How much has my pay-what-you-can Kit earned?

This is not about the numbers.

(Well, it is a little about the numbers – but the purpose of writing this has nothing to do with the specific numbers, but more about the impact the Initiation Kit has had on my life over the last few years).

Let’s start with a little context.

The Archetypal Branding Initiation Kit was my first REAL offering. I initially released it waaaaaay back in 2014, when it was priced at $99.

It has always been a five day, instant access espresso course. After taking the Primary Test, I knew that the next most helpful thing for my new community member to do would be to discover their Secondary Archetype, and start exploring how these two most relevant archetypes can help them get some clarity and confidence in their brand and business (just like I did with my Alchemist and Sage).

The Initiation Kit has been through several upgrades since 2014, but the core material remains the same.

I’ve done absolutely NO advertising for the Kit during those four years, excluding a short three-part email sequence that immediately follows the Primary Test.

In around October 2015, I moved the Initiation Kit onto a platform called Gumroad. This was at the time when VAT MOSS started to affect entrepreneurs selling digital products, and Gumroad offered a way for me to keep selling the IK, but without the additional stress of four additional returns a year (like…literally my worst nightmare).

At the same time, I made a pretty radical decision. I decided to change the pricing of the IK from $99…to Pay What You Can.

I vaguely remember my mentor at the time telling me I was IN-SANE.

The IK had been selling at the $99 price-point…so why on earth would I even consider changing it?

The answer was simple, if not unconventional: my gut told me to do it.

And – on the basis that my gut has a 99.9% success rate (approximately) – I rolled with it.

It was a HUGE risk.

The IK had been providing a relatively steady (yet small) stream of income – but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there were entrepreneurs out there who SO needed to do this work, but genuinely couldn’t afford the $99 to do it.

One well-known person in the industry told me that if they wanted to do it enough, they’d find the money. They’d get a credit card, sell something, dip into savings, sell their granny – the problem wasn’t with the price, it was with my ability to sell at any cost.

But ‘at any cost’ doesn’t sit well with me. Knowing that someone got into debt to purchase my Kit was just a no-go. Being able to sleep at night was more important to me than that extra $99 in my bank account.

And so – my gut won the day, and I switched the pricing to Pay What You Can.

And do you know how much that PWYC offering has earned me within just over three years?

Drum roll please…

$95,076.75

By anyone’s standards, I think that’s a pretty incredible number for an offering that is priced at anywhere from $1 upwards, and has had ZERO advertising to achieve it.

(Turns out my gut has pretty good discernment after all).

Here’s how this actually breaks down:

On average, the Initiation Kit has earned me approx. $31,500 per year for the last three years.

The average price paid for the IK was $22.38.

I know that the Kit is worth a LOT more than $22.38. It is worth its $99 price-tag, and more (based on feedback of the many entrepreneurs who have completed it and gained immense value from it).

But here’s the $95,076.75 question:

Would I have made this amount of money on one offering alone (that requires pretty much zero attention or advertising) if I hadn’t switched to PWYC, based on what my gut was telling me?

I honestly don’t think so.

If I’d have listened to those who told me I was crazy, I honestly believe a big portion of the 4,248 people who bought it may not have been in a financial position to do this amazing archetypal work. Starting (or even maintaining) a business is expensive – but this offering never was about the money.

It was about EDUCATION.

It was about helping soulful entrepreneurs get clarity and confidence in their brand, and create a visual representation of who they are at a core level (in a fun and insightful way).

I’d gained SO much direction (both creative and otherwise) from my own Blend Board, that I wanted others to experience it too. (Here are over 100 examples of student Blend Boards).

By charging $99 per Kit, I believe I was putting financial gain over the original intention of the material.

And the irony is – when I switched to PWYC (focusing on getting this educational tool into the hands of the people who need it most), I was more than amply compensated financially.

In fact, this has been my approach to all of my educational, online offerings. I’ve purposefully kept my pricing affordable, because I know that affordable doesn’t necessarily mean I’m not reflecting my self-worth in my pricing.

(This is a HUGE pet hate of mine – the gurus telling you that if you’re not charging a ridiculous sum of money, you’re not ‘owning your worth’. You are owning your worth when you’re owning your inherent gifts to the world, and charging an appropriate amount that sits somewhere between what you want to earn, and what your customers are able to pay – without compromising your (or their) integrity).

This is how the figures break down for ALL of my lower-priced, educational offerings (such as Undefinable and Aligned: List Building) since October 2015:

And here’s what remarkable about these sales:

• Aside from the odd email mention or three-part campaign, I’ve done NO advertising for these offerings
• For want of a better phrase (because I hate it), this is all ‘passive income’ (ie – income I’ve made without a direct exchange of time for money)
• The main source of promotion for these offerings is word-of-mouth, which is a testament to how effective they are
• Selling is NOT my forté, but being of service is – and that’s how I’ve generated this income: by having the intention of being of service

IN CONCLUSION

The moral of this story has nothing to do with the figures themselves, but the fact that your gut ALWAYS knows best.

That little offering that has a smaller price point? It may just be worth $95,076.75 to you.

Price your offerings according to your instincts. Don’t underestimate their (or your) worth – but don’t price yourself out of the reach of those who really need it, either.

PWYC is a legitimate, effective pricing strategy. Some people pay the minimum (in my case $1), but others pay over the guide price (in my case $99). I’ve even had people pay $150, which is always, always a beautiful surprise.

At the time, all you see is an offering that’s priced at $1+ (or whatever the figure may be), and you may be tempted to overlook it. But in three years time? It could have generated a LOT of income for you.

The money is not only in the sales page – it’s in your integrity, commitment to excellence, and creating something that’s worth sharing. When you create something that is TRULY valuable (and not just taking up space), you’ll have your own Initiation Kit – an offering that walks the talk, so you don’t have to.