EP 112: Revenue on Repeat - stories from my students

Welcome to this can't be that hard. My name is Annemie Tonken. And I help photographers run profitable, sustainable businesses that they love. Each week on the podcast, I cover simple, actionable strategies and systems that photographers at every level of experience can use to earn more money in a more sustainable way. Running a photography business doesn't have to be that hard, you can do it. And I can show you how.

In case you missed Episode 17 of the podcast or maybe listened to it long enough ago that you need a refresher, the story goes like this. In the winter of 2018, I had ankle surgery that was supposed to be minor, but turned out to be pretty major. And instead of being on crutches for a couple of weeks, like I thought turned out I couldn't walk for close to four months. As a single parent and income earner with a small business that relies on my ability to run around after toddlers and little

kids. That meant that every dollar I spent those four months came out of savings. And that was enough to scare me into action. So I came up with the idea of a photo membership for my family clients. Basically, most of my clients said they wanted annual photos, but only a small handful of them were actually scheduling with me every year because you know, life is busy. Parenting is busy.

I was also inspired because one of the things I know is often a barrier for my clients is that big expense all at once that a session represents because Family Photos are something they want rather than something they need. And because it's a big enough item on the credit card bill to make a real impact, they can pretty easily talk themselves into postponing for

just about any reason. So in August of 2019, ahead of the busy fall season, I created an offer for my clients inviting them into my new portrait membership. There were three tiered options to choose from. But they all included one family session per year and a bunch of other perks that I don't typically offer to my regular

clients. The membership was also a really good value when compared to a one off session, which I knew was going to be important to keep people in the membership once they joined. That first year I had 34 families sign up, which meant that six months later, when the world shut down for COVID, I was still earning what was basically a regular paycheck and which was hands down. The number one thing that made me feel financially safe during that first few months of the pandemic.

And given how much financial stress COVID was causing for a lot of my photographer friends, I went ahead and took the opportunity that a standstill in my photo work gave me to create a course on how to launch and run a membership. And I call it revenue on repeat and started offering that at the end of May in 2020. But to be honest, I didn't push that offer very hard. First, I felt kind of conflicted about selling something in the midst of the

crisis that was unfolding. And second, in an ideal world, I kind of wanted to wait until I had at least a year of my own membership under my belt before I started giving people real advice about it. On the other hand, I knew there were a lot of photographers at that moment feeling exactly as I did when I was recovering from my ankle surgery, wanting to figure out a way to stabilize their

businesses going forward. So I created that course I did it scared just like the motivational quotes tell you to. And here we are a year later and my membership is still going strong. And I've got several students with new memberships that are beginning to experience the same kinds of things that make having a membership great, like knowing that their business expenses are covered every

month, or their mortgage. And they're also enjoying the benefits of having a schedule that isn't a constant cluster feeling more freedom to say no to work that they don't want or you know people they don't want to work with. So since it's summertime here in the Northern Hemisphere, which I think is a great time to set up and launch a membership ahead of the pre holiday busy months. I wanted to give you some more details about what's going on in my own

membership this year. And then have a quick chat with some of my students about the memberships that they have started since I released the course. But for is a tiny bit of explanation about the whole launch thing. In the course, I teach two ways of introducing a membership to your clients. And the way that it's set up, you can do one or the other, or a combination of

both. The first is a one time big lunch, where you're pitching the offer to a number of clients all at once and giving them all the same deadline by which they have to decide, then you can do that, again on sort of an annual basis. And that's good because it kind of gets you kick started with a single group, it allows you to get everyone on a schedule and a payment plan that starts and ends at the same time

each year. And although it's a bit of work at that time, once the launch is closed, you're kind of off to the races good to go. The other method is a rolling offer where you offer member membership spots, to clients who you've just finished working with, who you'd like to have stay on with you as a client. The nice thing about that type of offer is that it can be very low key. In fact, I do mine on the phone as part of a follow up or checking call once their

gallery closes. But it does mean that the work gets spread out. So it requires a little bit more organization, you don't have one group all starting and stopping at once. Personally, I now do both, I launched my membership the first time as a big one time deal, then I did a one year renewal push and invited some newer clients back in last August. And now because I'm almost at capacity, I only offer spots to clients in that one off manner. I don't have any more

big launches on the horizon. But last August, when most of my members from that initial launch came up for renewal, I have to say, I was pretty nervous that I was going to have a lot of people dropping out due to COVID. But as it turned out, I only had five members who chose not to renew, and I had five more join. So the launch was sort of a net neutral in terms

of my number of members. And the nice thing was that based on my experience, the first year, I restructured my tears a bit and had a handful of members who upgraded their memberships at the renewal time. So monetarily speaking, the launch ended up

being a net gain. Now, you guys know I don't love giving specific dollar figures without giving all the context because what's profitable for one person may not be profitable for another, it might be the wrong market, etc, etc. But I will say this, my membership now covers my basic personal expenses every month with actually a bit leftover. So that includes my mortgage, my health insurance, my grocery bill, which is not insignificant now that I have an

