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Memberships & Subscriptions

How to Start an Online Subscription Business in 2024

If you’re ready to build a business of long-term customers and recurring revenue, let us show you how.

By The Mighty Team

February 17, 2024

7 min read

IN THIS ARTICLE

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    Leigh Metcalf, the founder of an Atlanta-based sewing studio, Topstitch, was looking for a way to build a community of fellow stitchers.


    Her answer?


    An online community. She built an online stitching group for garment sewers using Mighty Networks, and today, her online subscription business is booming – so much so that it’s her only focus now!


    There are a lot of people talking about different ways to build companies online. People talk about popping an online course up on Skillshare, dropshipping with Amazon, or flipping merchandise.


    And while these each might have a place, the online business model that’s really dominating is the online subscription, with a touch of community mixed in! In this article, we’ll tell you what you need to know if you’re wondering how to start an online subscription business.


    If you want more support in building your online community, come join OUR Mighty Community for free and meet other new and established community owners! We’d love to meet you. Join for free!




    ((toc))


    What is an online subscription business?


    An online subscription business is an online product, service, or space that members pay for regular access to. Online subscription businesses usually either sell access to a digital product or service, such as an online course or software, OR to a digital community.


    The online subscription business is a subsection of the wider subscription economy, which is booming. If you’ve ever signed up for a monthly shave club, vegetable delivery, or wine box, you've used a subscription business.


    Some businesses are even merging online subscription with physical products, like ArtSnacks Mix, which delivers regular art supplies by mail but also offers membership in an online community that provides art classes, inspiration, etc.


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    Why start an online subscription business?


    Recurring revenue


    Without a doubt, the biggest draw to an online subscription business for both solopreneurs and multimillion-dollar companies alike is the recurring revenue.


    You might remember a time when you would buy software like Microsoft Office in a box from the computer store, and have access to that for the life of your computer. Now, Microsoft, like many other companies, has moved to a subscription model. This means you pay less up front, but they earn way more from a customer over their lifetime – all thanks to recurring revenue.


    And at a smaller scale, many solopreneurs are also thriving from an online subscription business. You can read examples of these in our Stories of Awesome.


    Scale


    Mighty Networks - Graphics - Courses and live streaming - Galaxy DAO


    The second huge advantage to an online subscription business is that it offers you tremendous scale as a business owner. You can create something once and it can reach thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. For example, if you are creating content in an online community, it doesn't make much of a difference to you whether there are five people consuming it or hundreds.


    You still only create the content once.


    It's the same thing with an online course. You don't need to keep recreating a course again and again. Selling a course on an online subscription model simply means adding recurring payments for access.


    Long-term customer relationships


    Mighty Networks - Graphics - Galaxy DAO Chat Paired Dark


    Another huge benefit to an online subscription business is that it puts you in a position to have long-term relationships with customers or members.


    Unlike a traditional, transactional business, an online subscription business means that you are building a lasting connection. This might be through membership in an online community, sending out a regular newsletter, or by reaching them with social media.


    The value of a long-term customer or member relationship to a business is incalculable. It gives you a willing audience to test new products on, get feedback from, and upsell to.


    The network effect


    The value that we see in online communities is what we like to call the network effect. In essence, the network effect means that the value you deliver to a community member is not one-directional.


    In fact, when you create a community-based subscription business, members deliver value to each other as well. They will talk to each other, help each other out, and build real friendships. All this adds to the value of your community, even without you doing much additional work.


    Predictable growth


    Last, but definitely not least, starting an online subscription business can give you clear and predictable growth. Basically, as long as your membership churn isn't too high, you can be pretty certain that any growth you accomplish next month will build on the shoulders of what you have done this month. As a result, you can even project where your subscription business will be a year from now.


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    How to start an online subscription business in 5 steps


    1. Refine your niche


    If you have a general sense of where you would like to apply your creative power, the first step in building an online subscription business that actually works is to clarify your niche.


    When it comes to building online communities, we teach a process that we call Community Design™ to help you do this. And the first step in Community Design™ is to identify an ideal member for your community. This is someone with a problem to solve that you can help with.


    Usually, we recommend talking to potential ideal members for your subscription business, in our case an online community. Use these interviews to help identify pain points that members have, and clear areas where they would be willing to pay to have some help.


    Once you have done these interviews, you can build what we call a Big Purpose Statement. It looks like this:


    Big Purpose- New Image


    We have a guide to finding your Big Purpose in our FREE Mighty Community!


    2. Choose your monetization model & platform


    The next step, once you know who your ideal member is and the problem that they have, is to choose a business model that will actually help them. In part, the business model that you choose is going to rely a bit on the problem that they have. If you have teaching that you need to do, you need to include a course platform. If you have a software solution to their challenge, you are probably building something altogether different.





    Since we think a lot about online communities, the platform that we built at Mighty Networks lets you sell subscriptions. But it goes further than this. Mighty gives you a powerful, cultural software platform that lets you bring together content, community, courses, and commerce. And our flexible Spaces let you build the subscription business you want, with features like live streaming, live events, community forums, courses, long and short-form content, and more. Plus, you can bundle all of the above, and charge in 135 different currencies or token-gating.


    Mighty Networks - Graphics - Achievement Academy SingleEvent Paired Dark


    Pick a monetization model that will help you serve your ideal member while you build your business.


    And, as you are beginning, don't forget the KISS principle – that is, keep it simple… You know.


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    3. Find your customers


    The next step will be to figure out how you are going to acquire customers. There are a bunch of different ways to do this, so we won't talk about a one-size-fits-all approach. You need to figure out what will work for your ideal members.


    But at the very least, you can go back to the people you interviewed and let them know that you are building an online subscription business.


    Then, use the tools that you have at your disposal to find other customers. This could include things like:



    • Social media

    • Email lists

    • Custom invitations

    • Webinars

    • Ads

    • Free trials


    4. Deliver value


    Page Paired Dark


    Getting people in is half the battle. KEEPING them in is the other half. That's why, once you have some paying customers for your online subscription business, you have to start delivering value.


    The good news is, if you did the work to identify your ideal member, you can just give that person what they need. That's why the Community Design™ process makes your business more efficient, since you're not trying to deliver value to a bunch of different kinds of people who all want different things.


    Resist the urge to think of volume as value. Too many people start an online subscription business and think that customers will be happy if they have an avalanche of content, and creators get burnt out trying to deliver it.


    Instead, focus on the transformation your members are trying to go through and give them only what they need to make that happen.


    Mighty Networks - Graphics - MC Courses Paired Dark


    5. Assess and adapt


    Finally, make sure you constantly take stock of what is working and adapt. It's in your best interest to be lean as a subscription business, and don't be afraid to make the changes that will help you serve your audience better.


    Conclusion


    Mighty Networks - Graphics - Live streaming


    So now that we've walked through how to start an online subscription business, the only thing left is to get started! And believe it or not, this can be the hardest part. Many people dream of trying, but suffer analysis paralysis, overthinking to the point that they never take the first step.


    Don't be that person. Just get started! Even if you don't have it perfectly figured out, you'll learn as you go. That's the beauty of this journey.


    Ready to start building your community?

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    Community
    Community
    Finding Your Community's Home
    Courses
    Building an Online Course
    Finding the Right Course Platform
    Monetization