Blog · Myth vs. Data

Myth vs. Data

Common membership-business assumptions, checked against the data.

Keeping dues low feels like the safe renewal strategy. The pattern across membership businesses says you're solving the wrong problem

Satisfaction scores feel like proof your members will renew. The pattern across thirteen years says they're not

Discounting renewals seems like loyalty math. Thirteen years of membership businesses say it teaches members to wait for the deal instead

Exit surveys tell you what members say on the way out. Behavior tells you why they really left. There's a difference

Operators sit on stale prices for years waiting for a wave that almost never comes. Here's what the pattern actually shows

Most membership pricing isn't anywhere near bargain-bin territory. Here's what thirteen years of data actually shows

The instinct to add features when members leave sounds logical. Thirteen years of patterns say it's the wrong move

Throwing a discount at a cancelling member feels like the obvious move. Thirteen years working with membership sites says it's the wrong one

More time with the product sounds like more reasons to stay. Thirteen years of pattern says the opposite is true

The typical membership plan runs about $40 a month, but that number hides a huge spread. Why matching the average isn't the safe call it feels like

Thirteen years of patterns say free tiers track with lower revenue. Free tools track with 2x. The gap is hard to ignore.

More content, more value, more retention: that's the standard advice. Thirteen years of patterns say it's wrong.

The cheap monthly sub is the exception, not the rule: what membership pricing really looks like, and why the outcome you deliver should set the price

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