If You Could Make a Million Dollars
- By: Dave Ursillo
- Share: 13 Comments
-
If you could make a million dollars, how would you prefer to do it?
Let’s say you created a product.
- Would you rather sell it for $1, and make $1,000,000 knowing that it impacted the lives of 1,000,000 people?
- Or would you rather sell your product for far more — maybe $10,000 or $100,000 a piece — and know that it impacted between 10 and 100 lives?
Which would you prefer?
If the product is only about the money — and the status, the fame, the acclaim — then it doesn’t really matter, does it? Let’s get it all out of the way early, fast, and in one fell swoop. A million bucks is a million bucks. Who cares.
But if the product is not about the money…
…but is instead about the impact… and a positive, inspiring, even world-changing impact…
…..which would you prefer?
[fblike]
Flickr photo credit: Ryan Vaarsi
13 COMMENTS... READ 'EM BELOW AND SHARE A THOUGHT
ENJOY THIS? SHARE IT!
Chris Stott
More people.
Money does still play a part, if you reach more people with your idea you will have more opportunity to make more money from them in the future ;)
Sep 21 2011 / 08:09 am
Lisa Robbin Young
Let me throw another question in there. What if the 10 or 100 people that you can deeply impact, in turn can reach millions themselves? If you’re talking about something like a book, a commodity, then you’re right, get it into as many hands as possible.
But if you’re talking about an idea, a philosophy… well, then getting it into the hands of the RIGHT people is more important than the quantity, because the right people can spread that meme faster and farther than you ever could on your own.
In your case, you’ve got a book AND a philosophy. I don’t envy your position, my friend. You’ll probably have to do both. :-)
Sep 21 2011 / 09:09 am
Dave Ursillo
You hit it on the head here Lisa.
The "what if's" are always unknown, so we just have to do what we think is right and resonates with what we believe in. The rest ain't up for us to decide!
Sep 22 2011 / 08:09 am
Naomi Lancet
Definitely would sell it for less to impact MORE people!! Although if it was a program I paid more money for, personally I would feel the need to commit. If I paid less, ebooks tend to “collect dust on the shelf.”
Sep 21 2011 / 09:09 am
Ryan Bradshaw
Artist focus on the money last. Money is nice, but helping people, the “cool” factor, and passion chasing should be the main motivator.
If you can make money while covering the aforementioned bases, now that’s the real ticket.
Sep 21 2011 / 09:09 am
Farnoosh
Hmmm. I don’t think it’s as black and white, Dave.
In other words: It depends :)
You could sell your product to supremely influential people who spread the impact like wild fires, in ways you can’t even measure and in lives you can’t even count. You could sell to a company for $100k a copy and then they turn around and impact a million more people… It depends on the product, on the buyer, on their influence, on so many things.
I’d frankly like $37.5Million though, while we are at it ! :)
Sep 21 2011 / 09:09 am
Dave Ursillo
Of course it's not black and white, my friend, which is why I pose it in a question :)
There's no answer, and even though I implied that one was better than the other in the piece, Lisa brings up an excellent point and reinforces that there is no answer.
Really it's not about choosing what is right, or what is best, but in the end -- like any life's decision -- a matter of doing what you think you ought to and trusting, letting go, letting it be :)
Sep 22 2011 / 08:09 am
wendy
* that which resonates with your mind, body, spirit and soul survival. Personal integrity. "Tao of inner and outer peace."
Your lead..."Sunrise, sunset," & "By the light of the silvery moon."
:)
Sep 22 2011 / 09:09 am
wendy
p.s.
I conduct my personal and professional life from the foundation of Maslow’s Hierarchy~ paying it forward inclusive~ therefore, a positive, inspiring and world changing impact is my mind, body, spirit, heart and soul goal:)
Sep 22 2011 / 10:09 am
Sean Cox
Ok, I can’t answer it! Interesting question–thanks for the mental exercise. I’ve pondered it, and I’d say as Farnoosh–it depends. But I really like what Ryan says, and Wendy does as well–create out of your heart, your passion. Create out of your authenticity, live in alignment with who you are. That’s most important. And those who are drawn to our message will be, and they’ll receive whatever benefit they are open to receive.
Then just pick one of your choices–flip a coin.
The thrill of living out of our deep authenticity, and seeing others drawn to us and our message and benefitting, is there anything better?
Sep 23 2011 / 12:09 am
George P.H.
Hey, Dave
That’s a profound thought. I do think you’re oversimplifying, though.
Most people want to make an impact, but the difference between two choices is rarely so drastic. It’s more like, sell 2,000 copies for 100$ or 3,000 copies for 50$. Price is not inversely proportional to sales. There is a peak price:sales ratio, and you’d want to more or less hit it.
On top of that… I would *not* charge 1$ for a product, and here’s why.
A person who buys a product for 1$ has very little incentive to use it. People who receive advice for free (or very little) take it for granted, whereas paying for something creates a commitment.
My 0.02$
George P.H.
Sep 24 2011 / 08:09 am
Nick
Hey George, excellent point on the incentive part. We often devalue things we don't invest much in, whether that's time, effort, or money. A product that is $1 might get a lot of purchases but at the same time might not get any use. People will buy it because it's cheap but at the same time take it with a grain of salt.
On the other hand, if you charge it at what you believe it's worth (at a reasonable price of course) it takes more investment to buy it. You consider it more, think if it's really worth it, and then when you buy it, you give it a real shot.
Personally, I want to inspire and help as many as possible. But if a million people are just glancing over it, I'd rather have 1,000 or 10,000 people who the message actually reaches.
Sep 24 2011 / 01:09 pm
Iris
I like this question. It hits the nail on the spot, for me.
Especially in these days of economic hardship, it’s more difficult to sell high-end products. In the name of bigger outreach, it’s tempting to think: lower prices, make your product more affordable for more people, sell more for less. But the problem with it – as others mentioned, it reduces your product’s ‘prestige’ and perceived value. When people pay less they tend to also appreciate less the product that they bought. And isn’t this what economists call ‘deflation’? a mark of times being even tougher?
I was debating about this issue for a while as well. It’s a lot to think about.
Sep 27 2011 / 02:09 pm
SHARE A THOUGHT: