I started a tech support membership in 20201, just as the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was stirring. Membership models were just starting to take off and I thought it would be a great way to be paid for what I was, typically, giving away for free in other people’s memberships. Y’all. No one prepares you for how fucking stressful it is to run a membership2, especially in unprecedented times.
But I stuck it out. I restructured several times. People came, and people left, and some people have stuck around from the beginning. But in 2023, I was ready to throw in the towel.
I loved the membership. I loved the people in it. I loved helping. I wanted to help more! I had one last pivot or restructuring left in me. I mapped it out. I planned for it. I designed the new website and systems. I was ready to go. I was excited.
I notified members that I was splitting The Fiery Well and The Coworking Coven up and that I’d be changing the pricing structure from $11/month (our lowest priced tier) to $99/per year. I’d refunded their last payments and cancelled their subscriptions. I gave them a month free as a thank you for sticking through the switch up.
But as I was hitting send on that email, as I was hitting publish on that post… something still felt… wrong. Off. Not right in my gut. Not right in my heart.
A few days later, while putting the final touches on the website before its launch there was a nagging in the back of my mind. A whispering: Drop the subscription model. Just do it. Drop the subscription model.
I listened to the voice and changed the price on the website.
I changed “per year” to “once.” Just as a test to see how it looked. How it felt.
And everything clicked. My heart felt light. My shoulders relaxed.
It was aligned with the value of the service. It was refreshing. It was honest. It was accessible.
Is it sustainable? This is, of course, the ultimate experiment. I look forward to finding out.
But for now, you can join The Coworking Coven for one payment of $99. No monthly fees. No yearly subscription. Pay once and be a member forever.
- The Fiery Well & The Wellspring – marketed as access to a professional web developer in your pocket. 24 hour access to me. ↩︎
- A coach used my testimonial about their launch incubator to take credit for my membership success to help launch her membership success program. She ultimately closed her own membership and now pushes other bullshit. ↩︎