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How to Adopt a Membership Subscription or Membership Business Model?

Dec 9, 2022

Contents

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    It's easier and more affordable than you imagine!  

This guide will provide you with information to help your business move to a membership model.

We'll first go over some benefits of the membership model prior to reviewing some companies which are well-suited for changing to the membership model. Finally, you'll get some ways to move to membership.

Whether you want to stop trading time for money or add an additional source of revenue to your business or move your company away from the current structure and establish a membership website This guide will help.

Let's begin...

Benefits of the Model of Membership

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

Recurring Revenue

If you can sign up members up through a subscription model, you'll be receiving payments in regular intervals with a steady flow.

Predictable Income

Recurring revenue is a guarantee. If you're a freelancer or even operating an agency, you're aware of the cycle of feast and famine.

In one month, you may face more tasks than you are able to handle. Other months you see a dip in income. A membership plan can create a predictable income stream , which makes budgeting easier.

Passive Earnings

One of the major benefits that comes with membership is the potential for an income stream that is passive. Although your venture will likely require a lot of work in the beginning, as well as regular maintenance and updates, not to mention the admin tasks associated with the growing number of clients and their families, the possibility of the passive income can be greater than if you're just a regular service provider.

If you take just a couple of days, weeks, or even longer off work depending on the way you've set up your membership company, the funds will still come in from your existing members and sign-ups from new members.

Scalability

If you're used to running in a company where you're your primary asset and the person who does all the work the other advantage of a membership-based model is that it offers more opportunities for expanding and outsourcing.

If you're planning to offer an online training program (more suggestions for membership sites are available later in this piece) then it is possible to hire employees to assist with the administration of your course and you can concentrate on content creation.

If you offer access to resources, for instance, stock images or code snippets, on the basis of subscription such as, for instance, you could employ people to help with creating the things.

The membership model has lots of potential for automation and processes, making it easier to outsource and scale over a normal freelance gig.

Recycle and reuse your Content

Instead of creating one great WordPress site for just one clientand moving to your next client, you could instead produce a high-quality WordPress theme that you can make accessible to all your members.

This is also true for many other products you could produce for your customers in a single-time basis. If you provide services for coaching or consultation to your clients, then it's possible to reuse the knowledge in the form of videos or other instructional content you make available on your membership website.

Instead of working on a one-to-one basis with people you help through the model of a membership site, this model lets you reuse and reuse your talents as well as your knowledge and assets to work in the context of a one-to-many connection.

So now that we know some of the primary advantages of membership models Let's look at what kinds of businesses can make the transition.

Businesses That Can Transition into the Membership Model

The good news is that with a bit of imaginative thinking, almost all companies can move into a membership-based model in some manner or other.

Coaching and Consultancy

Those who are experts in their area, or at least are knowledgeable enough to know that others pay them for their services, would be ideal for joining the concept of membership.

Sharing your knowledge and experience and making it available through the paywall of your site can be a great means of helping other users while earning regular income in the process.

Service Providers

Professional service providers like freelance designers, coders or graphic designers could transition to the model of membership too.

Illustrators and designers could begin an online subscription program where members get access to a set amount of stock photos or editable templates per month in return in exchange for a monthly cost.

Developers could create products similar to the ones they develop for their customers and then make the products available to their customers.

Product Businesses

There is also the possibility for makers of physical items to transition their products into a subscription model. Boxes for subscription are becoming more well-known.

Instead of offering products that are available for purchase in one time, you could switch to having your customers register, join, and then receive products regularly.

It has been successful for beverages, clothes, coffee and even books to mention only a handful. You don't even have to be the creator of the items, but just someone who knows how create a stunning subscription box each month.

If you're not certain how your business can transition to the membership model, the conclusion of this article offers advice on using your skills and knowledge to create an entirely new project for membership that is independent of your existing business.

Ideas for Transitioning to the Membership Model

Offer Productized Services

One option is to switch from providing bespoke services to creating a productized service. One example of this could be for freelance writers.

Instead of approaching each client with a different approach and providing them with a personalized service based on the individual requirements of each client, try creating just one package and promoting it towards your intended audience. This could for example be a subscription plan which includes four blog posts that are 500 words every month for a fixed fee.

With a productized service that your clients enroll, and join your member program. Although you're producing unique articles to each subscriber, everybody receives the same material in the same format each month. This removes a lot of the time-consuming negotiations and chores that are associated with providing each client something different.

A further benefit of providing productized services as part of your membership program is the fact that you'll work from strict processes and procedures, rather than treating each work as a distinct assignment. Due to this, outsourcing and scaling will be more straightforward since your employees are able to use these processes in order to offer the same services to your entire membership. As companies like Design Pickle have shown that this method can be used with graphic design. There's the possibility that it can work for the products you offer.

Create Educational Content

As mentioned earlier, if people are paying you to learn, you could make money from that expertise and offer it to your paying members.

Develop an Community

The role you play could include managing online and hosting events or something less hands-on, such as moderating the interaction of your members. Completely transitioning your company to the membership model with this method could require including more information and features for your members, in order that it is more valuable and allows you to charge more for membership access.

Start a Completely New Venture

Maybe you can't see an option for your existing firm to move to membership but you'd still like to enjoy the benefits of the model of membership, such as recurring revenue as well as serving a larger audience.

If that's the case it's possible to start an entirely new business in a field that's unrelated to your company or at least separate from the business. Are there any interests or areas of expertise that you believe people would be willing to spend money to get connected to you or gain knowledge from you?

Perhaps you're an expert pianist who would like make money from this passion through the creation of online instructional materials to teach others how to play. You might be a fan of fitness and enjoy inspiring people to be fit and healthy.

You could even create your own membership website which is distinct from your company, but that teaches others how to start working in the field you're currently working. For example, if you're an independent photographer and you want to move that company to a subscription model, you can develop a membership site that teaches others how to enter the world of freelance photography. Or maybe a membership site which helps users to take better pictures could be an appealing method to earn money for your expertise.

If you have the proper tools and the determination to create valuable content, as well as the desire to promote your site to the right audience, creating a profitable website for members is feasible for many users.

Remember you don't have to be the best within your field of expertise You just have to know more than those you're aiding.

Final Reflections

I hope that this article on how to move your business to the membership model has sold you on the benefits of doing so and given the possibility of how you can do it.

This won't be an easy task, and will drain you of the time you could devote to your current company. But the rewards can justify the investment, especially if the idea of recurring revenues and predictable earnings, along with the possibility to scale and generate the passive income you desire, sound appealing.

 Is your company ready to move into a membership model? Let us know, or post any queries in the comment section below.

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