Discounting as resurrecting old (dead) products
I do like the idea of rebundling products with a discounted rate from the original price. But this is still more of a price change strategy than a discounting strategy.
If you lower the price on an old product, that makes sense. Especially in info product/online course world, products depreciate over time.
If you take an old product, one that should cost less because of time, and you keep the original price, but then occasionally discount it, I could see how that could work if your old and new products are similar.
If you have to explain the difference between old and new products, they’re probably similar enough that sales of a lower priced old product would detract from sales of a newer product.
Evolutionary product lines
Evolutionary product line are the exception here though. In this case you want people to start small and at the beginning. They work their way up or through your products becoming indoctrinated along the way.
This assumes they follow a common trajectory or path.
Cal Newport’s books are good at this. He wrote a book for his audience based on his experience and research at pretty much every life stage:
- Being good at high school (How to Be a High School Superstar)
- Being good at college (How to Win at College)
- Choosing a good career direction (So Good They Can’t Ignore You)
- Being good at work (Deep Work)
Only in his most recently published book, Digital Minimalism, did he decide to solve for a problem that his audience had not directly related to that trajectory.