The month I almost killed my membership, I raised my prices

Let me take you back to April 2024. My online community, Kindred Club, is in triage. Members are leaving left and right. I’ve been running the membership for three years at this point, and I have not been able to break the 40-member mark. I’m still pouring hours into creating resources for the community, but my efforts and enthusiasm are beginning to dwindle alongside membership numbers. I’m making less money. Members aren’t that engaged. There was a workshop where not a single person attended. Not a single person. Kindred Club bottomed out the previous year with only 24 members at one point. 

The amount of time I was pouring into the membership and the money paid out to contributors had reached a point where it was actually costing me money to run the membership program. Not ideal. I felt gutted and rejected. Here I was pouring so much into something and not getting anything in return. I started to worry I was actually alienating some of my most fervent supporters as a result of a membership community whose purpose was to do the exact opposite—bring people together. 

I spent a lot of time that month considering whether or not it made sense to continue. What could I do differently? Is it a messaging issue? Why was the offering not enough to keep people there? Was it me? Was I charging too much? Maybe I’m not really offering anything worthwhile? Maybe I’m just spinning my wheels? 

Now that I think about it, there were those few weeks that I was wrapped up in running my retail shop. It was definitely then. The members didn’t hear from me for a few weeks, so that must be why they left. 

It was in the midst of this spiral that I almost closed down Kindred Club. I couldn’t see the path forward. I couldn’t see how to make it work. It certainly didn’t make a lick of sense with the way it was currently operating. I had poured so much into it over the past 3 years. I decided I couldn’t give up without one last ditch effort. It was time for a Hail Mary. 

A constant state of too muchness

As someone who loves marketing but often finds myself in the position of “do as I say, not as I do” in my own work, I decided to bring in a little outside help to look at my messaging and strategy. I worked through a few strategic sessions with Mallory Musante, a Fractional CMO and Marketing Strategist. In the same way I love to get readings from other tarot readers, I find working with other strategists indispensable when it comes to my personal work and business. Even when I know what needs to be done, it is so hard to see it when you’re so close to the work. 

As with all good strategy, we started with an audit of what was actually in the membership. What was the value? What were the actual things members received? And what transformation would they experience through membership? How am I showing them that?

I had committed myself to the story that I have nothing of value to offer and that’s why I can’t attract or retain members. When I walked through the audit with Mallory and explained what was in the membership program, she looked at me like I was a little crazy, and said, “Your pricing is way too low.”

Wait. What?