PAN = Price + Availability + Novelty

OK, been thinking about something which came up recently… and going to try to explain it how I understand it… and it’s… PAN… and how best to use it…

For those of you who don’t know… PAN is the equation which many internet marketers use to find best selling / attractive products.

PAN = Price + Availability + Novelty

But to start with… think back to your school days, and equations…

A + B + C = D

So if D = 10… then:

• 2 + 7 + 1 = 10
• 3 + 5 + 2 = 10
• 0 + 9 + 1 = 10

There are many different ways / combinations to get to 10.

OK, now think of PAN like it is an equation. Many successful internet marketers find that:

• Killer & Magnetic Offer = Amazing, unbeatable price + Hard / impossible to source elsewhere + Novelty (wow, that’s unique, I love that)…

So if you can score BIG, in all of those areas, then chances are you will most likely have found a killer product, that will boost your sales.

But just as there are different ways to get to ’10’… so it is possible to vary the mark-up of the elements of the PAN equation…

So… going to the other extreme…

• Uncompetitive price + Readily available elsewhere + everyday object = Unattractive / weak offer… and it would be highly unlikely you would get many or any sales…

i.e. 1 + 1 + 1 = 3… and not the Magic 10 we are looking for.

BUT… and this is the thing… there are other possible combinations… there are different ways to get to the Magic 10.

• Highly competitive price + available elsewhere + low novelty value = I am still interested in ordering from you… because I will save money and I love saving money…

i.e. 8 + 1 + 1 = 10… where the attractiveness of the product is being totally carried by the price… or by the availability, or the novelty, or a combination of two.

So when you are thinking about the PAN equation… don’t forget that as with any equation there are different ways you can set it up, and with marketing equations… if you are weak in one area, you can always try to boost it in another…

For example… you can certainly enhance the novelty + desirability of an object in how you describe and pitch it on your sales page… so you may not be able to directly control availability… but through the products you choose to promote / sell you do have control over price and also novelty to a fair degree (because you can enhance its attractiveness)… so those are two areas of the PAN equation that you can adjust to enhance your offer.

Hope that way of describing PAN helps clarify its amazing potential for some people.

(c) Brian Parsons, July 2016