So… you want to create a new high-ticket program. BUT … there’s a problem!
Because there seem to be a few ways to go about it, and everyone seems to have a different opinion on which way is best. Don’t worry. You’re not alone in having a little indecision here.
High-Ticket Programs are great.
But they require a lot of work.
So you NEED to make sure you approach it in a way that makes sense to you and your current situation—as well as your audience to who you’ll actually serve this offer.
Should you commit to a Live program? How about Evergreen?
OR… the way I like to see it, why not both?
I have good news for you because you can have your cake and eat it when it comes to launching and building your high-ticket program. There is a way to utilize both Live and Evergreen in a way that sets you up for success.
… no matter the industry you’re in or the specifics of your program/offer.
There are benefits to both, but there are even more if you commit to both.
However, you need to approach this the right way. Otherwise, it can get messy.
But that’s why you’re here, so get your pen ready and prepare to take lots of notes…
Table of Contents
- Live vs Evergreen
- The Benefits of Live High-Ticket Programs
- The Benefits of Evergreen High-Ticket Programs
- How To Utilize BOTH Live & Evergreen For Lasting Success
- Conclusions & Next Steps
Live vs Evergreen
Hi, I’m Scott, and despite being an entrepreneur for most of my life—as you can read about here—I continue to make mistakes and get hung up on certain business decisions.
I see this as a good thing as it 1) gives me a reason to write articles like this to help you avoid mistakes, 2) gives me the lessons needed to build multiple 7+ figure businesses, and 3) mentor and advise other entrepreneurs and business owners to scale to 7-8 figures and beyond.
One of these BIG lessons centered around how to best launch high-ticket programs/offers.
and you better believe I’ve tried just about every approach you can imagine
I like the LIVE approach. There are lots of benefits, as you’ll see next. Yet there are certain negatives that 1) don’t align with my values, and 2) don’t set you up for long-term success.
The same is true for EVERGREEN. Lots of benefits. Lots of negatives.
This has led me in recent years to develop a way to utilize both.
… so you can reap the benefits of Live and Evergreen, cutting out many of those negatives.
After reading this article, you will know how to approach all this.
More importantly, you’ll know why it’s important to approach a high-ticket program this way.
So let’s dive in, starting with the more traditional method of live-launching your program…
The Benefits of Live High-Ticket Programs
The LIVE approach is the one you’re likely most familiar with. You have seen others do it, and you have probably done it yourself. There are a lot of benefits to this approach, but it does throw you into a cycle of Launch → Implement → Promote → Launch → Implement → Promote …
It can get exhausting, let alone has a low ceiling for growth and sustainability.
But there are a lot of benefits to this approach, including…
- Intimacy: when you work with your audience in a live setting, they get a lot of you. They’re part of live calls, weekly Q&As, and feel like they get to know you.
- Group Energy: one of the best aspects of a live, group program is that each member fuels one another. You don’t get this with a static, evergreen approach.
- Adaptability: if something isn’t working in a live setting—or someone needs a different kind of help—you can quickly pivot and fix the issue.
- Credibility: because you’re working with your audience in a live setting, you build a sort of credibility that you just do not get if everything is recorded and evergreen.
- Validation: when it comes to validating your idea and building momentum, there’s no better way than to test, work, and iterate with your cohort in a live setting.
As you can see, a LIVE program is great for many reasons. Yet it has its limitations, largely due to the ongoing energy and resources it needs. You can automate and systemize it to an extent, but there’s a low ceiling for this.
This means so long as you commit to a live program, you and your team will be under strain.
Beyond this, the sales and marketing approach you often have to take when promoting a Live High-Ticket Program centers around scarcity and manipulation. After all, you’re constantly in that cycle of Launch → Implement → Promote → Launch → Implement → Promote …
Does scarcity make money? Yes!
Does it build long-term success, loyalty, and credibility? Hell No!!
But if you commit to a live program for too long, this approach to selling inevitably creeps in.
The Benefits of Evergreen High-Ticket Programs
An EVERGREEN approach is something else you’ve likely experienced a lot of.
