We’ve recently embarked on a mission to review the 9 Models of Recurring Revenue. Our aim is to showcase different ways businesses can implement recurring income. The Private Club Model is fourth on our list, and we’ll be reviewing it in this article. If you haven’t already done so, make sure to catch up on the previous models. You can find them here - The Network Model, The Subscription Box Model and The Content Subscription Model. You might just find one that could work exceptionally well for your business. 

The Private Club Model offers access to something of limited supply, on a membership or subscription basis. You often find this model associated with private sporting clubs such as prestigious golf clubs, tennis clubs etc but the private club can also be applied in B2B and B2C companies. It’s about gaining long term buy in to limited resources for a higher cost.

An interesting example is the Genius Network® that was started by Joe Polish, who was once a humble carpet cleaner. Polish now runs this private club mastermind facilitating three idea sharing meet ups a year for entrepreneurs, authors and innovators. For an investment of $25,000 per year, Polish says “it’s kind of like a wisdom network, it’s where you find people who have incredible wisdom to share.”

Polish is now regarded as a highly influential thought leader and his Genius Network attracts individuals who operate on average a $9 million revenue per year business and who want to get their business to the next level, or "10x it", as they like to say. This private club brings some serious industry players and Polish aims to lure the brightest minds together to focus on deepening personal and business relationships. Well know members of his group have included Peter Diamandis, Verne Harnish and Dave Asprey. Speakers have included Tony Robbins, Randi Zuckerberg, Robert Cialdini and Richard Branson to name a few.

Another great example of The Private Club Model is the Harley-Davidson Owners Group (HOG). This is the world’s biggest, most successful motorcycle club. The initial buy in is your Harley-Davidson motorbike, with an ongoing $45 annual subscription. It’s quite staggering that upon inception, 1 million Harley owners joined HOG, an immediate $45 million injection into the company!

Since then the multilingual HOG insider e-magazine has boasted very healthy open rates of 49%; 62% of members have attended an event; the HOG photo upload App has over 30,000 downloads from Apple’s App store; but the dollars really come from the fact that HOG members purchase 30% of all new Harley-Davidson bikes and spend more than double that of non-members at dealerships.

This Model Is Ideal When You Have…

Insider Tip

The secret to making a private club work is not offering á la carte access. You need to force customers to make a decision: if they want access to something truly rare, they must enter a long-term relationship in order to get it.

That concludes our overview on The Private Club Model. Next up we’ll be reviewing the Simplifier Model, so stay tuned! As you learn about the different recurring income models, keep an open mind as to how it might work in your business.

We are particularly passionate about recurring revenue models because we know that companies with good recurring revenue models are achieving higher valuations. If you want to increase the value of your business, recurring revenue should be a top priority.

If you can't wait to read about the rest of the models, we've listed them here:

Recurring Revenue Series: A Guide to Recurring Income – The Network Model

Recurring Revenue Series: Surprise and Delight People with The Subscription Box Model

Recurring Revenue Series: Create Content That Pays with the Content Subscription Model

Recurring Revenue Series: How to Create a Private Club Model

Recurring Revenue Series: Jump the Queue with a Front-of-the-Line Subscription Model

Recurring Revenue Series: The Membership Website Model: Is it Right for You?

Recurring Revenue Series: Simplify Peoples Lives with this Powerful Subscription Model

Recurring Revenue Series: A Subscription Model for Peace of Mind

Recurring Revenue Series: How to Create a Subscription Model That Solves Everyday Problems