rather than just selling merchandise, think in terms of earning members. the connection is greater with an ongoing fan than a one-time or sporadic customer. creating a v.i.p. circle or establishing a club are two formats for your membership offering. here’s how it works. target an annual fee for one or multiple levels of memberships. many use platinum, gold, silver, bronze. brainstorm a mix of items you can package together for the investment. for example, a musical group might offer a first shot at concert tickets, stagefront tables, backstage passes, after party admission, various members-only discounts, exclusive music downloads, advance copies of cd/dvd products, autographed poster, limited edition t-shirt, and more.
sometimes, memberships are bundled with a popular single purchase. the consumer is generally asked to pay a premium for the good to cover the additional value of the membership. alicia keyes did this a few years back. prince has had two runs at a music club, though he dropped the ball per delivering some of the benefits. as easy as it is to fall into this trap, you never want to over-promise and under-deliver. another entertainment model to explore are baseball team fan franchises. red sox nation and yankees universe both come to mind.
