Finding the Best Membership Platform for Your Community

Fanhouse recently announced that they were acquired by Passes. As part of that change, you have the option to migrate to Passes, or look for a new platform. While change can be scary (especially when that change impacts your livelihood), it’s important to remember that you have time to do what’s best for you and your community. Our team has worked with some Fanhouse creators to prepare this blog post about the options for you and your community. 

Fanhouse is not shutting down immediately, so you can continue to post your content there until you decide on a transition plan. This will not only remind your superfans about why they’re a part of your community, but it will also give you time to decide your next move. It’s important to remember to be transparent and communicative with your fanbase. Some supporters might not know of the news that Fanhouse is closing its doors. Consider keeping them in the loop, letting them know how you feel, and giving them an early heads-up on your next steps.

If you’re not sure where to start, we recommend following this 3-step guide:

1. Decide the right platform for you and your fans.
2. Migrate your content. 
3. Transition your members to your new platform.   

If you’re a Fanhouse creator and aren’t sure what this change means for you and your community, we recommend that you read the Passes x Fanhouse Q&A. 

Step 1: Picking a platform

The right platform for you likely depends on the features that you rely on for income:

• If you make the majority of your income from paid DMs or locked content. You’ll likely have the most immediate success on a SFW platform like Passes or Fanfix. You can also use a NSFW platform like OnlyFans or Fansly. While Fourthwall doesn’t currently support paid DMs, we will be launching them in the next few months. Click here to learn more about the differences between the Fourthwall, Passes, and Fanfix. 
• If you make the majority of your income from subscriptions. You’ll likely have the most success on a platform like Fourthwall, Patreon, or Ko-fi. Click here to learn more about the differences between Fourthwall, Patreon, and Ko-fi. 
• This is also a great time to diversify your streams of income. You can take this time to try out different monetization methods and see what works best for you. With Fourthwall you can combine your homepage, shop, donations, and members-only hub into a seamless, fully-branded experience for your supporters.

Step 2: Migrating your content

This mostly depends on which platform you chose in step one:

• Passes. Your content will be moved once you claim your page on passes.
• Other platforms. Other platforms will likely treat creators on a case-by-case basis or require you to move your content over manually.
• Fourthwall. Fourthwall’s team can help you migrate your content over in under 48 hours. Hop into #🏠moving-over in our Discord or email us at hello@fourthwall.com for help making the switch.

Step 3: Transitioning existing members

As a final step, you’ll have to migrate your members to a new platform. We recommend that you do the following:

1. Post content on both platforms. Fanhouse likely won’t shut down until the end of August, so you can post content to both platforms. 
2. Set up an introductory discount. We recommend setting up a “1-month free” membership discount/promotion and sharing it with your existing Fanhouse members, so they don’t have to double-pay during the transition process. You can alternatively offer a refund to your fans, but we think that providing this discount gives your fans the most time to subscribe to your new platform. 
3. Promote your new home base. Your supporters need to know where to find you. Once you’ve launched, be sure to promote your new home base by updating things like your link in bio, channel descriptions, etc.

By following these simple steps, you’ll be able to transition members. If you’re curious about examples of creators that have done this in the past, we’ve linked to two case studies about creators that have seamlessly migrated their audience from one platform to another:

• How ASMRxBABEE migrated from Patreon to Fourthwall to offer her community a fully-branded memberships experience

While these strategies were specific to creators that moved to Fourthwall, you can follow the same approaches to any platform that you choose. 

What’s the timeframe?

If you’re a creator that’s thinking of switching to a platform that isn’t Passes, you should try to make this decision before the end of July 2023 to give your community enough time to move over.

We know that this may be a hard time for you, and if you’re a creator that’s looking for tips on how to best manage the transition, our team is always happy to help (regardless of the platform you choose). Join our Discord community, and we’ll help support you in finding the best place for your community! We’ll also be dropping advice and loads of other content over on our Twitter. 

If you decide that Fourthwall is a platform you’d like to explore, you can sign up and get your shop set up immediately - all for free. Click here to join us and start exploring.