Why You Need a Membership Business -- and How to Build One Successfully

Sep 18

You may have noticed a trend toward creating monthly subscriptions in just about every industry you can think of—books, video games, movies, television, music, apps, services, food, clothing—you name it, there’s probably some sort of subscription option associated with it. You can even get razor blade deliveries with an automated, monthly subscription option, after all.

Think about all the different companies that have started monthly recurring membership programs and it’ll quickly become apparent just how profitable they must be, right?

But an online membership business not only provides a way to have a scalable income, it also provides an endless source of impact.

In this guide, we’re going to show you why building a membership business is the single best way for coaches and mental health professionals to expand their impact and income. We’ll show you how you can start your own membership site in just about any niche or genre you can think of, how to find members and successfully launch your membership program even if you haven’t done it before.

So, let’s get started!

Why You Need a Membership Business

The biggest reason mental health professionals and coaches are moving to monthly subscriptions is to provide a steady flow of income that does not require additional advertising expenditure to maintain.

And while membership sites are a stable source of income, there are other advantages, as well, including:

Expand your impact and reach an international audience
Scalability. Whether you serve 10 people or 1000 people, your workload remains the same
Clear path to going deeper with clients by nurturing a long-term relationship
Recurring revenue with high profit margins (even if you have only 100 members who pay $50/month, that’s $5,000/month in profit, or $60,000 annually)
Quick way to develop the Know + Like + Trust factor with clients who are apt to purchase your higher end products and services
Referrals that create additional clients/revenue
Leverage your knowledge and become a known expert
Build a qualified audience
Experience location and time freedom
Stop trading time for money
Work far fewer hours each week

Membership Business 101

Before we get into the actual development of a site, let’s talk about some of the most basic aspects of membership sites, just in case you’re not entirely familiar with how they work.

A membership business is typically based in a relevant and evergreen niche, such as trauma, weight loss, mindfulness, addiction or business. Each month, new content is added, which clients can access as long as they continue to pay their membership fees.

To create a high-value membership program, most coaches and mental health providers include personalized elements, such as weekly group calls, retreats, intake assessments, or guest speakers.

There are several ways to deliver content to members:

1. You can give immediate access to this month’s content only.

2. You can give immediate access to this month’s content, and drip feed bonus content each month over time, rewarding those who remain a member of your site.

3. You can give access to content starting with the first month and going forward, which is appropriate for sites that are educational in nature and require sequential content.

4. You can give immediate access to all content at once, plus any additional content as it is added.

There’s no right or wrong way to deliver content. How you choose to deliver your content will be based on your particular needs.

Generally speaking, if your site is educational, it will probably need to drip feed starting from the first month. Otherwise, you can give access to all content at once, or, to keep members longer, you can only give access to a certain amount of content each month. This is called “drip feeding”.

It’s important to keep your membership updated every month to keep members paying. Most people are too busy to worry about canceling a membership if it’s not too expensive, but you don’t want to give them a reason to make the decision to cancel.

You might also choose to update slowly throughout the month to make sure people who sign up for a trial membership (if you offer one) don’t get a full month of updates during the trial and then cancel.

Retaining Members

One of the beauties of the membership business model is that it allows you to have a consistent flow of clients and income. Yet this only happens if you manage to retain your clients.

The average member tends to remain a member of a monthly recurring program for only about three months. Some cancel the first month. Others may stay for years. But generally speaking, you can expect most members to stay about 3 months if you don’t have a strategic plan in place to retain them.

Of course, there are ways to increase that average number—sometimes quite significantly. We’re going to talk about a few of those ways.

Why People Cancel Their Membership

Before we can talk about how to hold onto membership, we should first take a look at why members leave in the first place.

Here are a few of the most common reasons:

They can no longer afford it.
They’ve decided it no longer meets their needs.
They are unhappy with recent updates or changes.
The price changed.
They’ve outgrown the content.
They experienced conflict with other members or the program owner.

You’ll notice that most of these are within your control, right?

How to Avoid the Cancellation Button

One easy way to ensure that your members are satisfied with your content, as well as how to come up with ideas for future updates, is by polling your client base. Create a survey that is designed to give your members a forum in which to share their thoughts and feedback regarding your membership site. Ask them what they would like to see in future updates. Inquire as to what content they’ve enjoyed and what they feel could use improving.

Personalization

The more you make the site about them, such as by giving them a platform in which to share their experiences directly with you, and the more open you are to building content and updates around what matters the most to your customer base, the easier it will be to retain those members for a longer period of time.

It’s also a good idea to have a survey that appears when a member attempts to cancel their membership to your site. That way, you can find out exactly why they are canceling – giving you invaluable insight as to how to improve your subscription site.

Discounts

For example, if they say they can no longer afford it, you could offer them a free month, or a great discount that reduces their monthly costs.

A popular magazine app recently ran a campaign that offered members who attempted to cancel their subscription with a huge discount, lowering the $10-$15 monthly plan to just $5 per month for the next 3 months, before returning to $15 a month. This type of strategy can help keep members on board longer, and once the discounted period ends, many will stay longer at full price.

Bonuses

You could also offer them added bonuses that entice them to remain a member, or access to a secondary membership site for free. The more value you provide, the easier it will be to boost retention rates and continue to expand your customer base.

Don’t let your content go stale. Look for ways to keep your membership content fresh, updated and available in multiple formats. Always keep a pulse on your market so that you know what topics are of most interest and what your members are looking for.

Communication

Reach out to members regularly through email-based updates, group calls, or community posts. Offer them extra content at no additional cost, bonus material or auxiliary components that enhance existing content and bolster the perceived value of your membership program.

Community

Consider integrating a support desk, forum or live support so that your members can reach you easily. Not only will this help to keep you connected with your subscribers, but a forum will help to encourage interaction between members, making your site sticky.

In fact, many membership programs are thriving simply because members feel as though they are part of a community and don’t want to abandon that by canceling their membership account.

Conclusion

Building a membership site is a great way to generate consistent, recurring income, but it’s not something that can be entirely automated. You’ll need to update regularly, communicate frequently, and work towards creating killer content that your members are more than happy to pay for.

You can, however, simplify the process of keeping your membership site updated by creating 2-3 months of content in advance. Stockpile new material so that you can easily update without waiting until the last minute only to find yourself overwhelmed every month.

Create a content calendar that outlines future updates. Not only will that help you to stay organized and focused, posting the calendar will add extra incentive to members to stick around.

Be sure to:

Update regularly while retaining a high level of quality.

2. Ask members what they want to see in future updates, and communicate regularly.

3. Offer members who are canceling an incentive to remain in the form of discounts, bonuses or additional options.

4. Deliver above and beyond expectations.

5. Work towards outdoing yourself every month. Don’t get comfortable with the same old content formats. Give your members additional options and always work towards expanding coverage or providing additional value.

If you would like support to make an impact-filled, profitable membership business that allows you the freedom to live life on your own terms, reach out to Membership Fix by scheduling a call or sending an email to YourTeam@MembershipFix.com.