Creator Stories
How Big Picture Skiing Drives $30k+ Monthly All-Year-Round with Uscreen
BACKGROUND
How a skiing coach built a niche membership business
Tom Gellie, an experienced ski coach with a passion for teaching, had spent years traveling between the Southern Hemisphere and North America, honing his skills and imparting his knowledge to students.
As the pandemic hit, Tom found himself at a crossroads. With physical distancing measures in place, he could no longer conduct in-person sessions. This challenge, however, became a blessing in disguise, prompting him to explore online opportunities.
With Uscreen, Tom found a platform that supported his vision. He launched Big Picture Skiing, an online ski school offering both educational content and exclusive coaching. Using his following on YouTube and Instagram, he began to build a community of ski enthusiasts who were eager to learn from his expertise.
Today, Big Picture Skiing has 1,102 active members, drives $30K+ average monthly revenue, and averages 5.5% monthly revenue growth.
CHALLENGES
Lack of membership features and functionality
Before launching a membership on Uscreen, Tom decided to test the waters by selling a couple small courses for one-time purchase on Wix.
Tom shared, “I'd made a couple of videos that I sold for a one off price. By the time I’d made about three or four videos, I thought, if people keep buying these videos, I'm going to try the subscription thing. I already had a small group of people that were willing to do that. So I beta tested it before fully diving into it.”
Tom quickly realized there was enough demand for a full-fledged membership business. The hard part was done; he had validated the demand for his membership with a low-commitment setup. But Wix wasn’t the best platform for Tom’s membership business. He had constant technical issues and there wasn’t much support when he needed it.
SOLUTION
Leveraging Uscreen’s tailored membership features
To double down on his membership business and find a reliable platform that supported his growth, Tom migrated to Uscreen.
"I think Uscreen is pretty handy. I must say that was a really big drawcard. It’s sort of like plug and play, which makes it easier for someone with my passion in ski teaching to get their membership business up and running quickly."
-Tom Gellie, Founder of Big Picture Skiing
Creating a great product and a great member experience is Tom’s ultimate goal, so he uses Uscreen’s built-in marketing tools to selectively target the right customers. He shared, “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.
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.
Tom also launched two mobile apps (iOS and Android) to give his members the freedom and opportunity to learn from wherever they are, whenever they want. 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.”
-Tom Gellie, Founder of Big Picture Skiing
They’re a key part of his overall focus on adding the most value possible.
IMPACT
Designing a life of freedom with financial stability
The transition to an online platform allowed Tom to continue his passion for skiing while reaching a broader audience. He now travels the world, filming content and teaching through video format.
"I get to travel around the world filming content, still skiing, which I love doing, but really thinking about how to teach it through video format."
-Tom Gellie, Founder of Big Picture Skiing
Tom built Big Picture Skiing into a true niche creator success story by focusing on – well, the big picture.
With Uscreen, Big Picture Skiing has grown a $30k+ per month business from scratch with 1100+ active 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 – his seasonal niche platform generates year-round income.
Trusted by 4000+ Video Membership Creators
Uscreen helps video creators like you grow your membership business, build a relationship with your audience, and give them the best member experience. Want to know the best ways to use Uscreen for your membership business? Read how other creators have been using Uscreen to drive growth and increase revenue.
We were so impressed with Uscreen and we knew that we needed to break free from the confines of what at the time Vimeo was as an LTT platform and we wanted the freedom that Uscreen really offered us.
Brooke Cates
Founder of Studio Bloom
$1M+
annual revenue
>76%
higher viewership on apps
6
TV & mobile apps launched