7 Examples of Inspiring Subscription Sites (and a look at their Secret Sauce)

Subscription business models have been around for a long time, but they’ve become a cornerstone of how online businesses operate in the last 10+ years.

In fact, we’ve seen subscription platforms like…

• Amazon

• Audible

• Banana Republic

• Dollar Shave Club

…build businesses that reform and reinvent how we look, interact, and consume products and services within entire industries. You’re probably enrolled in several right now!

This growth has happened, in part, because subscriptions are so beneficial for both business owners and their clients.

Business owners benefit by generating a reliable, recurring income that allows them to predict their growth and scale their company.

Clients and customers benefit from having 24/7 access, more flexibility in how they utilize services, a community to connect with, and generally lower prices.

Put together, this combination is profound. For example, take a look at the growth in subscription businesses during the pandemic as compared to S&P 500 revenues.

Here’s a look at 7 successful membership businesses and what they’re doing right.

• Find What Feels Good – A Yoga Community with 20k+ Members

Led by Adriene of Yoga With Adriene, FWFG is a go-to resource for all things yoga, meditation, creativity, and overall wellbeing.

With more than 600 videos, she teaches clients to explore the body and what it means to be well through daily practices, workshops, and accountability series.

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY:

Something this membership program does really well is dive into a variety of sub-niches that are relevant to the core offer and of interest to its members.

Some topics include:

• Relationships

• Journaling

• Nutrition

In doing so, she provides value beyond the mat, shows an understanding of her members, and ensures that people will stick around longer. Triple win!

• Your Health Coach Biz - Went From Earning $13k as a Health Coach Without a Membership Site to $100k With One

Rachel Feldman’s membership site focuses on helping health coaches build successful businesses online and offline. After only earning $13K in her first year in coaching, she knew she needed to learn how to create a sustainable business built with a solid sales funnel.

Rachel went from making $13,000 to $72,000 by year 2 1/2 and then broke $100,000 in her third year of business. She does it by providing a huge variety of Done-For-You content focused on one specific niche.

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY:

Consider ways you can incorporate Done-For-You elements into your membership site. It is the quickest way to add premium value to a program and is especially beneficial if you can make it scalable.

This may include:

• Content Creation

• Task Completion

• Resource Curation

• Freelance Writer’s Den - Go-To Resource For Freelance Writers Across the Globe

Put simply, Freelance Writers Den is a community of professional freelance writers that help newbie freelancers make 5-6 figures income a reality. It is packed full of valuable resources! The boot camps, 300+ hours of video content, junk-free job board, monthly live webinars, interactive forums, personal attention, and free additional resources make this membership program impressive.

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY:

One thing Carol Tice, founder of Freelance Writer’s Den, does particularly well, is engage with her community. Boasting over 80k posts in the forum, she has responded to well over 10k of them – and has more than a dozen moderators to make sure everyone is well taken care of when she’s not busy doing so herself. By staying active and nurturing your own community, you’re able to avoid the silent-as-crickets concern and experience a truly thriving network.

• Onmitsu Kage - Powerful Expert = Powerful Results

Even if your business relies on in-person interaction, your membership site content can help people with their real-life learning and doing.

Onmitsu Kage provides streaming content that showcases classical martial arts, as well as merchandise and tutorial videos. In essence, members can turn their living room into a daily dojo. Dr. Kacem Zoughari streams his seminars which take place all over the world.

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY:

Leverage the power of an expert. Onmitsu Kage highlights the knowledge of world-renowned Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu practitioner, Dr. Kacem Zoughari, P.h.d., whose expertise members like, know, and trust. In doing so, members feel like they know this person, who’s literally in their living room and teaching them — on a more personal level.

• Shannon Mattern DIY Website Design - $36k From Giving It Away

Full of courses and DIY tutorials, this membership program makes website design and development accessible to the average person. There are tech challenges, marketing programs, traffic courses, and more – and it’s all offered for free!

Founder Shannon Mattern runs a free “Build a Website in 5 Days” challenge as the initial lure. The amount of value she packs into that course is impressive. And allows her to confidently deliver valuable content to free members.

But there’s another dimension to it: because she also houses paid courses inside her membership site, free members are incentivized to click over and purchase additional content.

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY:

Consider alternative ways of structuring your program that may not include payment upfront. Shannon was able to quickly garner $36k with fewer than 2000 people on her mailing list just by proving her merit with a free initial offering.

• Youpreneur - Massive Expansion & Scalability as a Business Coach

As a leader of the “Content Entrepreneurship” movement, founder Chris Ducker’s membership helps at-home entrepreneurs feel like they’re part of a community.

Youpreneur began as a place where Ducker would educate entrepreneurs to free themselves from their stressful lifestyle and start building a personal brand.

Before long, he started publishing content and courses and launched a podcast with the idea of exploring “Youpreneurship” – people who went on to build successful personal brands.

In five years, Ducker published another book, started a big yearly conference event, and celebrated his 7 million podcast downloads. During this time, he had thousands of people attending his Youpreneur academy.

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY:

Admittedly, there are a lot of lessons to be learned within the Youpreneur membership business. Perhaps most important, though, is Ducker’s willingness to sell himself. Or, at least, his personal brand.

We’re entering a new era of entrepreneurship. You, your knowledge, and your content are becoming your most valuable assets. Learn how to capitalize on them for maximum impact and you’ll be golden.

• Neuro Studio - Create Scalability With a Teach-the-Teacher Model

Nearly every client I’ve ever worked with begins with the same struggle: Who should I target given that everyone can benefit from my services?

There’s a natural reluctance to niche down.

Yet niching down is exactly what Neuro Studio has done – and with great success.

They provide scientifically-backed and studio-tested workouts designed for:

• Fitness professionals

• Physical therapists

• People living with neurological conditions

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY:

If you take away nothing else, remember this: Scalability is paramount. Teaching the teacher is an incredible tool for businesses. By helping other people teach (or coach) your methodology, you’re not only expanding your impact, but you’re also increasing your name brand recognition and widening the number of people eligible to enroll in your program.

Wondering whether it’s time to start your own membership business? Find out if it’s the right business model for you with our free training videos. Check them out here and let me know!