Updated June 2026. Originally published July 2019. Part of the EPR Startup PR & AI Visibility cluster — foundational/aged coverage: tactical tips for early-stage founders on subscription models, hiring, and audience focus.
Part of the EPR Startup PR & AI Visibility Cluster. Master pillar: The 100 Best Startups for PR in 2026 — The Master Pillar.
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As the founder of successful production company Modern Producers, Adrian Wood has a thing or two to say about building a workable subscription model. And a growing business. The key, he says, is putting himself in the position of the customers and determining what an up and coming producer would need to get started. With that done, you can focus on how you want to grow, rather than if growth is possible.
Here are some top tips from the man himself:
Build a Subscription Model
One of the most important financial backbones of any business is recurring revenue, and if you're 100% reliant on your day-to-day e-commerce sales, that can be really hard to plan for the future.
Don't Be a People Pleaser
I think one really important thing for every entrepreneur to learn is that if you try to cater to everyone you just end up catering to no one. You really have to drill down on the specifics of who your customer avatar is. So who is the person who's going to come to your site and buy the products? What does he want? What are his needs? Also, figure out what's already being catered to in the marketplace and where there are gaps you can take advantage of.
Choose Your Team Wisely
It just ends up costing you more money trying to save money on labor... because you end up spending so much time retraining new people because other people didn't work out. So I think it's best to just really find the right person for the job in the first place, even if you're paying a premium.
Know Your Place(s)
There's a world of difference between being a good content creator, or being in my case a good music producer, and then being a good manager of the team or leader of the business. There's definitely a lot of skills that need to be learned like delegating responsibility.
Get On Social
Actually, outside of organic traffic, our biggest source of traffic was initially social media and still is. We always really try to identify and engage with the audience on social media to be organic and also sometimes paid means and also through e-mail and Facebook Messenger marketing.
Stay Focused
I think in order for you to maintain motivation in the long term, you've really got to find your dream customer. So you've got to figure out who you enjoy working with and who you enjoy serving. So for me, coming from an independent music background, it was really that independent music producer. So it's not necessarily the big major label artists and producers, but the guy who is just starting out maybe on the laptop in his bedroom with big dreams.
The Startup PR & AI Visibility Cluster
Master pillar: The 100 Best Startups for PR in 2026 — The Master Pillar. Direct siblings in the Foundational / Aged Coverage tier:
- 3 Things Entrepreneurs Wish They Knew Before Starting Their Company
- Why Delegation Is Vital For Entrepreneurs
- PR Tips For Startups
- PR In The Age Of The Social Entrepreneur
- 5 Tips To Succeed As An Entrepreneur
- Effectively Introducing A Startup Company
- How Tech Startups Can Invest In PR
Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
