"I had one email suggesting my book should cost $5 instead of $47. If I sold at that price, my hourly rate would be a couple bucks an hour. However, some people just have a sense of entitlement, or simply like to get things on the cheap. It’s best to ignore them, and focus on the people who are happy to pay for the value they get."
So true. Cheap customers also tend to be more of a drain on your support.
Not just support - they are generally a drain on resources. The people who keep asking for discounts/lower price also often end up not buying in the end, in my experience. So I waste time talking to them and see nothing for it.
From your post: "20% of the revenue came from $499 company licences. This is good, but it’s only about 2% of the number of purchases", I did a simple math:
20% * $10,000 / $499 = 4, 4 / 2% = 200.
May I ask over how long a period did the sale pass $10,000? What is your average daily # of sales?
Also, pricing strategy is always a fascinating topic, how did you come up with a price of $47? Thanks!
Your maths are correct. I started selling the book in January 2012. However, I think I could have achieved this number of sales much faster if I dedicated more time to marketing (e.g. if I published the same number of posts in half the time).
Pricing is something I learned about from 30x500 as well. I looked at the anchors my potential buyers might have (C++ books are often around $50).
I looked at what else they buy and at what price (courses, software etc.).
I also considered the value of the book to them. E.g. for a C++ contractor, the book would pay off very quickly because of the time savings it provides.
The conversion rate for the mailing list is 5.7%, assuming people use the same email address to buy the book. I don't have the stats for Twitter, sorry.
So true. Cheap customers also tend to be more of a drain on your support.