As individuals grow frustrated with the burdens of owning, caring for, and storing too much stuff, they are looking for ways to minimize that stress. They are also experiencing a need for meaningful connection and community.

When you price for value, you focus on what the member wants, which is best for everyone. The challenge comes when the perceived and actual needs of the member change over time—which they always do.

Everyone wants to crack the subscription code. The challenge is that subscription models require discipline and consistency, tempered with constant tinkering.

The more the organization understands its customers’ needs, wants, behaviors, and attitudes—that is, much more than their raw demographics—the better it can serve those needs.

Membership is an attitude, an emotion. A subscription is a financial arrangement.

membership appeals to the members too, because membership provides recognition, stability, and convenience while connecting people to one another.

Membership and community are related and overlap, but they aren’t the same. Membership, as we’ve discussed, is about a formal, ongoing relationship between organization and member. Community is about connection and communication among a group of people with shared interests.

The Membership Economy brings together my two loves, business and psychology. It gets its power from connecting to deep human needs.

Membership is about connection and access over privacy and ownership—and not everyone values these the same way.