How to Maximize Membership Revenue: 12 Tips for Solopreneurs

To maximize membership revenue, work on three levers: earn more from each member (tiers, upgrades, annual plans and add-on products), keep members longer (better onboarding, less churn, recovered failed payments), and bring in new members at a lower cost (referrals, affiliates, gift and group memberships). Then add extra income streams, such as courses or a job board, on top of your core membership.

If you own a membership website, you definitely want to make the most out of it. Of course, revenue doesn’t grow on trees, but the good news is that maximizing membership revenue is absolutely possible, even as a solopreneur. Here’s how:

Prep Your Ground to Maximize Membership Revenue

Whether you like it or not, maximizing the revenue of any kind of business model isn’t easy work. If it were, everyone would be owning their own very successful, multi-million dollar business. Revenue growth is a matter of hard work, consistency, and showing up every day to add a bit more on top of what you built yesterday.

If you want to maximize membership revenue, it’s extremely important to start your journey by assessing your current situation, as well as what you are aiming for. Some tips in this direction include:

• Get to know your customer base. Where is your current revenue coming from? Is there any way you can scale your efforts in the same area?
• Know what kind of content you need to create. What works for you? What doesn’t? If you are at the beginning of your journey with your membership site, you might not have enough data to know what kind of content performs best in your case. There’s no magic recipe, unfortunately: you will have to try, fail, and then try again, to test as many options as possible and see which one(s) work(s) for you.
• Analyze your business model and make changes where necessary. Sometimes, the best scaling opportunities are right in front of your nose. Look at your business model and be honest: does it work? Is there any way you can make more, with less? Chances are you might find a crack in the “system” you’ve built — and it might just be what you need to advance your financial needs.

Sustainable membership revenue growth starts with knowing which tactics work for you and which don’t. Trial and error is part of the process, so change one thing at a time and measure the result before you move on to the next.

Track a few numbers every month so you can see what each change does: monthly recurring revenue, average revenue per member, churn (the share of members who cancel) and conversion rate from free visitors or trials to paying members.

12 Ways to Maximize Membership Revenue

Alright, now that you’ve prepped your ground, it is time to jump into action. The first six ways work inside your membership itself; the last six add new income streams around it:

1. Offer Membership Tiers and Easy Upgrades

A single price leaves money on the table. With two or three membership tiers, members who want more (live sessions, coaching, extra resources) can pay more, while price-sensitive members still have a way in. Make upgrading painless: show what each tier adds, and charge only the difference when someone moves up in the middle of a billing period.

In Ultimate Membership Pro, each tier is a Membership, and subscriptions support free and paid trials, coupons and prorated upgrades, so members can move between plans without paying twice.

2. Promote Annual Plans

Annual billing brings cash in up front and gives members fewer moments to reconsider. Offer an annual option next to every monthly plan, with a discount that is clearly worth it (for example, two months free), and suggest switching to annual after a member has been with you for a few months.

3. Reduce Churn and Keep Members Longer

Keeping a member is usually cheaper than finding a new one, so every month a member stays adds directly to your revenue. Welcome new members with a clear “start here” path, release new content on a predictable schedule, and ask people who cancel why they leave (Ultimate Membership Pro includes a Reason for Cancelling add-on for exactly this). These member retention strategies go into more detail.

4. Recover Failed Payments

Some members don’t cancel at all: their card simply expires or a renewal fails. Remind members before their card expires, let them update their card from their account page, and follow up as soon as a payment fails. With Stripe Connect, Ultimate Membership Pro can send card expiry reminders automatically.

5. Sell Gift and Group Memberships

Gift memberships turn your members into buyers for their friends and family, especially around holidays. Group memberships let one company, family or class pay for several seats at once, which raises the value of each sale. Ultimate Membership Pro supports gift memberships in every plan, and group accounts in the Full Package and Agency plans.

6. Launch a Referral or Affiliate Program

Your happiest members and partners can sell for you. With an affiliate program, they get a commission for every new member they bring in, so you only pay for results. Ultimate Membership Pro integrates with Ultimate Affiliate Pro if you want to run your own affiliate program on the same WordPress site.

