Why the subscription model is the way forward for monetising your expertise
There is a definite ‘credibility gap’ occurring with a view to free content, which the market definitely is saturated with, says Kellie Whitehead, and Jennifer Blandos
Kellie Whitehead (right), Founding Partner and Jennifer Blandos, Managing Partner of Female Fusion Network
Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney +, and remember that gym membership?
The subscription model is nothing new to most UAE households, as well as more media outlets moving behind a paywall, the ‘pay to play’ economy is thriving.
In e-commerce, the ‘monthly drop’ for beauty products, groceries, home care and even pajamas, satisfies from both an essential ‘re-stock’ and also one of surprise and treat, an act of self care that everyone seems to need right now.
Beyond product, there is also a global explosion in self development as a subscription or ‘membership’ model and it is one we have embraced at Female Fusion Network as a business model and also advocate as a way to package knowledge and expertise as a way of crating semi-passive and recurring income for people looking to take their business from a one to one service to a ‘one to many’ way to stop trading time for money.
Hugely popular in other parts of the world, a membership model essentially sees subscribers pay a monthly fee for access to knowledge, learning, and in our case, community, support and offline networking on top.
We offer business and self-development masterclasses via webinar, 50 percent discounts on wider Female fusion events, and a monthly face to face ‘coffee connect’ and accountability circles to the members of Network by Female Fusion who pay a recurring monthly fee for inclusive access.
As a model, it works for women with intention, who enjoy the curated community, networking and growth opportunities the membership brings. As a business, it helps us have a foundation of recurring income to build and create more impact for women in business in the UAE.
Passive, or more truthfully, semi-passive income is a popular way for content creators and service providers to sell their expertise online in a format that suits their audience.
A membership model essentially sees subscribers pay a monthly fee for access to knowledge and learning
The past year has seen a huge rise in the creation of digital courses and this market is only set to grow as the UAE becomes more comfortable with online learning.
For the creators in the region, we hope to see more embrace the opportunities that offering digital products, courses and memberships brings.
With a low barrier to entry (licensing costs not withstanding) we know that personal development and learning options can be as low tech as delivering paid content via email or newsletter, unlisted video tutorials via YouTube or similar, through to full multi-media course creation via specific platforms such as Kajabi, Thinkific, Membervault, Teachable or Udemy.
With the need for more flexible work options more necessary than ever, this type of business is exceedingly popular amongst women, able to utilise existing skills or pivot an offline business into online.
Subscriptions make your content a reusable asset, and the work is generally automated – you can literally sell whilst you sleep when your digital products are created, uploaded and available to buy online, to as many people as you can attract.
Of course, in order to sell, you need people to sell to and now is a great time for anyone in the UAE to consider doing so. Compared to other parts of the world, Dubai and the Emirates in general are relatively untapped.
Subscriptions make your content a reusable asset
We are most definitely seeing a catch up, but there is still a long way to go. Importantly, once delivering online, your audience becomes global, so there is no need to limit yourself to just a UAE market.
People buy people, but they also value things they pay for more than a freebie. Whilst 2020 saw a raft of free webinars on every subject under the son locally, and there is very little you cannot find for free on the wider web, subscription and membership models build communities, and this is the biggest driver to member retention.
There is a definite ‘credibility gap’ occurring with a view to free content, which the market definitely is saturated with. This attaches a higher perceived value to paid content and eradicates pure vanity metrics.
Delivering ‘one to many’ style – still spending time and effort creating on behalf of your subscribers, means that you can offer a lower price point on entry than say, one to one coaching or in person workshops.
From training pets, to training abdominals, to sharing recipes, make up tips or ‘lessons’ of any kind – we encourage businesses and solopreneurs to embrace the opportunities that semi-passive income models provide, in a market that is yet to embrace it fully.
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by Staff Writer
More of this topic
Why the subscription model is the way forward for monetising your expertise
There is a definite ‘credibility gap’ occurring with a view to free content, which the market definitely is saturated with, says Kellie Whitehead, and Jennifer Blandos
Kellie Whitehead (right), Founding Partner and Jennifer Blandos, Managing Partner of Female Fusion Network
Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney +, and remember that gym membership?
The subscription model is nothing new to most UAE households, as well as more media outlets moving behind a paywall, the ‘pay to play’ economy is thriving.
In e-commerce, the ‘monthly drop’ for beauty products, groceries, home care and even pajamas, satisfies from both an essential ‘re-stock’ and also one of surprise and treat, an act of self care that everyone seems to need right now.
Beyond product, there is also a global explosion in self development as a subscription or ‘membership’ model and it is one we have embraced at Female Fusion Network as a business model and also advocate as a way to package knowledge and expertise as a way of crating semi-passive and recurring income for people looking to take their business from a one to one service to a ‘one to many’ way to stop trading time for money.
Hugely popular in other parts of the world, a membership model essentially sees subscribers pay a monthly fee for access to knowledge, learning, and in our case, community, support and offline networking on top.
We offer business and self-development masterclasses via webinar, 50 percent discounts on wider Female fusion events, and a monthly face to face ‘coffee connect’ and accountability circles to the members of Network by Female Fusion who pay a recurring monthly fee for inclusive access.
As a model, it works for women with intention, who enjoy the curated community, networking and growth opportunities the membership brings. As a business, it helps us have a foundation of recurring income to build and create more impact for women in business in the UAE.
Passive, or more truthfully, semi-passive income is a popular way for content creators and service providers to sell their expertise online in a format that suits their audience.
The past year has seen a huge rise in the creation of digital courses and this market is only set to grow as the UAE becomes more comfortable with online learning.
For the creators in the region, we hope to see more embrace the opportunities that offering digital products, courses and memberships brings.
With a low barrier to entry (licensing costs not withstanding) we know that personal development and learning options can be as low tech as delivering paid content via email or newsletter, unlisted video tutorials via YouTube or similar, through to full multi-media course creation via specific platforms such as Kajabi, Thinkific, Membervault, Teachable or Udemy.
With the need for more flexible work options more necessary than ever, this type of business is exceedingly popular amongst women, able to utilise existing skills or pivot an offline business into online.
Subscriptions make your content a reusable asset, and the work is generally automated – you can literally sell whilst you sleep when your digital products are created, uploaded and available to buy online, to as many people as you can attract.
Of course, in order to sell, you need people to sell to and now is a great time for anyone in the UAE to consider doing so. Compared to other parts of the world, Dubai and the Emirates in general are relatively untapped.
We are most definitely seeing a catch up, but there is still a long way to go. Importantly, once delivering online, your audience becomes global, so there is no need to limit yourself to just a UAE market.
People buy people, but they also value things they pay for more than a freebie. Whilst 2020 saw a raft of free webinars on every subject under the son locally, and there is very little you cannot find for free on the wider web, subscription and membership models build communities, and this is the biggest driver to member retention.
There is a definite ‘credibility gap’ occurring with a view to free content, which the market definitely is saturated with. This attaches a higher perceived value to paid content and eradicates pure vanity metrics.
Delivering ‘one to many’ style – still spending time and effort creating on behalf of your subscribers, means that you can offer a lower price point on entry than say, one to one coaching or in person workshops.
From training pets, to training abdominals, to sharing recipes, make up tips or ‘lessons’ of any kind – we encourage businesses and solopreneurs to embrace the opportunities that semi-passive income models provide, in a market that is yet to embrace it fully.
Kellie Whitehead, Founding Partner and Jennifer Blandos, Managing Partner of Female Fusion Network
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