Lifetime memberships, do they really make sense?
Have you considered implementing this membership model in your business because you feel like you are stuck?
But, to what extent does it make sense to introduce a “lifelong” method into your membership?
Throughout this article we are going to explain what it means to have a Lifetime membership and if it is actually a good idea or if it is simply a brake on you and your business.
By the way, remember that you can join the Membership Club for free and receive an Exclusive Masterclass every Friday in your inbox.
Lifetime Memberships: What Does It Mean?
Having a lifetime membership implies that one of the payment options has to give the possibility of accessing the membership for life.
An example is the case of Sin Oficina. Although now they no longer have it available, for a time they allowed their users – especially the most pioneers – to join for life and not worry about paying more.
That is where one of its main advantages is. It gives you a very interesting initial flow of money, with users who are likely to leave the membership sooner rather than later.
The biggest problem? The fact that the income from now on will no longer be recurring.
And this is something you also have to play with. Therefore, you should focus your efforts on acquisition over retention.
Without a long-term plan, you’re going to give yourself a big smack.
Look…
When it comes to selling a lifetime membership, we will also sell at a higher price to compensate us for our commitment.
And it is also very important to understand what will happen if you decide to go out of business. Because from said to fact there is a stretch in this case.
There is a big problem in this regard, because when a person agrees to be part of a lifetime membership, they take it at face value.
Forever.
Whether or not there are more updates.
Define exactly what “lifetime” means and you will avoid many annoyances
Imagine it.
Your membership no longer gives more income. It is not profitable at all and you have to make the horrible decision to close. Leave this stage behind and try your luck in another sector or business model.
What about people who had paid for that membership for life but didn’t know what it meant?
Many people take everything at face value. And for life means during his life.
So they expected to have access to your membership, with its updates and benefits until they kicked the bucket. And this may be the big mistake of going crazy with this method.
To avoid this type of problem, you must define what exactly “lifetime” means in your membership.
That is, at the time you are going to acquire it, you must write down what will happen if the business closes.
An example would be:
“With the lifetime membership you will have access to all the contents of the membership and those that we update until the end of our days.”
Emphasizing this small paragraph, then you can add a clarifying page that explains the terms and conditions of that service and there you stipulate that in the case of closing, the membership would be terminated.
It happens in ten years or tomorrow.
And, for this, it is important that you sign those terms and conditions.
You will cover your back and the client will not be able to claim you.
You will end up working for free
Or that, at least, will be your perception in some cases.
Because by implementing a lifetime membership, there will come a point where you will go to work for these subscribers for free.
Que por mucho que te hayan pagado al principio, habrá llegado a un punto en el que parezca que estás trabajando gratis.
Think about it. If you joined the lifetime membership ten years ago for € 1,000, you haven’t had that money for a long time.
The price they have paid is never enough.
When should you apply for a Lifetime membership?
If after reading everything we have told you you are still wondering when it is better to apply for a lifetime membership, keep reading.
Because although it seems that we have only told you the less beautiful part of this method, the truth is that there are some occasions when leaving this style of membership can be very positive:
- As an introductory offer.
- After analyzing the behavior of your subscribers.
- As a special offer on specific dates.
- Or with a series of restrictions.
Let’s see them one by one.
Like an introductory offer
When you start with your membership, you may find it difficult to find people who are willing to pay one more membership, so as a way to get their attention, launching a lifetime launch offer can be a good strategy.
And even to make it more attractive, it could have an exclusive number of seats:
“Only the first hundred people will be eligible for the lifetime method. Pay once and stay forever.
Something that is exclusive, that helps you launch yourself and that generates a series of clients who already know you and recommend you to other people.
After analyzing the behavior of your subscribers
If after launching your business, you find that your subscribers’ retention rate is low and that they cancel after two or three months, it is an interesting way to apply this method.
As a special offer on specific dates
As with the option to use it for a launch, taking advantage of a special date can also be a good time to choose to take this method out.
Black Friday, Christmas or even an anniversary.
An offer that is only available during that limited time and that does not allow you to stop earning all the recurring payments that you could achieve with monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual memberships.
With a series of restrictions
To make having people in a lifetime membership profitable, there is the possibility that you offer it without some features, services or opportunities that people who have a recurring membership do have.
For instance:
- Not having access to the live shows that are made.
- Not being able to be part of the exclusive community.
- Not accessing certain downloadable, videos or content …
All so that, in the end, they choose to keep the option that is most profitable for you, but that they have the opportunity to choose what is best for them.
Then what do I do?
It all depends on your specific situation, what you want to do, your business and sector … Our recommendation is that if you want to add a lifetime membership, place it and try to see what happens with it.
However, we think there may be other recurring membership styles that could be much more beneficial to you in the long run.
For now, we are going to close the topic and tell you that if you want to know more information about memberships and how you can get the most out of yours, we want to invite you to the Memberships Club.
A totally free mailing list in which you will receive a masterclass written about this exciting world every Friday.
So you can take notes and get the most out of your own.
Will we see you there?
