How should I approach my founding period?
Ideas and tips for beginning your journey on Drip.
Every Drip begins with a founding period: a short time frame when anyone who subscribes to your Drip becomes a “founding member.” Founding members inhabit a special place on your Drip page (see below), and you can offer them access to exclusive subscription tiers and posts.
Your founding period is a time to create buzz and enthusiasm around your Drip, and to give a nod to your early supporters. Here, we share some advice that will help you make the most of this important stage of your experience on Drip.
Set a founding period length that works for you.
Your founding period can last between 7 and 30 days. In general, shorter is better — but make sure to plan for it.
Shorter founding periods are a great option for you if you want to launch with a bang. Maybe you — similar to Drip creators like RiffTrax and SBI Press — already have a backlog of content ready to share, and a rabid fanbase (or lots of Twitter followers or a massive mailing list) who will be ready to support you right off the bat. Alternately, you can use a shorter founding period as a “soft launch” — a way to share your Drip early with VIPs, friends, and family (and offer special access) before you begin wider promotion.
If you’re just beginning to build your audience, a longer founding period (14–30 days) might be a good option for you. Stretching it out a bit will give you time to drum up awareness and support for your creative practice on Drip.
Acknowledge your founding members with special tiers.
The people who subscribe to your Drip during your founding period are called “founding members” for a reason — they’re the foundation of your community on Drip. Here are some options to consider when setting your founding member subscription tiers:
- Keep it simple! Offering a single tier is an easy way to introduce founding members to what you offer on Drip.
- Limit your founding member subscription tier(s) by number of subscribers — for example, only 10 members or fewer. (Tip: This is practical option if you want to offer physical items.)
- Give your founding members something special for getting on board early: limit your founding member subscription tier(s) by timeframe, so that they’re available exclusively to your founding members.
- Offer a discounted version of a subscription tier that will be available to subscribers at a higher price after launch.
Regardless of what you choose, keep in mind that you can always add new subscription tiers of different values after your founding period.
Finally, focus on gaining support.
Use your founding period to reach out to friends and family, share details about your Drip with your mailing list, and post links to your Drip on your social media channels. Think of your it as a time to build your audience, one that will eventually engage with your work regularly as subscribers on Drip.
