Page 160 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

(Note: Don’t get too hung up on the exact numbers here. The point is that in
almost every case, a recurring billing model will produce much more income
over time than will a single-sale model.)

Even better, after you attract customers to a recurring model (and ensure that
you keep them very happy), they are much more likely to purchase other things
from you. Brian Clark is an expert at continuity programs, having created a true
empire from the art of moving customers from one-time purchases into recurring
subscriptions. Here’s what he has to say about this process:

Our general model is to offer a varied line of complementary products and
services. Some are one-time purchases that begin the customer’s
relationship with us, and others are software and hosting services that
involve recurring monthly or quarterly billing. While we strive to build all
our product lines, the general strategy is to move as many one-time
purchase customers as possible to a more lucrative recurring service.

For example, our StudioPress division sells WordPress themes (designs)
to online publishers and has over 50,000 customers. These are one-time
purchases, although many people end up coming back to purchase
additional design options. We also provide ongoing support to all of these
customers.

Over time, we offer our Scribe SEO service or our new WordPress
hosting service to our StudioPress customers, which transfers the nature of
the relationship into one that is much more economically beneficial for us.
But the secret ingredient to this migration is the trust we’ve developed with
those customers from the initial one-time purchase. We treat people well,
period. This means before an initial sale is made with our free content, and
even better once they become a customer, no matter the size of the
purchase.

The key to this model is not market share. It’s share of the customer. And
to gain more of each customer’s budget, you first have to zealously treat
every customer as a “best” customer, no matter which ones actually end up
becoming the proverbial “customer for life.”

The most important thing Brian says here is in the last paragraph: “It’s not
market share; it’s share of the customer.” Like many of the people in this book,
Brian doesn’t spend much time worrying about what other people are doing—he
worries about improving his customers’ lives through helpful services. As a
result, he gets paid over and over again.

Getting paid more than once is great, but be aware of a couple of concerns. First,