This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Is it better to sell low or high priced courses? That's what we're gonna look at here today on Side Hustle School. And just so you know, it's not a trick question. You know, it might be easy to say, well of course it's better to sell a high price course, let's make more money. But actually sometimes a low price course is better for lots of reasons, okay?
So we'll talk about that. We're gonna tune in today with Ethan. He is an experienced coach and consultant, poised to enter the world of online courses, but he's caught at the crossroads of pricing. Dun, dun, dun. How does one determine the golden price point that both maximizes revenue and keeps students engaged?
This is the whole thing about pricing for anything really. Like you want to find the maximal price or you can charge the most, but people are still happy about it. You're still having a good conversion rate. And also the price matches the experience. So I'll say a bit more about that in my answer.
As I said, it's not a trick question. Is it better to sell lower high price courses? Sometimes one, sometimes the other. So listen up, let's dive into it. Potential course creators, anybody else out there interested in online education, this one's for you.
Quick sponsor message and then my answer. Oh, also the question from Ethan. [Music]
Hey, it's Ethan. I've been a coach and consultant for a while now and I'm looking to expand my reach by offering online courses. I've seen some experts selling courses for hundreds, even thousands of dollars while others keep their prices much lower.
I'm torn. From a business perspective, is it better to sell low or high priced courses? What's the sweet spot for maximizing revenue without alienating potential students? [Music]
Ethan, I love this question. I love the specificity of it.
We've got a lot of people out there making courses or interested in making courses. I wrote a whole chapter about how online education has evolved in the new book. So I definitely think this is something that is going to continue to be just a great opportunity for lots of people for years to come. Okay, so let's talk about the value you're offering. I think that is the great starting point for any kind of discussion about pricing.
So if you have, for example, created a course teaching people how to master digital marketing in a month and then your students go on to land high paying jobs or they secure clients based on that knowledge, then you might be justified in charging a premium. Think about Marie Forleo's B-School. We've talked about that a couple of times. Ramit Sadie, another friend of mine, he asked courses that cost a couple of thousand dollars and they're successful in selling these courses due to the in-depth content and the transformation that they promise. So that's another key point.
Also mentioned that a good bit in the book about how transformation is so much more important than information these days. Now that said, like I mentioned in the introduction, it's not always better to charge a higher price because that comes with increased expectations. If somebody's paying upwards of $500 for a course, that's gonna be a much bigger decision. They're not gonna make that decision on impulse. They're going to have to think about that a lot.
They're likely gonna expect really comprehensive material, really high level of production, really good customer support. The refund rate might be higher. They might look forward to additional perks like live webinars, Q&A sessions. You might just have to put a lot more effort into the launch. Whereas offering a low price course, something like Duolingo's language courses, which are basically free with in-app purchases, that can pull in a much larger audience.
So there's pros and cons to everything, and you really wanna think what is best for my course? What is best for that value that I'm providing, for the market that I'm hoping to serve? There's always risk, and so you wanna find the maximal solution or at least as close as you can to it. Now here's another interesting strategy to ponder. Okay, let's just pause for a second.
No matter what you do, high or low priced, I definitely recommend tiered pricing. So you have a basic version of the course. You have a premium version. Maybe there's a platinum or super premium version. So you could price those like so.
Let's say the basic version is $49. The premium version has added resources for $199. Then the platinum version comes with some one-on-one coaching. That's $499. So there you've got an approach that offers something for everyone catering to different budgets and needs.
Okay, so I think that's some information to get you going. Hopefully that's helpful to Ethan and somebody else out there. Listen, get to work on your course. What is your course gonna be? What are you gonna sell it for?
Who are you going to help with it? I wanna hear about some courses launching in the next few months and next year. So let me know, and we can possibly feature it here on the podcast. As always, I'm cheering you on. If you've got a question or feedback, sidehustleschool.com/questions.
New episode every day. It's always free. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
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From the Onward Project.
