Page 105 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

That’s where Scott came in. Since he already had the state contacts through
his day job in media sales, all he had to do was get them to commit to a
discounted offer, typically a two-for-one deal in which the second night or
second person was free. A natural salesman, Scott positioned every deal to grow
into another one. When he encountered resistance from a vendor who was
reluctant to discount, Scott pointed out that other companies were going along
without objection. The implied message was, “Everyone else is doing this. You
don’t want to be left out.”

Once they had proved the benefit to the vendors, the next step was to prove it
to the people who would buy the coupon books. You might think Scott and Gary
would price the books low to sell as many as possible (comparable products in
other places sold for $20 to $25, usually supported by advertising or kickbacks
from the vendors), but they had a better idea: price the books at $99.95 and make
the value proposition extremely clear. The books contained deals for helicopter
flights and tours that cost as much as several hundred dollars, as well as hotels
that retailed at more than $100 a night. Why wouldn’t people pay $99.95 for a
product like that?

It was the ultimate follow-your-passion business, combined with a perfect
transfer of skills from a job to a microbusiness. Scott had the insider knowledge
about the local travel industry, along with a way to leverage the deals to ensure
they were all high value. Gary was the production guy, handling everything
associated with getting the product together in addition to all the Internet work
and the banking. For fifteen years and counting, the TourSaver coupon books
have been their primary business and source of income.

Why is the TourSaver offer so compelling? Because it delivers immediate
benefits superior to its cost, with an attractive pitch: “Buy this coupon book, use
it once, get your money back. Then you have more than a hundred other uses as
a bonus.” Scott frames it like this: “Just do the math! Using a single one of the
130+ coupons in the book will save you more than the cost of the book itself.”

Another way to think of it is like this: Scott and Gary created an offer you
can’t refuse. If you were traveling to Alaska and planned to enjoy some kind of
sight-seeing opportunity, there’s almost no reason why you wouldn’t want one of
their books.

The Orange and the Donut