It certainly takes away some of the intimacy and connection, but it’s much more profitable in the long term because you can systemize it.
Yet the benefits go much deeper than automation and SOPs…
- Passive: although a good evergreen program still requires a lot of work, once it’s created it largely takes on a life of its own. This frees you and your team up in a big way.
- Scaleable: unlike a live program, you can set an evergreen one up to scale and constantly smash through one glass ceiling after another.
- Omnipresent: you already know how much I value being omnipresent (dive deeper into the R.O.I. Method Here)… an evergreen program sets you up to deliver on this, not only with a program that’s available at all times but one you can utilize with specific marketing techniques I discuss as part of the R.O.I. Method.
- Internal Marketing: too often you’ll see entrepreneurs focus on external marketing (ie: the current circumstances of a business, society, etc…) but the real magic comes when you turn your focus toward Internal Marketing. This is when you set someone up to react to the current circumstances they are facing and feel.
This idea of Internal Marketing is huge, which you do not get when you have a Live approach because it’s time-bound. But timing is everything in life.
Maybe someone comes across your program and feels aligned with it, but they’re on vacation.
Maybe they are in a middle of a launch of their own.
Maybe right now isn’t the right time, but in a few weeks, it is…
Internal marketing places control into their hands.
It makes them feel aligned when they need to feel aligned.
But this doesn’t happen if you have to say “the cohort starts on the 5th, so take it or leave it.”
This is the real magic of EVERGREEN because it empowers those you serve.
How To Utilize BOTH Live & Evergreen For Lasting Success
As you can see, there are benefits to both a LIVE and EVERGREEN approach to high-ticket programs. Can you make both of them work on their own? Sure. But why would you want to?
… not when you can utilize both, reaping their unique benefits while minimizing the negatives.
So, how do you do this? Simple…
- Start with LIVE
A Live program is great for validating your ideas… experimenting and iterating… gathering social proof, results, and testimonials… and, most importantly, generating intimacy.
A Live program allows you to go a mile deep.
It helps you learn about your customer and how you can best help them.
It teaches you about their heaven and hell, and how to tap into their feelings.
It’s hard to say what you’ll learn during this period, but you will learn a lot.
- Next, EVERGREEN
Maybe you work with one group/cohort before you’re ready to go Evergreen.
Maybe you need to go through two, three, or possibly even ten iterations…
Each situation is unique. What matters is that you get to know your audience on a deep level.
If this happens after one Live program, great. If it takes more than that, also great.
Once you reach this point, you need to transition toward evergreen.
- Building systems and processes
- Empowering your team to take over
- Creating a simple funnel that can scale
- Automating parts of your marketing
None of it happens overnight. There’s likely a period where you’re both running LIVE and EVERGREEN simultaneously. This is fine. It takes time to set up systems.
The point is that you’re consciously making this transition.
… you begin to place focus away from external marketing and toward internal marketing.
Remember, this is when an Evergreen approach begins to shine. Once you tap into your audience’s internal triggers (ie: the “thing” that makes them want to take action) … you can implement this in your marketing so it speaks to them at the right time.
If that’s a week from now, you’ll be here.
If it’s in a month… six months… in two years’ time… you’ll still be here.
That is the power of Evergreen, but you do not access this power until you first go Live.
Conclusions & Next Steps
As someone who’s created many high-ticket programs, consulted many other entrepreneurs to do the same, and tried every tactic, strategy, and approach you can think of… this is the one that provides both short-term success and long-term sustainability.
This is what it’s all about.
This is what your job as an entrepreneur is!
Yes, you have to build momentum today. Yet you also have to ensure you remain sustainable tomorrow. If you don’t, you will never escape that hamster wheel. That’s not great.
Because although it can be fun on that ride, it grows old real fast.
Let alone stops you from evolving both as a person and a business!
So do not settle for one. Utilize both LIVE and EVERGREEN.
You now know how, although this is only one piece of the puzzle. If you’d like to keep piecing it together, I encourage you to study my guide: 21 Laws of Scaling an Online Business
This guide continues to show you what you need to scale sustainably!
This is your job, remember… to create sustainable success. Never forget that.
