Three Proven Strategies to Boost

Your Profits Today

By Cap’t Jim Palmer, The Dream Business Coach

Three Proven Strategies to Boost Your Profits Today

Published by Success Advantage Publishing

411 Walnut Street
#13554
Green Cove Springs, Florida 32043

Copyright © 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
written permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America.

DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES

While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make
no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this
book. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should
consult a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the authors shall be liable for any
loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental,
consequential, or other damages. The purchaser or reader of this publication assumes responsibility
for the use of these materials and information. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, both
advertising and all other aspects of doing business in the United States or any other jurisdiction, is the
sole responsibility of the purchaser or reader.
 This book is intended to provide accurate information with regards to the subject matter
covered. However, the Author and the Publisher accept no responsibility for inaccuracies or
omissions, and the Author and Publisher specifically disclaim any liability, loss, or risk, whether
personal, financial, or otherwise, that is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, from the
use and/or application of any of the contents of this book.

This book is dedicated to my family,

Stephanie, Nick, Steve, Jessica, and Amanda

Table of Contents
Introduction
Gross vs. Net
Raise Your Prices
My Own Example
The Value of Time
Price Elasticity
Create Celebrity and Stop Working for Free
Risk Reversal
Apples and Oranges
About the Author – Jim
About Jim
Introduction
Welcome to The Fastest Way to Higher Profits . This ebook contains
valuable and possibly life-changing information. Do not let its size or price
fool you.
My name is Jim Palmer, otherwise known as “Captain Jim Palmer,
The Dream Business Coach.” I coach entrepreneurs and small business
owners how to create their own dream business, so they too can live their
dream lifestyle.
As my coaching business has grown, starting with Dream Business
Mastermind and Coaching, then including my annual or semi-annual live
events – Dream Business Academy – I now connect with a larger audience
of entrepreneurs and small business owners, and as a way to give back and
serve that larger audience, I created a free Facebook Group called, Build
Your Dream Business Now. You can join this group at
www.DreamBizGroup.com .
Part of the way I serve this community is doing live video training
once a week. This program is currently called “Free Training Thursday.” I
say currently because it was originally “Free Training Tuesday,” until my
coaching schedule made it challenging to fit into my schedule. Anyway, on
“Free Training Thursday,” I share some of my best coaching advice with the
members of the Build Your Dream Business Now Facebook Group. If I do
say so myself, these trainings are awesome! As a result, I decided to have
some of the best ones transcribed and turned into ebooks, like the one
you’re holding now.
When I say “dream business” I mean one that:
Grows even during a crappy economy
Has multiple streams of revenue
Becomes an asset for a worry-free retirement
Is always firing on all cylinders
Is fun to operate
Provides you with the lifestyle you want
Allows you to give back and make a difference in the lives of
others
 I’ve been enjoying my own dream business, and yes, my dream
lifestyle. If you’ve been in the group or otherwise following me or
participating in any of my programs, watching videos, etc., you know that
my wife and I decided to pull up roots, sell our house, and purchase a 50’
Carver Motor Yacht we named, “Floating Home” and are now sailing up
and down the east coast, dropping anchor when and where we want . Our “
Floating Home” is also my floating office as three days a week, I run my
various businesses from there, including my Dream Business Mastermind
and Coaching Program.
My goal is to help you build your dream business as well, so based
on my coaching videos, I’ve developed this series of ebooks – drilling down
to some of the most important topics you need to understand in order to be a
successful entrepreneur, build your own dream business, and enjoy your
own dream lifestyle – whatever that means to you!

So, enjoy this fast-read book which, as I said, contains marketing

and business-building information that – should you apply it in your
business – will likely produce amazing results. As I’ve said in the past,
information for the sake of information is not going to move your business
forward. It is only through massive action and implementation will you
move an ordinary business to an extraordinary business… a dream
business!
Check out other titles in this series, including:
What Separates the Top 1% from the Rest
Millionaire Mindset Hacks
How to Create Multiple Streams of Revenue
The Top Ten Mistakes That Keep Entrepreneurs Broke
Chapter One:

Gross vs. Net

In my coaching business, one of the most important topics I cover
with clients is profitability. Let’s face it: Even if you can generate $100,000
in revenue but your expenses are $100,100 or even $100,001, you’re in
trouble. You are certainly not enjoying a dream business! I’m willing to bet
you’re even working ridiculous hours with nothing to show for it. I’m also
sure you’re working in your business rather than on your business.
My mantra is: gross is for vanity net is for sanity. For a quick
primer: Gross is the total revenue you take in; net is what’s left after you’ve
subtracted all (and I do mean “all”) of your expenses. In the example above
of $100,000 revenue, you’re net is -$100.00 or $-1.00. You might want to
shrug off the mere loss of a dollar, but hold it right there. Losing a dollar or
even breaking even means you are working for nothing! You are investing
hours and perhaps blood, sweat, and tears in your business and have
nothing to show for it. Not so much as a dollar going into your pocket or
bank account.
I dedicated my third book – a best seller – to this very topic:
profitability. The Fastest Way to Higher Profits has almost two dozen profit-
enhancing strategies you can immediately employ in your business. You
must be profitable in order to have a dream business. I’ve clearly outlined
my definition of a dram business in the introduction of this book. (Go back
and read that part if you happened to skip over it. It’s important.)
I worked my rear end off the many, many years, both in my retail
and corporate jobs and in the earlier years of running my own businesses.
My wife and I now enjoy our dream lifestyle on our boat. I know that living
full time aboard a boat is not for everyone. Your dream lifestyle might
entail living in Belize or someplace else exotic. Or it may be living in your
current home, enjoying early retirement… with no debt. Regardless, you
have to go from being a W-2 employee – arrive at this time, leave at that
time, get two weeks’ vacation – to being an entrepreneur if you really want
to generate true wealth for yourself – financial freedom that then leads to
time freedom. Those freedoms allow you to give back and make a
difference in the lives of others as you see fit – whether those others are
family, friends, or complete strangers through a philanthropic venture.
Let’s jump in to the profit enhancers, shall we?
Chapter Two:

Raise Your Prices

The first – and probably the most important – profit enhancer is also
the most difficult for many entrepreneurs. Raise your prices and charge
what you’re worth. This strategy involves first changing your mindset about
what you’re worth and what prospects are willing to pay for your
expertise… and then actually charging that amount! This is the biggest
hurdle most, if not all, my coaching clients have to get over.
As I said, it’s in two parts: recognizing the value you bring in your
products and/or services and then being bold enough to charge that amount.
To truly recognize your value, you first have to get out of your own head!
You’re solving problems for your clients, so you must evaluate the value
from their perspective , not yours. We tend to live in our own heads, and
that’s a dangerous place to be. Let me illustrate what I mean.
While we were still “landlubbers,” my wife, Stephanie and I found
charities that are near and dear to our hearts. We support them financially,
and when still living in Pennsylvania, also supported them with our time.
One of those is Good Works, a charity that repairs homes for low-income
folks – people who may have to choose between food, and sometimes
medicine, and whether or not they should fix their leaky roof, for example.
Typically, I’d spend one Saturday a month working on a team to
help repair houses. On one particular Saturday, I was driving to the project
house and feeling pretty good about myself. I’d had a great week in my
business. My second book, Stick Like Glue – How to Create an Everlasting
Bond with Your Customers So They Stay Longer, Spend More, and Refer
More! was selling really well. My coaching program was getting off the
ground. I was on cloud nine.
When I arrived, I was partnered with a professional carpenter, who
was part of the team that made up this awesome group. Our task was to
replace a rotted porch that was falling apart and dangerous. My partner,
Tom, said, “Okay, Jim. We’re going to need five two-by-eights at 16
inches….”
As he continued rattling off instructions, it was clearly going over
my head (and my earlier good mood evaporating right with it), and all I was
hearing was, “Blah, blah…19/32nds… blah, blah, some other dimension ,
blah, blah, blah. You got that, Jim?”
His tape measure’s zooming and he’s preparing for me to cut. I had
to admit my carpentry ignorance, not wanting to mis-cut and waste lumber.
“Tom, when I measure, I usually think, ‘Well, it’s past the inch mark, then
there’s a big line… and this it’s two little lines past that.” Obviously, I’m no
carpenter – not by a long stretch.
The point of sharing this story (and my lack of measuring skills) is
that while Tom may have taken his own knowledge and expertise for
granted, he far excelled me. If he were charging to re-build this porch, he
must charge for his services from my perspective, not his.
Similarly, when Stephanie and I were going to have an addition
added to the back of our house along with a new patio, there was a tree that
was going to need to be removed. I owned a chain saw and figured I had
some experience taking down branches and cutting fallen limbs. As I
looked at the tree and the house, I realized this 15- to 18-foot tree was only
10 feet from the house. If I cut it and it fell into the yard, no problem. But if
it fell the other way, well….
I called the tree guy. When he gave me the quote to cut down the
tree, remove the stump and provide all the other ancillary services, I
swallowed hard. Then I thought about my own inexperience with this and
agreed to pay it.
He knew his expertise and skill had value (especially to me and my
desire not to damage the house), and he was charging for it accordingly and
profitably. The trap into which many entrepreneurs fall is that what we do –
our skill, knowledge, and expertise – becomes commonplace to us. We
often fail to see the value what we do really offers to our prospects,
customers, clients, or patients.
In Tom’s case, he could knock out a deck re-build in eight hours, but
the value of a solid, safe deck is easily four to five times that. Tom must
charge for that – not simply the hours it takes him to complete the project.
Figure out that piece of the puzzle – the value you offer and
problems you solve through your own expertise, knowledge and skill – and
you’re well on your way to higher income and greater profitability. Just be
sure to stay out of your own head and get into your customers’ heads when
you are doing this calculation.
Chapter Three:

