Ever been trapped by promises you made?
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It's story time Reader, Today I wanna tell you about Francine. She had built a wildly successful membership. It made over a million dollars since its inception. On the outside? It looked like the dream: new tutorials every month, live events, a buzzing community, and an arsenal of content going back years. But inside? She was fried. The “new thing every month” model had been fun and exciting at first. But five years in? Her life had changed. The spark was gone. The idea of cranking out one more month of content had become an anvil around her neck. Meanwhile…
The membership had served its purpose beautifully during tough years — reliable recurring revenue, a steady rhythm. But when she looked ahead to the next five years? The thought of doing the same thing made her panic because she knew it couldn't continue. Here’s the truth she was struggling with under the surface: She wanted to step away from her business in a major way. Her life had changed. Big moves were on the horizon, membership or no. But that membership? It had become a golden cage. The revenue was good — too good to simply shut off. But the delivery requirements meant she could never fully step away. How do you scale when what you actually need is freedom from your most demanding, most “successful” offer? The WORST part? Tending to the membership had crushed her own art practice. She had stopped making art for herself entirely. The thing that was supposed to keep her creatively alive was now suffocating her. When a membership is built on “every month, we give you this list of new stuff,” the founder often forgets to ask: What’s the actual journey for these members? So we turned to the only people who really knew: her members. And what did we learn? The original promise — “Join me, learn new methods, and let’s paint together” — was wildly out of date. They weren’t technically getting “better” at painting. But they didn’t even care. What lit them up? They felt like real artists. They moved from aspiring to embodying the artist identity. They found space to express this part of themselves in a supportive, consistent, and fun way. They didn’t want more videos. They wanted to feel like they were living true to their identity as artists. With that shift in her customer understanding, everything clicked. We didn't need to create anything new!
Real talk? The biggest obstacle here wasn’t getting the members onboard with a new idea. It was Francine. She had to believe her people would stick around if she switched up what she had promised them. When she was finally willing to take the risk and find out? They were hyped. Engagement skyrocketed, and her inner circle took on tasks that had been draining her soul. We didn’t uncover some brand new magic. We just named and systemized the transformation she had already been delivering for years. By seeing it through the lens of her members’ experience, she could finally see what they actually needed — what was missing, what to double down on, and where to create future opportunities. She scaled back her personal involvement, and ironically? She created even more value. Ninety days later? Her membership is a totally different animal. Retention has gone way up. She has an updated infrastructure for growth that doesn't require constant launches. She has a highly-engaged and advanced community with internal leadership. She's reaching new customers who are drawn to the updated promise. She's entirely switched up the type of experiences she offers her members. She's gotten free. She's painting again. Sounds like a success story to me. Starlight
PS. Stuck with an offer that feels like an anchor? There’s a better way forward. Watch the training, then come talk to me inside The Scale Lab → |
