ThriveCart: What You Need To Know (Complete Review)

When I transitioned from agency work to private practice, I never fully considered all the behind the scenes details that needed to be addressed in order to properly run my business. Things like payment processors, sales tax, data analytics, heck… even the idea of having a sales page was new to me.

As a business owner of both a clinical and non clinical business, I am constantly on the look out for products/services that can help streamline my workload allowing me to make more money in less time. I found my answer to many of my questions in ThriveCart and it’s corresponding upgrade to Pro. Below I will give you a deep dive into how I use ThriveCart in my coaching business and how other therapeutic entrepreneurs can do the same.

ThriveCart At A Glance

ThriveCart Pros

ThriveCart Cons

Why should you listen to me?

In the first month of offering digital courses with ThriveCart I increased my revenue by 107%. 

Let’s back up a bit and go into who I am and how I started with ThriveCart….

For those of you who might not already be familiar with me, I am a private practice owner turned small business coach with a mission of helping other therapist build and grow a life of freedom via entrepreneurship (specifically private practice).

I started late 2022, when I was 8 months post partum and looking to diversify my income as a therapist so I could spend more time at home with my infant.

I wanted it all, to work AND be home to build that secure attachment with my baby. I still ran my private practice at a reduced caseload, but I wanted something else to take the financial stress off my mind. I took a leap of faith and decided to try Etsy as a way to bring in some extra cash by selling clinical documentation templates. Templates I created and use daily in my private practice, in hopes that they would help other budding therapists streamline their administrative work. 

I was thrilled to see how popular the templates were on Etsy, but heartbroken to be paying such high Etsy fees.

It felt like I was doing a ton of work for very little reward. In hopes to increase my profit margin, I built my own website (from scratch) and launched my own online store in November 2022. Though this solution was better then Etsy, it was clunky. I was using my blog posts as sales pages and linking them to a free ConvertKit digital product page which had limited customization and was confusion to the customer as they had to navigate multiple pages to buy one product.

This led me on a search for a more streamlined solution (if you haven’t guessed, my motto in everything is to “stress less”) and ultimately found ThriveCart to by my answer.

With ThriveCart (again ThriveCart Pro to be specific), I was able to streamline the sales process to a one page checkout system that gave detailed information of the product and collected payment all on one page. On this customizable sales page I was able to add features like video, picture’s, headlines, FAQ with an easy to use drag and drop feature. I was even able to activate countdown timers to use as an monetary incentive for early action takers (typically a discounted price if purchased withing X timeframe).

But now I am getting ahead of myself. Continue reading below for more details on the ThriveCart features I love most.

As of the date this post is published, offering courses via ThriveCart Learn has increased my annual gross revenue by 386%

Data Analytics: Knowledge is Power

Below I have an image of the analytics dashboard the is present for all products. The great thing about this dashboard is you can change it to display the data you need. For example if you are looking at lifetime sales of one product you can sort it to only show that information. You can sort it to look at all products, one product, one day, and various other timeframes.

When I look at this chart, I tend to look at the conversion rate (with my goal number being between 1-2%). I can also see the average order value to learn more about if my bump and upsells are working.

Other data that ThriveCart collects (not pictured here) is data from A/B testing, meaning I can create 2 sales pages and have them compete against each other for a specific amount of time to see which performs better. I can determine the winner based of of number of sales or highest dollar amount. After the testing period is over, ThriveCart will automatically divert all traffic to the winning sales page. This is a great way for me to be constantly improving my marketing strategy with concrete data.

Bump Offers and Up Sells

A unique and knock out feature for the sales pages on ThriveCart is the ability to add a bump offer, up-sells and down-sells. Let me explain what each is first:

• Bump: a small product add to the total purchase (Example: the candy bar at the checkout line)
• Up-sell: a premium version or next sept product to help the customer on their journey (example: I go in to buy a wedding dress and the attendant upsells me a veil)
• Down-sell: a smaller additional product someone can add to the cart. Usually a smaller version of the upsell. (Example: Bridal attendant tries to upsell me a $200 veil, I say no thank you its too extravagant, and she offers instead a $50 veil)

When used tastefully and with the customers best interest at heart, these added purchases can significantly increase the average ticket price.

Higher average ticket price typically means higher profits.

ThriveCart Learn: Course and Digital Product Hosting

My most mused feature of ThriveCart is ThriveCart Learn, the course/digital product headquarters where students can access their purchases. I use this for freebies, paid courses, live trainings (bonus resources and recordings), e-books, templates, and memberships.

If you can dream it, you can build it in ThriveCart Learn, and the seamless integration from sales page to student portal makes my life as a business owner so simple.

Customizable Sales Page

Having a customizable sales page has really helped to boost my sales numbers because I am better able to highlight the products features and benefits in an easy to use format. I can use photos, text, and video to display my messages. All the features are drag and drop which makes page building easy (no code needed, yay!). I can even add count down timers to my sales pages which is especially helpful if I have a time limited offer like a flash sale or live event registration.

I even know entrepreneurs who have made an entire business off of selling ready made sales page templates from ThriveCart for people to upload and use.

HELLO Passive Income Opportunities!

ThriveCart Pricing

So here is the thing….

For as far as I know, ThriveCart has been advertising its “limited time only” price special with no dedicated end date in site. That being said, who knows… I can wake up to an email tomorrow stating that they are going to go monthly and no longer offer the lifetime deal.

With that out of the way…

As of date of publication of this post, the basic lifetime ThriveCart account costs $495 and the upgrade to Pro is an additional $195, bringing your all in total to $690.

I definitely recommend the Pro version as it incudes:

• Availabiliyt to build an affiliate program (ie. if someone recomends your product to someone else and they purchase, you pay the original referral a small thank you bonus)
• Sales Tax Calculations
• JV Contracts
• Customd domaine functionality

Note: Pro offers more features but I have not used them at this time.

Once you are on ThriveCart it prompts you to upgrade to Learn+ for more advanced customer support features (I believe this is another $195). As of now I have not found the need for Learn+ but am open to it in the future should I be looking for more advanced course features.

Now, no matter what you you swing it, $495 is a TON of money to shell out for a piece of technology. It is easier to pull out that credit card however knowing that there is a money back guarantee if ThriveCart does not “pay for itself” in that first 30 day time window. Be sure to take a look at the terms though, there are some conditions to how they describe qualifying criteria–essentially you need to work with ThriveCart during your first month to try and rectify the issues first.

And in case you are wondering…I have yet to find any coupon codes anywhere on the internet so save yourself some time knowing that what you see is the lowest price out there.

ThriveCart Competitors

• ConvertKit — Email marketing platform where you can also sell digital products
• Kajabi — Digital course platform that charges $149/month for hosting 3 products
• WooCommerce — online store you can build yourself on WordPress.

The only experience I have is with ConvertKit, which I did enjoy but was limited to a very small sales page, no bumps/funnels/upsells, or tax collection. With Convertkit also I was only able to send the client 1 URL for download so there were limits as to what I could offer (i.e.. no courses). I will say though, for someone who only has 1 digital product like an e-book, ConvertKit is a great way to get started and for FREE. Click here to learn more about ConvertKits free plan.

The reason why I did not use Kajabi was because I did not like being limited to how many products I could host, nor did I wan to pay nearly $400/month for 100 products. With ThriveCart I have unlimited everything: products, sales pages, courses, the sky is the limit.

My main reason for not using WooCommerce is that I had heard horror stories’ about needing to be tech savvy to build and manage it. I am ok with technology but not a computer nerd either. Nor did I want to hire a coding guy to fix every problem that came my way. ThriveCart was easy to learn and intuitive.

How Can I Use ThriveCart in My Therapy Practice

DISCLAIMER: The topics discussed in this section describe ways that ThriveCart can potentially be used in a clinical practice. As always please do your due diligence to be HIPAA complaint. When in doubt seek clarification from your malpractice and licensing board. Writer does not claim to be an expert in the ever evolving laws regarding HIPAA.

This article focuses a lot on how therapeutic entreprenerd can use ThriveCart in their non-clinical business ventures such as course creation, templates and even coaching services. But can it be used as a mental health professional in a clinical setting?

I believe it can be used in creative ways as long as you are mindful of HIPAA. [For details on HIPAA compliant billing, SimplePractice has you covered, read here]

If you are a private pay practitioner who does not use an EMR for payment processes, you theoretically could have a page set up where clients purchase single sessions or packages for treatment. My one pause for hesitation would be however is, are there issues with the client’s name being attached to an invoice that states “psychotherapy” services without a BAA from ThriveCart? (A question I genuinely am unsure of the answer to).

Now, if you reach out to ThriveCart and get a BAA, you are in much better shape. But without it, you are in the land of grey. Have I seen therapist do it? Yes. Is it best practice? To be determined. [Remember: when in doubt, ask your malpractice or licensing’s board].

One of my favorite features of ThriveCart is the Learn platform where I can house digital courses and products (free and paid). ThriveCart Learn would be a FANTASTIC resource library for clients to access psychoeducational material. This can be done in a couple of ways. There could be one main library broken down in to sections with all available resources for the therapists specialty. For example, in my practice where I work a lot with concussion patients, I could have a module on Cognitive Fatigue, a module on Emotional Regulation, and a module on Grief/Loss.

I can also see clinicians creating private “courses” for each client to access material that is specific for them. The benefit to this is once a client “graduates” they can have access to all the handouts and resources collected from therapy (best if you are say a CBT, DBT or ACT practitioners) for reference as needed and in one central location.

ThriveCart Learn could also be used for group programs with a similar foundation where group members might be able to download homework and watch videos in preparation for their upcoming meeting. Think clinical facilitated support groups, or psychoeducational groups where handouts and literature are often provided to participants.

On a separate note…

The customizable sales pages are also a great way for therapists to track what services are most popular and use the data analytics to tweak their copywriting. Once they get to a conversion rate that they find satisfactory (I would aim for 1%-2% to start), they can use that information to update their main website or Psychology Today profile with information that they know is converting customers.

A final reminder, I cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining HIPAA compliance. I say this not to be a buzz kill but to make sure all your ducks are in a row. That being said, I think the resources that ThriveCart offers (custom sales pages, course hosting, data analytics) are a HUGE asset to any business owner, therapists included.

Who is ThriveCart right for?

• Clinical Supervisors — Allows you to bill supervisees either per session or in packages.
• CEU Providers
• Keynote Speakers
• Summit Hosts
• Professional Collaboration Event Hosts (think if NASW Annual Conference having an online portal/resource to download all material and recordings)
• Course Creators
• Digital Product/Templates Creators
• Alternative healing Professionals: Reiki, Sound Healing, Energy Work, Yoga, Art Therapy
• Coaches & Other Non-Clinical Service Providers Who Do Not Require HIPAA

Who should avoid ThriveCart?

• Private Practice Therapists who bill insurance via an EMR, Alma, or Headway
• Those with no interest in diversifying their business outside of 1:1 therapy
• Agency workers who do not have a self employed business on the side

I share this tip with hesitation because I wish I had data from when I first started my business (something ThriveCart could have provided for me) but I also know myself in that making this large of an investment on a business I had no idea would work was too intimidating for me at the time. I think ThriveCart is perfect for businesses who are confident (at least moderately) in their success and have plans to grow. If you are a month or 2 into business just trying to keep your head above water, starting with a free program such as ConvertKit is in your best interest to build that mindset.

That being said, if you are the person who is comfortable jumping without a net and are 100% committed to being a business owner of some kind, then I say invest in ThriveCart. Even if you end up changing businesses, the account is yours for life so you can always modify it with your new business details.

Conclusion

ThriveCart is so much more then a payment processer. The Swiss Army Knife of your technology, ThriveCart is your funnel builder, landing page, freebie delivery software, course creation platform and more.

If you are a small business owner who bills for any type of service or product, ThriveCart is an easy way to keep things simple for both you and your customers. It is an investment for sure, but an investment that I would gladly make again as it has paid for itself within the first month of purchase.