SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders
How to Sell an Expensive Course FAST with Sue Zimmerman Episode 24
03 Mar 2016
Chapter 1: What is the background of Sue Zimmerman and her entrepreneurial journey?
This is The Top, where I interview entrepreneurs who are number one or number two in their industry in terms of revenue or customer base. You'll learn how much revenue they're making, what their marketing funnel looks like, and how many customers they have. I'm now at $20,000 per top. Five and six million. He is hell-bent on global domination. We just broke our 100,000-unit soul mark.
And I'm your host, Nathan Latka. In the last episode, number 23, you learned how Ben Williamson worked directly with Steve Jobs at Apple and then made this $1 million, 1 million download sensation. Okay, our guest today is Sue Zimmerman. Now, out of college, Sue built a million-dollar business selling boxers under the company name Boxer Rebellion.
She has since launched over 18 companies where she sells physical, handcrafted goods. She's known as the Instagram expert and is a frequent speaker at top conferences around the world like Social Media Marketing World. Sue, are you ready to take us to the top? Always ready to go to the top with you, Nathan. Can't wait. Well, first things first, you know, I love that I get to Boston.
I get to spend time with you all the time. You know, I took your team out to lunch last time and you have built something incredible. Is there anything about your bio that I missed that you think the top tribe needs to know? I think the top tribe would like to know that I was actually on QVC about eight years ago teaching the world how to embellish real life photos via my scrapbook tape. Wow.
Yeah, treasure tape. So it's kind of full circle back to Instagram after eight years of being on QVC. That's amazing. And you know what? It comes through. You're also a best-selling creative live instructor, and those skill sets that you need on CreativeLive to sell obviously pull through from QVC.
So, Sue, what I want to focus on is the Top Tribe listens in every morning when I release these episodes because they want to understand what people are selling who are number one or number two in their industry and how they're doing it. So break it down for us. What are you focused on selling right now? We're focusing on selling our online course, InstaResults.
And you may or may not have seen this recently. We launched a new course called Ready, Set, Gram last week, actually on Periscope. And we're having great success with our new product as well. Um, in addition to those online courses, we do have products that we sell online and we do a lot of, I do a lot of coaching and we do a lot of strategy sessions with people. Got it.
Well, you know, I think you, so we could go a variety of different directions and I want to really dig in onto one of these cause this show is about you and I want to keep the spotlight there. So walk me through, what is the, what is the largest revenue stream for you? Is it coaching or info products? It's definitely the info products to date.
Coaching is a close second, but we've definitely made a lot of revenue from our info products. Okay, now let's jump into one of them and let's maybe just focus on last month. Which info product, maybe what's the title of it, sold the most, say, last month? And then I'd love to break down that funnel.
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Chapter 2: What online courses is Sue currently focusing on selling?
It looks like you're using lead pages. That's the tool for this landing page. Yep. So 4,900 emails from here. Okay. Walk us through once they get in and they consume the ebook, how do you get them closer to buying the $997 course? So we have weekly emails that we send out to stay in touch with our email list. And again, we're not always pitching on that email list.
As you know, Nathan, we're building relationship. We're giving value. We're sharing other Instagram tips. We'll be taking them often to my YouTube channel where I have an Instagram playlist. We take them to Facebook, to our slide shares. We are really building trust and likability before we try selling that course.
Most people that have purchased the course, and I'm going to be very transparent here, have purchased it after meeting me, hearing me talk on a podcast, or more importantly, seeing me on stage and kind of swarming at me after I get off stage. And they want more of what I've taught.
Okay, so you might say something, I mean, you're at the back of the room after a conference at Social Media Marketing World. You just delivered amazing content. Are you saying, hey guys, if you want more, I just spent an hour with you, if you want more, go and opt into our strategy guide, or are you sending them directly to this $9.97 course? To the strategy guide.
I really believe that the email list, that the gold is in the email list, and I want to convert them when they're ready to be converted. I don't want to be selling until they're ready. I have to just reiterate and pull that out for the top tribe. The gold is in your email list. And Sue just told you she doesn't sell. She gives value every week. Now, Sue, I know you give value every week.
Break us into the email, though, where you ask for the sale on that $9.97 course. How do you exactly do that in the email? Again, we don't ask for the sale in the email, but we're building that relationship in the email. And we will see sales come in over time. And it's not a direct conversion from that email list because the price point to this course really is an investment.
What I will say to you here, and I want everyone to know this, we understand that when It's something more affordable along the lines of the $97 or $197, and we're still testing this, Nate, that people are more apt to purchase it without needing to see me, meet me, or connect with me.
As our conversion happened last week when we launched our new beginner Instagram course, Ready, Set, Gram, and that doesn't require people to meet me. So we understand that when you have a high-end price course, it's a very different funnel and conversion than something of a lower-end price.
If you are loving this episode, you will love episode number eight, where we talk to the head of strategy at GoPros. responsible for taking them from $300,000 a year in sales to $300 million in sales. And to celebrate the top tribe, I am giving you guys the chance to win a GoPro and my top three favorite business books. In order to win, simply text the word Nathan to 33444.
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