11 and a 15 year old boy. And since I am still driving my hot 2002 Toyota Camry, and I don't have a car payment, it covers that too. What that means is that there is so much less pressure on me to book new clients, I still do because a I still need to earn money to put toward you know, retirement and fun stuff like vacations. And be I know that over time, people will inevitably drop out of the membership. So I always want to have, you know, a new crop of

clients ready to invite in. But I don't feel desperate or scared about each and every phone call that I have with a potential client, like I used to. To be perfectly frank, especially following my divorce, I would get on the phone with a potential client and you know, my heart would race and I would feel this pressure to book them. The funny thing is that my booking rate has gone way up, possibly because I don't

feel that pressure. I feel like people can you know, they have like a spidey sense about when you're okay with them saying no. And somehow that wildly increases the chances of them saying yes. A couple other notes about small changes in my membership over

the past year. I have definitely been more intentional about selling things like mini sessions, which I talk about what all that entails in the course, that you know, it's one of the little members only perks that I offer since I don't generally do many mini sessions. And those have been surprisingly popular this year. I did them as one offs and mind you that's not how I recommend people who are doing normal mini sessions as sort of like a first step on the

value ladder. This is just for people who are already paying me plenty of money over the course of the year. I give them this option but due to that offer and due to being more intentional about it, I've really had a significant number of people book them and therefore a significant amount of extra income. And I've done them for all kinds of things senior portraits, birthday parties post COVID Ryun means with grandparents etc. So that's been great. Another thing

is albums. So one of my membership tiers includes a small album that my members are supposed to design themselves, the what, what's included as a self design album, what I found the first year of the membership was that lots of people never got around to doing the self design. So this year, I offered albums, album design services, as a one off fee that they paid when they signed up. So I ended up adding like $1,000 to my

revenue just based on that. On the negative side this year, scheduling has definitely been more of an issue with you know, COVID restrictions and concerns. And the fact that weather was more of an issue than it normally is. Because normally, I would just say, Okay, we'll just do the whole session inside. And this time, obviously, I was doing lots of outdoor shooting. It's been manageable, but it was definitely less smooth sailing than it was the first season that fall season after my

initial launch. Generally, I think that this is a time and circumstance limited issue. And honestly, given all the curveballs that COVID has thrown at photographers in general, I feel like I can hardly call it an issue. But otherwise, things are chugging along really smoothly. Given how busy the podcast and teaching keep me I really do feel like this membership is one of the only reasons I'm still able to balance both sides of my career. So I'm super grateful for it.

But everyone's circumstances and needs are different. So I am excited to share conversations with a few of my students about their memberships and their experiences with the course revenue on repeat. First, I'm chatting with Amy Sanusi who you have heard here on the podcast a couple of times before, first on episode 57, which was a mini mentoring episode. Then you heard her again on episode 92, which was about how she utilizes

a studio manager. After Amy I talked to Posey quarterman, my co founder over at the family narrative, who was literally saying that she too should start a membership from the very first time I mentioned the idea before I even started my own. I've known her for a long time, I was sharing this idea. And she was like, Yes, that's a great idea. She's a busy lady. So she finally got around to taking my course at the beginning of this year. And she's gonna fill us in

on how her launch went. And then finally, I am talking to one of my students, Helene deltaville. She's a family photographer based in California. And she was sort of an early adopter of this class, she took my course right when it came out, and then launched for the first time last summer and is just about to launch again. So I figured she might have some good insight for you guys as well. Anyway, enough about all that I will let you listen to those interviews. Amy, how are you? Good. How are

you on me? It's good. It's good to see you too. And I really appreciate you being willing to come on here. Again, you've been on the podcast before and share some of your insights about your membership and how that has shaped up over the course of the past year. So remind me you were in the first round of the class when I when I first opened it. Is that right? I think so you come to the live one that I did? No, I don't not. I just bought

it online. Okay, so great. So you, like would have the same experience that anybody who was to purchase it today would have exactly, which is sort of self paced and all that sort of thing. So tell me a little bit about when you took it and initially launched your your membership? Yeah, I think it was. So after I had a mini mentoring with you on the podcast last fall, or right before last fall. And you kind of told me like, you should just go do this. And so I looked into

it. And I was like I had thought about it before just having heard about it from you and from a few other people. And so then I took the course and I was able to finish it, like go at least look through everything within a week, just with when I had time, I would kind of slip in a little bit of time here and there. And then I implemented. So that was like in the fall. I started looking at it and then I implemented it. I launched it in