My Own Example
For me, I really excel at helping entrepreneurs achieve higher levels
of growth and get there faster than they could achieve on their own. In
addition to improving their mindsets and helping them embrace a
millionaire mindset, I’m really good at creating brands and marketing,
developing premises and titles for books, creating info products, and (with
the help of my team), developing killer websites to attract prospects and do
a lot of the heavy lifting of running their enterprises.
It’s a skill set I’ve always had, and for sometime in my early years, I
never realized the degree to which I could profit from it.
I’ve honed my skills and sharpened my chops over the last ten years.
When I sit down with a client, I take in their information – almost like
paging through a book – and say, “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do.
Bing, bing, bing. You’re book is going to do this; your website is going to
do that.” I outline the target audience and help develop their avatar; I
generate ideas for their opt-in and an overview of what their autoresponders
should be and when and how they should be delivered. I provide them with
everything that is part of my Million-Dollar Platform approach.
The client gets a solid plan, and it’s one that will boost their revenue
and profitability and perhaps even generate a brand new revenue stream.
This takes a few hours of us spending time together (usually on my
boat); sometimes, we spend an entire day together. It’s four to eight hours of
my time, but I’ve never lost sight of the incredible value behind my
expertise and skill set. It far, far exceeds the day or half day of my time. As
a coach, I don’t make any guarantees, but I am comfortable that when the
client implements the plan I map out, they can be doing $250,000 or more
in two or three years.
I talk about my expertise with pretty good bravado and great
confidence. Let me stop here and ask you: Can you say the same thing
about what you do?
Chapter Four:

The Value of Time

The ability for you to save your client time (in addition to helping
them solve a problem or ease a pain point) is also a value driver, so of
course, it’s also a driver of a higher price. The time you save someone, not
just telling them what to do but doing it or implementing it for them, has
immense value. When what you offer can save them time, they can, in turn,
use that time to focus on whatever it is they want to focus on. That could be
running their own business, spending more time with family, or enjoying
their leisure activities… whatever.
That said, I want to share a story with you that goes back many,
many years because saving time can backfire at times… at least in the
customer’s perspective.
I got my first job when I was 15, working in a bike shop. I was a
mechanic, and I became a really, really good mechanic. There’s a thing
when you look at a bike wheel and when it rolls forward, it wobbles left and
right. When that happens, you have to “true” the wheel. You do that by
turning the spokes left, right, up, down. You do a lot of different things to
make that wheel turn smooth and straight. I was really good at truing
wheels.
As an entrepreneur, you know that everything you go through in life
is a lesson – or can be to the degree to which you remember it!
I recall being about 30, managing the bike shop when a gentleman
came in on a Saturday – the busiest day of the week in any bike shop. Some
people want to go out riding that weekend, so they don’t want to leave their
bike to pick it up later the following week. This gentleman pointed to his
bike and said, “My wheel’s out of round. I need it to be trued.”
This was a long time ago, and at that time, we charged $12.00 to
true a wheel. He begged me to do this while he waited. I saw it as my
opportunity to make a customer really, really happy and afford him the
opportunity to take advantage of a beautiful weekend to do a lot of riding.
We didn’t have a “back room” or any sort of separation from customers
when we worked on bikes. I put it on the stand and trued his wheel in about
three or four minutes.
 When I told him he owed $12.00, he had a major hissy fit that I
would have the audacity to charge him that much for something that took
me less than five minutes. I will never forget that lesson. Don’t let the
customer know how long it takes you to do anything! Again, it’s not about
the time it takes. Ultimately, it’s about the value you provide – in this case,
a trued wheel even though the customer couldn’t quite see it that way.
Let’s say you’re a copywriter. If you write really great copy that
flows beautifully and turns into a great sales letter that generates a ton of
money for your client, don’t let them know whether it took you five weeks,
five days, five hours, or five minutes to write it. How long it took you (and
obviously the faster you can produce great work, the more profitable you
are) doesn’t matter. They are not paying for your time – they’re paying for
the end result… just like Tom building the deck.
Never let them see what’s behind the wizard’s curtain, like that old
movie!
Chapter Five:

