“What can I add to an online course to make it high-ticket? I’m currently selling it for 1K but would love to increase the price.”
This is a question I received recently. It’s a great one, and I would love to answer in the form of a post.
Selling a course for a high-ticket fee (5K-100K) is not necessarily about what you ADD.
It could be, in some cases. But, it’s often about what you subtract.
The amount of content – as a single factor – isn’t what determines the value.
As a coach, consultant, teacher, or other subject-matter expert who provides services, courses, or training, the value of what you’re selling is – more often than not – determined by:
1) what outcomes it helps someone to get – and
2) how quickly.
(Caveat: this isn’t ALWAYS true. There can be other factors that determine value in a buyer’s mind, such as the level of fame or notoriety of the seller, but I don’t know as much about these factors, so I don’t tend to talk about them as much.)
Let’s look at a mini-case study of how/why speed and magnitude of outcome are more important factors for being able to charge high-ticket than is the amount of content included in an offer.
Most of my clients have taken many programs before they took mine.
And there’s one notable program many have taken that costs 2K. (I also happened to purchase this one myself)
This was a program that had many hours of videos – between 30 and 40 hours, by most estimates – all about different areas of business-building.
Many of my clients remarked about comprehensive the course was (and I agreed!).
For example, there were modules on marketing, communication, niche selection and validation, email list building, offer creation, website building, and more.
And within each module there were many sub-modules going into different topics.
For example, in the email list building module there were trainings on 10 different ways to grow an email list – from Facebook ads to joint-venture webinars to hosting live events in your community.
And in the website building module there were trainings on many different ways to build a website – from Squarespace to WordPress (with explanations of the top 10 WordPress themes) to the details of how to hire the right designer/developer who would do all the building for you.
Phew! Just typing all that out right now made me tired… and that was only a tiny fraction of what was in the course.
Of note is the fact that this program never talked about a specific outcome that it was aimed at.
Its marketing was more vague, using wording such as “This program contains everything you need to know to start and grow an online business, and market it effectively.”
If you read the testimonials for this program, you’ll see that they talk about a WIDE variety of outcomes (and many don’t talk about outcomes at all, they just say variations of “this program was amazing and helped me so much”).
Some of the outcomes talked about are things like:
“The copywriting training on subject lines helped me increase my email open rate from 5% to 20%!”
“The niche selection guide is so valuable – I’ve been spinning for years trying to figure out which niche I belong in, so I’ve never started my business. Now I’ve finally picked one and feel excited for the future!”
“I was able to hit $100K in a month for the first time, after never making more than $50K in a month, when I approached a new JV partner using the script in module 5!”
Kinda all-over-the-place, no?
And, notably, the program claims to have had more than 100K people take it, yet they only have a few hundred testimonials.
Since the company running this program has guru status (they’re super well-known), I doubt they’ll ever come to me for advice on what to add to their program to increase the value from $2K to $5K. 😉
But if they did, I’d tell them to subtract, not add.
Because their program is stuffed with a ton of topics, and its outcomes are over the map.
If they designed a program that reliably produced ONE amazing outcome, they could easily charge $5K (or way more!) for that.
What I’ve seen in my experience (helping people in every niche imaginable to sell high-ticket programs) is that people who are looking for a specific outcome are generally willing to pay pretty much whatever is asked for a program that has a great track record of delivering that outcome.
(That’s assuming they’re ABLE to pay – which is a different conversation – though even some people who aren’t technically “able” to pay still find ways to do so.)
So let’s look at a quick example of a program that’s engineered to deliver a specific outcome… my 30-day 1-on-1 intensive!
This is a program whose content consists of 20 pages of written documents. Total. For the entire program.
And dozens of people have paid between 5k and 7k for it over the past few years. (7k is the current investment)
Pretty interesting when you compare it against the guru program that cost 2k for 30-40 hours of video trainings.
I’ve asked clients over the years why they paid so much for a program that was so light on the content.
They vary in how they express their answers, but the common theme is that the small amount of content was actually a benefit to them.
That’s because the program focuses on ONE way to grow a business (selling high-ticket programs through organic Facebook posting) and I’ve isolated the small number of things that people need to do to master the skills needed to reach the specific outcome of getting at least 4 clients per month.
