Do you need to bolster profits or upscale your business but aren't sure how? We have the answer!
Membership communities are the surest path to success if you want to increase sales for high-ticket items, create more motivational speaking opportunities, and be more targeted with your advertising.
This article will explain some of the key concepts behind Online Membership Communities (OMC) and how to make the best use of them to boost your business!
What is a High Ticket vs. Low Ticket Sale?
Before discussing how to use these strategies to boost high ticket sales, it's important to understand some of the key concepts and terms that will appear throughout this article.
Naturally, different businesses offer a wide variety of goods and services. Each situation has different requirements in terms of production cost, production time, and basic value on the open market.
Some businesses thrive on mass-producing cheaply manufactured goods that can be sold cheaply but in huge quantities. At the same time, other enterprises will need to sell only a small number of items or services at a much higher price.
This is the essential difference between high and low ticket sales — high ticket items are sold at a high individual price while low ticket sales focus on moving large numbers of cheaper transactions.
Simple enough so far, but "high" and "low" are very broad and subjective terms that can mean different things to different people. More specifically, in the business world, terms like high or low can refer to very different kinds of numbers in different markets or industries.
Generally speaking, the term "low ticket" will refer to goods and services that sell for a few hundred dollars at most, whereas "high ticket" goods or services will have an individual price that is at least $1,000 USD.
The Advantages of High Ticket Sales
When considering which angle of profits is better for your particular enterprise, it's worth noting that high ticket sales have a few distinct advantages over low ticket sales. The most obvious aspect is that high ticket items offer a much higher margin of profit than low ticket items, which plays out in many ways.
Firstly, and most obviously, a single high ticket sale might generate a profit many times greater than a single low ticket sale. In many industries, the cost of attracting customers is often the same for both low and high ticket items, whereas the profit margin of a single high ticket sale will yield up to 10 times the profit of a single low ticket item.
Making a significant profit on a single high ticket item or service is better overall since it requires much less work and can potentially save money on marketing. After all, you'll need to run more ads and do more promotions if you need to move three times as many cheap products every day in order to achieve your sales goals.
Using Online Membership Communities to Boost High Ticket Sales
Now we come to the crux of this article - how you can mobilize Online Membership Communities (OMC) to increase high ticket sales and boost profits for your business. We'll do this by looking at some of the key benefits of this strategy before moving on to some practical advice on how to make the best use of an OMC.
There are many reasons why leveraging communities towards boosting high ticket sales can offer large profits with relatively little effort. We'll cover some of the most important below:
Time Invested/Rewards Ratio
When done correctly, earning reliable business from OMCs requires only small investments of time and effort while still paying off large dividends. A great example is this story of an entrepreneur who managed to drum up $100,000 of new business over six months by investing just an hour a week of his time.
They Create Their Own Engagement
Once an OMC is established, the members of the community will generate content and raise awareness of your brand with no extra effort on your part. You don't have to find a way to get people talking about your services and related subjects because the discussions are being generated naturally by the members of your community!
They Generate Credibility For Your Business
When a potential client looks your company up on the internet and finds a thriving community with hundreds of members, they know to view you as a credible source. Additionally, by being a visible and active leader in your community, more and more people will associate your name as being an authority in your field and will recommend you as such to other potential clients.
Getting Started
There's one vital piece of information that you should come prepared with — where are your potential clients likely to be? Whether you're building a brand new OMC tailor-made for your business or seeking to access members of an already existing community, try to find online spaces where your intended customers will be spending time online.
The ubiquitousness of Facebook makes it an excellent choice for many industries, and chances are there are already existing groups that specialize in your particular field.
Individuals or the self-employed may find that becoming a respected member of these already existing OMCs is a valuable way to gain clients. At the same time, a larger business may appreciate having its own page to bolster its brand awareness. The choice depends on your business and goals and ultimately falls to you!
Know, Like, Trust - A Vital Ingredient
We've already covered some of the benefits of high ticket sales compared to low ticket ones. However, one critical factor to keep in mind is that high ticket sales have an extra requirement that goes along with their perks - a client will almost certainly not pay premium prices for a service if they don't trust you!
It's critical for your clients to not only know who you are but also like you and trust you well enough to commit to a high price tag for what you offer. There are several key steps to building a know, like, and trust relationship with potential clients.
Be Active in Your Community
The surest way for people to get to know you is to interact with you regularly! If you're running your own community, take an active role in removing spam and engaging with your members' questions. If you're active in a pre-existing community, post often enough that people know who you are without overwhelming the site with your posts.
Show (don't tell) Your Authority
If you make sure that your posts are accurate and valuable, members of the community will share, like, or retweet what you write, as well as being more likely to refer you to their friends or link your answer when they see similar questions elsewhere on the web.
Don't overtly advertise your business, as many people find it off-putting, and will even potentially remove your posts as spam. Your potential clients are the people reading and liking your posts, and if they perceive you as a reliable authority, they will come to you!
Give Good Advice for Free
Don't be afraid to give out "free samples" in your replies, such as short how-to videos or links to directly useful material you've written. By posting quality content, you're actively contributing to the community and helping people while also demonstrating that you are a competent authority.
Even though instructions for how to change your car's oil are readily available online for free, many people still choose to go to a mechanic for convenience.
Don't be afraid to give out some insights free of charge - there will always be people who interpret your free advice as an endorsement that your business knows what it's about!
Make it Easy to Contact You
No matter what your specific approach is with OMC, it's vital that people who notice your presence and decide they want to support your business have an easy way to start that transaction.
Have an easily accessed profile that allows users to Direct Message you or that provides a link to a calendar that allows them to make a phone appointment. Remember, don't shove it down readers' throats, but make it easy to find for anyone who decides to reach out.
It's a Lot to Think About. What Next?
In this article, we've laid out the most foundational information about why and how you can make use of OMC to bolster your business by generating high ticket sales. We understand that there's a lot to think about and potentially different directions you could take to start implementing these ideas.
Fortunately, marketing strategies are what we do here at Selworthy, and we are here to help you put together the necessary steps to build your business better!
Contact us today to start working on your strategy to tap into the incredible power of online membership communities!
