A key struggle I’ve seen for many course creators—no matter how successful they are–is determining the best pricing for their courses. This is especially true for course creators who are planning on offering their first high-ticket program after offering lower-priced courses as their bread and butter.
Luckily, there are many successful blueprints to steal from when approaching how to sell your high ticket program. A course creator that I admire who sells high ticket programs like hot cakes is Danielle Leslie. Leslie is the founder of Culture Add™ Labs, has worked as an online marketer in Silicon Valley, and for over ten years she’s helped personal brands and influencers earn collectively millions of dollars by launching online courses.
She also sells a high-ticket program called “#CoureFromScratch,” an 8-week online course that helps people create, build, and launch a highly profitable online course from scratch that she sells for $2,497. This high-ticket course program made over $9,000,000 in 2020.
Ahead, let’s break down some sharp strategies Danielle Leslie deploys to have the enormous success she does selling high-ticket course programs.
((toc))
A clear website value proposition
The first thing you’ll notice is unlike a typical personal website, Danielle Leslie immediately gets down to brass tacks by zeroing in on her target audience: online course creators. Right from the jump, Leslie solidifies herself as a successful online course creator, so much so that she can give out content like her #Oversubscribed tool which netted her $20,000 in 60 days, for free.
This is a powerful introduction to Leslie and her brand, she’s not only good at selling online courses but she’s also done the work of creating resources for others to follow in her footsteps.
Ahead, let’s explore some other great portions of her website.
Capture your reader’s imagination
After solidifying her presence as a successful online course creator, Leslie then captures the reader’s imagination by quickly summarizing her journey. Part of selling a high-ticket program is laying out the foundation for why your expertise is worth the asking price. A great way to showcase this is to illustrate for your prospective customers your own trials and tribulations on your journey toward acquiring the knowledge that has made you so successful.
By starting this section with, “Imagine being on vacation, seeing notifications that you have a new payment for $197 or $1595,” Leslie immediately makes her journey aspirational. Who doesn’t want to make money while they aren’t working? But Leslie isn’t just showboating here, she uses her current success as an anchor to acknowledge the journey it took to get there. Her courses weren’t always roaring successes, but she kept at it. This is another strategic play that builds her authority as an entrepreneur whose advice is worth following.
She also follows up this aspirational paragraph with a short, fun, video introduction that gives the viewer an idea of who she is, her upbeat personality, and an idea of what members can expect in her high ticket programs.
Provide immediate value
The next approach that stands out to me is how quickly she provides value to those who visit her website. Not only does she start off with the #Oversubscribed tool at the start of her website, but she goes further than that. What I’ve seen over and over again with many successful online course creators who are offering higher-priced courses is that the ones who are most successful give people a taste of what they will be getting in the full program.
Leslie does this by offering a free webinar class called “How to Turn Your passion, skills, & expertise into a Profitable Online Course.” This is a highly effective way to sell high ticket programs because you can showcase yourself in the most positive light possible and give quick, actional content that will actually provide results to attendees of the free class in ways that will compel them to buy the full course.
Another way that Danielle Leslie sets herself apart and provides immediate value is by making this class feel like a “live webinar” with limited availability. On the landing page for her free class, she presents it as a “live” event that people can attend.
While the webinar was “live” at one point, Leslie uses the WebinarJam software to replicate that experience for attendees even though it’s a recording. Not only does the “live” format allow her to truly showcase her personality and knowledge, but the limited availability creates FOMO which will drive up attendance and future sales of her high ticket course.
Setup your members to succeed in your courses
One thing is clear from all of Danielle Leslie’s landing pages and websites: she knows how to present herself and her content in the best light possible which helps her members excel in her courses. A simple example of this effort is how Leslie preps attendees for her free webinar. After picking your time slot and receiving your confirmation details, Leslie also provides a short five-minute “thank you” video that gives attendees a few tips to best experience her class.
Ultimately, launching a high ticket program that actually sells often comes down to making the experience feel premium, well-thought-out, and valuable. While it may seem like an insignificant detail, Leslie leverages this short “Thank You” message to give attendees insights into her own process, provide quick tips for notetaking, best viewing arrangements, and more. That’s a lot of free information that is incredibly useful and will actually set up attendees to more likely want to experience her high ticket course.
Testimonials and reviews are essential
Think about any of the times you’ve considered buying an expensive product, service, and experience. What did you do before purchasing? You most likely looked up reviews, feedback, descriptions, and other information about what you were buying to help make your decision easier. The same is true when buying high ticket courses. So, the best thing a successful course creator can do is spotlight the impact their content is having on their members.
Leslie’s testimonials all present concrete results for how her classes have impacted her members, this is essential. While it’s always nice to present testimonials that compliment you as an instructor and the course content, sometimes those words can ring hollow if there aren’t results.
Leslie also presents testimonials in multiple formats, some are the pristine, highly-curated testimonials that you see on her personal website, but she also provides screenshots–the receipts! –from folks in her Facebook Group posting their results completely with timeframe and revenue generated. This is a powerful indicator of the effect her high ticket course has on the lives of those who take it.
The key takeaway from this Danielle Leslie’s high ticket course sales
So, I’ve taken you through some major strategic moves Danielle Leslie makes on her landing pages to sell high ticket programs. Let me reiterate, she is making over $9,000,000 delivering her courses and that isn’t a fluke. Leslie’s approach to selling high ticket programs is a masterclass in understanding the buyer’s journey, playing to your strengths, and providing immediate value to your prospective customers.
Here are three major takeaways that have stuck with me the most since researching Danielle Leslie’s high ticket program sales pages:
- Know how to sell yourself and your content in the best light: What stands out to me the most about Leslie’s approach to selling courses is that she is completely herself. She leans into her personality, presents informative, concise, and fun content, and does all this with beautiful branding and design to make her content pop. As I pointed out above, Leslie knows that people are more likely to convert when they have a stellar experience. Her whole sales funnel is about anticipating various scenarios and concerns buyers may have and answering their questions before the bounce. That’s incredibly important and speaks to Leslie’s understanding of her content and brand.
- Actionable content speaks louder than words: A constant throughout all of Leslie’s landing pages is providing free actionable resources, content, and experiences to visitors that all funnel into them taking her high ticket program. While it’s important to talk the talk, you also need to walk the walk, and having a Rolodex of resources that showcase your unique perspective and impactful content will set you apart from the competition.
- Results are powerful: At the end of the day, when people are paying a high price for something, they want to know it will deliver on its promise. Danielle Leslie’s entire landing page is built around showcasing the results that are possible by following her direction. This extends beyond the testimonials that highlight big results, timelines, and personal anecdotes. Leslie also presents the concrete results of her own journey as a course creator who struggled, found a formula that worked, and is now striving. Who doesn’t love a good character arc? Imagine what yours is and use that to help sell your high ticket programs!
