Founder of Creator Science — Helping thousands of creators build sturdy businesses through observation, experimentation, and iteration.
If you have a small audience, don't sell a low-ticket product. This is counterintuitive for most beginners, but low-ticket products are a volume game. If you have a small audience, you can't win a volume game. You're better off starting with a higher-priced product (which requires higher impact and maybe higher touch). These require high trust to sell, but in the beginning, you can lean in and nurture relationships with your small but mighty following. This will fund your early days as you build an audience through high-quality, free content. Eventually, you can play (and win) volume games, too.
Hmmmm thanks for this tip Jay Clouse
In the beginning, it is difficult to know all of your audience's pain points. How do you ensure you can provide high-impact value to justify the higher price?
So true! I think this is a frightening to a lot of people starting out to think about charging a high-ticket price before they feel like they are "worth" that kind of cost. From time-to-time I have new(ish) consultants ask me what I charge and when I tell them they say things like, "well I could NEVER charge that." Yeah, I thought that at one point too. Then I just did it. And when a few people said yes, it became the baseline. As long as you're providing the value and helping people achieve the impact they want, price doesn't necessarily matter (within reason, of course). It's WAY easier to lower your price than it is to increase it over time.
Agree, and there is context and variables to consider. Trust has been mentioned by several here, your skills matching audience need (a high quality high ticket implies you have the expertise), the ability to deliver that expertise in a way that creates impact (because you know something do you have skills to teach it) and a smooth delivery system for the experience, and an audience that has the ability and desire to pay high ticket (which is closely tied to trust). All things that I have found you need confidence you can achieve in order to share that high ticket product. On the journey.
Completely agree, Jay. I would have saved so much time if I had read and taken this advice 2 years ago. Another risk of selling low-ticket too soon - based on personal experience - is that, if you then try to pitch a higher ticket offer, you might face more price resistance than if you had established yourself as someone who sells high-ticket offers first... And *then* introduced a low-ticket offer. That's not to say someone can't sell low ticket and high ticket offers at the same time, of course, but sometimes pricing is brand - and if you haven't earned a reputation yet, then the low-ticket price could actually work against you.
Jay Clouse 100%! The math simply doesn’t math. If you sell a high-ticket offer priced between $3,000 and $5,000 to just 10 people, you're looking at a total revenue of $30,000 to $50,000. This kind of income can cover your business expenses, allow for investment in marketing, and even pay yourself a decent salary. On the other hand, if you sell a low-ticket offer priced between $47 and $97 to the same 10 people, your total revenue is only $470 to $970. Not enough to cover basic costs, leaving you constantly scrapping and hustling.
This post is a lightbulb moment for anyone who's been struggling to monetize a small audience! 💡 It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that low-ticket items are the way to go, but this advice flips the script. High-ticket items might seem intimidating, but they actually play to the strengths of a small audience: personalized attention and building trust. It's like a VIP experience that can fund your growth until you're ready for the big leagues. So, if you're ready to ditch the race to the bottom and start building a sustainable business, this is your sign. Embrace the high-ticket model and watch your profits soar! 🚀
Yes! Start with impactful, high-value products. Nurture your small audience with care. Your small audience can fuel big success. 🙌
I agree with this, but I also think low ticket products can be a market test. I created one when I was first starting my company to test the waters. It sold then and it still sells today, more than 4 years later. But it definitely hasn't moved the revenue needle much so can't be the main solution for my very niche audience.
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6moGreat point, Jay. Can you remember your first digital product as a smaller creator with a smaller audience? What was it? I'm curious:)