Let’s talk about the high ticket vs low ticket business model, specifically for selling online courses.

Coaching and services almost always need to be high ticket in order to scale (there are exceptions to this, but generally this is the case). 

But if you’re just interested in creating an online course, you’re not too concerned about coaching, and you want to create a highly profitable business that doesn’t require tons of your time…

What’s the best path?

In this article, I dive deep into the difference between the two models, why one isn’t necessarily better than the other, and what you should pick based on your skills, desires and the market you’re in.

First, let’s look at what I call the “Only Path” fallacy. 

The “Only Path” Fallacy

Many things can be explained by marketing.

The person or company who tells you that the best way to lose weight is to take their fat-burning supplement is obviously incentivized to exaggerate claims, bend the truth, and sometimes straight up lie in order to get you to buy from them.

Other things that can be explained by marketing include:

• “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” It isn’t. You can blame Kelloggs for this. 
• Diamond engagement rings. De Beers (the diamond company) literally invented the idea. 
• Multivitamins (they don’t do much at all)

There are tons of other examples. Nat Eliason covers this well in his article “Could that be explained by marketing?”

Now, let’s apply this to the high ticket vs low ticket argument.

Those who are selling high ticket coaching services to help others build high ticket course businesses are incentivized to:

A) Believe what they are saying is true

B) Convince others that their model is the best model

Someone running a TikTok ad agency is incentivized to convince others that TikTok ads are the best form of advertising (even if they aren’t for some clients/industries).

Someone who’s selling high ticket coaching services on how to build a low ticket course business is incentivized to convince others that low ticket is the way to go for reasons X, Y, Z. 

You get the idea.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this. It’s how the world of marketing works. If you’re not confident in your model or messaging, you probably shouldn’t be selling what you’re selling (there goes my idealism again). 

Also, as a consumer/customer—there’s nothing wrong with following someone else’s framework. In fact, it’s often better to follow a framework than figure everything out from scratch. Someone who’s built a high ticket course business (or low ticket) has done what you want to do, and you’re probably better off following them and not questioning the process too much.

However, this does not mean that high ticket (for example) is the best or only way to build a profitable business. It often is, but in some cases it’s a bad strategy (as we’ll see). 

The people who tell you it’s the best or only way, without knowing your market, skills, expertise, or desired goals are those who are simply trying to make money from you.

The better approach is to think strategically about the options in front of you and the business model that fits best. 

• If you’re in a market with a high volume of customers and low purchasing power, then lower ticket makes more sense.
• If you’re in a market with low volume but high purchasing power, then high ticket makes more sense. 

With that out of the way, let’s compare the two options.

High Ticket vs. Low Ticket – A Summary

l

I’m strictly comparing these models in the context of courses. 

If you’re selling one-on-one coaching, done-for-you services, or something similar—high ticket is practically unavoidable (with some exceptions). 

I’m talking courses. Education. E-learning.

The High Ticket Course Model

At its core, the high ticket model is simple:

1. Get people to book a call with you (usually through organic marketing and/or paid ads)
2. Use consultative selling to close them on the call
3. Charge a high ticket price ($2,000+)

Usually, people selling courses through this model will include group coaching, a community, and other bonuses.

Note: I know there are variations on this model, and some people do things differently. But this is the high ticket model at a fundamental level. 

The Low Ticket Course Model

The low ticket course model is less simple—especially when it comes to marketing. But here’s how I’d sum it up:

1. Send people to a well crafted sales page. Usually through email marketing, SEO, social, YouTube, or other key marketing channels. 
2. Sell your course below $2,000 on the sales page.

There are hundreds of steps involved between these two objectives. This is disgustingly oversimplified, but you get the idea. 

High Ticket Pros & Cons

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the high ticket course model.

High Ticket Pros:

• If you’re new to marketing and business, you can usually make money easier and faster (the margins are much higher). 
• If you’re in a market with high purchasing power, then you can make a lot of money.
• If you have a sales background, you already have a leg up. 
• Selling a $1,000 course is not 10x harder than selling a $100 course (generally speaking). The revenue scales seperately to difficulty.
• It’s easier to run paid ads (due to the margins—you can spend more).
• Perceived value is high. This positively affects customer experience. 
• Can usually hire earlier on due to higher cashflow. 

High Ticket Cons: 

• Your market needs to have purchasing power. There are some niches where potential customers cannot justify spending $2k on a course (even if it has coaching). 
• You have to get on the phone with people. For many, this is uncomfortable. They hate it. And they actively self-sabotage while building their business.
• It’s a less passive business than low ticket. You (or your team) needs to be constantly booking out the calendar and following up with people. You need to fulfill things like group coaching. 
• You miss out on a huge segment of your market unless you also have a low ticket offering.

Low Ticket Pros & Cons

Now, the pros and cons of the low ticket course model. 

Low Ticket Pros:

• Great option for lifestyle business. True residual income. You make money when people click the confirm purchase button at checkout, not by jumping on sales calls. 
• Works great in high volume/low purchasing power markets.
• Good for those with marketing/copywriting background but hate/lack sales skills.
• Capture both segments of the market (those who would spend $5,000 on your course, and those who can only spend $500). It doesn’t work this way with high ticket (some simply can’t afford the high price point). 
• Don’t need to fulfill as much. No need to offer group coaching or community with low ticket courses. (It’s not that you need to do this with high ticket, but people expect it). 

Low Ticket Cons:

• Need to develop or hire for a diverse set of skills: copywriting, sales page design, etc.
• Doesn’t work well in low volume/high purchasing power markets. The economics make it hard to scale. 
• Takes more time to gain traction than in high ticket. Usually need to build up an audience first. 
• Not serving customers that would pay you 5-10x as much money unless you include a high ticket offering. 

Which Should You Choose?

We’ve looked at the differences between high ticket and low ticket, as well as the pros and cons for each.

You should have a better idea of which path you should choose, but let me just add something:

You can do both.

I believe most high ticket businesses should eventually have low ticket offerings, and most low ticket businesses should have high ticket offerings. 

But you should start with just one (simplicity scales). 

Here’s my take:

If you already have a strong brand and audience, or you’re prepared to put in the time and effort to build one (you’re not expecting quick cash)—AND you like the idea of having a lifestyle business that doesn’t require you to get on the phone or hire sales reps…

Low ticket is for you.

If you want to create cashflow fast. You don’t have an audience, but you have a strong skillset you can leverage—AND you don’t mind hustling to get sales calls booked and close people…

High ticket is for you. 

And if you can’t decide, just start putting stuff out into the world. Create content. Get on calls with your ideal customers and dive into their problems. 

Get data.

Do something.

You can always adapt your business model later.