Trust, Controversy and Marketing
Image by bobby-james via Flickr
How much would you pay for a course on how to use facebook? Now, how much would you pay for a course on how to use Google plus? Before I begin this article, please do take the time to answer in the comments section so that we’ll have an idea of how people view this question.
The purpose for this exercise is to ascertain whether using something as basic as a social network merits a price that people would even consider paying. How much should such a course go for? Should it be priced at $47 US per hour? $100?
The beauty of the web economy is that it’s not tied to any conventional rule of supply and demand that has been taught to us in college economics. Therefore, the way people value something seemingly as basic as a course on how to use a social network cannot be easily evaluated and ascertained.
In the real world, if you buy a real thing such as a tomato, you would know how much it would cost right then and there by taking into consideration factors such as supply, weight, the cost of production, the profit margin of the seller and other market conditions. But on the web, it’s much harder to price a thing simply because there’s no basis and no guidelines in most services yet.
Controversy and Demand
Sometimes, the best way to stir up demand is by placing value on controversy. People’s attentions are often drawn and diverted to controversial matters. Curiosity is a natural human trait that’s embedded deep within the psyche of everyone.
Chris Brogan quite recently utilized this to his advantage by coming up with a paid webinar on how to use Google plus. It was a stroke of brilliance that garnered enough controversy that even those who disagreed with him actually and unwittingly promoted his paid webinar by blogging against it.
Don’t Get Angry or Envious, Learn From It
There are 1,000 slots on the webinar and at $47 per seat, that’s $47,000 dollars earned for one hour.
Don’t let the green monster of envy eat you.
While the debate still rages on online, keen observers note that it’s a classic case of creating demand. It’s true that it’s still too early for Mr. Brogan to launch something particularly as basic as using a social network. But it’s also true that there’s no ethical, legal or moral guideline that can stop him from doing so.
There’s a lesson to be learned here and it would be good for everyone to understand how even criticism is good. Regardless of what people say about him, Mr. Brogan surely would make a lot of money on something that practically anyone with average computer skills would be able to do too. Would you be able to sell something like that? It depends.
One cannot discount Mr. Brogan’s fame advantage which he used to leverage his business agenda. You may be able to do the same if you’re relatively well known. But if you’re not, you would then have the need for the services of Mr. Brogan and the like.
The lesson is this: you need to build up your reputation over the years in order to build up trust. Once you’ve invested sufficiently on this, you could then use this to your advantage. Note however, that there’s a good difference between using this to your advantage and taking advantage of trust. Be sure to know the distinction and you can maximize your potential.
Danny Garcia is the founder of Blog Hangout, the place for like minded bloggers to just hangout over at Hoogle Plus Hangouts and read each other’s blogs.
Related articles
- Google+ and the War For Social Dominance (seohatch.com)
- Search Engine Ranking Factors 2011: Overview (seohatch.com)
Google+ is still in beta, so much of its functionality will change, and they've told businesses to hold off. Brogan's marketing his seminar specifically toward business users, even when Google has said it's not ready for prime time. At SocialMediaOnlineClasses.com, we're taking a reasonable approach of waiting to debut a Google+ course when the social network is made available to everyone and it's out of beta. That way our students will get the best course with lessons they can use today, next month, and next year. Ultimately, our students are #1. Who's #1 with Chris Brogan?
Hi Maria. Thanks for the comment. I completely agree with you. Since Google+ does not even have a business account functionality yet I am really curious as to what a business owner/employee will get out of a webinar like this. Love your website btw.
The webinar is finished. There were 154 attendees.
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
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[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. a bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
[...] A little bit of controversy. A bit of controversy, scarcity and Chris Brogan’s personal brand has turned the social media maven’s Webinars into major money makers. But what can we poor mortals learn from all this? Creating a brand around trust and expertise is a great business model with little overhead besides the time involved. Are you a trusted expert? SEOHatch [...]
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