7. Create an Online Course

If you have a membership website and you have already started rallying people around a certain topic, it only makes sense to turn what you already have into an online course. You can sell it separately, include it in a higher tier, or use it to attract new members. See how this works for online courses.

People are always looking for new things to learn and if you can package your knowledge in an easily digestible format (i.e., an online course), you will not only grow revenue but also position yourself as an authority in your field. Plus, since your community already trusts you, it will be easier for you to sell your course to them.

8. Earn Commissions as an Affiliate

The flip side of running your own program is joining other companies’ affiliate programs. You partner up with businesses in your industry, recommend their tools or services to your members, and earn a commission on the sales you generate.

Choose programs carefully: only recommend products that genuinely help your members, compare commission rates and cookie duration, and always disclose affiliate links. Your members pay you for trustworthy advice, so a bad recommendation costs more than the commission is worth.

Although this is not a direct way to maximize membership revenue, it is a popular way for solopreneurs to add another income stream.

9. Sell and Upsell Related Products and Services

Another great way to maximize membership revenue is by selling and upselling related products and services to your customers.

For example, if you have a membership website for dog owners, you could upsell them on dog food, toys, leashes, collars, etc. If you have a website for people who want to learn how to cook, you could upsell them on cooking utensils, cookbooks, meal plans, etc. You can also sell single premium posts or resources to visitors who aren’t ready for a full membership; Ultimate Membership Pro offers Pay per Post in the Full Package and Agency plans.

The possibilities are endless, but the key here is to make sure that the products/services you are selling are complementary to what your customers are already getting from you.

This way, you will grow revenue and provide more value to your customers, making them even more likely to stay with you in the long run.

10. Create a Job Board in Your Niche

If you have a popular membership website, chances are there are companies that would love to advertise their job openings to your audience. Charging employers to post jobs can be a very good way to maximize membership revenue, especially in professional niches.

Not only is this a great way to grow revenue, but it is also a great way to provide more value to your members. By creating a job board, you will not only be able to make money from the job postings but you will also be able to help your members find their dream jobs.

Plus, this is a great way to get your membership website in front of a whole new audience who might not have otherwise heard of you.

11. Create Original, Unique Paid Content

One of the best ways to maximize membership revenue is by creating original, unique paid or paywall content that your members can’t find anywhere else.

This could be anything from an ebook, to a video series, to a course, to a newsletter — as long as it is something that your members would be willing to pay for and that they can’t find anywhere else.

The key here is to create something that is truly valuable and that your members will be happy to pay for. If you can do this, you will be able to maximize membership revenue and keep your members happy at the same time.

12. Start a Podcast or YouTube Channel

Podcasts and YouTube channels aren’t paid (or at least most aren’t.) However, they give you an opportunity to reach a new audience and grow your membership base — and thus, maximize membership revenue as well. You can also offer bonus or ad-free episodes as a members-only perk.

Plus, podcasts and YouTube channels can also be a great way to add a new revenue stream to your income, in the form of collaborations with companies, advertising, and so on.

Conclusion

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is one of the most timeless and efficient financial tips out there for a reason: diversification is key.

The same goes for membership websites. By diversifying and maximizing your income streams, you will not only be able to make more money but you will also be less vulnerable to changes in the market, fluctuations in revenue, and so on.

Keep in mind: when you want to maximize membership revenue, you have to look at who you are, the kind of value you want to provide, and what your members would like and appreciate most. Start with the levers inside your membership (tiers, annual plans, retention and failed payments), then add new income streams once those are working. If you are reviewing your prices along the way, read this membership pricing strategy guide.

So, what are you waiting for? Pick one tactic from this list and begin to maximize membership revenue today!

Frequently asked questions

You May Also Like

How to Create Membership Ad Campaigns That Work

Membership Forums: Should You Get One? And If Yes, How?

How to Send a Membership Email and Invite Someone into Your Community

WordPress Restrict Content: 5 Plugins to Consider for Your Membership Site

Starting a Membership Business: 8 Things No One Tells You