Ep 5: Why Low-Ticket Memberships Are a Trap (And What To Do Instead)

Welcome back to the Beyond Booked podcast. Today we're talking about something that has been sold to coaches and online business owners for years, and it's something that I've seen in the industry since I've been in it since 2021, that the smartest way to build recurring revenue is to launch a low-ticket membership, right? You've heard it. Start with something at $47 or $97 a month, build a community, nurture them, then upsell them. And honestly, It sounds kind of smart, but after years in this industry and building so many offers for myself and coaching women building their offers, I've seen the other side. And recently I had a call with a— with a coach that perfectly highlighted why this model traps so many women and what you can actually do instead to create that monthly recurring revenue. So today I want to break it down. Right? I want to talk to you about a conversation I had with someone who honestly is one of the most incredible coaches. I want to talk about what she was struggling with, what we uncovered in this conversation, and the outcomes and shifts that came from it. Because if you've been thinking about starting a low-ticket membership, if you're thinking about creating recurring avenue, this episode might just save you a year of frustration. So I was on a call with a client She was a woman who helps other women align their businesses using an incredible methodology— boundaries, personal authority. She's honestly amazing at what she does. Like, I met this woman at an event and she was absolutely incredible. I loved her. Energy was just like infectious. But she felt stuck. She'd been building her business through one-to-one coaching, and of course she wanted to start creating recurring revenue and monthly income so that she could you know, scale, have stability. So naturally she was planning to launch a £97 a month membership, um, or like $100 a month membership, plus a higher tier with like some group coaching and occasional one-to-one, which again sounds pretty logical, right? Because that's what the industry tells us to do. But when we unpacked it and we got like deeper into her conversation, a few things started to become clear. First, her goal was to make around £6,000 to £8,000 per month. So she could leave her 9-to-5 and go all in on her coaching. Secondly, she didn't want like huge groups or like chaotic, right? She wanted depth and quality in the work that she was doing. And thirdly, she was already pretty exhausted, right, trying to juggle the finance job that she had in 9-to-5, building the business. And that's where the membership plan kind of came up for her, right? After our conversation, I talked her through why the low-ticket membership can become a bit of a trap, right? A $97 a month membership does not reduce pressure. In fact, it actually multiplies it, right? So if we look at the numbers this way, to hit a $6,000 month at $97 a membership per month, you need around 60 to 70 active members every single month. That means consistently onboarding new people, managing the community energy, answering endless questions, dealing with client churn, especially at that level, producing consistent content, maintaining engagement, managing texts, payments, chasing for things that haven't gone through. And one thing I want to share with you that most coaches actually do eventually realize is low-ticket clients often require more support, not less, right? Not because they're difficult people, but because psychologically they're still trying things out, right? They need reassurance. They're trying the low ticket before they go all in. A lot of these people hesitate to take action. They want extra clarity. Meanwhile, high-ticket clients over here are decisive. They invest because they're serious about change. So instead of scaling, what happens with a lot of low-ticket memberships is you end up managing a community full-time, and that's not freedom for me. Having to manage 60 to 70 low-ticket paying clients is not freedom to me, right? So instead, in this conversation, we flipped her entire business model. Rather than low-ticket membership and then upsell later, we decided to build out one evergreen hybrid group coaching program. Higher value, higher investment, smaller number of serious clients, but much higher recurring monthly income. And the big mindset breakthrough for her was that she thought group programs had to run like live launches—open cart, close cart, start dates, end date, but they don't. Your program can be evergreen and can be open enrollment. Clients can join at any time. You can keep promoting it consistently. People join as they're ready, just like real businesses operate. Because as I said before, can you imagine walking into Chanel and they say, sorry, we only open in December? You'd walk down the street and you'd buy somewhere else. That's exactly what happens with high-ticket buyers when your offer is closed. If they have a need for something and you aren't available to buy from, they will go and buy somewhere else. Everything clicked for this client when we broke it down and the numbers became obvious. So for example, if she wanted to hit $6,000, instead of needing 60+ members inside of her membership, she could charge $500 a month and just need 12 clients a month to hit her income goal. 12 serious clients, not 70 casual ones. And suddenly she literally looked at me and said, 'Oh my gosh, I feel like a whole weight has been lifted off me. Scaling actually feels possible.' It felt lighter, it felt more doable, it felt more aligned with the type of coaching that she actually wanted to deliver. The second big breakthrough that she had was her authority edge, right? She wasn't just a coach, she also has this amazing 9-to-5 where she works a lot in strategy, in forecasting, in planning. She understands business numbers so deeply, but her content wasn't showing that. So we talked about threading in the authority throughout the year into her messaging, because the combination of strategic business planning plus this incredible modality that she had— this positioning elevates her from just a fluffy mindset coach to a strategic business authority that understands energy and alignment and is actually running this incredible group program. Like, that's premium positioning. So by the end of the conversation, everything shifted for her. Instead of chasing more one-to-one clients or trying to build a low-ticket membership or worrying about filling groups, her new focus became building one evergreen group coaching offer, charging premium pricing, keeping enrollment open, focusing on attracting serious clients, and using her authority and strategy background in her messaging. And most importantly, and this was a really important part of the conversation and it really was so close to her heart, she stopped building a business and says she wants to build a business in a different way, away from the way that the industry told her to. And she wants to build a business that actually fits with her. She'd spoken to so many coaches who said, this is the way and this is what you need to do and this is how you're going to get freedom. And the reality was she knew what freedom was. She just didn't know how to articulate and pull it together. And literally, after a half an hour call together, she has a full clear strategy of how she's gonna do this. And if you're stuck in this weird inconsistent income right now, it's not because you need more offers. It's not because you need to keep launching your face off every single week. It's usually because your business model it's actually heavier than it needs to be. Low-ticket memberships often look easy, right? But sustainable businesses are built on clear, strategic, serious buyers, recurring revenue that doesn't require you to consistently launch and burn out and be doing all the things. Every other business in the world does not do open close. So if you've been feeling overwhelmed with, I'm doing open close cart, my diary is full of one-to-one, I want you to take this as your permission slip to simplify. One great offer, one evergreen enrollment, clear positioning, consistent promotion, and that's how businesses scale. Businesses don't scale when they're trying to speak to 500 different people with 500 different offers. You are in the industry where you want your business to scale to 6 and 7 figures a year. This is exactly what you need to do. And this conversation with this client was so powerful and impactful because what it made me realize is every single coach out there who has an offer can simplify their offers, can make it simple, can launch an evergreen program and 10 times their income. I hope you enjoyed this week's podcast and I'll see