Robbie Kellman Baxter, Author, Founder of Peninsula Strategies
Robbie Kellman Baxter and Bill Ringle discuss how small business leaders can take advantage of the membership economy to find their superusers, master the forever transaction, and build recurring revenue.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
- How a college networking connection led to being hired to consult at Netflix
- The key question to ask when designing a membership offer
- How to position your membership offer to take advantage of the low-hanging fruit, modeled after how Tony Robbins built his thought leadership empire
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:57 How Robbie’s dad inspired her when she was growing up. “After about 25 years at being at the law firm, he retired from the law firm and started a venture capital firm.”
5:01 How Robbie took the risk to start her own consulting company – “I said I’m going to just give this a try.”
6:46 Robbie recounts her experiences working with the Netflix acquisitions team.
7:39 “It was a very big driver in the direction of my business because I fell in love with [Netflix’s] business model and I fell in love with the very rigorous, analytical approach to what I call a membership economy.”
8:41 “I loved the way [Netflix] focused on solving one problem for their audience.”
9:00 “It’s so easy for business people to get distracted by shiny pennies.”
10:33 On the Membership Economy “If you depend on having relationships with your customers to be successful, then this is important to you.”
11:06 “If you care about the relationships you’re building with your customers, then the membership economy is something worth considering because it’s all about taking a long term focus on your members’ needs as a guide to building your business.”
12:13 “If you grab 3 people who all love LinkedIn, they probably all use it in very different ways, but all of us use it to advance our careers.”
14:09 Robbie describes the “palette for painting a new business model.”
16:42 The importance of going from transactional to relational, and how a subscription/membership model can help make that a possibility.
18:55 “What if the person I cared about most in the world were my customer, how would I structure the work for that person to give them the best value?”
22:16 “If you focus on knowing who your customers really are and serving them for the long term, your customers tell you what they want next.”
22:48 Weeding out bad prospects becomes easier when you know your customer base.
23:59 “You have to know who your best customer is, and be able to measure customer goodness.”
26:49 “Why are you successful when so many people fail?”
28:51 “Starting to create content and experiences for the people who want to know what you know is a really great way to extend your impact and also, in many cases, create passive income.”
30:15 Tips for gaining credibility as an expert in your niche. – “You want to start with the lowest hanging fruit.”
31:59 Steps toward making a contribution in the world and positioning yourself as a thought leader.
32:56 The Lightning Round
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Robbie Kellman Baxter brings over twenty years of strategy consulting and marketing expertise to Peninsula Strategies, a strategy consulting firm focused on helping companies leverage subscription pricing, digital community and freemium to build deeper relationships with customers. Her clients have included start-ups and mid-sized venture-backed companies as well as industry leaders such as Netflix, Oracle, Electronic Arts and eBay.
A sought-after writer and keynote speaker, Robbie has presented to alumni organizations at Stanford, Harvard and Haas, associations including the AICPA, the American Society of Association Executives, and the National Restaurant Association and organizations including the Wall Street Journal, and Coursera. She has been quoted on business issues in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Consumer Reports, and has had pieces published in HBR.org, CNN.com, Associations Now and the Journal for Quality & Participation. Robbie has created and starred in eight video courses in collaboration with LinkedIn Learning on business topics ranging from innovation to customer success and membership. Robbie is also on the board of Amava, an organization dedicated to helping people stay active and engaged post-career.
As the author of The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction & Build Recurring Revenue, a book that has been named a top 5 Marketing Book of the Year by Inc.com, Robbie coined the popular business term “Membership Economy”, which is now being used by organizations and journalists around the country and beyond. Robbie’s expertise with companies in the emerging Membership Economy extends to include SaaS, media, consumer products and community organizations.
Prior to launching Peninsula Strategies, Robbie was a strategy consultant at Booz-Allen, a New York City Urban Fellow and a Silicon Valley product marketer. Robbie received her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and graduated with honors from Harvard College.
For more information, visit Robbie Kellman Baxter’s website.
Contact Info for Robbie Kellman Baxter
Web address: https://peninsulastrategies.com/
Travels from: Menlo Park, Ca
Social Media Links
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Books Authored by the Guest
