Recuring Monthly Billing Subscription Business Model

My business is a monthly subscription model known as recurring billing with the card not present and for an intangible good.

The core of my business is built on the idea that I have subscribers that I bill monthly, specifically, I hit their credit card. In exchange, they have the right to use my online educational service.  My rate is low, $20 per month.

The metrics on this business:

Bringing in Traffic to my site
SEO success which is SERP and traffic across many keywords and engines
PPC for paid search
Banner Advertising
Email advertising
Newsletters

Conversion Rates and PreSales Engagement
Total Traffic into the site
Traffic into my sales funnel
Traffic that gives an email, that confirms the subscription
Shopping cart abandons
Conversions
Double or triple subscriptions, Annual Prepayment

Retention
Customers with no level of use or engagement - sleepers
Customers with a modest level of use and engagement
High levels of use and engagement
Add a child
Customers that evangelize and recruit: referrers
Credit card declines from expiration, funds not available, cancelled card

Customer Recovery at Quit

Customer Recovery post Quit
Reactivations

Credit Cards at Retail: Why not take pictures?

Credit Card Terminal
At Super Market

It's amazing that the credit card industry hasn't been totally wiped out of business by a more efficient approach. Everyone knows that credit cards are used for fraud all the time. Yes, somehow, the retail terminals still have us signing onto a screen.

How stupid is that?

Why don't they just require us to look into the screen and take our picture.  Then, if it turns out someone disputes the bill, they have photographic record of us staring into the amount.

Or, like my gym, when they slide the card, my picture comes up on their screen. If my face doesn't match the picture, they call the gym goons to come reshape my face.

Surely it's time for a better idea company, an Apple pay or Square or someone to come up with a card or system that has zero fraud and doesn't waste everyone's time with meaningless signatures?

Recurring Billing Business Models. And Who the heck is Recurly?

Click for a Summary of Subscription Recurring Business Model Metrics

I just followed some link to the recurly website. It's the first credit card processing company website that I've seen that looked like it belonged in this century!

And, check out this content marketing!  Want proper metrics for measuring customer churn?  Why, yes I do.  In fact, I'm delighted that somebody else out there even understands the question!!!

They seem to be backed by some slick first rate VCs.

 Board of Directors 

• Dave Barrett Polaris Partners 
• Shervin Ghaemmaghami Devonshire Partners
•  Irfan Salim Independent 
• Isaac Hall Recurly Co-Founder, 
• Chairman Dan Burkhart Recurly CEO & Co-Founder 

 I wonder how much they know about credit card recycling?

How did we miss them when we were exploring all the credit card companies out there?

 But I'm not sure that I agree with their focus on doing the detailed curn rate based on man days. Is it the right place to start?

 I think the first metric to understand is the general pattern of quits. For instance, for January, with a company, there might be a 100 sign-ups. I'd first measure:- how any asked for their money back either directly or thru a charge-back. - how many paid a 2nd time - how many paid a 3rd time etc. Then I'd compare that with where the customers came from, other segmentation of the customer base, and what month they signed up in.

 This feels like it produces more actionable datat than the Recurly point of departure on analysis.

 Click for a Summary of Subscription Recurring Business Model Metrics