Creative Career Idea 💡 Sell a Monthly Subscription to Your Work

Hello, recurring revenue (not just for 'adult coloring monthly' subscription boxes anymore 🤷‍♀️)

Yo, yo, yo! It’s time for our fun weekly series called “The Coolest Creative Careers in the World for 2024.” 🌈 💀 Each week you’ll get a new creative career idea sent to your inbox designed to get the wheels turning, see things from a new perspective, and help you figure out your next great chapter (without binge-eating too many french fries). Let’s dive in!

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So! I just ate a giant hunk of Italian bread so I AM READY TO BRING TODAY’S CREATIVE CAREER IDEA.

It’s called “bread taster.”

I kid, I kid! (Though wouldn’t a brand that goes around the world reviewing bread actually be amazing?????????? Like the guy who travels around the world reviewing pizza? Why isn’t anyone doing this????? All you’d have to do is create a fun video concept, pile up some followers, then turn on YouTube ads and let ‘er rip. Actually, we’ll be talking about that next week, and how making money on YouTube works, so make sure you’re subscribed! 👇)

For nowwww, however, I wanted to share something I’ve been seeing crop up as a mega trend—and something that would be *great* for anyone who sells a traditional service (or has been thinking about selling a service).

Are you ready for this monster?

This week’s creative career idea is selling a subscription to your work. And, here’s what I mean!

Take newcomer Slidejoy.

I am nearly 100% sure this is one person, who’s put out a branded service—and not a huge agency, despite how it may appear.

Contrast this with what most designers would tend to do. Most designers typically set up a website that’s branded to their first and last name, and then offer a whole slew of different offerings of everything they can do. The more offerings they (naturally) figure, the more odds they’ll have at getting hired. So, as a result?

We get thousands of generic, vague websites using a person’s first and last name, like “www.marthabenson.com.” And Martha Benson probably drives a sensible sedan, has exactly two cardigans (one for work, one for church), and enjoys a nice cup of chamomile tea before bed.

Sacrilege! We all know hot lemon tea is the only tea.

Anyway, the internet is a bottomless sewer pipe of lies, so if you ever thought that branding your website to your first and last name was a clever marketing move, you were probably high.

OKAY, FINE. YOU WEREN’T HIGH. I AM JUST FAMOUS FOR HATING FIRST & LAST NAMES AS BRANDS. That’s because they express nothing. They evoke no emotion. They share no point of view. They're the "Jaden Smith tweets" of late night talk shows. The only way this approach actually works is if you share enough content, for a long enough time, that people start to associate your name with something—if they pay attention long enough. I mean, I tried to pay attention for ten minutes today and it was excruciating.

So, in the meantime, you might as well be knitting in your pajamas in the woods of Kentucky somewhere. Which actually sounds great. Shit.

ANYWAY, I do have a point. First, we’ve got the whole first name / last name strike against us, but then we’ve ALSO got the “offers every service under the sun” strike against us, too, because let’s face it: if Martha Benson the graphic designer puts up a website called www.marthabenson.com, it’s going to offer precisely 27 different services she can perform, from illustrations of sushi to sex stuff. But, like, hopefully not. I don’t want to ever see “sushi” and “sex” in the same sentence ever again.

This makes it fundamentally difficult to become known for anything, unless you’ve got an bootyload of money to pay for ads and just keep shoving yourself in people’s faces.

Most people do not have that.

Thus!

The best way to become known is to create a memorable brand concept—and let it do the talking for you.

That’s what Slidejoy is doing here: they’ve taken the rudest, most nauseating part of being an adult—AKA making Powerpoint slides—and they’ve eliminated the problem for you.

You work on what matters. We’ll handle the slides.

Have you ever heard anything so glorious? And, do you know how many people you would probably tell about this, the next time you hear someone groaning about having to making endless Powerpoints? That’s the beauty of specificity: you instantly become known for something.

I’m suuuure the person at Slidejoy can also design logos and email banners and tiny little twee illustrations for your sister’s baby shower, but there is a difference between what you actually can do, and what you advertise you do.

This is the lost art of brand positioning, airing tonight on ABC.

Okay, okay, I’ll get off the pulpit. But actually, if you are someone who wants to make bank selling a service, this is a really promising way.

• You take away one specific problem for people

• Then, you let them pay you for it over and over and over again

Slidejoy, for example, is focused primarily on selling presentation design as a monthly subscription service.

You subscribe. You get unlimited presentations. You can pause or cancel anytime.

They charge 999€ /month ($1,114.63 USD).

