Hi-ticket and low-ticket

Quite so. In fact price point might be one of the least important considerations.

Pricing is largely market dependent, product dependent, customer dependent, and offer dependent. And that's without considering factors such as seller authority and credibility.

What any business has to take into account is the profit margin per product sold - and from that, the number and frequency of sales needed to generate an acceptable overall net profit. That is, after all operating and promotional expenses are factored in.

Claude has illustrated the standard digital product business model, but for most online businesses, it usually isn't a question of starting low and graduating to high. You can have long-term success selling just low ticket items if you have a cost-effective means of accessing enough buyers. Of course, you could then funnel those buyers into higher profit offers, depending on the market and your seller/buyer relationship.

Why didn't you mention this in your original post? Using terms like high ticket and low ticket suggests a product - and there are countless ways to "start an online marketing journey".

Offering a service is a different ball game. You really want to start as you mean to go on. It can be done, but it's much more difficult to raise your prices down the line without antagonizing past buyers - most of whom you ought to be nurturing as repeat clients.

So, maybe this:

... at the end of the day the key is to understand what are the customer pains or dreams and solve them the best way possible. This can be through product and services but also with free content, resources, share some insights, etcetera. The better and deeper de positive impact in your audience/community, the more your business grows. Hopefully someone new can get some value out of this

Like, maybe your friend the great writer?

A high ticket writing job would be like the one taken on by Mark Manson and his collab with Will Smith. That probably at 6 figures. Ten to 25k is not unusual for a ghost written bio of a business/celeb for 'great' writers, those more common.

No one has ever called me a great writer and I would metaphorically kick then in the shins if they did. But I am just good enough to have sustained a 40 year hacks writing career, and having written daily for over 50 years, here are my thoughts on this matter:

EVERY writer, should have their own products in addition to any services they may offer.

You have already said to address their pain and/or dreams, so what would these be for him?

I can only address my personal experience or from direct experience with others, as opposed to third party hear-say regarding low vs. so called high ticket.

It is always my preference to begin with a definition, so as to avoid misunderstanding and confusion, but thats just me. In commercial Real Estate, many agents I worked with considered a commission of anything over 30k a high ticket, which usually meant RE selling for mid six figures or more.

So one man's big ticket is another man's scratch off.

My latest report called TIDAL WAVE sold for 7 dollars. I would say LOW ticket. One of the first people to buy it was a new Warrior, and another one was a customer on my list for over 21 years.

The new Warrior has just been exposed to my work, whereas the LIFETIME VALUE OF MY CUSTOMER for over 20 years has been over a thousand dollars.

We hack writers have many different models to follow. I CHOOSE to do a low cost item, a so-called NO Brainer for 7 bux, or a should I/shouldn't I/oh what the heck...item for up to 19.95. I will do about one twenty dollar info product a quarter (every 3 months) and in between offer a couple of NO BRAINER reports or HOTSHEETS. Then normally, around the HOLIDAYs, I put out a special at about 25 dollars.

Now, today, I don't confer or consult any more, but when I did, I had several plans from 500 to 2500 still LOW TICKET in my mind, however, these might be high ticket items for a new writer...again, defining what it means helps.

We had a 5 figure list before the year 2001, and from there pared it down, rather than scaling it up, to get only BUYERS and keep the troublesome customers at arm's distance away...and these BUYERS, have been very loyal for over 20 years. So, it doesn't take a huge list, just good customers....

hopefully, because we deliver a good product...

And when one does this then it isn't very hard to get a substantial income along the way.

Also, writing is the market, and so-many niches WITHIN it, so whatever is his specialty or love, passion or interest in doing would be a good place to start...then all he has to do is follow your previous suggestion: and find out what his customer's PAIN and/or DREAM is, and take it from there.

GordonJ

Somehow, I missed this post until now.

The obvious answer is to offer samples of his work, and just charge what he would normally charge. There is no need for a starter offer.

But he should have a page that offers a short chat over the phone, to "make sure we are on the same page". Just make sure the buyer knows what is offered , and the price, before the call.

That call is NOT a free strategy session, or a sales pitch. It's to make sure the client understands all of what is involved, and already knows what it is going to cost.

I remember the campaign very well by DCX

It didn't work, sadly. Was a great idea, but didn't save the company.

It was invite only and the invites were big influencers...

a little secret, some of the after testimonials were scripted.

The website is still up though:

https://www.palessishoes.com/

The whole high ticket - low ticket debate to me is a little confusing.

You don't advertise high-ticket stuff to low-ticket buyers...pretty simple really.

