by: Dean Phillips
Ted Nicholas is a marketer with a proven track record. He has started, operated and sold 21 profitable businesses, and is responsible for the direct or indirect publishing of hundreds of books and publications. Ted Nicholas is a well- known and respected leader in the information marketing business.
Ted Nicholas has mastered the art of selling. His million dollar best selling books and other successful ventures will show you how you can use the power of the written and spoken word to grow your business.
His business development strategies are designed to help you achieve higher profits and lower taxes. Ted has assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs in building successful businesses. His skills as a copywriter and direct mail marketer have earned him the title "Guru of Direct Mail Marketing".
All of that notwithstanding however, in my not so humble opinion, he has also perpetrated one of the biggest and most inaccurate fallacies in the history of marketing.
Ted has convinced countless number of marketers to, when pricing their products and services end their prices with a "7."
For example, instead of pricing your product at $19.95, price it at $19.97. Or better yet, he advises dropping the change altogether and pricing your product at $17.00 or $27.00 or $97.00. His research supposedly proves that the number seven dramatically increases sales.
Even more remarkable is how many marketers accepted this fallacy as gospel, without doing any real testing of their own.
I have no idea what scientific formula Ted used to arrive at his conclusions, but with all due respect to Ted Nicholas, his theory's a bunch of bull!
How do I know? Because I thoroughly tested his theory myself and discovered no discernible difference in response or profits.
I also base my conclusion on perhaps the greatest authority in marketing: Televison infomercials.
If you want to see marketing at its absolute finest, watch television infomercials. Yes, I know many of the products are garbage and don't work as advertised, but the marketing itself is simply brilliant! And their market research is second to none.
In other words, producers of television infomercials are masters at pricing products for optimum response.
And almost without exception, every infomercial I've watched over the years, regardless of the product, have prices that end with a five or a nine. For example, $29.95, $39.99, $249.95.
Of course, you don't have to take my word on this, you can check it out yourself at:
This website features literally thousands of the famous tv products you've seen advertised over the years. Just check how they price their products.
And I'll take it one more dramatic step further. I'm sure you've heard of Ron "Veg-O-Matic" Popeil. But just in case you haven't, I'll give you some background information.
Ron Popeil is the undisputed "king" of infomercials and a multi-millionaire many times over. Over the last 40 years he has sold more than a billion dollars worth of products. He was voted by "Self" magazine readers as one of the 25 people who have most influenced the way we eat, drink and think about food.
The 70 year old Popeil is still going strong, his latest product, the "Showtime Rotisserie and BBQ"which he inventedflies out the door by the thousands every week.
Here's his website:
Again, check out how he prices his products.
This man has sold more than a billion dollars worth of products, so I would say he's got this pricing thing pretty well mastered, wouldn't you?
In conclusion, the number "7" may be lucky in dice, but in marketing, it's just another number!