Which is $13,375 / year.

Per client.

To earn 6 figures, you’d only need 7 clients.

And, how lovely not to have to spend all your time scrambling around, looking for more work? This model is THE ultimate hot-biz model when it comes to selling services.

Even more impressively, however, is that they also have a very organized, controlled, sane client interaction process. They use Trello, and clients simply upload new content they need designed into Trello—without needing to send long-winded back and forth emails or get on another call or send yet another email because the last one left out three things. They just upload the content into Trello, and then receive finished, branded slides within 72 hours. And, if they have more than one presentation they need? They just upload ‘em into the queue, and each one gets done sequentially.

I cannot tell you how much I adore this model for its burnout bumpers. Burnout bumpers are the BEST. The #1 reason people burn out with client work isn’t the work, it’s the emotional labor of managing excitable clients.

I’ll be writing more Thursday about some of my most favorite, useful burnout bumpers you can incorporate into your biz, so make sure you’re a paid subscriber to get my Thursday advice column. 💥 🧨 💀👇

ANYWAY, instead of setting up a typical service-based business where you twerk yourself out doing constant one-night stands one-off gigs, it’s worth considering how you might be able to set up a calm, collected subscription-based business model for your work.

Not only does this streamline everything, but it also significantly raises your average customer value (AVC).

And, before you say it—oh hell yes, there are plenty of people who would pay for a monthly subscription at ~$1K/month. In fact, there are plenty of people—especially businesses—who would be thrilled to pay that.

Don’t discount your own great ideas just because of *your* money story. Think strategically about who can afford it—and would be giddy to have it.

• Script writers could target YouTubers or podcast hosts who need content constantly created

• Photographers could set up a subscription for personal brand creators to get fresh head shots every quarter, where you just show up, do the shoot, and bounce (they are so needed! I haven’t done new ones in forever just bc it’s such a hassle!)

• Wardrobe stylists could target folks who fly often for business, and need fresh, stylish outfits at the ready (omg, a dream to have all of the accessories and everything just THERE, in my size, in a vacuum-sealed bag prepped for my suitcase) (also, wardrobe stylists are soooo in need for course creators who are always doing videos and need to look sharp on camera, just FYI)

• Set designers could target folks who produce video content regularly - and need a refresh on their video background / office space every quarter so it doesn’t end up all looking the same and feeling monotonous (I know I’m using lots of examples related to content creators, but that’s because this is a column about the most relevant trending careers right now…and this is a segment who has the money and the need for these things)

• Garden designers could target folks with gorgeous homes who have neglected their landscaping, and offer to come in every season to do a seasonal refresh on their gardens (I would *so* hire someone to help me with this. In fact, I found this INCREDIBLE biz that is—you guessed it!!!—a subscription service out of London called Window Fleur that sends you “ready-planted window boxes” every season. I was obsessed! But, of course, can’t get delivered to the USA.) (If you know of any great services like this in the states, don’t leave me hanging in the comments!)
  

• You know another one I’ve always wished existed??? Seasonal decorating boxes that operate like Rent the Runway, but for home decor. You get on a subscription, every season / holiday they send you fresh new, on-trend decor, along with a box with a return label on it, where you plop last season’s stuff and send back to them. This would ensure your home always looks bangin’, without you having to store a bunch of decorations all the time—AND, without you getting sick of the same decorations every year. If someone is already doing this, please let me know!!! I’d be your #1 fan.

• Right now, I’m also signed up for a Naked Wines subscription. They send you 12 new bottles of wine every month from super cool independent wineries around the world. It saves me so much time and hassle, and is particularly great when you’re renovating a farmhouse in the sticks without access to quality wine. 🤣 I know these are products, not services, but it’s totally worth mentioning to get the wheels turning.

Sure, there are some folks whose business does *not* naturally lend itself to a subscription model—lookin’ at you, every wedding photographer on earth—but that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative. 🎨

What you advertise that you sell—i.e. wedding photography—is only the hook. Once they become a client, however, that’s when the relationship really begins. 🎉

If I were a wedding photographer, I would 100% upsell my clients to a yearly subscription service that now carries the story forward. Why not get them on a yearly family photo shoot plan, documenting their growth of their first 5 years of marriage? Why not propose it as an annual tradition? Why not make it a special time every year, right around the time of their wedding anniversary? Why not pitch it this way?

You might feel like a salesy creep, but not when you learn to view it the right way. You aren’t being salesy, you’re eliminating a problem for them—and that is the problem of being too busy / stressed out / overwhelmed to properly document their own happiness. Imagine what a relief it would be, knowing you got it handled already? And that someone will remind you when it’s almost time? And they’ll get your ass in the chair? And all you have to do is show up?

