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What is the best way to adopt a Membership /Subscription Business Model

Dec 9, 2022

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    It's a lot simpler and less expensive than you imagine!  

This guide provides details to assist your company in making the make the transition to a membership-based model.

In the beginning, we'll discuss some benefits of the membership model before looking at some businesses which are well-suited for moving to membership. Finally, you'll get some suggestions on how to move to membership.

If you're looking to end trading your time in exchange for cash or add an additional source of revenue to your business, or transition your business away from its current model and establish a membership website This guide will help.

Let's begin...

Benefits of the Membership Model

One of the most attractive benefits of transitioning to the membership model is the prospect of regular revenue.

Recurring Revenue

If you are able to sign members up through a subscription model that means you'll receive payment at regular intervals, with a steady flow.

Predictable Income

With recurring revenue comes predictability. If you're an independent contractor or running an agency you'll be aware of the cycle of feasting and feasting.

One month you might be overwhelmed with work that you can handle, other times you experience a drop in your income. The membership model can help create a predictable income stream that makes financial planning easier.

Passive income

One of the major benefits of membership models is the potential for an income stream that is passive. Although your venture will likely need a significant amount of effort upfront and ongoing maintenance and upgrades in addition to administration tasks for a growing list of members The potential for passive income is greater than when you're merely operating as a service company.

If you decide to take a few days, or a week or perhaps a longer time off from work depending on the way you've setup your membership company, the money will still be coming in from your existing members and new sign-ups.

Scalability

If you're used to running a business where you're the principal asset, and also the one that does the majority of the work the other advantage from a membership structure is the greater opportunity for growing and outsourcing.

If you're offering an online training course (more membership site ideas will be discussed later in this post) You can employ personnel to handle the management of your program as you concentrate on content creation.

In the event that you provide access to assets, such as stock photos or code snippets on an annual basis like, say hiring people to help with creating those products.

Membership models offer plenty of scope for automation and procedures, which makes it much easier to outsource and grow than a regular freelance gig.

Recycle and Repurpose Your Content

Instead of creating one excellent WordPress site for just one client, then moving onto another project You could create an excellent WordPress theme and make it available to all of your customers.

The same applies to many other things you may be producing for your clients on a one-off basis. If you're providing assistance or coaching to clients, you could reuse your knowledge to create video and other instructional content you publish inside your membership site.

Instead of working on a one-to-1 basis with the people that you assist by working on a membership website model, it let's your repurpose and recycle your skills, knowledge, and other assets into an one-to-many partnership.

Now that we've uncovered some of the primary advantages of membership models, let's see what types of businesses can make the transition.

Businesses that are able to transition to the Membership Model

The good news is that with a bit of creative thinking, most businesses can transition to a membership model in some way or another.

Coaching and Consultancy

People who are specialists in their area or who are knowledgeable enough to know that others have already paid to spend their time would be ideal for joining the model of membership.

The sharing of your experience and knowledge and making it available behind a paywall on your website is an effective method of helping more people while also earning recurring income in the process.

Service Providers

Providers of services such as freelance designers, coders or graphic designers could transition to the model of membership.

Illustrators and designers could begin a subscription service where their members get access to a set quantity of images from stock or editable templates every month for a recurring fee.

The developers could develop products that are similar to those that they build for their clients , and offer these available to members of their group.

Product Business

Also, it is possible for the creators of physical goods to transition their products to a membership model. The subscription boxes are getting more popular.

Instead of selling products which can be bought on a one-time basis then you can consider inviting customers to join, sign up and become members who then get products in a consistent manner.

It has been successful for beverages, clothes, coffee, and books to name just a few. You don't even have to be the creator of these products. It's simply someone who is able to design a beautiful monthly subscription box.

If you're unsure the best way to move your company to the membership model, the last section in this article provides suggestions on how to use your talents and expertise to start the new initiative of membership distinct from the current company.

Strategies for transitioning to the Model of Membership

Offer Productized Services

One option is to switch from providing bespoke services to making a service that is productized. An example would apply to freelance writers.

Instead of approaching each customer differently and offering them customized services based on their specific needs, try creating just one package and marketing that to the people you want to reach. This could for example be a subscription plan that includes 4 blog posts of 500 words each month for a fixed cost.

When you have a productized solution that your clients enroll, and join your subscription program. Even though you write unique content for every member, everyone is provided with the same material with the same format every month. This removes a lot of the negotiating and other time-consuming tasks that come with offering each client something different.

Another advantage of offering products and services in your membership program is that you'll be working from strict processes and procedures, rather than treating each work as a distinct task. Because of this, outsourcing and scaling is much easier as your staff are able to use these processes to provide the same service to your entire membership. As companies like Design Pickle have shown, this approach works well with graphic design, so there's the possibility that it can be beneficial for the services you provide.

Create Educational Content

In the past, if people are paying you for your expertise, then you could make money from that expertise and make it available to those who are paying for it.

Create an Community

Your role could be in organizing and hosting online events, or something more hands-off like facilitating the activities between your members. Transitioning fully to a membership-based model using this approach could involve the addition of more features and content for your members, in order that it becomes more useful which allows you to charge more for access.

Start a Completely New Venture

Maybe you can't see a way for your current company to transition but you'd still like to enjoy the benefits of the membership model for example, recurring revenues as well as serving a larger audience.

If this is the case, then you could start your own business completely with a subject that isn't related to your current business, or, at the very least, separate from the business. Do you have hobbies or specialties that you think people might be willing to pay to connect with you , or to learn from your expertise?

Maybe you're an experienced pianist and want to make money out of this pastime through the creation of online instructional materials to teach others how to play. You might be a fan of fitness and would enjoy motivating people to be healthy and fit.

You could even create your own membership website which is distinct from your company, but that helps others learn how to begin working in the field you're currently working. If, for instance, you're photographer who is freelance, rather than moving that business into a membership model, you could make a distinct membership site which teaches other photographers how to start a career in freelance photography. Perhaps a site for membership which helps users to take better pictures is a more appealing way to make money from your talents.

If you have the proper tools and commitment to creating valuable content, as well as a willingness to market your project to your target audience, creating a profitable website for members is feasible for many users.

You don't have to be the best in the field you're interested in You just have to understand more about the people you're aiding.

Final Thoughts

I hope that this article on the steps to transition your company to a membership-based model provided you with the advantages that come with it and also given the possibility of the best way to go about it.

It won't be easy, and it'll take from your time that you invest in your enterprise. However, the benefits can be worth it, particularly if the idea of recurring revenues and predictable earnings, and the potential to scale and generate the passive income you desire, sound appealing.

 Can your business transition into a membership model? Let us know, or post any queries in the comments section below.

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