Your subscription membership has to be managed from somewhere. We'll discuss what that somewhere is called, how to protect yourself from potential issues, transition from free to paid content, and explore donations if you're not ready for a subscription yet.
Commitment
Consider the commitment associated with creating a paid membership, especially if it requires a constant influx of new content. If you stop posting regularly, your paying subscribers will be very disappointed. You don't want to alienate any segment of your audience, especially not your most loyal fans who pay you every month.
Membership platforms
The most straightforward way to host, manage, and handle payments for your subscription is using a membership platform like Patreon or Memberful. Your subscribers will create an account allowing them to access your membership page. Then, they will see content based on their membership level. Until they purchase a paid membership, they will only see your free posts if you decide to make any. If not, all content will be unavailable until they purchase a membership.
The membership page usually looks like a social media feed, where your content is chronologically listed, along with any downloadable content. You can choose whether members can comment on posts or start discussions.
It's very useful to create a free tier, too, and give non-paying followers at least a little something. This will get them into your members-only area, where your free content and being so close to the premium one can convince them to upgrade to a paid membership.
Since they're already there, it will be much easier.
Lately, social networks have been trying to handle these memberships on their platforms. For example, channel memberships on YouTube allow creators to publish content only available to paying subscribers. We don't recommend this approach since not many people are used to this model, and it's not very convenient either. For specific cases, though, it can work - for example, if the creator's whole content distribution is dependent on a single platform. Some creators also use this to facilitate donations.
Membership tiers
Membership platforms allow you to create multiple membership tiers. Users will see posts, have access to downloadables and other resources, and have the right to participate in discussions based on which one they choose and pay for. Yearly subscriptions of the most expensive tiers also usually include the creator's signature product as a free gift or a discount on his merchandise.
Instead of naming the tiers with generic words Beginner, Medium, and Pro, or Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3, creators name them using inside jokes or other creative names connected to what they do. In each tier, you should clearly formulate what it offers. To do so, it would be very useful to establish a regular publishing schedule for your members-only content. This will allow you to specify the frequency of all posts or anything else you provide your subscribers, making it easier to demonstrate the overall value.
Creators who produce long-form content often add the subscribers' names to the closing titles as a thank you. This is often included as a perk in the more expensive tiers.
Keeping your subscribers yours
Always have an up-to-date list of your subscribers and their email addresses. Only choose a platform that lets you export them or find a way to get them directly from your subscribers - for example, by a newsletter signup. The point is that you shouldn't be entirely dependent on any platform and be able to switch whenever you want with as little subscriber loss as possible.
This is very important when your account gets blocked for some reason, and you may not be able to post there anymore and contact your subscribers. Yes, they can find their way to you again, but you certainly don't want to rely on this because not all of them will come over to your new place without a direct prompt.
Having emails of your paying subscribers is the easiest way to ensure that if something happens with your current platform, you can still contact them directly and switch elsewhere without starting all over again.
💡 Keep in mind
This doesn’t look like a big deal until it does. Take it seriously.
Start with donations
If you don't want to put your content behind a paywall but still would like your audience to directly generate some income, you can choose the patronage model. Everything you produce will be available for free, but every piece of content will include a plea to your audience to support your work if they find it valuable and have the means to do it. It's not easy, and it will require a big connection between you and your audience to pull off.
You can ask for donations in two ways: a general appeal within regular content and a more focused ask in premium content. For premium content, explain that while it could have been paywalled, you chose to keep it free for everyone- but you need their support to continue doing so. Donations can be made as a one-time contribution or set up to recur monthly.
You can integrate donations even if you don't plan to stay in this mode permanently.
Integrating donations into your operations can be a good preparation for eventually introducing paid content. You should label the premium content as premium, even if it will be available for free. Your audience will realize and start perceiving that you create premium content you put special effort into and that it has to be paid for in some way. For the time being, the payment will be optional. Then, at some point, you can announce that all new premium content will be now behind the paywall.
It can also give you a good idea of how willing your audience is to pay you, or rather how strong they feel about what you do and how willing they are to support you.
Switching from free to paid
Putting existing content your followers are used to behind a paywall means turning something free into something paid rather than introducing a brand-new paid offering. A good example is a podcaster who starts splitting episodes into a free and paid section. The audience naturally won't be very thrilled because they were used to whole interviews being free, but it doesn't mean it's a bad idea or that they won't support you.
An alternative is to announce a completely new type of content that would be paid from the start. The downside is that the audience isn't familiar with it, isn't used to watching it, and thus may not have a relationship with it and immediately recognize its value. If you go this way, we suggest publishing one or two pieces for free to allow your audience to check it out before deciding whether it's worth paying for.
Remember
👉 Membership platforms allow you to manage your whole subscription content and communicate with members.
👉 Being creative with the membership tiers makes it more easy-going and helps to communite their value.
👉 Free tiers can let the undecided audience into the members area and then entice them to upgrade.
👉 Always make sure you have the emails of your subscribers in case you want to switch platforms or get blocked.
👉 Donations can ease the transition to paid content and be a measure to test the willingness of your audience to pay.
👉 When switching from free to paid, you can either make free content paid, or create entirely new content type that will be paid from the start.
Homework
1️⃣ Choose a membership platform that will allow you to access members’ emails or figure out an alternative way to get them.
2️⃣ Think about how you’ll handle the switch from free to paid content and whether you’ll start creating something extra for paid subscribers or just move a part of your current production behind a paywall.
3️⃣ Clearly define the membership tiers and their benefits. Consider offering a free tier, too.
👏 Victory step taken!
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