Printing Money: Using Subscriptions to Create Recurring Revenue
You know what’s nice?
Money.
And do you know what makes it even better? Getting it on a regular basis! Having a normal 9-5 job is one way to do this (boring), but another is to offer subscription-based content to your audience!
We are all familiar with subscriptions at this point. Whether it’s for streaming services, music, supplements, or foodstuffs, there is probably at least one subscription hitting your bank account every month. Subscriptions are not only great for consumers, making it easy to receive goods or services on a consistent basis, but they are also great for creators.
Introducing a subscription for your audience can add value, help you accurately plan finances month over month, and build a sustainable community of fans and followers.
We’ve talked about building communities before and how that can lead to subscription opportunities, but today I want to focus more on how to build a subscription with print-on-demand.
Why Launch a Subscription Service?
Subscriptions offer an opportunity to engage your audience and build a community in a unique and tangible way. I’ll share some examples of what this might look like for you, but authors and content creators alike can use this strategy. Creating a subscription service gives your audience a reason to regularly check-in and look forward to your content. It also adds a level of exclusivity - this is not content for everyone - VIPs only. Introducing a subscription can spur conversations, prompt reflection, or suggest activities that would interest your audience. All of these things can encourage engagement online or in person, depending on your audience and goals.
There are several popular subscription management services you may be aware of, like Patreon, Substack, or YouTube Memberships. These platforms offer creators a homebase for their communities where they can provide exclusive content for a monthly fee and connect with their superfans. These digital subscriptions are great, offering instant access to your content and allowing fans and followers to connect with you 24/7. However, there is an often overlooked opportunity here for you to offer something surprising and original to your audience in the form of print media.
Adding a Book to Your Subscriptions
Including print products in your subscriptions can offer a tactile experience that expands your reach on and offline. Having an extensive library of online content is great, but it can be challenging to navigate if your followers are looking for something specific. Grouping similar content together and providing it in the form of a magazine, photo book, cookbook, notebook or activity book can give your audience a new way to interact with your content, even if they’re not near a screen. It can also help you repurpose popular content and share it in a new way.
If you are creating travel content, a quarterly bucket list planner can help keep your audience engaged and looking forward to the mail and their next adventure. If you are a fashion vlogger, a zine highlighting emerging trends or up-and-coming designers can help you keep your audience interested in your content and in style throughout the seasons.
Fiction authors can use subscriptions to serialize content and release stories in installments. Nonfiction authors can provide frameworks or methodologies that build on each other and deliver results relevant to your content, like more productivity, better focus, or honing in on a specific skill set over time. Maybe you teach people how to garden, and each quarter you send out information on seasonal plants and tips on how to enjoy your garden year-round.
Fitness influencers can provide workouts, meal trackers, and grocery lists. If you are creating children’s books or content for a younger audience, activity books or coloring books are a great way to cut down on screen time and boost creativity.
Regardless of your niche or genre, there’s probably an opportunity for you to create a subscription from your content. If I haven’t mentioned anything that resonates yet, here are a few more ideas to get you started.
Subscription Product Ideas:
- Magazine/zine
- Quote book
- Monthly/quarterly planner
- Monthly/quarterly challenges
- Meal planner
- Fitness planner
- Habit tracker
- Writing prompts
- Book planner
- Gratitude journals
- Book club subscription
- Novellas/serial fiction
- Activity books
- Scavenger hunts
- Industry reports
- Cookbooks
- Travel guides
- Anthologies
- Essay collections
- Curated collection of photos, essays, or poems submitted by your community
- End-of-year round-up of your best-performing content
Your subscription content can be one piece of your overall marketing plan. Remember that every product you offer via subscription can include CTAs to your other platforms. Invite your audience to follow you on social media, attend your events, tune into your podcast, or sign up for other products or services.
Tips For Launching Your Subscription
Once you have decided that launching a print subscription is right for you, the first step is to create your content. We’ve provided a few ideas of what that might look like, but ultimately, it is up to you to decide what will make the most sense for your audience. Just be sure to give yourself enough time to order a proof copy of your content so you can make sure everything looks perfect before sending it out into the world.
After that, you will have to tell people. Invite your audience to sign up for your subscription through the platform of your choice, or something as simple as a Google form. Use your email list and social media platforms to get the word out and let people know their mailboxes are about to get a lot more interesting.
As you start to send out your subscription content, be sure to connect with your customers to see what they think. This will not only help you build relationships with your audience but also help you identify your true fans and your niche. When you receive feedback, pay attention. This is your ideal audience telling you exactly what they want.
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How to Use Print-On-Demand to Launch a Subscription
Print-on-demand is the perfect foundation for a subscription service for several reasons. If you have read, watched, or listened to any of the content we have been pumping out over the last two decades, you may have heard some of these before, but it's worth repeating. With print-on-demand, you can create exactly the amount of content you need on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis to keep up with your subscribers. You can also easily make changes or update your work as it evolves.
Print-on-demand offers multiple different product variations, including magazines, calendars, planners, notebooks, journals, and more, so you can find the right format to make your content stand out.
When it comes time to fulfill your subscriptions, Lulu makes it easy with our Order Import Tool. All you need to do is create a CSV file with the names and addresses of your subscribers, then add the product information for what they should receive. Upload the CSV file and voila! Lulu gets to work fulfilling and delivering each order.
Subscriptions open up new possibilities for your business and your customers. Adding a new way for your fans and followers to interact with your content can help build a community around your brand and keep your audience wanting more.
