by Stephen Tremp
How would your life change if you consistently increased your income:
- By 10%?
- Or 50%?
- How about 100%
I often ponder this question under numerous settings, and regardless of the path I explore I always circle back to ‘The Value Ladder’.
A Value Ladder is a useful guide to plan out what value you provide for your target audience. Value ladders are visual representations that map your products and services in ascending order of value and price and where they fit into your portfolio.
As your clients ascend your Value Ladder, the value level increases as does the cost of your products or services you can charge them. The greater the value, the greater the price. You can earn full-time or passive income with a well developed and executed Value Ladder.
“Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals, paradoxically making them the most time-and-energy-consuming” — Timothy Ferriss, author, entrepreneur and public speaker
There’s quite a bit to cover in this article so I’ll divide the material into three sections:
- Introductory value and cost – free stuff
- Mid-level value and cost –
- Top-level value and cost – this level should be more than merely taking people to the next step or bridging a simple problem. More on this later in the article.
You have gifts, talents, and expertise you can use to prosper and thrive. You’ve developed some expertise, but you might not be aware of everything of value you have to offer for free or for a fee.
A well-thought-out and executed value ladder can help you:
- Launch your product or service
- Expand your online presence
- Scale up your business or side hustle
Every successful business venture for a product or service has a Value Ladder.
It begins with a basic free product, then a few more freebies that offer value to the recipient. As trust is formed and the relationship matures you can introduce better and more expensive products and services. This is a win-win for you and your audience.
It wasn’t until I built out my value ladder that I realized how much I have to offer and how bad I was shorting myself. I was leaving a lot of opportunities on the table just waiting to be tapped.
Like me, you will probably be surprised to know you have far more to offer and potentially earn more money than you realize.
Recognition
You will hear this word from me a lot. Be cognizant of your surroundings.Pay attention to what’s going on around you internally and externally.
Recognize there are untapped opportunities within your immediate grasp. Write them down and begin developing your personal and professional Value Ladder.
Here is an example of a dentist’s Value Ladder:
My Value Ladder
This is my Value Ladder. I’ve broken it down into three sections:
- Introductory value and cost – Free stuff and no cost
- Mid-level value and cost – Online courses
- Top-level value and cost – This level you should take people to the next step. More on this later in the article.
You need to offer more than one value tier. You cannot have a hodge podge of free and paid stuff of various price points to offer.
Let’s take a closer look at the three tiers of my Value Ladder and hopefully this will inspire you to create or build out your existing Value Ladder.
TIER ONE: Introductory Value and Cost – Free Stuff
1. Blogging – anyone can blog beginning today. Right. Here. Right now. You can start for free using Blogger, WIX or WordPress.
2. 10 Steps to Help Entrepreneurs Regain Their Traction – this is a short e-book I gave away for free in exchange for the recipient’s email.
3. 12 Steps to Increase Your Net Worth Every 30 Days for the Next Twelve Months – this is another ebook I gave away for free in exchange for email addresses.
4. My social media reaches tens of thousands – this gives you digital clout!
5. YouTube videos – I tell everyone they need a YouTube channel.
6. Email marketing – the best thing about an email list is it’s a ready-made market. People may have bought something from you, or you may have given something for free in exchange for their email.
One thing is certain, if people give you their email then you’ve gained their trust and they’ll be willing to buy something from you in the future. That’s the beauty of an email list; done right, it’s your personal ready-made market.
TIER TWO: Mid-level Value and Cost
7. Four speculative fiction books – I also have two more in the pipeline ready to release and promote later this year.
8. WordPress Page Builders – I charge to build websites for entrepreneurs:
- Elementor
- Divi
- Flatsome
9. Affiliate marketing – the sky is truly the limit when it comes to affiliate marketing.
10. FaceBook ads – this works as long as you bring in more adspend than you send out.
TIER THREE: Top-level Value and Cost – This tier should take people to the next level; this needs to be a quantum leap forward. Forget about saving for a rainy day. Don’t talk to me about compounded interest at this level. Think ‘exponential’ ROI.
This level is not merely a value freebie. This bad boy costs big money for your client but the return, or value, has to be exponential for your clients.
11. The Launching Pad Tier One – our foundational digital marketing course The Launching Pad that started it all
12. The Launching Pad Tier Two – this includes The Launching Pad; and We’ll also perform a complete digital marketing review and evaluate your current online presence
13. The Launching Pad Tier Three – this includes The Launching Pad; and if you do not have an online presence we will build you one from scratch.
14. Coaching and consulting – this is my ‘sweet spot’ where I make the most amount of money for the least amount of work. But understand, this level took the most blood, sweat and tears to make it this far. This has been the far most challenging but rewarding level for me.
The key with any Value Ladder is to build trust with your clients or followers. This will give you more opportunities to give your customers exactly what they need and build your digital marketing work or side hustle.
Summary
A Value Ladder is a useful guide to plan out what you can make money at such as your products and services and where they fit into your portfolio. You probably have more goods to offer than you realize. A value ladder helps identify and organize them. You can use this to help map a strategy that takes visitors through your website.
Three Takeaways
1. Recognition. I love this word. And so should you. Want to build your personal and professional Value Ladder? Write down everything you have to offer for free and for a fee. Everything. Then learn to recognize everything above and beyond your Value Ladder you are familiar with and could realistically learn in a very short amount of time and add those. These will increase your Value Ladder.
2. Create 3 – 5 PDF ‘How-to” forms or a couple short books (35 pages or less with lots of images and white space for easy reading) you can give away in exchange for someone’s email.
3. Take things to the next level. Do you want to separate yourself from the mediocre into the great? Don’t merely add value for free or low cost. You have to provide your clients a quantum leap.
“Don’t aim for mediocrity where competition is the fiercest. Fight with stubborn tenacity for greatness where competition is the lowest! Let everyone else compete for the ordinary.”
Itís nearly impossible to find educated people in this particular subject, however, you seem like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks