I’ve been able to build multiple subscription-based businesses with a loyal following of customers who pay a monthly or annual fee by refinding three key skill sets:

  • Telling stories worth telling.
  • Sharing messages worth sharing.
  • Showing up every day to execute on the first two.

At the core of all successful membership businesses, there’s nothing revolutionary that they’re executing on.

They have a product or service that people find value in, and they execute on making sure there is the least amount of friction existing for users.

The service delivers on it’s promise, sometimes over delivering to create a better user experience, then they continually add value to increase retention, and lower churn.

That’s pretty much the meat and potatoes of any successul membership business.

Whatever innovative stategies they leverage that gives them an advanatge over competition, it’s always predicated on building something that people actual find value in, delivering on the value promised, refing to create better user experiences, and innovating to build loyal customers and mass adoption.

How To Get 1,000 People To Pay $10 a Month.

Identify a skill, deep interest, experience, or deep knowledge.

Identify the challenges that other people have related to your skill, deep interest, experience, or deep knowledge.
Organize and outline everything you know about your skill, interest, experience, or deep knowledge.

Transform your frame-works, quotes, or stories that allow people who have problems to apply them to solve their solutions.

Share it on various platforms via text, images, audio, and video.
Show up every day with the intention to share the message worth sharing.

Create a website that has additional information, teaching, or training.

Charge for access to the content.

Wash rinse repeat.

Understand How Subscription Companies Thrive

You better believe that what we’re seeing is a war between companies that offer subscription services as a backend value add.

By the looks of it, subscription services are the future. Amazon has Prime. Youtube has Youtube Red, Apple has cloud services, Apple TV, etc, Spotify has music streaming as the begin pivoting to hosting video.

Whatever services they provide on the front end, a subscriptions service seems to be some sort of end game in increaing the lifetime value of their customers.

Which is why I believe all companies are media companies selling services through stories and features that people care about.

If you’re not telling interesting stories, leveraging media, you lose.

If you’re not innovating new features or design in quick iterations, you lose.

One of the key benefits of having a subscription service as part of your pricing is it allows them to build an ongoing relationship with the end-user.

They either retain. Or they churn.

In other words, you have either found a way to justify their monthly or annual recurring investment, or you haven’t.

What I believe is the huge opportunity for companies who offer a subscription service is it allows companies to provide continual “if only” services to help them solve customers’ new challenges, wants, or needs.

Spotify provided ad-free streaming services with a monthly subscription.

Having unlimited ad-free access to new artists is great in helping me discover new artists but “if only” they had video or had podcasts.

Here what we can learn from the Joe Rogan deal with Spotify.

Since Spotify is part of the membership economy, and they know what their monthly recurring revenue will be, they’ll be able to make money love like Joe Rogan deal to show proof of concept and the efficacy of building an audience on Spotify as a podcaster.

Netflix innovates and solves customer “if only” with Netflix originals and surprise novelty.

On any given Wednesday there could be a brand new feature-length film that shows up on your feed or you can choose to binge a full season of a new show you’re friend recommended.

With a subscription model – Netflix doesn’t have the financial foresight to function as a streaming service and production company at the same time.

The recurring revenue makes them anti-fragile to a Netflix Original that flops. They don’t need a return on investment for any one particular project because the catalouge of content is what the main feature is.

The companies that get this will stick around. The ones that don’t will disappear.

Value Creation

Creating value means taking a risk. It’s a leap you take without an “out”.

You put pen to paper, build the idea, or buy materials without any proof that it will work.

What you serve may miss the mark. It may be unfinished. It may fall on deaf ears. It could be relegated to the background until years after you are gone. It could be mocked. 

But the risk is worth taking because that’s the only choice there is to make.

You create value not because you need to be validated. You create it because you have to. Because if you don’t, the music inside you dies.

So you accept the risks, and then with enough attempts, you hit on something that resonates with someone.

The resignation spreads, and now you have the momentum to create more value, and progress excels exponentially.

But not before the risk was taken.

Creating value requires courage.It starts with taking the leap.

Subscription Business Are Here To Stay

Make no bones about it.

We are heading towards the membership economy.

People provide recurring value. Customers, client, followers and fans provide recurring transactions and support.

  • Stripe Recurring
  • Patreon
  • Shopify
  • Buy me a coffee
  • Only Fans
  • Paypal Recurring

The list goes on and on and will continue to grow as the industry and paradigm continue to shift.

I think the subscription-based model is the next wave occurring now.

In the past, it was the dot com boom. Domain flipping. Eccomerce. FB Agencies. Blogging for Adsense Dollar, Crypto, etc.

Now, it’s about creating a relationship with one fan at a time, who is willing to pay you a recurring fee for exclusive access or convenience.

Subscription business are still on the rise, and the ceiling is high.

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