How to Run a Women's Book Club Business
Many women who desire socialization, intellectual conversation and a good book are prime candidates to join a book club. Though books are regarded as an isolated activity, book clubs add an attractive social element many women desire. However, a business model must be developed that entices women to pay money instead of joining one for free.
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Instructions
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Pick a demographic. Choose teenage girls, senior citizens, young women in their 20s, 30s or older. Within this audience, choose books appropriate to this group. For example, 20-something women might appreciate books by Sophie Kinsella and Megan Crane; whereas, women in their 40s might appreciate Joan Didion and Elizabeth Gilbert.
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Determine the monthly membership fee. Within the membership fee, include the cost of the book and shipping to the members. Get a bulk discount once your business grows in popularity and gains enough members.
Make members pay online using a debit or credit card and explain their subscription is set to auto-renew unless manually changed. Nancy Pouloudi explains in the book “Social and Economic Transformation in the Digital Era” that a subscription-based model can drive away customers concerned about the quality of the product. To mitigate these concerns, offer the first month free but mandate she purchases the book on her own.
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Set monthly meetings and choose venues. Set an easily remembered date, like the last Friday of every month.
To avoid women attending the meeting without paying dues, rotate the venue. Scavenge the city for trendy martini bars, cafes and museum conference rooms. Provide the meet-up location upon receiving payment.
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Draft book club questions. In the questions, ask the women if they enjoyed the book or were disappointed and why. Write questions related to the theme and characters. Ask the group to discuss their opinion on passages within the book.
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Hire a group session instructor. Choose a bubbly, outgoing person to lead the group session. Test her ability to maintain a conversation during the interview process. Equip her with the book questions.
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Make a website. Be willing to pay large amounts of money on a web designer. Ensure she can create a site capable of forum discussion, user login and e-commerce. Fostering a membership-only online community will keep customers returning to your book club instead of forming their own free club with existing members. Additionally, a website will maintain excitement and interest outside of the once-a-month meet-up.
Allow each woman to create her own profile and upload her own picture. Encourage women to interact with book club members in different states by making forum threads about the book. Send emails regarding meet-up information and bio information of the book’s author.
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Advertise your book club. Post fliers at the bookstore, college campus and grocery stores. Also post on Web forums for group meet-ups.
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Tips & Warnings
Ask your close friends to join the book club and waive the membership costs.
References
Resources
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