Pricing Your Work

Most European marketers I met were worried that they are charging too little.

Most ASEAN marketers I spoke to seem afraid that they are charging too much (and lost their customers).

I still remember, during one conference’s lunch break, a Swiss guy frown his face and asked “am I charging too little?” when a Malaysian guy “wow-ed” after hearing his hourly rate.

Pricing a project is an art. Finding the right balance is never an easy task.

It’s something I have been trying to learn.

Tom Hirst has some good points in his Twitter Tread.

You can read the whole thing in one page on his blog here – https://www.tomhirst.com/pricing-freelance-projects/

The key thing I took away from this:

You can’t charge a premium if your individual value isn’t obvious.

Things that increase perceived value and thus project price:

The scarcity of your time (availability)

What you’ve done before (credibility)The project price itself

Reducing your price means reducing your perceived value if you don’t also reduce scope.

* This short note was originally posted on my Facebook wall.

Why are generic domains so expensive?

* Post updated on April 2020.

Another year and another list of the top selling domain names, showing once again why certain domain names are much more pricey (pricier?) than others. If you haven’t been keeping up with the domain name game, let me give you a little spoiler:

All the of the best selling domain names are all single-word, generic domain names.

Now, for most of you, that might not come as a surprise. But, I’m pretty sure there’s someone out there who’s thinking of buying their first domain name and are tempted to be as outlandish as possible.

Well, if you take a look at both 2018 and 2019 Top 100 Domain Names Sales (see table below), the big money is always going to be with simple, single-word domain names.

Single-word domain names like fund.com or toys.com were some of the biggest sales of all-times. The trend continued in 2018 with domain names such as ice.com and super.com at $3.5 million and $1.2 million respectively.

2019 Top 10 Domain Name Sales

DomainSold ForDate
Voice.com$30,000,000Jun 2019
California.com$3,000,000Jan 2019
EKO.com$1,500,000Oct 2019
TM.com$1,250,000Nov 2019
RX.com$1,000,000Jul 2019
OL.com$900,000Mar 2019
Links.com$798,000Jun 2019
Mastermind.com$600,000Dec 2019
Medidata.com$600,000May 2019
Carrot.com$565,000Oct 2019

2018 Top 10 Domain Names Sales

Domain Sold For Date
Ice.com$3,500,000Jul 2018
Super.com$1,200,000Mar 2018
Great.com$900,000Mar 2018
Files.com$750,000 Dec 2018
Liquid.com$750,000 Mar 2018
MK.com$700,000 Nov 2018
Christian.com$600,000 Aug 2018
Inception.com$550,000 Jul 2018
Online.casino$510,000 Jun 2018
FO.com$510,000Mar 2018

Again, this shouldn’t come as a big surprise as brands with single word names tend to be more popular (and sells better) than those with complicated names. Why? Because it’s just easier to remember and to market – which in turn bring extra value to businesses.

Businesses named over generic words

Just at the top of my head, here’s a list of some of the most popular single-word brand names: Apple, Windows, Grab, Ever, Business, Startups, Hunt, and Blogger.

I can go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

Bottom line, single-word domain names or brands will continue to grow in value over the years. I mean, just take a look at Facebook when Mark Zuckerberg decided to drop the “The”.

If you really have to send that canned email…

I know that you are busy.

We are ALL BUSY.

But I thought you should know there’s another human on the other end of line.

If you really have to send that canned email…

  • Can you please address my name?
  • Can you please edit your font style so it’s easier to read?
  • Can you please keep it short so I can know what you want in just one quick glance?

That’s the least respect you can give to my inbox space.

And the least you can do as an “outreach specialist” or “IT manager” or “professional blogger”.

Why is the new iPhone so expensive?

Good news Malaysia Apple fans! iPhone XS and XS Max will be in store soon and now available for booking. The selling price starts at RM4,999 (iPhone XS 64GB) and goes all the way up to RM7,049 (iPhone XS Max 512 GB).

RM7,000+ for a mobile phone!

In context – the median monthly salaries for Malaysian workers, based on 2017 survey by Malaysia Statistic Department, is RM2,160. Employees with tertiary education of 3.3 million persons earn a median salary of RM4,320 (source)*.

So if you work out the simple maths – Should an average Malaysian want a new iPhone, he or she will need to spend three, or four months worth of salary.

Ouch!

Expensive price tag is good for Apple’s business (duh!)

It’s obvious now that Apple wants their iPhones to be expensive.

They want the majority can’t afford their products.

Weeding out the “poor” is good for Apple.

Chinese joke on iPhone XS price. Translation: “Expensive is never its drawbacks, it’s yours. Booking starts September 14, sales starts September 21”.

If you can’t afford an iPhone – it’s YOUR problem; not Apple’s

Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2018 third quarter ended June 30, 2018 just recently.

The Company posted quarterly revenue of $53.3 billion, an increase of 17 percent from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.34, up 40 percent.

56.1% of Apple’s revenue came from iPhone sales – the company sold 41.3 million iPhones in Q3 FY 2018. Services –  a catch-all category that includes the App Store, Apple Care, Apple Pay, iTunes and cloud services contributed $9.5 million in revenue – a 31% surge from year-ago quarter.

Some key observations:

  1. Apple sold the more or less the same amount of iPhones and iPads in year-ago quarter (Q3 2017),
  2. Apple sold less Mac compared to year-ago quarter (Q3 2017),
  3. Revenue and profit, however, are up 17% and 40%.

In other words, Apple made 40% more money by selling LESS.

what just happened? What just happened?

The strategy of selling higher price iPhones is proved working.

Users who spent so much on a phone are more likely to spend more in Apple Store, Apple Care, iTunes, and Apple Cloud service – the higher margin sectors. Revenue from “Service” just surged 31% Y-o-Y in Q3 2018. This sector will grew even faster in coming quarters.

Selling less units means Apple now has less users to take care of, they can provide better service to their “honorable customers”.

Apple iPhone will soon be the phones for the privileged. Just like how private banking and business class flights are positioned for only high net worth customers.

If you think these services or products are expensive – it’s because they are not for you. Stop pretending, or forcing yourself to be what you are not.

Stop letting Apple to milk you. Get an Oppo or Xiao Mi.

Or why change phone when your old one still works fine?

 


 

* Additional data –

1- iPhone in U.S. market

In United States, iPhone XS 64GB, 256GB or 512GB are selling at $999, $1,149 or $1,349. You need to add $100 on top of that for the iPhone XS Max with a bigger display ($1,099, $1,249 or $1,449). The iPhone XR starts at $749 for 64GB, with 128GB and 256GB also available for $799 and $899.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median wage for workers in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2017 was (pre-tax) $857 per week or $44,564 per year for a 40-hour workweek.

The iPhone price is not as expensive as you would “feel” in Malaysia. But it’s still a big portion on household spending, considering an average American spent just about $7,700 annually on food.

2- Spending on apps and in-app purchases

Apple users spent $63 on average on apps and in-app purchases in 2017; versus Android’s $58.