UPDATE: This riddle has been solved. You can find the answer in the comments below. But as per the yoozh... you'll get more out of this riddle if you try to riddle it out yourself first, before checking the answers. Full details below: ======= I've been reading a book about direct marketing. I came across an interesting passage last night. The author was writing about how he mystery shopped his competitors to find: === Most companies were not even upselling. They were cross-selling. I'd call in to order a joint pain supplement and they would offer me a memory enhancement pill. This type of offer usually has the lowest take rate... for obvious reasons. The cross-sell product is unrelated to the issue I called in to solve in the first place. But this type of cross selling is certainly better than having no additional offer at all. The smarter companies were doing what I would consider proper upselling. If I called in to order a joint pain supplement, they would pitch me on a cream you rub on your joints that provides short-term pain relief while you're waiting for the supplement to provide longer-lasting relief. Since this product is completely related to the issue I called in to solve, the take rate on it was much higher. Over time, and after careful thought, I devleoped a new strategy. Knowing that people buy related products at high conversions, I began to wonder what the take rate would be if I offered, not a related product... but... [something the author calls "the plus upsell"] === So here's my riddle for you: Whaddya think the "plus upsell" strategy is? I'll give you a hint: It's not just a bigger bottle with more pills inside. Think for a minute and come up with your own theory. I'll give you a second hint, or rather a teaser, also from the book: "The day we tested this strategy was the day the entire math in our business up that time changed. We literally exploded our average order value almost overnight." You wanna take a guess in the comments below? Or do you want some help and clarifying questions or info? In either case, fire away.

I recently put a new page on my website called "Client Love", which features screenshots of feedback I've gotten from clients. And I noticed that there was a lot of really, really enthusiastic feedback there. Like multiple "wows", "I'm amazed," and "blown away." Here's my problem: despite this great feedback, there's this niggling little worm in my brain constantly whispering, "You're not really good enough." This is problematic because it's difficult to sell myself as THE answer to my ideal client's problem... if I myself doubt that it is true. I guess my question is - anyone have any ideas how to get past this hump? Why is feedback from my own clients not convincing me? How do I convince myself that my work is valuable, so I can more successfully convince others of this, so that they hire me?