January, after my fall season. I tried to do it right away because I was like, I want to get in on this. This is awesome. I want to know how I can like make this work. And I was you know, terrified that it wouldn't and I'd be stuck with like random clients coming in at random rates and just a mess. Yeah, yeah. And I do think that January's a really good time to launch it or like February sort

of ahead of the busy seasons. I liked launching mine in August, same same kind of reason like it was I wasn't super busy so I could manage the launch but it was heading into a busy season. Well good. Tell us a little bit about your launch. Did you go with the sort of launch it to a large group of people all At once strategy, or were you doing more of a one off launch? Kind of I guess it would be a large group. I'm trying to remember how many people were in that first email list that I

sent it out to? Well, if it might have been one, that's the big, then yes. I had kind of like sold it to people at shoots. Yes, I'd be at their session. At the end, they'd be like, hey, let me tell you about something I'm trying to figure out. Oh, good. I love it. And so I got in, like, I put a little ear worm in everybody's mind, just like be like, Okay, this is what I'm planning. Are you in? Would you be interested in that, and I got a great response from everybody that I talked to.

So then I launched it to like, 100 ish people on my list of people that I would be happy if they joined. And it was families that have worked with me over and over families that I really liked working with, even if it was only once in families that I know, would without a doubt sign up. And so it was, it was a good

mixture of people for me. And I still was nervous though, cuz I was like, Okay, I need I need this to happen, because I also coupled the launch of this membership with a price change, which I think I attribute a lot of my success with the membership to Yeah, because I raised my prices by a good deal. Maybe like three to $400. Yeah, and then also introduced this membership at the same time. So my, I was like, here's this awesome deal. Here's your other

option. And for people that have worked with me for a long time, they looked at that other option. And we're like, Ah, that's like a big jump, but like good for you. But so it kind of pushed a lot of people that I really like working with into the membership in a good way, like, in a happy way, for me at

least, sir. And the let me ask you this, when you set your prices for the membership, I know you I know, you know your numbers, I'm assuming that even though it's a better deal for your members, it's still meeting that profit threshold so that you're making good money with the membership. Yes. So I kept it kind of similar to the pricing I had had the year before, is actually a little bit more with the print credit that's included in

everything. And so it ended up being a little bit more than what they were used to paying. Yeah, but then still under what I'm charging people that are not members. And so for me what the non member pricing was making it worth my time to put in the extra work into getting new clients and all the extra time it takes to talk with them schedule. And now that I'm not living in the city traveled down to them, it had to kind of be

worth it. And so it's been nice to see that shift of like, people that are hiring me as a new rate are worth it. Right. And a lot of them are interested in joining the yearbook club now, after they've worked with me. And I'm like, you know what, next time I open it, I'll let you know. But yeah, so it still definitely is meeting that threshold of what I need to make. And per client, I haven't gone down below what I need to be at. So right. It's been good.

That's great. And the way I see it, you know, even though my members pay sort of kind of just at the threshold of profitability for me, because of that, and because they're paying over time, they're sort of more likely to do things like pay for prints online and hire me for mini sessions and things like that. So like exactly that lifetime value ends up kind of bumping up incrementally. That's awesome. Yeah, you happen to remember when you launched what you're like, this is the max

number of people I would take. I think my goal originally was 20. So I was like, I think that's a good number. And in my mind, I was like, I'll be happy with five. Like, I only think I'm gonna get five people to say yeah, I don't know. So my original goal was 20. I was like, I think that's a good number of people. That's, you know, if they all booked in the fall, then I would still be okay, I could still have room for other people. But yeah, I ended up with way more than that. So it's a good

thing. That's a good problem to have. Yeah, I think I ended up with 26. Okay, which was way more than I expected. And I still have Yeah, on like a waiting list now to like, join. Very good. You gotta love the little bit of like exclusivity makes big difference when it opened those doors exam. Well,

that's amazing. Do you feel so I love that you have a pretty clear sense of what the big selling point was, which was not only the membership itself, but also the simultaneous like, well, it's either path a or path B where it's gonna be more expensive to hire me. What kind of, you know, feedback. Have you have you gotten feedback from your clients thus far? Have you started to take member sessions yet? Or has that not really kicked in? I've had a few. I had some spring minis, which turned

