Build, launch and manage your membership, all in one place.
Demo Request
Big Picture Skiing is an online ski school offering both education and exclusive coaching, founded by Tom Gellie.
When Tom started searching for the best way to monetize his lessons online, he had a decent following on YouTube.
If you’ve got a social media audience already, that’s a huge advantage.
So he decided to test the waters by selling a couple small courses for one-time purchase on Wix, and quickly realized there was enough demand for a full-fledged membership business. But Wix wasn’t the way to do it – he had constant technical issues, and there wasn’t much support when he needed it.
Tom knew his business needed a new platform, so he joined Uscreen in 2020.
A “quality over quantity” approach to growth
3 years later, Tom’s core philosophy hasn’t changed – retention comes first.
Growing the business comes down to 1 thing: take care of your members, and growth will follow. And since Uscreen specializes in membership-building and long-term recurring revenue, it was a perfect fit.
Simple, value-driven marketing creates high-value leads
Creating a great product and a great user experience is Tom’s ultimate goal, so he uses Uscreen’s built-in marketing tools to selectively target the right customers.
Having a lot of help with the marketing was great. It’s very intuitive, easy to use and I could get it up and running quickly. I’m definitely someone who prefers that minimum viable product, always have been.
A steady stream of free content on social media guides people towards his website, where he uses Uscreen’s giveaway funnel and email segment tools to build his email list and send targeted email flows for different parts of his audience.
Launching apps started as a “thank you” to loyal members, and became another retention tool
As a way to give back to Big Picture Skiing’s most loyal members, Tom upgraded to Uscreen’s 2-App Plus plan. He added both iOS and Android versions, opening up the experience to members on both major platforms.
And the apps have truly changed the way people interact with the platform – now, they account for 40% of his total watch time.
I thought ‘These people that have been with me the whole time really deserve an upgraded experience.’ The apps make it that much better because they’re really built to work on the phone. It’s amazing what a difference it makes.
They’re a key part of his overall focus on adding the most value possible.
Attention to detail improves every part of the user experience, from onboarding to navigating content
To navigate Big Picture Skiing’s extensive library, Tom uses Uscreen’s collections and categories features to organize his entire catalog. Members can also narrow down their search using custom filters and tags.
But he also takes it a step further, and offers free downloadable resources, like a complete video spreadsheet and a Welcome Pack.
This helps new users learn their way around the platform – plus, it’s a great resource for existing members who want an updated view of everything Big Picture offers, all in one place.
The Results
Tom built Big Picture Skiing into a true niche creator success story by focusing on – well, the big picture.
In their 3 years with Uscreen, Big Picture Skiing has grown a $30k+ per month business from scratch, with 300+ members.
Tom did it by focusing not just on upping his new subscriber count, but instead, using Uscreen to add value for the people who use his platform every day.
And it’s paid off – that his seasonal niche platform generates year-round income.
Get started for free
Whether you have 200 or 200,000 members, we have all the tools that you need.