You don't advertise Mcdonald's combo meals in upscale restaurant magazines.

I've been a pilot for almost 40 years...I sold my plane a couple of months ago and got another one. I didn't advertise it where low ticket buyers shop...they wouldn't be interested and they would no doubt think the price was too high.

If you're selling high-dollar items, you advertise where high-dollar buyers are.

If you're selling low-ticket items, you advertise where low-ticket buyers are.

Pretty simple really. There is no "should I sell a high ticket or low ticket" debate.

Just my thoughts on the matter

Yes, but there are places (especially online, social media, etcetera) where there are hi-ticket buyers and low ticket buyers and if you are starting organically, all your marketing should be consistent and with your skills and knowledge you can solve a problem for a specific audience, and that audience can be hi-ticket buyers to whom you can offer consulting, dfy, premium, etcetera and low ticket buyers to whom you can offer courses, ebooks and the like...So I think the debate makes sense

Once upon a time, a guy I know who rarely cooks cooked his wife a dinner. He said it came out amazing. His wife said, meh.

He froze remains. Served them to his wife a week or so later. Told her her mother had stopped by and dropped it. Wife loved it.

Did freezing significantly improve the meal or was it expectations that did it?

Once upon a time, I had a marketing coaching session with a bagel store owner. Charged $100 for one our. At the end of the hour, you get your money back if you feel you did not get your money's worth of coaching.

At the end of the hour, he did not ask for his money back. But he asked a couple of questions, we spent another 25 minutes.

The following week, I had a marketing coaching session with a financial adviser and professor of economics at a university ranked 19 in US at the time.

This time, I charged $500. Same deal: get your money back if you feel you are not getting 500 in value. I did not do extra preparations for the $500 client.

He did not ask for it. We were there for 63 minutes.

Did I improve 500% in one week or was fishing in a different market and my expectations that made it work? Inquiring minds want to know, no?

The points I am making:
Some low end services can be higher end just by you thinking they are;

It matters in which market pond you choose to fish ($100 for the baker was 3 hours of work/income; $500 for the financial advisor was 45 minutes), among other things.

Another among things: the financial advisor's expectations of what a good marketing coaching session costs were in line with the price.

Each sale cost me the same effort to make. The $500 drew upon a lot of work that seems unrelated... That gave me a lot of background info and ability to understand/ communicate at many levels. So, in a sense, it took more effort and time to prepare for the session even if the effort was indirect, no?

Which means, the first one cost me 5 times more, in relation to outcome and asking price, than the first one. Even more in relation to actual time spent with client.

The differences are smaller with automated online systems. Even if they get to par, the more expensive sessions are better: the amount spent afterwards with customer complaints is going to be lower.

Yeah, for a product that's the logical step, but for a DFY service is better to start with let's call it hi-ticket, otherwise, you are likely to burn out before making any decent money.

You can sell low-end ticket services in bulk, you know. I know most people sell one at the time.


I attest it works because I've participated in such things as seller, as sponsor of seller and as buyer.


As seller, it worked like Clause said above: got them in for a small fee (20 or 30), then tried to sell them higher tickets. If you're good enough to get a bunch of people to attend at once, and if you do not hold back during the 'coaching' session, some buy one of your higher-priced products, maybe the highest.


As a sponsor: I sponsored (together with 2 other companies) a 1-day seminar for mortgage loan originators. I was the appraiser. The other two were an home inspector and an insurance agent.


The seminar people paid for nothing but got $3,600 (if the other two paid what I paid) for the day (which paid for the room... 77 attendees and left the 3 people who spoke some money too).


I sold my company on a couple of loan officers who, over the next year, brought me $42k in gross sales, so I was happy. The 3 people who put together the show sold a bunch of booklet, cd-rom courses, one-on-one coaching sessions, and a few of their master-the-art-of-originating mortgage loan super-duper course (they were charging, if memory serves, $2999). The latter, as far as I could tell, sold 7 times (maybe more bought later, or cancelled).



As a client: I attended a free 2-hour-seminar once (got there because of a $8.97 book), where I bought a one-day $499 seminar, where I bought a $3997 3 day seminar.


The last one had 18 attendees, so made them a lot of money. The $499 had about 120, the free one had about 40. The $499 one was purchased by all attendees at a free 2-hour seminar. The free-to-me seminar was sponsored. One sponsor who did not fare well. At least, I did not see lots of people going to their table. And, I think, it was because they mentioned them on stage only once, at the beginning, and they did not get to speak at all.


Just saying it's possible.