The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue

I'm the VP Marketing for a tech company, and I think this book is a must read for any exec (tech or non-tech). Here's why. Whenever someone first buys from a company, they are a new customer. But no business can be sustained on new customers alone. All businesses rely on REPEAT CUSTOMERS. (Duh.) The key to getting more repeat customers is to STOP treating them like customers and START treating them like MEMBERS. This is the book that can help you (and your entire business) make the transition from being customer-centric to being member-centric. Read this book and learn: - What the difference is between a membership and a monthly subscription (hint: they're not the same, because "Membership is an attitude, an emotion.") - How to (re)organize to be member-centric -- "The Membership Economy is more than a marketing strategy. It's about the whole organization being built around the ongoing customer relationship." - Why ongoing tinkering with membership benefits is absolutely critical - How to streamline your member acquisition funnel - What a super user is, and why they're important for other members - When "free" does and doesn't make sense - Technology to help your organization to be more member-centric - And much, much more. This book is a quick read. It's well written and full of tons of practical advice and real-life case studies. Whether you are VP Marketing in a large company, a sole proprietor of a local business, or the head of a non-profit or association, this book is a must read. This book (and author) is pure marketing genius and is likely to spawn a whole new generation of marketing.

The Membership Economy remains one of the most insightful business books I’ve read—and one I continue to revisit regularly. Robbie Kellman Baxter brilliantly unpacks how organizations across industries can build long-term value by shifting from one-time transactions to lasting member relationships. What sets this book apart is its versatility: whether you're at a startup or scaling a mature enterprise, the frameworks apply. As someone leading strategic operations and customer experience initiatives, I find her cross-industry case studies and actionable strategies more relevant than ever—especially in today’s AI-driven landscape. With technologies like ChatGPT transforming how we deliver personalized, always-on engagement, The Membership Economy offers a timeless blueprint for staying human-centered while scaling impact. An essential read for anyone building loyalty and value in the digital age.

The membership economy, SaaS and recurring revenue are the holy grails of business today. Baxter’s book takes a good look at the development of the membership economy, the steps to engage your organization in the new economy, and some must haves and must avoids for success. Easy to read and fairly well presented, the book will give you enough to get some ideas and start moving.

I found the book useful, but not the same kind of utility I was anticipating. More than anything, it was intellectually interesting. I agree with some of the positive reviews and some of the negative reviews on here. That is the reason for my 3 stars. In general, I think the book is more useful than not. However, it did not answer as many questions as I hoped it would. As a small-business owner, I was looking for some nitty-gritty strategies and tactics to help my cottage subscription-based businesses. That's not what this book was. It did give me a lot of things to think about, and that helped me to generate my own strategies, tactics, and to-dos, but it was actually more of a broad survey of the topic of membership businesses. A lot of information was covered from a pretty high level, conceptually. Where I think this book would be most useful would be in the Silicon Valley startup world, or with larger established organizations considering a new strategy. The book focused heavily on these larger organizations and their established customer-bases and marketing budgets. There was also a lot of great content regarding innovative marketplace interruptors. If that's the kind of place where you work, or the kind of company you dream of starting, this book is a great tool to get you thinking about the membership economy.

This book is already driving critical acclaim across a myriad of business groups. In summary, Robbie has recognized a major trend in the way organizations are redefining their business models, an approach that provides customers with greater benefits of belonging, recognition and flexibility while driving recurring revenue and loyalty for the organization. The book not only defines the trend, it also explains why it matters to all kinds of organizations and how companies can take specific steps to apply the insight. Her examples include digital natives like LinkedIn, Pandora, and SurveyMonkey as well as nonprofits like the Sierra Club and the AARP. I have known Robbie Kellman Baxter since we worked together at Booz Allen, and can attest to the fact that she is extremely smart, very strategic and analytical and has helped a variety of companies transition effectively to the membership economy. In fact, I have hired her consulting firm for my company to give us unique insights to revenue streams. This book is a great way to get an introduction to her insights for a low price.

I would recommend that if you work in the Information Technology industry, this book is not very useful. That is not to say the book was not well written. Good examples were used of where people went wrong. I do not think any book is a waste of time, because you can always find something that you can learn from it, but I have learnt a lot more from reading Anthony Robbins or googling information on the Internet. At the end of the day, you have to care about your members and have compelling content. You are there to serve them with information and provide value. The rest of it follows. It still took effort to write and research and put this book together, and I appreciate the effort the author and co went to for the readers.

In my opinion this is one of the best currently available books about the membership economy. I found it very useful, with a good mix of strategic and hands-on advice.

"The Membership Economy" di Robbie Kellman Baxter è una guida essenziale per chiunque voglia trasformare il proprio modello di business in un sistema di abbonamento di successo. Il libro esplora come identificare i super utenti, padroneggiare le transazioni perpetue e costruire entrate ricorrenti. Baxter offre una prospettiva chiara e pratica su come le aziende possono creare relazioni durature con i clienti, garantendo una crescita sostenibile. È un must-read per imprenditori e manager che desiderano innovare e rimanere competitivi in un mercato in continua evoluzione. "The Membership Economy" by Robbie Kellman Baxter is an essential guide for anyone looking to transform their business model into a successful subscription system. The book explores how to identify super users, master the forever transaction, and build recurring revenue. Baxter provides a clear and practical perspective on how companies can create lasting relationships with customers, ensuring sustainable growth. It is a must-read for entrepreneurs and managers who want to innovate and stay competitive in an ever-changing market.

Este libro tiene un compendio de todo lo que una persona podría necesitar saber sobre la membresía. Ideal para asociaciones profesionales

This is a fantastic book on subscription/membership model, you will go through basics of how business getting transformed today and why customer focus is so important to be in business and excel.....