Great brands know how to master the concept of Value Curve. By offering products across many different price points, and gradually transitioning customers from the less expensive products to more expensive ones, brands are able to start building their customer base early and keep loyal customers for life.

For example, a brand like Mercedes Benz can now start you off with an A-Class, and gradually move you up to a B-Class, a C-Class, an E-Class, and an S-Class. While the prices and features may differ among them, they all share the brand’s core attributes (well appointed, reliable and technologically advanced).

The A-Class: not your father’s Mercedes…

Selling services or informational products on the web works pretty much the same way. You can nurture and expand your customer base and make it grow with your brand by creating a value curve where you have something to offer to a wide range of prospects, independently of their level of commitment or purchasing power.

A well rounded marketing strategy for selling services and informational products online may include all or some of these elements:

A Blog:

A blog is nothing but a content management system used to present information on a certain topic through articles or posts ordered chronologically, with the most recent ones first. The best blogs offer content that is unique, useful and updated. They also encorage user participation through comments and trackbacks.

A Newsletter or Feed:

Email newsltetters were popular in the past, but RSS feeds are the preferred subscription method nowadays. They are both good ways to build a loyal readership base. All blog platforms today support RSS.

White Papers / Special Reports:

A white paper is a short document a few pages long offered for free, that explains how to solve a particular problem. It is usually related to products and services you provide. For example, a web designer can write a white paper about how to evaluate and hire a web designer.

Ebooks:

Ebooks are books in electronic format, usually Adobe Acrobat (PDF). Ebooks are extremely profitable, since delivery costs are almost zero. You can create an ebook from scratch or repurposing your blog content by making it follow a certain logic or structure.

Books:

Real books printed on paper are still very popular From an author’s perspective there is also a large element of prestige associated with being a published author. Printed books work best when the subject matter won’t change radically in a short period of time. For example a book on marketing concepts will have a relatively long shelf life, while a printed book on search engine optimization may become obsolete very quickly.

CDs and DVDs:

Some people don’t like to read and prefer to listen to a book from a CD. DVD’s work great when you need to graphically show your audience how to do something (for example in training sessions). CDs and DVDs are cheap, and easy to make and distribute.

Seminars:

You can use seminars as a promotional tool for your products and services, or as a product itself. Seminars that span through several days and are packed with information and activities are sometimes called bootcamps. Bootcamps can cost from a few hundred dollars to several thousands.

Consulting:

You can offer your expertise for hire by becoming a consultant. Many companies work on a project by project basis and don’t want to hire a permanent employee. You can charge by the hour or be paid a retainer fee.

Coaching:

As a coach you will work one on one with your customer, and tailor your expertise to fit your customer’s unique situation and goals. Coaching requires you to perform highly customized work, allowing you to deliver the most value.

In summary, the idea is to “package” your expertise and deliver it in several different forms so that you can break the “charge-by-the-hour” model, and generate multiple streams of income while helping the largest amount of people in the most efficient way possible.

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