Just 2 years in, Kate's membership allowed her husband to quit his job
Kate’s business, the Socialite Agency, supports home industry entrepreneurs with tailored marketing resources including a content library, templates, stock photos, and video scripts.
1.5%
Top podcast
250k+
Content views
4
Team members
2016
Launched membership
Highlights
A few takeaways from Kate’s success:
- Offering digital resources based on your expertise can streamline your client workload, broaden your reach, and allow you to serve a larger customer base.
- Never underestimate the power of networking. Strategic partnerships can be a highly effective way to expand your online business.
- Targeting a narrower audience may lead to fewer signups, but attracting more committed clients can help minimize cancellations.
- Starting and growing a scalable membership can create a positive ripple effect that benefits not only you but also your family, your employees, and your customers.
Meet the owner
Kate Greunke, owner and CEO of the Socialite Agency, quickly saw her clientele grow after starting her online business in 2014. To manage the demand and extend her reach, she launched Socialite Vault—a membership offering curated digital marketing resources for interior designers, home stagers, and professional organizers.
Today, Kate is able to take everything she’s learned throughout her journey and use it to mentor other membership owners on leveraging the membership-as-a-service model for growth.
Interview
Kate shared her membership journey with us. Find out what she had to say in our Q&A.
Which digital products do you sell?
Content library, digital downloads, and video conferencing
What is the pain point you solve for your customers?
The Socialite Agency and its core product, Socialite Vault, work exclusively with home industry entrepreneurs. Our mission is to make marketing easy, simple, and effective for interior designers, home stagers, and professional organizers.
What were you doing before your membership business?
Prior to launching Socialite Vault in 2016, I was a solopreneur working 1:1 with clients. When my client load became too heavy, I started looking for ways to scale and entered the membership-as-a-service space. Shortly after, I started building my team and expanding my reach through strategic partnerships.
What challenges did you have in the early stages of your business? How did you solve those challenges?
In 2016, memberships weren’t very common and I looked high and low for some sort of example to follow. Not finding one, I started building from the ground up and combined various SAAS platforms to build the client-member experience that I wanted. Honestly, it all felt quite cumbersome until I discovered MemberSpace!
Were there any keys to success, or big "a-ha!" moments that really elevated the growth of your business?
The two biggest ways we have scaled as an agency are 1) through strategic referral partnerships and 2) through our podcast. Our home industry connections have been invaluable. Knowing the right people and investing in those relationships have grown our agency significantly. Additionally, we launched the podcast in 2018 and it has proven to be the best, most lucrative way to directly reach our ideal clients and get them into our sales funnel.
Did you have a social media following or large email list before you started your membership?
No.
Do you spend any money on paid advertisements? How do you market your membership and find new members?
No. The podcast, word-of-mouth referrals from happy clients, and the stamp of approval from industry leaders continue to grow our client roster.
Have you done anything to focus on retention and reduce canceled members?
Yes, and our churn rate is typically very low, with clients staying for years on end. The three most beneficial things we did to reduce churn are… 1) No longer offering free trials 2) Requiring each potential client to hop on a discovery call before signing up 3) Requiring a minimum commitment of six months. These changes resulted in us attracting a more serious client who was committed to their business growth and much less likely to cancel.
What are some of your favorite online tools for running your business?
Asana, Squarespace, Slack, and HoneyBook.
Do you have a team helping with your membership business? What does your team help with? Are they full-time, or independent contractors?
Yes, I have a team. My team consists of several independent female contractors who want full control over their own schedules rather than being regulated employees. Each woman on my team has her own specialty. One handles client support, another one handles our brand media production, and another one develops content. As the co-owner and CEO, I handle marketing and sales while also hosting The Kate Show Podcast. My husband is the acting CFO and co-owner. In 2018, just two years after I started my membership, he was able to leave his full-time job and join my agency. It continues to be an amazing adventure!
What's your source of inspiration?
I love listening to non-business podcasts because my brain often needs a break. That said, Marie Forleo’s video and B School course were revolutionary in my early business years.
If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?
I would tell myself that the impact our membership will have on its clients will far outweigh the angst and headache of trying to figure out how to make it all work. Memberships aren’t easy, but they are worth it.
What's next for your business?
We’ve ventured into the world of YouTube as a brand, and I’ve personally been given the opportunity to mentor other membership owners on how to best grow with the membership-as-a-service model. I’m excited for that new journey and love helping like-minded entrepreneurs create the lifestyles they previously only dreamed of having.