You will look like a superstar.

(And, that’s part of the appeal!)

Even if what you do is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of service—like selling someone a house 🏠—there are soooooooo many opportunities to add value. If I were a realtor, the first crackin’ thing I would do is set up a subscription service my clients can purchase that offers a yearly comprehensive home maintenance hell yeah. And, I’d organize it on behalf of my clients: I’d call the plumber, the HVAC, the electrician, the carpenter, the handyperson, and I’d make sure everything is good, and anything that isn’t, gets fixed on the spot.

Why aren’t more people doing this kind of thing? What a relief that would be! 🤩

My guess is that most people are under the assumption that their job title limits them.

But, your job title doesn’t limit you: it’s just how people know to call you. (AKA “marketing.”) Once a person becomes a client, now you can really shine and become an indispensable linchpin.

This is called the art of being proactive, which (I believe) is Latin for "get off your ass." And man, does it make a difference in business. Not only do you end up bringing in way (way) more income with less struggle, you also demonstrate a certain level of care to your clients that makes them overjoyed. How nice would it be to not have to remember to do these kinds of yearly tasks? To remember to pull out the fridge and clean the filter behind it? To pull out your dryer and clean the dryer vent? To fix & reseal your tile grout? To clean the gutters? To add weather stripping to the window before winter? To drain the pipes in the cottage? To recoat the blacktop driveway? To fix the leaky chimney? To add insulation to the addition? To replace those outdoor light fixtures?

God, I’ve just halfway convinced myself to start this company. Bringing all of that together under one subscription service would be legendary. Otherwise, it’s up to me as a homeowner to (a) Remember to do all of this; (b) Find time to do all of this; (c) Call 9 different people to come out and help carry out the work; (d) Juggle the schedules of 9 different people along with my own; (e) Pay 9 people all separate invoices (f) Make small talk with 9 different people on 9 different occasions; (g) Did I mention “remember to do all of this?!”

You get the gist. There are plenty of ways you can continue to add value to your clients, so long as you get creative and ask yourself: what future problems can I eliminate for them? What else can you do for them, so they don’t have to think about it ever again?

• Hair stylists should 100% offer quarterly subscriptions to get your hair maintained—and not have to keep asking if I want to make another appointment, over and over again.

• Tax professionals should offer subscriptions to not only do your taxes, but also advise you every single quarter. (And proactively do so, rather than waiting for you to call them.)

• Copywriters should offer subscriptions to keep your copy fresh, timely, relevant, and accurate, offering a total refresh every month, quarter, or year. Do you know how many things that would take off of someone’s plate, just knowing someone is going through old offers and either upgrading them or eliminating them?

• Cross-cultural consultants should offer subscriptions to their corporate clients—yes, even corporate!—to regularly work with their traveling executives on succeeding in their new postings abroad. (This isn’t limited to consumers: businesses like having their problems eliminated, too, so they never have to think about them again.)

Just the other day I was chatting with my friend, Zack, about his side-hustle landscaping business. He mows lawns. He charges $40/week. And every single week, he has to hunt people down for payment.

Every. single. week.

He was telling me stories of trying to get paid, and how difficult it can be, even for just $40. Sometimes, he even has to drive far out of his way to pick up an envelope. And, I couldn’t help but think: why not ask them for payment up front? Why not charge them $960 for the year? (Assuming 6 months of lawn mowing, once per week.) And, why not make it a yearly subscription, right off the bat?

That’s how I’d do it. Think of all the time you’re losing just by having to run around collecting invoices every week—that time is time you’re effectively adding onto each job, which means you’re effectively getting paid less.

Even if the local market doesn’t support an upfront $960 payment, you could still offer a standard monthly plan. $160/month is reasonable, particularly if you are someone who can afford to have someone else come and mow your lawn. And, making it a subscription-based “until you cancel” business is appropriate.

The good news is, for most people, especially in modern times, activating a subscription is something we’re used to. And it means we don’t have to think about it anymore. And it means our lives just got better for it.

Problem eliminated: the best business strategy there ever was.

Overall, this is a modern career slam dunk. 🏀

Do you know of anyone who does anything similar with a subscription-based service???? If so, leave a comment and tell us anything you know about how they work it! Any insight could really help a person who’s playing with this idea. 🎉 (And me, so I don’t go insane talking to myself over here. 🤣)

Hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Cool Creative Careers!

Until next week,