Price Elasticity
Price elasticity gives you the opportunity to raise your prices, often
much higher than you even thought possible in the first place. Your price
must match the correct value that your product or program has and the
service that you provide.
Before I go any further, I have to state that the quality of your
product or service – in the customer’s perception – must be exceptional.
That is non-negotiable.
Back to my earlier story about the tree: I had zero desire to have that
tree fall and hit my house during removal. I didn’t want to risk my house,
and honestly, I did not want to waste five weekends working on the project,
taking that big tree down with my little 14-inch chain saw. I wanted the tree
removal guy to go bing, bing, bing… put it in the grinder and take it away,
so I could move forward with the addition we were planning.
The thing you must consider and figure out is how much is too
much… and how do you go about figuring that out? Speed and convenience
are two drivers of what perceived value is. The other thing that you have to
take into account is the level of concierge-type service you are able to
provide.
Consider the story about the guy with a furnace that isn’t working.
It’s the dead of winter in Chicago. The house is cold; the kids are shivering.
The guy calls the HVAC repairman. He arrives and heads for the basement.
He turns one screw. He returns five minutes later with the furnace now
blasting hot air, and the kids are huddling near the registers to get warm
again. He hands the homeowner a bill for $200.00. Of course, the
homeowner flips. “What?!? You weren’t even here five minutes!”
The HVAC repairman reaches for the invoices and says, “Okay. Let
me adjust the bill for you.” He scribbles a few notes and hands it back.
The bill now reads: “Turning one screw: $1.00; knowing which
screw to turn to get your family warm, safe, and comfortable again:
$199.00”
It’s about explaining value, so the customer understands it. Once the
homeowner realized he was paying for a warm house, $200.00 was
acceptable – even a bargain.
 If you doubt speed and convenience factor into price, I want you to
consider FedEx. I can take an envelope out of my desk and put a first class
stamp on it for about $.50 now. I can mail it from the east coast to
California, and it might get there in about four days. Or, I can put it in a
FedEx envelope for about $20.00 and have it there tomorrow morning by
10:00 a.m.
Yes, people will pay for speed. Speed has value.
As an entrepreneur reading this short book, you have a particular
skillset. Given enough time and enough effort, and add in all the trial and
error that leads to wasted money and time, and you can have a profitable
business. What’s the value of getting to more profit and having a bigger
bank account faster – without the trial and error and wasted time and
money?
You can buy speed by hiring a coach like me, who has the expertise
and experience you need to avoid the trial and error and wasted time and
money. You can be more profitable and be more profitable faster. However,
not everyone is willing to pay for speed or convenience. I understand. It’s
your choice, but I want to ensure you understand the ramifications. Speed
and convenience are huge factors.
As another example: You could go to Pep Boys or your local auto
parts store, buy four quarts of oil, an oil filter, get under your car some
Saturday in your garage or driveway and change your own oil. It probably
costs you about $15.00 for you to do it yourself. Or you could go to Jiffy
Lube or someplace similar and paybe about $35.00 (more than double) and
be in and out in 15 to 20 minutes… plus you don’t have to get cleaned up
and you don’t have to take the used oil to a gas station or hazardous waste
collection site. There are also vendors who come to your location to change
your oil. Sure, they charge more, but you don’t even have the time
investment to drive to have it done and wait while they perform the service.
There are people who want every single level of service. There are
those who focus on being economical and want to go the cheapest route,
doing it themselves. There are those who fall in the middle, who will drive
to have their oil changed. And then there are those who will pay a premium
to get the concierge level of service.
The Lowest Common Denominator
 Living on a boat and spending a lot of time in marinas, I’ve learned
there are a lot of boaters who want to do everything the most economical
way. (You know how to define a boat? It’s a hole in the water in which you
pour your money into!) I see a lot of guys who want to save a buck and will
take an entire weekend to do their own work. That’s not me. It might have
been me ten years ago, but not any more. I don’t want to spend all weekend
working on the boat.
When I had my previous boat, “Perfect Timing,” I’d spend an entire
weekend waxing it. It was a 30-foot boat and not as tall, so I could manage
it. But man, my shoulder would hurt; my back would hurt. It was a heck of
a lot of work. When I got “Floating Home,” I knew from experience it
would take forever to wax, so I started getting quotes from boat dealers and
detailers. Their fallback position was always the cheap route. They’d say,
“Look, if you wash it, then I’ll come out and wax it.” Or “If you do this or
that, then I’ll do the other.”
My reply: “I don’t want to do squat. I want you to come out. I want
you to clean my boat, wax it, buff it, make it shine, and make it look
awesome. How much is that going to cost me?”
You see, their natural reaction – and the reaction of too many
entrepreneurs – is to defer to the lowest common denominator, which is a
cheap price.
Your skill set is not typical. I believe every person has been blessed
with a God-given skill and talent. The most successful entrepreneurs are
those fortunate enough to figure out how to use those skills and talents in
their businesses, combine them with their passion for serving others and the
knowledge and understanding of what their expertise is really worth. That’s
how they can create a dream business that enables them to make a nice
living and enjoy the lifestyle they want.
I believe the biggest struggle for most entrepreneurs is profit. Most
want to attract customers right away and believe the only way to do that is
to start with low price and be on the bottom of the totem pole. The problem
is that once you start there, it is very very difficult to drive your business
upward because you’re always starting at a lower price point. So how much
is too much?
Here’s my rule of thumb: If you’re quoting prices for your product
or service and you don’t have about 20 to 30 percent of your prospects
gulping a little or taking a step back when they hear the price, your prices
are too low.
If you’re closing business left and right and not one prospect ever
says no to you, I guarantee your prices are too low.
You want people to recoil a little bit, but then you want to be in their
head because of your branding, positioning, and marketing. Then you want
them to understand the value you offer and then agree to hire you and pay
your price. That’s when you know you’re probably approaching the top of
the price spectrum and are charging for your product or service correctly.
Chapter Six:

Create Celebrity and Stop Working for Free

Your celebrity factor can outweigh your skill factor every time.
While you probably won’t start out as a celebrity in your field, it is
definitely something you want to work toward.
One of my great friends and VIP clients is “One-Click” Lindsey
Anderson. I did not do one single thing to improve her skill and talent at
creating phenominal websites, landing pages, Facebook marketing
campaigns or any of that. She owns all of it – her talent and skill. However,
what I did do when we started working together was to help create a brand
and a strategy and a marketing campaign based on building her celebrity as
“One-Click Lindsey” as well as her site trafficandleads.com (
www.trafficandleads.com ). That brought more business to her, but more
importantly, as her celebrity star rose, she could continue to increase her
prices. Like I said, the celebrity factor will carry more weight as you set
your prices than the skill factor. Keep that in mind!
I have another VIP client, Carmen Torres who is know as “My HR
Specialist” ( www.myhrspecialist.com ) I’ve been helping Carmen in a
number of different ways to increase her fees for all the many different
services she provides to help emerging companies that need human resource
support but don’t want to have a full-time HR employee on staff. Carmen
shared on one of our calls that to get new clients, she goes out and provides
an assessment for a business, and then she’ll make recommendations on
that what company should do to be legal and compliant with the HR
policies.
“Carmen, wait. You’re doing that for free?”
“Yes.”
“No, you’re not going to do that for free anymore. What you’re
doing is worth at least $2,500.00!”
She resisted at first, but then went out and did an assessment and
quoted $2,500 for it which also includes a list of suggestions and
recommendations, etc. She has a lot of value packed into it. So now,
whether they hire her to implement her recommendations or whether they
take her report and run, she now has $2,500 to show for it. For more than a
year now, every time she does an assessment, she’s getting paid $2,500.
That’s the starting point as establishing yourself as a professional… an
expert… someone who’s worth it.
Start building your celebrity and stop giving your services away for
free and you’re immediately on your way to generating bigger profits… and
doing so for the same effort on your part.
Chapter Seven:

Risk Reversal
If you want to close more business, you have to reverse the risk.
Inherently, where most companies place the risk of doing business with you
is with the customer or the prospect, and that's wrong. It’s backward. Most
entrepreneurs figure that if they’re not closing more business it’s because
their prices are too high… and that’s really wrong and that is no way to
increase profitability. In fact, it’s headed the exact opposite direction.
If your customers, clients, or patients are not saying yes, it’s not
because your prices are too high. It is because you haven’t built enough
trust in your products or in yourself as someone who can expertly solve
their problem and alleviate their pain with your product or service. People
always have questions like, “What if it doesn’t work? What if I’m wrong?
What if what you’re doing for me doesn’t provide the results you say it
will? What if it fails?”
Customers might say it’s because of price, but I’ll always contend
that it’s because you haven’t fully established the value. You have to reverse
the risk and put all the risk for the value and results on your shoulders, not
on your client.
How? With your guarantee.
Look at most companies and you’ll find something like a 30-day
guarantee… perhaps a one-year warranty. If someone buys it, they’re
suddenly running a clock in their head worried that they only have 30 days
to prove the efficacy of the product or service. The risk is on them. Or
perhaps with that sort of guarantee, they won’t even bite in the first place
because they are too aware of the ptyart of Murphy’s Law that says the
product will fail exactly one day after the warranty expires. We’ve all been
bitten by that!
I encourage my coaching to set what I call “BHAGs”: big, hairy,
audacious goals. I mean, I really want them to stretch when they set a goal.
I'm going to play off that here and challenge you to set your own BHAG – a
big, hairy, audacious guarantee! I want you to fully reverse the risk and put
it all on you. That's the best way to get past any price sensitivity and move
prospects from thinking about buying from you, hesitating because they are
worried about the guarantee, to giving you a resounding yes and opening
their wallets.
When you want to fully reverse the risk, take a look at L.L. Bean,
for example. While they’ve recently tempered their guarantee and
warranties on the products a bit, they guarantee 100% satisfaction in every
way. “We stand behind all our products and are confident that they will
perform as designed. If you are not 100% satisfied with one of our products,
you may return it within one year of purchase for a refund. After one year,
we will consider any items for return that are defective due to materials or
craftsmanship.”
That’s their gurantee on everything they sell. They want every single
customer to be 100% satisfied. There is no ambiguity in it. They’ve placed
the risk on them, not on their customers.
I learned this from Dan Kennedy, along with so many other great
things. When you lengthen the guarantee, it reduces the chance that the
customer is going to start that mental “guarantee count-down clock” and
they’ll worry less. Less worry leads to more customers, clients, and patients
saying yes to you in the first place. A super strong guarantee takes the risk
of the purchaser and puts it where it belongs – on the vendor.
In my No Hassle Newsletters business, I offer my “Ironclad, No
Hassle Guarantee of Your Complete Satisfaction.”
If you're ever unhappy with No Hassle Newsletter Marketing System
for any reason, you want to stop your subscription, no problem. Send me an
email, I will politely and immediately refund your last monthly charge,
remove you from the system, and never to be billed again. I either deliver
top-quality content that your customers will love to read and my famous No
Hassle Newsletter done for you, newsletter templates every month, or you
can leave no questions asked.
I actually state, “All the risk is on me!
That’s the guarantee I’ve used that has really helped me build, grow,
and sustain No Hassle Newsletters.
My info products like Double My Retention, MARS Training
Program, Jim’s Summer School, and How to Sell from the Stage Like a Pro
carry similar guarantees. In Double My Retention, I actually offered to fully
refund their purchase price if they didn’t enjoy an ROI of ten times what
they paid. With that sort of guarantee, they never start the “clock,” worried
that they have to act quickly in order to take advantage of the refund policy.
You might be reading that and thinking that if you create a BHAG
for your business, you'll waste too much times with refunds or worse – that
people will take advantage of you. I understand the validity of that concern,
so let me share my experience. I created my first info product in 2010 (eight
years ago as I write this). I created three more shortly thereafter. You know
how many refunds I've given since then? How many people “cashed in” on
my guarantees, effectively getting and using the product for free? Zero. Zip.
Nada. Not one refund.
First of all, the product or service you offer has to be rock-solid and
be of very high quality. If you're selling something that's inferior, of course,
your buyers are going to want their money back. Quality first. Your
products and services have to have value, solve problems, and ease the pain
points for your customers, clients, or patients.
The challenge many entrepreneurs have is getting through to
prospects when they are in the buying mode and getting to the point of
making a decision. They start playing the “what if” game and the
conversation in their head is like the one with the devil on one shoulder and
an angel on the other, like a scene that played out in the movie Animal
House :
“Well, what if it doesn't work?”
“Well, what if it does? It's going to be good. Just try it.”
“No, it sucks. You can't trust this guy.”
“Yes you can.”
And on and on. The dialog in our heads as buyers goes crazy. And
here's the rub: A confused mind doesn't buy anything. So when your
product or service is high quality and provides value and you back it up
with a rock-solid guarantee, you are absolutely going to close more sales!
So will I guarantee that no one is every going to try to rip you off.
Sadly, that's not a guarantee I can make. In my experience, 98 percent of
your customers are honest, so you don't want to base your business or your
guarantee on the very small percent that might be dishonest – the ones who
might want to get your product, use it, and then ask for a refund, effectively
getting your great value at no cost. You can't change the segment of society
that operates that way. If you're still worried about that happening and
hesitating to offer a really, really solid guarantee, let's look at the math.
A great, unbreakable guarantee means you are going to close more
business. Let's say for the sake of discussion that you typically close about
20 percent of every campaign you offer. With a great guarantee, you can
bump that up to 35 percent. To keep the math simple, for every 100, you
were getting 20 sales. With your solid guarantee, you bump that up to 35
sales. Because there are some unscrupulous people out there who want to
rip you off, let's say you have to issue three refunds. That leaves you with
32 sales... let's round that down to 30 to adjust for the time and effort it
takes you or your staff to handle the refunds. You're still 10 sales up!
There are some negative entrepreneurs out there who've complained
to me that they used to have zero refunds, but now they typically get in that
two to three percent range I mentioned. To that, I walk them through the
math exercise I just shared and tell them, “So what. You have a net gain of
more sales. That's the deal!”
Keep honing in on your target audience and work to attaining higher
and higher quality clients – people who are going to love what you offer
and come back to buy from you again and again – and stay focused on that
rather than the tiny percentage who think they can rip you off.
Chapter Eight:

