In this talk, the speaker explains why competing on price is a trap for most businesses and offers a practical way to escape it. He starts with a personal anecdote about a moment of inspiration, then illustrates the problem with the classic "apples‑to‑apples" comparison using circus ticket prices: the well‑known Barnum & Bailey charges about $100–$200, while smaller rivals like the Big Apple Circus charge $25, forcing them to compete solely on price. He introduces the Blue Ocean Strategy, showing how Cirque du Soleil created a new market space by re‑labeling itself, removing animal acts, eliminating clowns, and redesigning the stage, allowing it to charge premium prices despite being a circus. The core insight is that changing the label or name of a service shifts the consumer’s perception, turning the competition from a price war into a differentiation battle. The speaker shares his own experience of rebranding from “computer guy” to “hedge‑fund technology specialist,” and a ghostwriter who became a “collaborative author,” both of which enabled them to command higher fees. The talk concludes with a simple actionable step: start by changing your name/label to break the apples‑to‑apples comparison and position yourself as a distinct offering that can command a premium.
Chapters
So I was listening to Mel speaking when we started out, and there was two things that really got my energy flowing. The first thing was he says he went to an island to this retreat, you know, to kind of clear his mind, and then he found the island was his passion. And he also found his love. And when he was saying that moment when he found his love, I don't have my glasses on, so I couldn't really see. I was coming closer up the middle aisle. I'm like, what's he saying? And he goes, I found my love, and he starts pointing at me. I'm like, shit! And I book over to the side, and I'm sitting No, it's very interesting. So that got my heart racing. The second thing— Did you ever go to Barnum Bailey Circus right here at Madison Square Garden? What are they charging for a ticket now? What was your experience? The lady in the— How's the whole conversation going? It's like a bidding war. OK. Be right behind her. What was your experience? Do you remember? What? Are you going to Ringling Brothers? I paid like $125. I got the good seats, yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. I didn't sit in the animal tent. All right, the animal cage. I'm kidding, I kid, I kid because I care. So, Barnum and Bailey Circus, the average Madison Square Garden ticket, I guess it would be premium seating, is about $100. The runner-up to the big, I'm sorry, I almost gave it away there. So Barnum Bailey Circus is what circus? What's the other big one in New York City? The Big Apple. Big Apple Circus. And Big Apple Circus charges on average, anyone know? They're about $25. So perhaps you were at the Big Apple Circus and you got screwed. You got totally screwed. So Barnum Bailey Circus, $100 tickets. Big Apple Circus, $25. What's the problem going on here is If you are not the incumbent, the big established name that everyone knows, the only way you can compete is on price. The only way. Because what happens is called an apples-to-apples comparison. To the consumer, to us, it's a circus is a circus. And there's one big circus, it's Barnum Bailey, and if it's anyone else, it's anyone else. So therefore, if I'm going to go to Big Apple Circus or those freaky carny circus people, it better be inexpensive. Because otherwise, I want the best. Barnum Bailey. There's one circus, I already heard the name mentioned, that just knocked it out of the park and they're charging about $200 a ticket. Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil recognized that if they are apples to apples and they're the circus of the sun, no one's going to go because Barnum and Bailey's the circus. But if they put a new spin on it and a new label and they're perceived as apples to lemons, now They'll get consumed and people, price doesn't become relevant. We'll pay a premium for it. The actual strategy, there's a book, great book called The Blue Ocean Strategy. If you haven't read that book, I will just tell you some of the secrets that they revealed about Cirque du Soleil in there. How did they do this? First of all, they assigned a unique label. That's the most important thing to you. Don't be an accountant one more damn day. Don't be, I used to be a computer guy. Don't be the computer guy. One more day. Because in the consumer's mind, when I came into a meeting selling computer services, they say, well, I already have a computer guy. How are you different? Because you're just a computer guy. So the only thing they'd ask is like, do you charge less? Are you cheaper? And I knew, and you know, I had all these certifications, how capable you are, I knew how capable I was, all this training, I could blow the other guy out of the water. But to the consumer's perspective, it's another freaking computer guy. He better be cheaper. That's the day I recognized I gotta change my name. I changed it to hedge fund technology specialist. H— whatever it was. Hedge fund tech— HT— whatever. Dyslexia, it's all. So I changed my name. The perception changed dramatically. The target market I was servicing, they would pay any premium because now I wasn't the computer guy. I was something different. Cirque du Soleil did the same thing. They said, we're not a circus anymore. They used the blue ocean strategy. They looked at the existing circuses Ringling Brothers is the one they really critiqued and said, what do people really like about the circus? And what don't they like? Well, people love animals. Oh, we love the big tiger and the big elephant coming in. But we really aren't cool with animal abuse. You know, the tiger getting whipped and the elephant getting prodded, not so cool. So Cirque du Soleil says, well, we'll just put people in animal costumes. There's your animals. We'll have big elephants which will be 4 people walking down. The aisles, if you've ever seen Cirque du Soleil, and this way no one's getting whipped. And if someone's getting whipped, it's the person anyway. And we don't give a shit about other people. So, so they changed that. They also noticed Ringling Brothers was famous for the Three Ring Circus and no one could pay attention to all the stuff that's going on, so they said, we have to have a center stage. Ah, stage. And they put it on the stage. Third thing they noticed is people really, really don't like clowns. After all, surprise, the clowns do freak us out, and they said, "No clowns at our show." Those 3 changes, and a couple others actually, Cirque du Soleil had a different label, new name, they use a French name. It's actually found in Montreal, right north of us. And then they had a different deliverable, and they were seen dramatically differently. And people will pay a premium. For you to get started in your business today, Start with just changing your name, because that will invoke this thing. People saying, "What do you do?" And that gives you the opportunity to explain your differentiator. If you say, "I'm an accountant," or "I'm a lawyer," or "I do online training," or whatever like that, people are like, "Oh, I know someone that does that already. Are you cheaper?" If you say, "I am—" I was actually working with a writer, a ghostwriter. There's a million ghostwriters out there. I said, "You're a collaborative author." New name. They said, so they came to her, and ghostwriters get paid like nothing, like, you know, a penny a word. And she got approached, and she said for the first time, she goes, I'm a collaborative author. And the client came back and said, what's that? She outlined her differentiator, and she was able to dictate a premium. She got a lot more money. It all starts with changing a label. No more apples to apples. Become the lemon. Lemons are good.
