Robbie Kellman Baxter's Blog, page 19
March 12, 2020
The 6 Most Common Setbacks Faced by Scaling Subscription Businesses…and How to Recover
Note: This is a summary of Chapter 10 of my forthcoming book, THE FOREVER TRANSACTION. Any business that has been around for two centuries knows something about adapting to changing marketing conditions. Bonnier AB is a private-held Swedish media company that was founded in the 19th century, and is now using a subscription model to […]
March 9, 2020
Join The Forever Transaction Launch Community
Five years ago, I wrote The Membership Economy to describe a massive trend I was seeing, in which companies and nonprofits of all types were moving from a transactional focus to a relationship focus. I wanted organizations to explore using tools like subscription pricing, online community and ongoing sources of free value, as a means […]
March 3, 2020
What’s Up with All the Coffee Subscriptions?
Everyone’s talking about Panera Bread‘s new coffee subscription. I’m not sure it’s unprecedented as reported here in the Business Insider, since Burger King Corporation announced a $5 coffee subscription last fall. And several convenience stores including Cumberland Farms, have coffee subscriptions as well. They’re all onto something–driving loyalty by changing behavior. In the war for […]
February 24, 2020
Walking the Generational Tightrope: How To Keep Older Members Happy and Also Draw In Younger Ones
“Millennials aren’t joiners.”“Millennials don’t pay for news.” “Our customers love us, but the average age is going up. It seems like millennials just aren’t interested.” These are statements I hear all the time from membership organizations that have been around for a few decades or more: professional associations and trade groups, religious institutions, newspapers, gyms, and […]
February 18, 2020
Kepler’s Books: A Story of A Local Business and the Membership Economy
This excerpt from The Membership Economy is reprinted here with permission from my publisher McGraw-Hill Education. It’s about my favorite bookstore in the world, Kepler’s. I have been buying books at Kepler’s since I was 4 years old. So it is a thrill for me to be launching my new book The Forever Transaction there […]
February 10, 2020
14 Subscription Experts that I follow on LinkedIn and Why I Follow Them (plus a couple of bonus names)
If you’re like me, you’re always looking for ways to optimize your LinkedIn feed, to have articles that are relevant and helpful. In my work helping organizations design and optimize subscription pricing and membership models I am always looking for kindred spirits who write interesting content on this topic. Here are a few of my […]
February 5, 2020
Subscription Boxes: A Great Gift Idea?
A subscription box seems like such a perfect gift for your next birthday or special occasion. But before you sign up your loved ones, be sure you’re making the right decision. Subscription boxes seem like the perfect present and for good reason; subscription services are busy heavily marketing to consumers. From personal care boxes loaded […]
February 3, 2020
“Free” is a Tactic, Not a Strategy
Recently, a CEO of a major professional association asked me what I thought of a 30 day free trial for new members. He worried that potential members would sign up for the free trial, binge the value in that free period and then cancel without paying. But his board was concerned that not enough people […]
January 27, 2020
Making the Case for a Subscription-Based Business
If you’ve been tasked with launching a subscription-based business at your organization, or are thinking about starting your own XXX-as-a-service or XXX-of-the-month-club, before diving in, take a step back. To ensure a solid foundation, I encourage companies to devote a few weeks (usually at least 2 and no more than 12 weeks) to fleshing out […]
January 20, 2020
What’s in The Forever Transaction Book, and Why I Wrote It
Five Years ago, I wrote The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction, & Build Recurring Revenue to describe a massive trend I was seeing, in which companies and nonprofits of all types were moving from a transactional focus to a relationship focus. I wanted organizations to explore using tools like subscription pricing, online community […]