Apples and Oranges

Commodities. They exist in every industry – products that are
driven almost exclusively by the lowest price.
First, prospects and customers generally fall into three categories –
low, middle, and high. I understand that and have created my coaching
packages to align with that. I have Platinum, Titanium, and VIP Elite. No
matter which industry you serve, you'll find the same thing. For example
(and not to offend anyone), there are Walmart shoppers who are always
looking for the lowest price. Then you have a very large segment of the
populuation who fall in the middle – Target, perhaps. They're getting a little
more style without an accompanying price tag. At the upper end, you have
the folks who shop at Nordtrom's – very high quality, high end design with
a price tag to match. They're not shopping based on price.
If you find yourself in a commodity-type business or industry, you
have to work to set yourself apart. In a world where there is nothing but a
bushel of red apples, you want to be seen as a great big juicy orange!
One of my clients, Phil, faces such a commodity with branded give-
away items. You can go online to probably a hundred different sites to find
these, plug in your company name and get a gross of pens delivered to your
door. Phil sets himself apart to offering graphic design. An effective give-
away item is much more than the company name. He's helped me with all
of my hats, t-shirts, and pens for my Dream Business Academy events. He
brings a lot ot the table with his years of experience and the collective years
of experience of his team. He has a creative mind, so he brings a lot more to
the table.
Are there still people who will just want to plop their company
name on a pen, call it a day, and pay the cheapest possible price? Yes.
However, there are also entrepreneurs who understand value and are going
to be willing to pay for more creativity and higher value. There are people
in every industry who are going to be the Nordtrom shoppers, circling back
to that example. They're out there, but you will have to dig a bit to find
them.
Also, if you find yourself in a commoditized industry, you may want
to consider creating multiple streams of revenue in your enterprise. (That is
the subject of another one of these short ebooks, so I suggest you check that
out.) Figure out what else you can offer and what other services these
commoditized customers are looking for. That will boost your profitability.
Let me close with a really great example of how a company set
themselves apart as an orange. I'm a bit of a hack musician – playing the
guitar. There was a company that purchased these really high-end guitar
picks for a reasonable price and sold them with ads in Guitar Player
magazine and on other online sites. In fact, they sold them cheaper than
anyplace else... and these were really good picks.
Sounds like a loss leader, right? Well, it was really creative
because... what this company really wanted to sell was custom-made
guitars. With every sale of a great guitar pick at a super low price, they
picked up another solid, qualified prospect for their other and really
profitable revenue stream – custom-made guitars.
The point of that story is that if you find yourself with a commodity,
figure out what else you can offer at much greater profitability and let the
commodity work as your list builder. Put on your thinking cap.
About the Author – Jim

