$15,000+ a month with a subscription web site

Twelve characteristics of profitable subscription web sites

In the six years since MemberGate software was released we've had the opportunity to be involved in the startup of 300+ subscription web sites. Of this number (excluding the government, corporate, schools and church sites that were not revenue based), approximately 15% have exceeded $15,000 a month in subscription revenues.

While $15,000 a month in revenues may not seem like a lot of money, most of these sites are one person operations, with almost zero overhead. And to them, that $15,000+ a month revenue adds up quickly.

Here's what I've observed from the $15,000+ monthly revenue subscription web sites:

The $15,000 a month subscription web site owners club

1. Tightly focused non internet related topic - Surprisingly, almost all of the subscription web sites in the $15,000 a month club are focused on non internet related topics. The owners of these sites use the internet as a way of delivering information to their subscribers, but in general the focus of the sites is not internet related.
   
   
2. Subscription price greater than $100 a year - Most of the sites in the $15,000 a month club have a subscription price greater than $100 a year, with the average price being between $250 and $500 a year.
   
   
3. Recurring billing subscription plans - Almost all in the $15,000 a month club offer either monthly or quarterly recurring billing subscription plans. Surprisingly, a growing number of these sites charge more for the first month than they do for the following months. Some of these sites charge a $200+ joining fee for the first month, then a quarterly fee of $40 or more.
   
   
4. Very specific business or job related topic - Almost all in the $15,000 a month club focus on a very specific type of business or business related skill. These sites don't provide general advice about business but provide very specific advice related to operating a very specific type of business. Or they provide instruction on how to accomplish a very specific job related to a specific type of business endeavor.
   
   
5. Very specific target market - Almost all of the $15,000 a month subscription web sites appeal to a very identifiable target market - a market that the owner of the is directly involved with and a part of. In the case of the business sites, the owner has direct experience with the business he/she is writing about. In the case of the 'skill related' topic, the owner has hands on experience, and understands the frustrations and wants of those in the target market.
   
   
6. Instruction and education, not news - All of the $15,000+ a month sites focus on providing instructive articles and education, instead of just providing industry related news. The more detailed and niche focused the instruction, the higher the subscription price. Subscribers are happy to stay members if they feel they learn something valuable to their business or career.
   
   
7. No spam, no hard sell - None of these sites use the 'spam' or 'puffery' approach to marketing. All rely on the article headlines, site focus, and site content to attract subscribers. Some of these sites previously used the 'heavy handed' sales approach but after dropping that approach and focusing on providing appealing content, saw subscription revenues triple in a single month. (I can think of three such sites . . . the owners are probably reading this tip right now).
   
   
8. Tip of the week promotion - All but one of the $15,000+ a month sites offer a 'tip of the week' for their industry segment. This tip goes to members as well as non-members, and includes a short tip, and links to the latest articles at the site. Generally, after the tip goes out each week, the sites will sign up a flurry of new members who wish to read the articles mentioned in the tip. The tips carry no advertising.
   
   
9. New content added often - All of these sites add new content (articles) at least twice a week. They do not let the site stagnate. Most have very active discussion groups, with several new messages posted daily.
   
   
10. Top Google ranking - All of these sites have top google ranking for key phrases related to their niche, and most of the owners tell me that the majority of their new subscribers come as result of a google search. Most do very little other promotion.
    
    
11. Valuable download library - Almost all of these sites offer subscribers useful business or career related forms, files, spreadsheets, software, books, and reference material in their download area. In some cases, subscribers join mainly to access specific reports available in the download area.
    
    
12. Daily involvement by the site owner - The owners of these $15,000+ a month subscription web sites are involved on a daily basis in the operation, improvement, and writing of new articles of their sites. Many put in eight hours or more per day working on their sites - mostly writing articles, responding to discussion group posts, and corresponding to subscribers via the phone or email.

So what else does it take to break into the $15,000 a month club? Basically you need to generate $500 a day in subscription revenues, every day of the month. Do that, and you can join the club.

To earn that $500 a day, you need to sign up 2 subscribers a day on a $250 a year subscription plan (recurring or otherwise), and you must deliver the kind of information that will keep those subscribers renewing their subscriptions.

It's the same business model as running a niche market print newsletter - except you remove 95% of the production costs.

Definitely an interesting business!