Episode 77: 3 Misconceptions People Have About My Low Cost Membership - The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox

Summary

Summary of Episode 77: "3 Misconceptions People Have About My Low Cost Membership"

Podcast Information:

Title: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox
Host: Liz Wilcox
Description: For online businesses that need to remix their email marketing efforts, and finally build an email list that makes them money and feels good to do it.
Episode: 77
Release Date: January 14, 2025

Introduction

In Episode 77 of The Email Sound Booth, Liz Wilcox delves into the common misconceptions surrounding her affordable $9/month Email Marketing Membership. Aimed at online business owners looking to enhance their email marketing strategies without breaking the bank, Liz challenges preconceived notions about low-cost memberships and shares her personal experiences and insights.

Misconception 1: Low-Priced Customers Are Low-Quality

Timestamp: [04:15]

One of the primary misconceptions Liz addresses is the belief that offering a low-priced membership attracts "stingy" or unengaged customers. She passionately refutes this notion by sharing her own experiences:

“I have thousands and thousands and thousands of $9 customers and oh my goodness, they are the best people on earth.” — Liz Wilcox [04:35]

Liz emphasizes that her low-cost members are genuinely grateful, proactive, and appreciative of the value she provides. She challenges the elitist mindset that higher prices automatically equate to better clients, suggesting instead that effective boundary-setting and clear expectations lead to a more positive customer relationship.

“If you're giving someone something of high value for a low price and you are just your authentic self, those people really, really find value and hold stock in that.” — Liz Wilcox [06:20]

Misconception 2: Low-Ticket Offers Require Upsells to Be Profitable

Timestamp: [12:50]

Another prevalent misconception is that low-ticket memberships must rely on additional upsells or premium offers to generate substantial revenue. Liz counters this by sharing the impressive profitability of her $9 membership alone:

“Even without those products, I still would have made close to half a million dollars in 2024 just from this $9 membership.” — Liz Wilcox [15:10]

She explains that her strategy focuses on maintaining a lean business model with high volume rather than introducing multiple upsells. Liz highlights the efficiency and profitability of her approach, noting a consistent 30% profit margin over the past two years. She also credits organic marketing efforts, such as free summits, podcasts, and speaking engagements, for driving her membership's success without relying heavily on paid advertisements.

“Almost 90% of my business is with this $9 thing.” — Liz Wilcox [17:45]

Misconception 3: Low-Ticket Items Are Easy to Sell

Timestamp: [21:30]

Contrary to popular belief, Liz acknowledges that selling low-ticket items is not inherently easy. The real challenge lies in acquiring a high volume of customers, which demands significant effort and strategic marketing:

“Finding the right people to buy it is much more difficult.” — Liz Wilcox [23:15]

She shares the extensive work involved in promoting her membership, including appearing on nearly 300 podcasts over three years, hosting digital summits, and launching her YouTube channel. Liz underscores that sustaining a high volume of sales requires continuous outreach and engagement, making it a grind rather than a straightforward path to success.

“If you want this to be some kind of full-time income or a large branch of your business, you've got to go out and find those people selling it.” — Liz Wilcox [25:50]

Recap and Conclusion

Timestamp: [28:05]

Liz wraps up the episode by summarizing the three misconceptions:

Customers are stingy or low-quality — Untrue; her $9 members are grateful and proactive.
Low-ticket offers require upsells to be profitable — Not necessary; her membership alone is highly profitable.
Low-ticket items are easy to sell — False; acquiring a high volume of customers requires significant effort.

She reiterates the importance of setting clear boundaries and maintaining authentic relationships with her customers, regardless of the price point.

“I've set good boundaries and expectations is probably a better word of, you know, what is expected from me and what is expected from them.” — Liz Wilcox [28:45]

Call to Action

For listeners interested in transforming their email marketing strategies without overspending, Liz invites them to join her Email Marketing Membership:

“You get a weekly template for your newsletter to take and make your own, access to monthly Q&As, quarterly guest experts, and a lot more awesomeness. Nine bucks a month.” — Liz Wilcox [30:20]

The membership offers valuable resources designed to help online businesses build effective email lists that generate income while fostering a positive and engaging community.

Connect with Liz Wilcox:

Website: lizwilcox.com
Join the Membership: Available in the show notes of Episode 77

This episode provides a candid look into the realities of managing a low-cost membership program, debunking myths that often deter entrepreneurs from pursuing affordable offerings. Liz's insights are invaluable for anyone looking to create sustainable and profitable email marketing solutions.

Transcript

Liz Wilcox (0:00)

What's up? Liz Wilcox here, the fresh princess of email marketing. But I'm also known for something else. You know, I'm also known for this little nine dollar a month membership that I have. Email marketing membership, to be exact. Shout out SEO and the gang. Does SEO exist anymore? Somebody email me and let me know their take on SEO nowadays. Anyway, this is episode 77. Did I say that? We're listening to the email sound booth podcast. And today I mentioned my membership because today I want to share with you really quickly three misconceptions people have about my low cost, low ticket membership. So let's get into it. And I get these a lot when I hear about low ticket versus high ticket. And you know, when people say they want to start a low ticket membership, things like that. So this is, this is kind of the misconceptions I think people have. So if you're thinking of a low ticket membership, this episode is for you. So the first thing that I hear all the time is, your customers must suck $9. Oh my gosh. You know, I char. I charge high rates because I don't want to deal with, with those people. Hello. Ew. That is such a gross way of thinking. Honestly, like, it's my podcast. I can cry if I want to. I cannot stand that line of thinking. It is so, I don't know, dare I say, elitist of people to be like, oh my gosh. Well, I like a higher clientele and so I charge high prices because, you know, the cheaper I charge, the worse the customer is. It's like, okay, well, maybe you don't know how to implement boundaries and expectations. Maybe it's not the customer. Maybe it's partly you. And now I'm not here to play the blame game, but I have found the exact opposite. I have thousands and thousands and thousands of $9 customers and oh my goody goodness, they are the best people on earth. If you are listening and you are a member of email marketing membership, thank you. You're a godsend. I love you. My life could not be the way it is without you. I don't think these types of customers suck. Now, I. Every once in a while, yeah, you get a rotten apple, but that is every kind of client, right? Hello. Have you ever seen Devil Wears Prada that, you know, Meryl Streep's character is like this bougie, super high end, loves everything fancy, and she is a, you know what a b I t need I go, she's like the worst kind of employer. Now I know. You know, versus client, but I don't. I don't want to work with people like that. And so I. I've just seen the opposite. When you give someone something of high value for a low price and you are just your authentic self, you know, those people really, really find value and hold stock in that. I haven't really encountered. I mean, of course, like I said, there's always a bad apple in the bunch, but I've seen such gratitude for my product. And not to mention, like, I feel so freaking grateful, right? $9. I'm, you know, I can turn my computer off at night. I can take Fridays off if I want to, because they know they're paying me $9, and they know that, you know, for that $9 price tag, I'll get to it when I can get to it. You know, not that I'm purposely putting stuff off, but I also have a life. And, you know, if you were paying me 100 to $300 a month, I would feel like my life is you, and I don't want to feel that way. So, again, the first misconception is the customers are stingy or in general, they suck. I've found that to be the complete opposite. My customers, my members, are so full of gratitude. They're so fun, they're so helpful, and they take action. That's another thing. I. Oh, at $9, they can't, you know, I need to pay for something a lot of money to take action. Okay, well, then you can join Kennedy of email marketing heroes. He'll charge you $2,000 up front. Not to say his stuff isn't good, but, like, if that's you, that's where you need to go. But I. I find that if you are a solid leader, it doesn't matter how much money people are giving you, you can spur them into action. Now, that isn't to say I don't believe in, you know, putting money down to get something done. I do that all the time. It's like, well, I'm paying for it, so I'm going to double down. But for my customers who are beginners or beginning in email marketing, you know, $9 is enough to spur them into action, and they totally rock. They're the best customers in the entire world. My gosh, I feel like Britney Spears in 2002, she's so lucky. All right, now, another misconception people have about my low ticket offer is that you've got to have an upsell or another offer to make the majority of your money. Again, I say, ha, ha ha. Y'all I'm just a contrarian, truly. I really don't have an upsell. I mean, my upsell from the $9 is the annual, which is 9 times 12, $108. That's pretty much, I mean, I have one off workshops and things. I'll sell them throughout the year, but they aren't big pushes. People can go to lizwilcox.comproducts and purchase whatever they want at any time. Um, but even without those products, I still would have made close to half a million dollars in 2024 just from this $9 membership. Right. I didn't need the other workshops and that is insane. Now granted, I do not run ads. Every once in a while I'll do a sponsorship of an event, but the majority is like truly organic, organic marketing. Now, I do spend a lot of time doing free marketing like summits, podcasts, in speak, in person speaking gigs, etc, but my membership is pretty darn profitable. For the last two years it's been at least 30%. So, you know, for every $9 I'm making, I'm profiting, you know, over $2. That's just sitting in the bank. Great. And last year I looked it up at over 21,000 transactions through ThriveCart, which is insane because I also have SamCart. I didn't look up how many transactions were over there, but it's probably another, you know, 1 to 3,000 transaction. It's insane. So you don't have to have an upsell or another way to make the majority of your money, but you do have to have a plan if you're going to do low ticket to get that high volume and to keep your business lean so you can actually make a profit. All right, now this third one is kind of switching gears that some people think, you know, especially they look at my membership, you know, in the first year we had a thousand people. By the second year we had three thousand. But in the last two years, you know, we've only grown by like 1500 members. And so a common misconception because those first two years I it sold like hotcakes and it still sells really well, is that, you know, this membership is an easy sell. Now don't get me wrong, asking for $9 is not that complicated, but because I need high volume, I've worked really hard over the last four years to gain over 4,000 active members at the time of this recording. And it can be a grind at first. It's a lot of energy, it's a lot of believing in yourself and you need something that sells pretty much every day. So this one I wanted to include because a lot of people want to start $9 memberships and maybe you are thinking of it, but my friend, it's not going to be easy street. If you want this to be some kind of full time income or a large branch of your business, you've got to go out and find those people selling it. Once you've found it, sure, super simple. You know, my, my main way to sell it is can I have $9, right? I just straight up ask, right? But finding those people, that's the difficult part. That's where I've had to do close to 300 podcasts in three years. Doing hundreds of digital summits and other digital events. That's the grind. That's the hard part that a lot of people don't really think about when they get excited for their $9 thing. So when I started my $9 a month membership, I had 800 people on my list. Even if I got 800 people in the membership, like every single person converted, that wouldn't be enough, you know, to make a living. So I need to go out and find more, more, more, more. And I've done that with podcasts and in 2025, I'm doing that by creating my YouTube channel. If you're not already subscribed, please, please, please go to watchliz.com and subscribe from there. I'm also doing it with this daily podcast. Right. You know, we are on episode 77. I've had close to 30,000 downloads so far. And just in about, or in about just every episode at the end, I pitch the membership, I'm constantly talking about it. So while, yeah, sure, maybe it's an easy sell, but finding the people to buy it is much more difficult. All right, so let's recap here. Three misconceptions. Number one, the customers suck. I've found that to be totally untrue. I love my customers. I've set good boundaries and expectations is probably a better word of, you know, what is expected from me and what is expected from them. A second misconception is that this is the bottom or the top of the funnel and I've got lots more sales coming down the pipeline. That's just not the case. Almost 90% of my business is with this $9 thing. And then the third misconception is, you know, this is an easy sell, $9, everyone's gonna buy it. That's simply not true. It's going out and finding the right people to buy it is much more difficult. All right, that's episode 77. If you are interested in the membership and you're not in there yet, of course, join. $9 a month. It's in the Show Notes Email marketing membership every single week for $9. Yes, you get a weekly template for your newsletter to take and make your own, access to monthly Q&As, quarterly guest experts, and a lot more awesomeness. Nine bucks a month. Link in the Show Notes as always, I am Liz Wilcox. You are amazing and I'll see you on the next episode.