to keep your business top of mind.
2. Curiosity
Just like that cheesesteak place, when you charge high prices, people become curious. They want to know what is the big deal. What makes this thing so great? The mistake we make when we shy away from charging premium prices is that we’re not giving people the chance to be curious about our business. We’re actually saying nothing to see here. There’s nothing special about us.
When you have a premium-priced product our brains actually now want to know why. What makes us so special. People key in and start to take an interest in your business if even to understand why what you’re doing is so special. You start to get more attention, more curiosity. More curiosity more clients.
3. Scarcity
By only creating 1,000 CDs, Nipsey created an urgency to get your copy. If you can’t answer the question, why now then you’re not giving your buyer a reason to buy now instead of later. When you create scarcity, you’re creating the real possibility of them missing out, if they don’t get it now. FOMO is real and you should be using it to your advantage in your business.
VIP Days
That’s why I love VIP Days. VIP Days allow you to set yourself apart from your colleagues in the industry by combining the elements of virality, curiosity and scarcity by creating one high-value high-income product.
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