On a
trip this past week to America’s sin capital, I was reminded of the motto,
“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”
That slogan is never truer when applied to one’s wallet.
Oh, my – that place is crazy expensive. It didn’t used to be that way. And this is coming from a New Yorker who knows about rip-off prices.
Oh, my – that place is crazy expensive. It didn’t used to be that way. And this is coming from a New Yorker who knows about rip-off prices.
If
you think about it, the need for Las Vegas to exist is not quite what it used
to be. At one time if you wanted to gamble legally in this country it was to be
in Las Vegas.
It used to draw people in with 99-cent breakfasts, lunch buffets for a few bucks, premier shows, and a strip of unique hotels that drew in some interesting characters. Now, those deals are gone goodbye and the character and charm, of Vegas has succumbed to corporate pressure to commercialize the place without any personality. In fact, the strip looks very mall-like. Every hotel resembles the next one, each filled with over-priced restaurants, shops, and a casino that dominates the hotel and follows you wherever you go.
It used to draw people in with 99-cent breakfasts, lunch buffets for a few bucks, premier shows, and a strip of unique hotels that drew in some interesting characters. Now, those deals are gone goodbye and the character and charm, of Vegas has succumbed to corporate pressure to commercialize the place without any personality. In fact, the strip looks very mall-like. Every hotel resembles the next one, each filled with over-priced restaurants, shops, and a casino that dominates the hotel and follows you wherever you go.
I
first visited Las Vegas in 1990. It was transitioning
from its downtown strip that became dated, seedy, crime-ridden, and run-down, a
reminder of the mob-corrupt ways of the past.
It was beginning to celebrate skyscraper hotels that had appeal to
travelers from all over the world. But
in subsequent visits there, including two trips around a decade ago, it was
trending in a way that would leave it in position for where it’s at today – a
huge bazaar of gambling, drinking, and shopping. They still have a lot of shows that get sold
out but there’s something lacking, mainly reasonable prices.
Everything’s
a rip-off. Starbucks in Vegas charged me 50%
more for my already over-priced fare.
The hotels charge insane prices and still pound you with extra
fees. Want a check out that’s a little
later? Try paying $90. Want to have a cabana by the pool? It could go for $800 a day. How about a bottle of water from the gift
shop? Shell out $4.50.
Not
everyone in Vegas is a high-roller or well-to-do. I would venture to say that
the vast majority who bet do not leave with more than what they came with. So it’s not enough to rob you at the casino.
They need to escalate charges on anything you do or buy. How about a helicopter ride to the Grand
Canyon? That’s almost $2,300 for four
people for four hours. Want to go to a nearby gun range? It could be over $1,000 a person. Want to see
Penn & Teller, a classic but aging strip act: Shell out over $100 per ticket.
So
why do I rail against Vegas after having a good trip and having fun stories to
share? Because it was unnecessarily
expensive and it taught me a lesson that can be applied to the book industry.
It
should raise its prices, especially for digital books. If Vegas, with its
outrageous prices and high level of competition, can be successful, why can’t
the book industry follow suit?
Stop
selling based on price and discounts. Start selling on the real value – great
story, great writing, great research. Don’t sell yourself short. Rather than
authors trying to underprice or outbid each other for chump change, they should
be like the casinos and see how they can outcharge each other.
Now,
of course, I don’t want to advocate that authors rip off readers or that the
industry name a higher price just because it feels like it. I’m just saying let’s experiment. Let’s jack up prices for premier authors and the
elite best-sellers. They deserve it and
can help raise the bar for others. Think about it. Go to a system of tier-priced books. Your standard hardcover can’t be $25-$30 all
around. No. Top shelf books could be
$40. Others $30, and maybe unknown
authors for $20 or $25. Readers need a
scale by which to discern buying choices. We can’t have a low ceiling on books
that then get dwindled down by opportunists and insecure authors looking to drum up
a following by giving their book away for 99 cents or a few bucks.
So
let’s take a look at what Vegas does well:
1.
It
sells itself as a destination without using a specific hotel. Book publishing needs to promote reading
books – without pushing a specific publisher, genre, or author.
2.
Makes
itself sound fun, mysterious, and memorable.
Books can offer all of that, too.
3.
It
holds out the promise of having your life changed by a big win. Books offer readers the promise of
life-changing ideas and information.
4.
Vegas
can handle any capacity. It just adds
hotels as needed and constantly remodels its properties. Publishing can handle any number of readers
interested in consuming their product and constantly puts out new titles and
reprints as needed.
5.
Going
to Vegas is a repeatable act. One can come often, each time to return to new
activities. Readers can repeat buying
and reading books, each time experimenting with new authors and a diverse array
of genres.
“Stand for something or you will
fall for anything.”
--Rosa
Parks
“Change before you have to.”
--Jack
Welch
“Business, like life, is all about
how to make people feel. It’s that
simple, and it’s that hard.”
--Danny
Meyer
“The price of anything is the
amount of life you exchange for it.”
--Henry
David Thoreau
“Seek first to understand, then to
be understood.”
--Stephen
R. Covey
“Maybe the reason it seems that
price is all your customers care about is that you haven’t given them anything
else to care about.”
--Seth
Godin
DON’T MISS THESE:
How do authors get on TV?
Where do authors go for book PR help?
What actually works in book publicity?
Do most authors make any real money from their books?
Do you really need a book publicist?
Good book publicity is a marathon, not a sprint
Best Author PR Strategy: Cover The Basics
Can you sell at least 10 copies of your book every day for a year?
What Does It Really Take To Hit A Best-Seller List?
10 Lessons For Authors-Turned-Bloggers
Can you market your book for five minutes a day?
Complete Author Book Marketing & PR Toolkit for 2017
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.