The program is the shortest path they’ve found to the specific outcome they want.
Again: to someone who wants a specific outcome as quickly as possible, they will tend to be willing to pay whatever is asked – as long as they have the money or a way to access it. After all, this outcome is the most precious or interesting thing in the world to them.
(This reasoning is totally different from the thought process used to justify buying a 2k program that is marketed to the masses and contains everything but the kitchen sink.)
There’s one more point I have to mention here.
Having ample access to YOU as part of the program is, I believe, crucial to reliably producing the program’s intended outcome as clients continue to come through it.
Research has shown that when it comes to developing any skill, it’s crucial that someone practices the skills and has their practice both designed and monitored by an expert.
(Read the book Talent is Overrated if you’re interested in diving more deeply into this research.)
In the 2k guru program I’ve been describing in this post, you could only access the program creators on a weekly call with dozens of other participants.
And it was only a Q & A format – no one was helping you to define your goal, to decide exactly what you most needed to work on or approaching your progress from a project-management type mindset.
In my program people have unlimited access to me for any and all questions.
And, I look at the lead-generating content that people write and give them a personalized roadmap for how to improve.
This means I look at the standard teaching that I give everyone, and pull out key points for each individual as THEIR particular points for improvement.
And then I look at their progress and monitor how well they’re adhering to those points.
It’s worlds away from those programs where you only get to jump on a huge Q & A call occasionally and if you get missed you just ask your fellow program participants your question in the private Facebook group.
Now, there’s a lot that goes into designing a program that’s both effective and efficient at delivering a particular outcome so you can charge whatever you want for it.
And I definitely didn’t cover everything in this post.
But I hope I gave you some food for thought to start with.
To summarize, here are the bare-bones steps that I think through to determine whether someone can easily charge 5k or more for their program:
1) What outcome do I know how to get, from my expertise and/or personal experience?
(we work backwards from this to create the program)
2) What slice of the population is in a good position to get this outcome, has a high level of desire for it, and probably has the money I want to charge or can access it?
(this encompasses qualifications – what the ideal client knows already and/or has achieved already – as well as their starting point before they begin their work with you, which I’ve talked about a lot in other posts.)
(this question also shows you that your outcome is valued differently by different people – for example, some people might have zero interest in becoming highly skilled at playing the pipe organ, but to others it might mean the world – I happen to be one of them 😉 )
3) What does this ideal client (not just anyone, but this particular slice of the population) need to know/learn/practice in order to eventually get the outcome and how can I deliver the information and practice opportunities to them in the most concise and streamlined way possible?
(THIS RIGHT HERE is how you know what kind of content to include in your program as well as how much to include.)
(And by the way, the answer might even be NONE or NO CONTENT if this ideal client already knows what they need to know to get their outcome and only needs practice or expert eyes on their work or something else that can only be found in contact with you and your brilliance. Cool, huh?)
…Once you’ve answered these three questions, you’ll know you have something you can charge high-ticket for.
I’ll wrap this post now with an invitation to work with me one-on-one, as well as some links to further reading/watching on these topics.
I am taking new clients for my 30-day 1-on-1 program right now. One of the things we can work on in this program (if you need/want to) is re-packaging or re-designing your service or program so that it can command a higher fee as I’ve described in this post.
You can see the details of my program here.
If you’d like more teaching on how to think through what outcome you provide and how to phrase it and who is best to achieve it, check out one of my most popular videos.
It’s called “How to Sell Help That Your Ideal Client Doesn’t Know They Need,” and you can find it here.
And if you want my help with this piece specifically (articulating the outcome you provide) you may want to take part in one of my group workshops.
I do these a couple of times per month, and you can always find out when the next one will be by clicking here.
You can also find all the details about the workshops here.
If you’d like more teaching on how to create an offer that’s both effective and efficient at delivering its intended outcome, check out another popular video of mine.
This one is called “How to Get Paid High-Ticket Fees for (Very) Short Engagements With Clients,” and you can find it here.
And if you have any questions about the ideas I shared in this post or want to share your experience, feel free to comment here.