Terms

"You should know who you are targeting before creating an organization that is based on the membership of its members," starts Matt Hardigree the publisher of The Autopian. "I have encountered issues that have been caused by people who just believed that there would be a market there. It's a math problem but it's not impossible. The math is not difficult if you use all the facts you've gathered."

He recommends that, if you're already writing for an online platform, check out the number of readers you've got. "If I'm on a site with 10 other writers and 3 of us are seeking to launch something how much is our collective readership? Is it fifteen percent website's traffic? This isn't a huge amount. Are we over 80percent of the websites' visitors?"

In the past, The Autopian founders David Tracy and Jason Torchinsky made up 50 percent of the Jalopnik traffic. "They could have thought "We could create something new, that's an option'" Matt continues. Matt. "What's interesting is David and Jason don't have huge numbers of followers on social networks that seems to be the most obvious method for converting into readers. But, they weren't required to acquire that since they already had readers.

In the days before the launch, The Autopian did a competitive review of the auto industry as well as the media. "We know how many car people visit these websites. Take a look: When we have taken out the expenses then what are we going to need to succeed? And then you have to ask 'Where are those individuals from where are they from?' And 'What proportion of them have an knowledge of our identity and who we are? And 'What percentage will we need in order to achieve an end goal that is sustainable?' as well as 'In relation to membership, how much are we planning to cost? ? '."

The author adds: "You can make some assumptions - and you don't have to be right, but you have to be able to access the data relevant. Once you've started making forecasts, you'll be able to use the ability to connect these data points to see the areas where you're off and make adjustments. If you don't have any data or are making guesses, you have to do the math and figure on it.

Matt acknowledges that even when you've done your research it's not without the 'wait and see "In the first half hour or so following the start of your subscription, I became a chaos! I wondered "What's going to happen? When the memberships began coming in, I felt awestruck! We're also still performing the analysis of data, and we're constantly evaluating what is effective as well as what's not."

Engagement strategies and ways to grow

"I believe we're approximately 10% of the way to where the membership could be,"" Matt continues. "We've reached our objectives as well as seen a good number of members. The first 10% of members is the most simple to acquire. The remaining 10% of members will be the most difficult. Every tranche will be more difficult than the tranche before it. We'll need to consider often."

Matt believes that 10x growth is definitely a target for the five years ahead for the next five years. "If we reach 50 percent of this goal, we are pretty much fully sustained in our current state with members. If we are able to reach 100%, we're far more sustained through the membership fee or are making money from membership alone and I'd love to reach that level."

Matt Hardigree, The Autopian

What is their plan to get there? What are they offering now with regards to benefits of membership and what can they do to utilize this information to draw the members?

Matt responds: "It's a balance because The Autopian is a journalism venture and an activity for fans. We view it as having three distinct categories in the way we can get people to sign up as members and then to keep their membership by making The Autopian feel valuable."

Strategy 1: Content

Matt says that the first bucket of content is the one that Matt mentions as the first. "We must write something that's good enough and exciting enough and different enough from what you will find elsewhere and  I'm the only one who will be capable of reading this in the eyes of Autopian. I must be a included in The Autopian if I want it to become a reality.'

"You're not paying to gain access to the content since there's no paywalled access to it. It's because you're interested in having it in the world." Matt says that the autopian's content will always be the highest-value offer: "You need this thing to be available so urgently that you'll be paying $4 per month, ten dollars monthly or $85 per month for something."

Strategies 2 and The Rewards

Bucket two represents the items members receive like Discord access, clothing such as T-shirts, invitations and tickets to parties like trivia nights, and items such as badges and stickers.

"We provide a range of products you can choose when you're buying the vehicle. At the bottom is cloth ($70/year), then vinyl ($100/year) and finally Velour for $250/year. Finally, the most expensive level is Corinthian leather, which is $1,000 each year. It has been more clients who have used leather and velour that I'd expect!"

"One of the things that you'll receive is a birthday card one of our co-founders has artistic talent. We weren't expecting to receive as many drawings, so he's creating more birthday-themed sketches than we expected - we're still catching up!"

The monthly cost of $1000 may seem like a big ask, however this was the advice of the well-known company known as media Defector. They advised Matt they had many individuals who were able to afford the $1000 that they anticipated to have. "I was like"I I don't know the amount, how much is $1,000?' They said, "Do it'!" Matt smiles.

"They were also saying that they wish they could have the middle stage as they've got two levels lower and one that's higher" the doctor says. "We were bouncing around about it, and finally decided to stick with the $250 per year. It was the magic number because we're so many Velour members, and this year, we've seen more people move between vinyl and Velour as well as between velour and vinyl and vinyl. More people moved from 100 to 250 instead of going from 100 to 250. It's a sign that we're in the right direction!"

The Autopian team has also recognized that content behind the scenes is a huge hit. They also share procedural material, such as what they came up with for headlines, as well as "Tales from Slack". Matt states: "We have our internal Slack and it's not designed for the general public to use."

"People tend to make up outrageous, absurd humorous things!" Matt laughs. "Our Chief Editor David doesn't have a sense of pop culture, therefore he's always having difficulty comprehending things. He was thinking Ronan was Serpico; he believed it was an Al Pacino film set in the 1970s. But it was actually the Robert De Niro movie of the 90s!"

Strategy 3. Fear of Missing out (FOMO)

"The third kind of content that performs really very well and is one that a lot of viewers overlook is FOMO. People don't want to miss the best content," Matt continues.

"We are a discord, with weekly column of advice. Our discord is totally accessible and free, but there's a section for members," he adds. "I would like members to share photos on general chat: 'Here's my picture with my shirt Here's me wearing my badge', and I are welcome to join the group."

Matt mentions that the procedure of attracting new members can be very effective as you make sure that the message aligns with the kinds of content you compose. "Every time we'll make a 'Here's what you get' appeal - to help remind members of what the benefits of membership are."

They will also be thankful for their fans: "We love our commenters and you're our reason for being so awesome. If you're not part our group We're sorry. Some people don't have enough money. If you're at school no matter what, we can understand this. If you're not in the position to pay money, just become a reader. We're here to help, we'd like to see you become part of our family. But, if you're an enthusiast for this type of stuff, you have the opportunity to be member of it."

However, we'll then do a FOMO blog where Jason will write 'Here are my birthday drawings I did during the month!' The people who see them will consider 'God bless me, I'd love that.'

The idea of forming communities come in a variety of dimensions and forms. There are even birthday celebrations for those who love cars.

Further information

For more information and to become a member of The Autopian, go to theautopian.com.

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