Price the Asset, Not the Time
Sell a library and outcome divorced from hours, and widen the gap between packages
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 82%
Cole's pricing move is to sell an asset and an outcome rather than volume or time. For a done-for-you video agency, don't sell 'we'll grow your channel' or 'X videos a month'; sell a specific niche content library that will rank for the long-tail terms the buyer wants to dominate, built over six months or a year. Because the buyer is purchasing an asset divorced from time and effort, the price becomes subjective, you can charge $50K or $100K depending on who you pitch. Anchoring to a library also removes the risky promise of audience growth and adds SEO benefits (embedded videos, LinkedIn reposts). On packaging, two options priced close together (e.g. $5K vs $7K/month) present no real decision to a business owner; widen the gap dramatically ($5K for small businesses, $50K for enterprise) so an actual choice exists. Doing an initial project free or cheap lets you power-level the learning and justify a bigger second deal.
Origin
Cole learned enterprise pricing when a $30B-revenue client said their smallest vendor was $100K and prepaid a year; he refined asset-based pricing across his agencies. Extracted from Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal.
Core principles
- 01Buyers who purchase an asset can't compare it to an hourly rate
- 02Anchoring to time invites 'I could just hire someone' math
- 03Frame the deliverable as a library or outcome the buyer owns
- 04Two close-priced packages create no real decision; widen the gap
How to run it
- 1
Reframe as asset and outcome
Sell a niche content library and market dominance, not a channel-growth promise or a video count.
Pro tip Audit the top ~30 long-tail terms the buyer should rank for and pitch dominance in those.
Watch out Promising audience growth is too hard to guarantee; anchor to the library instead.
- 2
Divorce price from time
Because the buyer is purchasing an asset, not hours, the price becomes subjective and can go far higher.
Pro tip A subjective library can be priced at $50K-$100K depending on the buyer.
- 3
Widen the package gap
Set two tiers far apart so a genuine pricing decision exists, matched to buyer size.
Pro tip $5K/month for small businesses, $50K/month for enterprise creates a real choice.
Watch out Packages priced $5K vs $7K read as the same number to a business owner.
- 4
Seed with free or cheap work
Do the first project free or very cheap for a credible client to learn the process and justify a bigger next deal.
Pro tip Target funded companies ($10-100M range) that move fast and just write the check.
In the wild
For Ali's done-for-you video agency idea, Cole reframes the pitch away from channel growth. Instead: audit the top 30 long-tail search terms in the client's niche and commit to building a ranking content library over six months, embeddable on their site (boosting SEO because Google owns YouTube) and repostable to LinkedIn. Because they're buying an asset, not hours, you can quote a startup that raised $30M: '$100K, six months, do you want this?'
→ A subjective, asset-anchored price far above any per-video rate.
Common mistakes
Anchoring to time or video count
Selling hours or deliverables lets the buyer run 'I could just hire two people' math.
Packaging tiers too close
$5K vs $7K packages present no real decision; the buyer sees them as the same number.
Is it for you?
Best for
Agencies and freelancers selling content, video, or done-for-you services to funded businesses.
Not ideal for
Truly commoditized, interchangeable tasks where buyers demand hourly transparency.
From the transcript
“you're not selling them volume of videos you're selling them a specific library of content”
“because they're buying an asset and an outcome which is divorced from time and effort”
“where people go wrong with pricing is they they pick two packages that are really close to each other”
From the episode
How to Make $10k/Month as a Writer - Nicolas Cole
Nicolas Cole