out really great. And actually those were clients that had never done a mini before. Nice. They were like, Oh, this is fun. And I was like, yeah I'm glad you like them. I don't love them. But I mean, the good thing about it though, is I didn't dread it the way I used to dread minis. Because I knew every family that was coming. Yeah, I knew them all. I loved them all. So it wasn't like, I don't know what I'm walking into, you know what I mean? Totally. And so I had

some mentees. I've had a few member sessions so far this year. And it's been great. Like everybody has, I've haven't heard any complaints, I've had a few technical problems of like, the charges not going through or the automatic payment, just like technical difficulties, but nothing that has to do with like the process itself, which has been graded. And everybody's been super understanding with those technical difficulties. Because they know it's a new thing. But so far, I think

everybody's doing good. I've been sending out little newsletters each month to kind of say, like, Here's what's coming up. And I've had a few people reach out and say like, Oh, I love hearing from you all the time. It's so fun. So it's been good. Yeah, that's great. So actually, and that leads me into my next question. I had gotten a couple of responses from people who had

questions. And one of them was to get suggestions from people who had memberships about one of the things that I teach is like, you really want to pamper these people and make them feel special, like not only serve them as your members, but really make them feel like they're part of an exclusive club. Have you done anything, that you'd be willing to share? That? Or are you anticipating doing anything for your members? That is sort of like outside of what you do

for normal clients? Yeah, I think one of the biggest things that I've had actually requests for is a really fast turnaround time on photos. Oh, yeah. Especially in the fall. And so they've asked for kind of a priority turnaround time. And I'm like, editing, I think, yeah, exactly. And I don't I didn't used to charge for that kind of stuff, because I just couldn't get the capacity to like, you know, systematize it.

But for my all of my yearbook club, people, now they get priority, when I have an editing list, they get bumped kind of towards the top, so I can get them their stuff quick. And then they also get I've just been trying to like, be more communicative with them texting them. Definitely more communication that I would have with a regular client of just like, how are you guys doing? I'm looking forward to your shoot. Let's talk about what

you're gonna wear. Let's like, I can't wait to catch up with you. And it's just been kind of more of a relationship building thing, rather than a client like photographer relationship, if that makes sense. Yeah. Well, and you know, that is both, I find that that's both nice for me, because I feel like, I can be more casual, or I don't know, I mean, yeah, be casual all the time anyway. But, um, but I'm also I also feel like, it gives me that ability to, I don't know, just like, gel

more with those clients. And they don't. And probably on the other side, they feel more with the word like loyalty to really to working with me. Like, I feel like, it's like, they feel like they were breaking up with me if they quickly. Yeah, yeah. 100%. That's I had a friend who moved in close to another photographer friend of mine, and I was so worried. And they became friends. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, they're gonna just start working together. And yeah, book photos with me anymore.

Which is so silly, because I've been photographing her since before she even had her first kid. Yeah, so it's like, it's been fun, though. Because I know, like, I can introduce them to each other, I can make them friends. I can, you know, I set up a Facebook group, which nobody's joined yet, but you know, it's okay. Because I want them to like know each other, because I know all these families are so wonderful.

I want to foster that community between them and make it feel like a true club that you're a part of. Yeah, and not just like, one thing to check off your checklist, which it is, in convenient sense, it is a thing that you can just, you know, set it, forget it. But there's, I want to make it more than that. That's awesome. I love that. And I feel like you know, the nice thing about this is that it will

grow with you. I feel like the second year for me has been different from the first year and I have ideas for in the future and how I can continue to add that value. And it all just seems to get easier as the like, automation part of it. Oh, totally. That's in place. And the fact that you have a studio manager here, yeah, that that guy, he's doing a good video manager slash slash best friends with benefits. Um,

well, that's awesome. Is there anything else that you would either, you know, recommend to people if they're considering this or tell somebody to, you know, this is not for you? If, yeah, I feel like you really need to know your numbers. And that's something that you talked about in the course and like, the whole formula you set out in that thing was amazing. Cuz it just really helps you kind of dig down to like exactly what you need to be charging.

