Inside a Million Dollar Membership

PodcastMarketing

Nov 27

Episode 799: Show Notes

I’ve spent years sharing what it’s like to build a business online, but I haven’t shared much about what it’s like to build a million-dollar membership. Today, I’m answering all your burning questions from logistics to evolution, plus some of my biggest tips and tricks, the things I could never have predicted, and more. We’re diving into all of it!

I have 15 questions that I just know you want the answers to. We’re going to go through them, we’re going to talk about it, and if you have follow-up questions, please reach out to me on Instagram at @bossproject or @abagailsays.

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Confession: I Didn’t Come Up With the Idea to Start a Membership

Truth be told, I do not claim the concept. The concept of building a membership that is also a template shop is not new. There were a lot of other people doing this with varying levels of success. The designer in our business was open to working on this with us, and our audience (that’s you!) had expressed their interest in it during conversations leading up to this point.

What I wanted to do was to fill a void that wasn’t already taken care of. I think that’s a great way to approach business! You can find an idea that’s been validated by the market and find a way to execute it in a way that’s totally unique to you. To keep the shop relevant, we have continued to keep a pulse on what this industry needs to remain successful.

Our Surprising Growth Trajectory & the Steps We Took to Get Here

When we started, we started small. Our first membership launch was $17 a month. When this launched in 2020, we were able to go from zero to our first 100 members in just 30 days. That’s because we had a base of people paying attention after building a business for five years.

As with any idea, you will likely observe a fast takeoff point before things start to slow down and level up. The curve can be slow! Ours has not been linear and we have been faced with different challenges along the way. One thing that’s been unique to this membership is that we chose to ‘launch’ every month. The Creative Template Shop has never been closed. That’s because we want to always be available when someone needs us.

The Three Biggest Challenges We’ve Faced While Building Our Membership

The terms “churn,” “cost of acquisition,” and “burn rate” were for sure the biggest hurdles we faced while building our membership. Churn refers to the percentage of people that leave on a monthly business, and we’ve seen it get as high as 18%. While we face churn, we’ve also worked hard to keep our return rate high, and it has worked!

Next, the cost of acquisition is how much money it takes to get potential clients to convert. In the changing landscape of paid media, my focus has been on reducing churn and increasing lifetime value. Finally, burn rate is the amount of money blown on the business every month. At the moment, most of our costs go to Squarespace, MembersSpace, and Teachable to host our infrastructure.

Our Evolving Approach to Pricing a Growing Membership

We haven’t changed our prices in nearly four years. We don’t necessarily recommend that. A price change can create a sense of urgency. There are often very real reasons to increase your price and it’s really important to assess your pricing as you go along. The goal for me, specifically, has always been accessibility, so that as many people as possible are able to join.

Apart from revenue, we measure success by a decreasing churn rate, an increasing lifetime value, and a lower cost of acquisition. The number of downloads and uses is a success metric, as is the completion of courses and strategies on the teachable side. You have to define what these success metrics are for you! It’s so important to stay in touch with the needs of your consumers and price accordingly.

The Personal Impact of Running a Million-Dollar Business

This has been a really big growth opportunity. I’ve had to be more organized, I’ve had to have a longer plan, I’ve had to focus on my customers, and I’ve had to continue growing at all times, which has forced me into a constant state of learning. While this can cause burnout, it doesn’t have to. When we started this, the goal was to make it sellable. The Creative Template Shop was its own entity, which allowed it to become its own thing, but now it’s time to infuse my personal brand and my business into this thing that I put so much of my time, energy, love, and support into. I want to get to know this community better. I want to interact with you, know your needs, and bring connection to this space!

I’m excited for what this challenge will bring. My advice to you all is to have your membership be a piece of your whole business, rather than the whole thing. It can be a unique opportunity to add to what you are already doing, but it is a big risk to make your membership the only thing. No single decision led us to this point, but there is a threshold that everyone will face that is a ceiling of your own organic reach. While organic is a great place to start, it’s not a long-term place to scale. Pour fuel on that fire with paid options. You’ll reap the rewards when you really invest in its future!

If you’re listening to this show, you are the person I’ve decided to serve. I want you to be part of this community. I’m so elated to have the brand-new site come out tomorrow, and I can’t wait for you to be a part of it. Join us here!

Quote This

The secret to a successful membership is building in those easy yeses.

Highlights

Confession: I Didn’t Come Up With the Idea to Start a Membership [0:09:16]
Our Surprising Growth Trajectory & the Steps We Took to Get Here [0:18:09]
The Three Biggest Challenges We’ve Faced While Building Our Membership [0:26:34]
Our Evolving Approach to Pricing a Growing Membership [0:36:22]
The Personal Impact of Running a Million-Dollar Business [0:46:01]

OUR HOST:

Abagail Pumphrey

Abagail on Instagram

Boss Project on Instagram | Facebook

Abagail Pumphrey, the Co-Founder & CEO of Boss Project, has been a driving force in the creative entrepreneur industry since 2015. With a passion for empowering service-based business owners around the globe, she became internet-famous after the launch of the transformative training, "Trello for Business." This innovative system revitalized the operations of over 10,000 business owners, making a significant impact on the online business landscape.

Under Abagail's leadership, Boss Project has been featured in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Marie Claire, INC, and HuffPost. Her twice-weekly podcast, The Strategy Hour, is a staple in the business community, continuously topping Business and Management Charts on Apple with millions of listeners from around the world.

Abagail's superpower lies in her ability to break down complex concepts into easy-to-implement, duplicatable systems. As an expert in online sales and a data-driven strategist, she has turned a layoff into a 7-figure work-from-home business. Abagail's mission to help more female founders become financially free, without letting their businesses take over their lives, continues to inspire and guide entrepreneurs on their path to success.