So everyone is buzzing about Apple’s new iPad Mini. Comments abound about the features, or lack thereof, but the number one topic of discussion is price.
Many predicted (hoped?) Apple would price the Mini in line with what Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Google are pricing their tablets, in the neighborhood of $199-$249. They said that in so doing, Apple would crush the competition and own the small tablet market. Instead, the lowest priced Mini is offered at $329.
Many observers are questioning Apple’s strategy. How can they compete with tablets priced so much lower?
The answer is they’re not even trying.
Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis, told The Verge, “I think what Apple has done here is create a new category of premium small tablet.” The writer Greengart spoke to summed up Apple’s strategy thusly: “[I]t appears Apple is simply opting out of the low end of the market altogether, much like it’s done with personal computers.”
Greengart continues: “I don’t think this puts Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Google out of business, but it means that those three — and anyone else entering that market segment — are all competing against each other for the budget consumer.” [emphasis added]
Apple is letting everyone else compete for the low end of the market while it offers a premium product to the smaller but more profitable segment of the market that is willing to pay a premium price.
This is exactly what lawyers should do.
Most lawyers offer the same services at the same prices to the same prospects. Everyone looks the same and says the same things. Nobody stands out. Everyone is average. And so the average lawyer gets average results from their marketing and earns only average income.
The better strategy is to offer higher quality services to those who are willing to pay for them.
Marketing is easier because you have something better to offer. Marketing is less expensive because you’re not trying to deliver your message to everyone. Other lawyers can’t compete with you because they don’t offer what you offer. And your income is higher because your clients are paying more.
You may not have Apple’s resources or “sex appeal” but you can follow the same strategy they do. Let other lawyers fight over the masses while you offer a better “product” to a smaller, more profitable segment of the market.
Most lawyers will never do this. They won’t offer premium services and, frankly, don’t even know what that means. That makes it so much easier for you.
How does Apple compete with Google? It doesn’t. How do you compete with other attorneys? You don’t.
The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you how to offer premium services and get premium fees.