And if you don't know your numbers before going into it, then it makes it really hard to even imagine what you can charge and get away with. But I think that along with really knowing what your capacity is for shoots, because I have been talking with you about this, I don't, I'm trying to think how many more members I can add, and still give them the same amount of like, communication and give them priority slots without it being all, you know, crowded

into the fall. So that's been the one thing I've been dealing with. So if you are a person that's looking into this, but you don't, you already are working like crazy hours, then maybe try and scale back first. And then give yourself this opportunity to kind of automate this part of your membership or your client base, or copy me and

jack your prices way up. Yeah, and simultaneously offer up and get rid of a certain number of people so that you can, it makes grading or more in less time, and I've had people that I've been working with for five or six years now who have stuck with me through all my price changes. And now it came to this and she's like, I'm just gonna do it. She's like, I know, it's more than I've ever spent on you before, but you're worth it, I'm

just gonna do it. And then makes you feel like, that's the best. I love that. And I love that you shared that. Because I really do feel like it can be hard when you're beginning to think that anyone will ever grow with you. And those people just not everybody. But when they do like that. It's just the best feeling totally. And also, like, my favorite thing was when I was talking about this with people beforehand. Yes, they were excited that it would save them

money. And it'd be easy, but their biggest response to me was like, that's so awesome for you. Yeah, like that's going to make your life so much easier to have a sustainable income each month. And I'm at a point now where it covers all my monthly expenses. And it makes such a difference in how I run my business and how I can do everything like I can take more time off. And they have seen that and recognize that and that for me was even more valuable than then, like

signing up. Like them actually seeing me as a person and a business owner. And not just like the photographer. Yeah, 100% when COVID head, which was like six months after I launched my original membership. I had emails from several clients who were like, I'm just so glad to know that you're still okay. And this is going to be okay for you. Which really was I mean, we were all emotional at that point. But oh, that's amazing.

Yeah, it is. Yeah. I just know, when you find your people, they're the best ones to kind of support you through it. It is it is It's so good. Well, Amy, I really appreciate it. So I feel like this is it's an inspirational story to me. I know. But it's always a pleasure to chat with you. Yes, you too. Okay, I'll see you soon. See ya. Hey, Posey, it's so good to have you back on the show. And I really appreciate you being willing to come chat about your membership experience. Always happy to chat.

Well, um, I specifically wanted to talk to you because I feel like you're kind of fresh off the heels of your launch, which happened in March, but but I wanted to get a perspective of somebody who like is, still has that in your memory, because that part that like initial setup, and launch is really the biggest barrier to getting the whole thing going. Once it's up and running. It should be more or less seamless.

So yeah, so I just wanted to kind of hear a little bit more about your experience with that remind me when you kind of dove in and really started working on setting it up. I think it was my goal for February to tackle the course. I don't think it took me more than a few days though. But once I sort of went through each of the steps that I needed to do on my end, I launched in March so I did a I only did it to existing clients. Right. So all the lead

up. You know, I did a bunch of emails lined up and flow desk and teasers and such and then info emails and I did a zoom call for questions. And then yeah, I think I launched like the 21st of March.

Awesome. I know how was that like you I realized photographers are not generally we're not like in launch mode very often so and I was I'm not generally very Sally like I don't send a lot of newsletters out and I don't market to my existing clients a whole lot and so I was a little uncomfortable with that but um They're the amount of feedback like instantly from the first email is just like, this is so

smart. This is brilliant. I mean, I felt a little bit like I was cheating taking credit for your idea, you know, like, I was like, Oh, thanks. Yeah, is really smart. I don't mind at all. But people were just like, so excited. And some people had

questions. And it definitely helped to do like the three or four emails because I watched to open to that, you know, like, Yeah, and I even watched, who opened them multiple times, and then targeted those people specifically, like, emailed them directly to be like, Hey, I think you're interested. That's super smart to ask any questions. And yeah, it went super well, I had I my goal was 20 people. But like, I was like, I'll be happy if 15 sign up. And I got 22. That's amazing. Good

for you. Yeah. And I do think it's worth noting that, you know, I'm a couple of the people that I'm talking to you about this, you know, you have been in business for a long time. So you do have that sort of long term client thing. Tell me a little bit about how your did you go straight by the formula that I present in the, in the course in terms of like, where this matches up with your price point? And how to pitch it? I don't remember exactly. The formula. So I think I went

pretty close. I did. I did all the worksheets, I ran the numbers. My trickiest part was I, because I've been in business for 13 plus years. Now I have clients who have been with me for a really long time, and they don't pay what new clients pay, right. And so I had to figure out a number that wasn't, I mean, my number is more than they paid before. So like, the older clients who signed up, every single one of them, I was like, oh, wow, that's awesome.

Like, they're paying me significantly more than they used to write for not that much more, you know, stuff. And, but I didn't want it to be so much less for new for existing newer clients, because I didn't want to be losing that money. Right. So I had to find a, you know, happy medium. But I was really surprised with who signed up for the largest tier. And it was some of my oldest clients.

Oh, well, that's nice. And, and I think I told you this privately, but like, one of my clients who let me go when I raised my prices some years ago, and then sort of, I think realized that was a mistake. bought in so she's paying me even more than what I raised her to a couple years ago. Yeah, it was like a complete success. That's great, as far as that's concerned. And have you had any of your actual yearbook club sessions yet? Only one, and I've got like five on the calendar.

So that the one thing that I need to remind myself like, set monthly reminders is I'm opening my schedule to them first. Hmm. And so I'm using a scheduler for that. And this is the first time I've ever used a scheduler. So I have to remind myself like, yesterday was June 1, I needed to send an I needed to add another month to my scheduler and send it to them. Because it's open to them before it's open to anybody else. Oh, interesting. While you're doing yours month, they can only book

up to September. No, it's like three months out. Okay. Got it. I need to add in October now, which is going to be busy, right? For sure. So that, you know, like set my give myself a little like, you need to remember to email like make a special newsletter just for them. Like there's a few things I need to follow through on the promise of the bonus thing that they get, you know, yeah, yeah.

And obviously, you those things do just sort of take some setup and whatever, hopefully, year after year, it just becomes kind of turnkey. I will say if you're I only open my calendar twice a year to my members, they can adjust. But I only open it first in August and then in January and so for August, they sign up through January in January, they sign up through August and it's it's I don't want to do that

though. I know doesn't mean that you have to have your stuff together but it I generally find if you have the right number of people in there you can kind of like cluster what you open up so that you give yourself some flexibility. Right idea. Well, that's awesome. Do you have any thoughts to share like anything that you feel like this is something that's for a certain kind of person or not for a certain kind of person? I

don't know. I mean that I doubt Definitely like having I, having the scheduler even a few months out, makes me nervous. Like, I like having full control of my schedule, because I like to plan thing, you know, like now that we can travel again, I don't know, as far as like who it would work for Who wouldn't? I mean, I just think, unless you're completely disorganized, you know, like, yeah, if you're free wheel in it, and I don't think those people are listening to your podcast.

But like, as long as you I would say, having some kind of CRM is very helpful with this, I'm able to sort my, my I called it legacy photo club, and I'm able to sort them like, into their own group. So I can check in on that list, right, like, really easily and, and it makes the scheduler and the propose the contract. All that stuff was just really easy. I used up Sato, the, the thing I did, you know, barely differently than you was I don't

do the studio mini session. So I offered like an alternative school photos. I love it. I do it on location and have like, times they can sign up to bring their kids. Yeah. And for the people who are listening who don't necessarily know what you're referencing, basically, this goes back to that whole concept of tiers where you're giving people added value. I only one person no two people signed up at my lowest tier. Oh, good for you. That's awesome.

And that was the other thing where I was like, you know, that lowest tier needs to be enough. Yeah. Um, and so it is, but so everything else was like, Oh, sweet. Great. I love it. And I did offer a discount to my single parent clients. And to took me up on that. So but it's like 20 bucks less a month, it's not a huge, you know? Well, that's my favorite thing about being a business owner is that you get to do those kinds

of things when you want to. So I have a question for you about adding new people, because I really do strongly believe that this should be with existing clients. Oh, yeah. That's how you sell it. And I agree so much, like I would hate to get booked, booked in or, like this idea that they could cancel their automatic payment, you know, when just screw you over? Shoot, which I just don't think any of my existing clients would

do that. But I just photographed a family last weekend, who I loved and they were like, we're going to work with you. They asked me before I left, what the best way to write a review for me to be and I was like, you can wait till you see your photos. Very nice. But thanks. Um, but I definitely want them in. And like, I think they would be a great family. And so do you open it up to people? Like, I'd like the idea that I know when everybody renews, right? It's

smart, everybody. So with people like that, would you start them right away. So you can do it one of two ways you can either. So in the course, you may remember I, I teach two different launch strategies. One is that sort of once a year, open, closed. And then the other is you offer it on a one off basis. And the downside to the one off basis is exactly what you're saying.

Like, then you have to sort of understand that every month, you're gonna have people over time, you'll end up with people who are coming in and leaving. So you do have to there needs to be some organization around that. It's not super complicated. But there is that.

Yeah. The other thing that you can do is you can tell them, I have a membership, I'm putting you on, you know, my I would like to put you on the list and I will be sending you an invitation and that way they're expecting it, maybe they're excited about it, whatever. And you just that expectation is there and then you just reach out to them when renewal happens. Or it's like the open window so you can do it whatever way works best for your schedule. Awesome. Oh, Posey,

thank you so much. I appreciate it. Well, that was easy. Okay. Have a good one. Bye. You too. Helene, it's so nice to see you. How are you? Hi, Ana, me, thank you so much for having me on. I am good. Just you know, balancing all the things, carrying all the things that is just what we do. Well, I appreciate you taking a few minutes to chat with me here about revenue on repeat. I feel like this is one of those things where, you know, people don't really know what a photo

membership looks like. And so when they're thinking about whether it would work in their business, obviously, it has worked for me, but I'm also curious to chat with the people who have set it up and like actually started bringing members on in their businesses. And so I wanted to talk to you and I appreciate it. Um, so why don't you just like start with A little bit of the backstory in terms of like how long ago you

launched your membership. And you know what you're thinking and goals were then and where you are now. Yeah, so I first met you and heard this whole concept in April, or, yeah, spring of 2000 and 2008, when I was at photo native, and I actually have a business marketing background, and I did not start in photography, I have since moved in with my children and everything. So I understand business. And I understand all that. And when I heard your concept, to me, it was a no

brainer. You know, it's like, that's just smart business. It's just what you do. And so I actually spent that spring and into summer kind of putting it all together, going through your class, which was very, very helpful, the details, the template emails, and I launched the end of summer 2020. And my guy had a set goal, where I wanted to at least just cover my basis business, I guess sales or expenses for

each month. And then anything additional would be, you know, a plus for and so when I launched, I met about half that quota, the end of summer. Yep. And since then, I have gotten to now the quota of where I can cover half of my expenses each month. And on top of that, my members, they just love it, their families, you know, they love the automation of it, they love, we just did our petite sessions a couple weeks ago, and you know, they have the, we just do it in black and white, super

simple. And as of right now, actually, in about 30 minutes, I'm actually launching my second enrollment that I had talked to with you about an idea on ideas, to get a couple more, you know, kind of solid founding members. And then my goal is by the end of the year to have that solid, you know, amount that I want to then cover my expenses. So it's

worked really well. It's also nice that I can continue to build it over the year, because like I said, I got about, you know, double over the year after my enrollment, which is really nice. So yeah, yeah, it's worked out great so far. That's great. And I do you know, I think some people have come to me and said, Well, I don't have that many people to sell it to because I've only been in business for a couple of years. And so like, maybe I'll wait and get it going, once I have a bigger

audience to sell it to. And my feeling is like, you could absolutely start small and just sort of build it as you go. But do you have any thoughts about that? Like, did you see any benefit to having fewer members? right at the beginning versus, you know, now adding more people? Well, I think one thing, you know, um, I think one thing is even if you are starting small, you have those, you build it up and you have those, let's say you have five, even five members that love you, they love

this idea, right? Those five members are going to have especially I found some of my members, they have friends that have kids their age, they're going to have newborns, you have a newborn, oh, I have Helene, she's great, okay, then it's like, Hey, you know, your friend also has, this is what I offer, I'd love to offer that to you, you know, that just doubles and

doubles. So I think even if you can excite, you know, three people that three people can be six people and you know, if you know, you want to be in business in a while, or for a while, and this is something you want to be sustainable, then again, this is just smart business to do whether you have two people, four people, you know, do the launch, get those people excited, get them to get referrals over the year, do a second launch and just, you know, kind of run with it, make

it you know, they say like, fake it till you make it make it like you have a big, you know, make it like you're inviting 40 people, and these four people are part of those 40 people they don't know, they don't know. And I sort of feel like when you're putting on the big show for four people, you feel silly, but they don't think that's silly. And it is a small business, even if it were completely, you know, a big small business, maybe you'd have

I mean, I have 35 members. So like, it's not an that's not 1000 people, right? I feel like if you added five people a year, and you're in business for seven years, and you're 35 members, that would be four years ahead of me if you started out that way. So absolutely. And I've I've gotten overall 11 in one year. So let's say I do the same or even half of that next year, you know, it's just going to get more and more rain. I mean, my my 11 members feel like they are

on top of the world. You know, I tend to them, I do all that for them. And then it also in a way, I think kind of gets your feet wet. like okay, I'm handling these 11 members, you know, I wanted 50 I had 50 names, all these 50 were going to convert and I think you have to you know, I was kind of like man, maybe I shouldn't be doing this. But now that I've served these 11 members, I think it's really like you know, it's that

customer service. And you know, I definitely don't want to take on 15 members now you know financially I did right but to really make this service work in this membership. I want to be one on one and that's not my goal anymore. So I think you know, taking it even steps by steps can be good. Yeah, to know what you can handle what you actually want. Oh, that's a that's a great point. Yeah, absolutely. That's awesome. Do you have any other thoughts or wisdom to share advice? for anybody who is

planning on doing it? Well, let me ask you this actually, because this episode is going live in the summer, did you feel like late summer was a good time for your first launch? I do. Um, like I said, I'm doing my second enrollment right now. And the reason I did that was because the first match was good. I would recommend though you think about especially if you're not a parent, think about school times, right? So if you do the middle of July, people are on vacation, but not starting that.

So that's why I did mine more the end of summer like the late of August, because I didn't want to wait again till next year, I want to do but you know, end of August, when you have all the moms are settled with their kids back in school, or at least some type of routine and they'll look at their emails. So I think that was good. I think now I'm doing it the beginning this summer, because I want to try to build

that over there. And the reason I am doing it so soon in summer is because I didn't want to wait until the end December again, because I knew the middle of summer is just awful. You know, I'm a mom myself, right. And we have a million things going on. But I knew the first two weeks of June, people are kind of finishing up the year, you know, that kind of thing I would say is my one biggest tip, as well as looking at times of year is also to be in communication with

them. So for me, I just felt like okay, I ask them, and I'm gonna send them an email. So if they wanted, that's great. You know, I didn't follow up with people I didn't want to be

pushy. And this time, I'm kind of like, you know, hi, Susie, like, you know, I just send out, um, you know, the email, let me know, if you have any questions, you know, 24 hours before is when the email sent, and I'm gonna send everybody this morning like, hey, Susie, you know, I just want to let you know, the enrollment went out. It's officially live. I'm so excited. I hope this is something your family can value

from? Let me know if not, and really make them give me an answer and follow up with them. Because I think I was so timid. But again, you reach out to for people, they don't know if you're reaching out to just for a man or 40 people. Yeah, you know, so I think I wish in the beginning, I would have followed up with that. Because I had a lot of clients who I asked, Who then still booked with me. And so it's like, oh, do you ask them? Do you not like where they

stand with it? And so I think I spent a lot of time on my end that I shouldn't have. It's like we're adults, yes or no question. Do you want to do not, you know, and Absolutely. And I actually feel like, it's really great to get someone to where they give you an answer one way or the other, you know, especially if this is somebody you know, you've worked with them? Because if they don't, chances are if they're like me, it's just a matter of like, Oh, yeah, yeah, I need to look at

that later. I need to look at that later. And then it just falls off the map. So I think if you You know, I've had I myself have done this. And I've had students who have done this where they're like texting somebody being like, Hey, I saw you haven't signed up yet it closes today. Is that are you planning on signing up? And like getting people and then saying exactly that, like, oh, thank you so much for reminding me. So, yeah, Grammy, you have to be right. You do

pinnable. And I don't even think it's tacky or scrappy or anything. I think it's just smart business again, you know, I mean, I'm busy with my mom, too, you know? Oh, yeah, that's right. Or I do want to or Thank you. And thank you. Yeah, let's just settle the issue. You know, do you want it Do not? Is it a fit? Isn't it not a fit? It's not about do you want to give me money or not? those clients ended up booking with me. And then it's like, do you bring it

up again? Do you not What do you say, you know, so that would be on piece of advice. Just, you know, be straight with it. Hey, I sent you this information because you said you were interested. Are you still interested? It's closing I just wanted to make sure you know, you know, make it about them. That was my piece of advice. That's awesome advice. Oh, holy and thank you so much for taking the time. I am sure this is hugely valuable for everybody. And and yeah, I'll

talk to you soon. I'll see you in the Facebook group. Sounds good. Thank you call you do appreciate it. Bye bye. So there you have it. If you are listening to this somewhat around the time that it drops in the summer of 2021. And you're interested in getting a membership started in your own business before the busy season hits this fall. Now is the time revenue on repeat is getting a whole facelift this summer that should be live by the end of

June. And then in August and the beginning part of August I am going to be hosting a live bonus training for anyone who owns revenue on repeat and wants some extra help prior to their late summer lunch. So go over and grab a copy of the course at this can't be that hard comm slash club. Well, that's it for this week's episode of this can't be that hard. I'll be back soon. Same time, same place next week.

In the meantime, you can find more information about this episode along with all the relevant links, notes and downloads at this can't be that hard comm slash learn. If you like the podcast be sure to hit the subscribe button. Even better, share the love by leaving a review on iTunes. And as always, thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have a fantastic week.