The Four Types of Products
Build a product ecosystem of gifts, prospect products, core offerings and client products
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 88%
Priestley says a growing business must move from one product to a range, and there are exactly four types. Gifts are things you give away free to start relationships at scale. Products for prospects are low-cost items designed to begin a paid relationship. The core offering is the main thing you do, the central transformation. Products for clients are the ongoing journey: maintenance, improvement or subscription after the transformation. He maps it onto examples like a car brand's entry and premium models plus servicing and finance, or Peloton's bike then monthly subscription. Built around a Key Person of Influence, this ecosystem lets a business capture attention with gifts, convert with prospect products, deliver value with the core offering, and compound revenue with client products.
Origin
Extracted from Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal, presented as the product-range expansion a Key Person of Influence builds while scaling.
Core principles
- 01A single product caps your growth.
- 02Free gifts start the relationship at scale.
- 03Prospect products turn attention into a first transaction.
- 04Client products create the ongoing, recurring journey.
How to run it
- 1
Gifts
Create things you give away for free, like YouTube videos, to start relationships at scale.
Pro tip Free content is the top of your ecosystem and builds the audience.
Watch out Giving with no next step leaves value on the table.
- 2
Product for prospects
Offer a low-cost product designed to start the paid relationship, such as a cheap course or scorecard.
Pro tip This is the bridge from free attention to first transaction.
Watch out Skipping it makes the jump to your core offering too steep.
- 3
Core offering
Deliver the main thing you do, the central transformation, like a flagship course.
Pro tip An entry tier plus a premium tier can both sit inside the core.
Watch out Relying on the core alone with no ascension caps lifetime value.
- 4
Product for clients
Provide the ongoing journey after the transformation: maintenance, improvement or subscription.
Pro tip Recurring client products stack revenue on top of one-off sales.
Watch out Without a client product, every month resets to zero.
In the wild
Free YouTube videos act as gifts, a one-dollar course and scorecard are products for prospects, a thousand-dollar course is the core offering, and a 5K-a-year service is the product for clients.
→ In year three the course launch did about £1.2M, roughly £100K a month.
An entry model and a premium model form the core offering, while servicing, finance and insurance are the products for clients, an ongoing journey after the initial purchase.
→ Illustrates ascending tiers plus recurring maintenance revenue.
Common mistakes
Living on one product
A single product gives customers no way to start cheaply or to keep buying, capping growth.
No recurring client product
Without an ongoing offer, revenue resets each month and lifetime value stays low.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders scaling a brand who need a structured range around a Key Person of Influence.
Not ideal for
Very early founders still validating their first single offer.
From the transcript
“there's four types of products there's gifts ... product for prospects ... core offerings ... and product for clients”
“the core product tends to be like a transformation ... and then the product for clients is like maintenance or Improvement”
From the episode
Entrepreneurship Masterclass: How to Make $10k - $1M per Month - Daniel Priestley
Daniel Priestley