Is $240 A Month Too Much For Coffee? Budgeting Is Hard. But…
If You Sell Or Marketing Something, It Becomes Your Gain
Does $240 a month for coffee sound crazy to you? That’s how much we’ve spent in the last thirty days.
It’s not about the money. If saving money were the goal, $20 a month on Folgers buys us the same amount of coffee. That switch saves us $220 a month. In a year that adds up to $2,640. We refuse to do that.
My wife and tracked our finances for the last month. This is the first time we’ve done this in a decade. Coffee wasn’t the only surprise.
We also spend $100 a month on books, ebooks and audiobooks.
If we were serious about saving money, we’d get everything from the local library for free. That adds up to $1,200 in a year. We won’t do that either.
Finally, we uncovered $500 a month in savings by buying lesser quality groceries. That would add up to $6,000 in a year. Neither of us is willing to trade food quality for cash.
All told, we could save $9,840. We would have to sacrifice our health on processed food. We would give up convenience by foregoing ownership of books, ebooks and audiobooks. And worst of all, we would sacrifice pleasure by drinking crap coffee. No way.
Why It’s So Hard
The lure of the all mighty dollar lost out to pleasure, health and convenience.
That’s where the money really goes.
High-quality coffee = Pleasure
High-quality food = Health
Books on Amazon = Convenience
That’s what these items represent. It explains why it’s hard to give them up.
The Money Excuse
So often, those of us who sell or market things hear this excuse:
“I don’t have the money.”
“It costs too much.”
In some cases it may be true.
Here’s the truth. Money is a surface excuse.
What they’re really saying is:
“The value of what you sell is less than the cost of obtaining it.”
Money itself is never the end goal. Otherwise, I’d put an extra $9,840 in my pocket the next year.
Instead, I will trade it in. In return, I receive pleasure, health and convenience.
The Saver
What about the guy saving his money?
Even the saver conceals his true purpose.
He may want to save it for something he values more.
He may want to save it because it buys him a sense of security or power.
In most cases money excuses are a cover story. What they mean to say is:
“I don’t value what you sell.”
We use money as the obstacle because it’s easy. Everyone accepts it.
Here is how to beat the money excuse.
1. Add more benefits and urgency so your prospect values it more than her cash.
2. Demonstrate why he’s undervaluing your product.
3. Find someone else who desires what you offer but lacks awareness of your product or service.
BONUS: Tie in your appeal to one of the power desires. I listed a few of these above. Also consider: pleasure, health, convenience, security, power, wealth, beauty, popularity, appearance, safety, love, sex, freedom.
Call To Action
Power desires are a powerful technique. But you’ll find my best persuasion and creativity tools here. One more thing: if you found value in this story, please click on the “clap” button below. That helps others find it. Let me know what you think on Twitter @barry_davret or email me: barry [at] writtenpersuasion.com
