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Newsletter #749: The “Start a Club” Issue

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Clubs can be fantastic ways to reward and regularly communicate with the folks that love your stuff. Here are three examples worth exploring:

1> A monthly club
2> A fan club
3> A VIP club
4> Check it out: Listverse

1> A monthly club

Try creating a club for people who love your stuff to get regular doses of your latest or most popular creations. Fans of Threadless, for example, can subscribe to their “12 Club,” which means they’ll get a new T-shirt every month for a year. If you’re always coming out with new products or your service company offers regular repairs or upgrades, try selling them as a subscription rather than one-off products.

The Lesson: A single sale means you’ve sold them once, but a subscription means you’ve sold them for a year.

Learn More: 12 Club

2> A fan club

Start a club designed primarily for the people that love your stuff to get the latest news, the sneak peeks, and the chance to meet others who love you as much as they do. Wisconsin-based Ian’s Pizza has a fantastic fan club that’s incredibly easy to join — just drop your name and email at their website and you’ll get first notice of specials, events, and the occasional email on the company. They even pick a monthly “Fanatic of the Month” to interview and highlight on their website. Start your club with a simple newsletter and a few events bringing everyone together.

The Lesson: A group of dedicated fans who have given you permission to contact them is a fantastic asset when launching a new product or testing a new word of mouth topic.

3> A VIP club

Reward your frequent visitors or those looking for some extra special service by offering a VIP club. Rock Bottom’s Mug Club members receive their own personalized mug at the bar, invites to brewery events, and points for frequent visits that can later be redeemed for prizes. Your club could be as advanced as giving VIP members exclusive content or extra service perks, or as simple as reserved tables and a special menu.

The Lesson: A VIP club not only encourages members to keep coming back, it also gives them a reason to recruit friends to join them.

Learn More: Rock Bottom’s Mug Club

4> Check it out: Listverse

We could get hundreds of check it outs from this one site alone, but it’s probably more efficient if you just go and pick your favorites. Listverse is a collection of daily Top 10’s, and recent highlights include “10 Nursery Rhymes and Their Origins,” “Top 10 Bizarre Dating Websites,” and “Top 10 Amazing Lost or Suppressed Inventions.”

Check it out: Listverse

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