Learn More About Jim:

Jim’s other books:

The Magic of Newsletter Marketing – The Secret to More Profits and
Customers for Life

Stick Like Glue – How to Create an Everlasting Bond with Your Customers
So They Stay Longer, Spend More, and Refer More!

The Fastest Way to Higher Profits – 19 Immediate Profit-Enhancing

Strategies You Can Use Today

It’s Okay to Be Scared – But Never Give Up (with Martin Howey)

Stop Waiting For It to Get Easier – Create Your Dream Business Now!

DECIDE: The Ultimate Success Trigger

Serve First and Unlock a Life of Abundance and Purpose

Just Say YES! Create a Dream Business and Live Your Dream Lifestyle

Get Jim’s Books at

www.SuccessAdvantagePublishing.com
Check out Jim’s popular Smart Marketing and Business-Building
Programs:

Jim Palmer’s Dream Business Coaching and Mastermind Program –

www.DreamBizCoaching.com/

Dream Business Academy – www.DreamBusinessAcademy.com/

Facebook Group – www.DreamBizGroup.com/

No Hassle Newsletters – www.NoHassleNewsletters.com

Dream Business Coach TV – www.DreamBizCoach.tv

Dream Business Coach Radio – www.GetJimPalmer.com/

Jim’s Concierge Print and Mail on Demand Program –

www.NewsletterPrintingService.com/

Double My Retention – www.DoubleMyRetention.com/

How to Sell From the Stage Like a Pro –

www.HowToSellFromTheStage.com/

Custom Article Generator – www.CustomArticleGenerator.com/

The Magnetic Attraction and Retention System (MARS Training Program)

– www.MarsTrainingProgram.com/

Interested in interviewing Jim? Visit www.GetJimPalmer.com/ or contact

Stephanie@GetJimPalmer.com

About Jim
 Jim Palmer is a marketing and business-building expert and in-
demand coach. He is the founder of the Dream Business Academy and
Dream Business Coaching and Mastermind Program. Jim is the host of
Dream Business Radio, a weekly podcast based on Jim’s unique brand of
smart marketing and business-building strategies.
Before becoming “Cap’t Jim, The Dream Business Coach,” Jim is
best known internationally as The Newsletter Guru and creator of No
Hassle Newsletters, the ultimate “done-for-you” newsletter marketing
program used by hundreds of clients in nine countries.
Jim is the acclaimed author of:
The Magic of Newsletter Marketing – The Secret to More Profits
and Customers for Life
Stick Like Glue – How to Create an Everlasting Bond With Your
Customers So They Spend More, Stay Longer, and Refer More
The Fastest Way to Higher Profits – 19 Immediate Profit-
Enhancing Strategies You Can Use Today
It’s Okay To Be Scared – But Don’t Give Up – A book of hope
and inspiration for life and business
Stop Waiting for It to Get Easier – Create Your Dream Business
Now!
Serve First and Unlock a Life of Abundance and Purpose
DECIDE: The Ultimate Success Trigger
Just Say YES! Create a Dream Business and Live Your Dream
Lifestyle
Jim speaks and gives interviews on such topics as how to create a
dream business and live your dream lifestyle, newsletter marketing, client
retention, entrepreneurial success, the fastest way to higher profits, and how
to achieve maximum success in business and life.
Jim is a cancer survivor, has been married for almost 40 years, has
four grown children and three grandchildren. He currently lives on his
yacht, Floating Home, with his wife, Stephanie, their rescue dog, Blue. Jim
and Stephanie love to travel and spend time with their family.
Connect with Jim on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn ® and
Instagram, and join his private Facebook group
For more resources and information on Jim, his blog, and his
companies, visit www.GetJimPalmer.com .
 Get Jim’s popular free ecourse, “10 Days to a Dream Business” at
www.getjimpalmer.com .