I am pleased to announce the September 2020 Indie Business Book Club pick: The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue by Robbie Kellman Baxter. This book was selected personally by me because I believe a well executed membership business model is the best business model on the planet. Of course, that should come as no surprise since the Indie Business Network, which I founded nearly 21 years ago, is the first for profit membership business I've been able to find anywhere online.
If you're not familiar with the Indie Business Book Club, you can click here for more information.
Product Makers can lead membership businesses too!
For far too long, membership business models have been the domain of service-based businesses. Other than subscription boxes and auto-ship plugins, product-based brands have rarely explored integrating a membership component into their business models. While subscription boxes are great, as are auto-ship options, everything from money to good will to brand awareness is still being left on the table without some type of personalized niche membership strategy.
The membership economy is here to stay
A repeat customer spends 67% more than a new customer. Closing sales from new customers can cost from five to 25 times more than satisfying and retaining the interest of current customers.
Of course, you must engage new prospects … that's a given. Having said that, the best way to secure the future of your business and create the freedom, flexibility, and fun that is so vital to your life as an entrepreneur, is to leverage the power of repeat sales that is inherent in the membership business model.
I know this not from a book I read or a podcast I listened to or a course I took, but from my own experience pioneering the membership business model for the past 20 years.
I feel so strongly about this that I'm hosting the 5-Day Recurring Revenue Challenge Summit so I can help as many Makers dive as deeply as possible into it. If you want to make real progress in this area, register to attend the Challenge Summit. Even if you don't join me live, you'll get some useful insights reading this book with me next month.
Reading Plan
About The Membership Economy
This guide provides a wealth of membership-building options to suit every need. You’ll learn the best-kept secrets of top industry leaders and discover strategies for creating membership programs for everything for any type of business.
You’ll discover what works, and what doesn’t work, and gain insights into how to utilize aspects of the membership model to grow your business and better serve your customers.
About Robbie Kellman Baxter
Robbie Kellman Baxter is a consultant and speaker who has been providing strategic business advice to Silicon Valley companies for over 20 years. She is the founder of the consulting firm Peninsula Strategies, and regularly presents to professional associations, leading universities, and corporations.
Buy The Membership Economy
Buy this and other Indie Business Book Club picks at IBN's Amazon shop.
Of course, you can also purchase the book at your favorite local book store.
Are you ready? I am.
Join us!
If you're a member of the Indie Business Network, make sure to join us in our private member Facebook group to get started. If you're not an IBN member, what are you waiting for? Join now and enjoy the book club and tons of other benefits to help you and your business grow.
Feedback and Share
Have you considered integrating a membership component into your business model? Are you already doing so? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!
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