Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

Some memberships need great video content. Others need a complex email campaign. Some need entirely unique elements.All memberships need a website.So how do you go about it? Do you hire in a professional or do you do it yourself?It’s one of the biggest questions you can ask as you launch your membership, so I got together with two of the finest web designers I know to dive into the best approach for membership owners.Martin and Lyndsay, owners of Jammy Digital and Make Your Mark Online, are web design experts and join me on this episode of The Membership Guys podcast to give some advice you might not be expecting…Essential Learning Points:Why it’s often better to make your own websiteWhen it’s better to hire a professionalHow to hire the right web designerWhat the right web designer looks likeOur own experiences where DIY websites helped our businesses grow and paying a designer would have hampered us Important Links & Mentions:Jammy DigitalMake Your Mark OnlineThe Membership Academy – where you can access our membership site theme, MemberoniWhy Membership Site Owners Need to Niche Down (And STAY Niched)Membership Mastermind from The Membership Guys (Facebook group) Key Quotes:“Unless you’re at a certain point financially and in terms of your understanding of your business, it’s not worth paying a web designer.”“It’s rare that we find a web designer who charges a small amount and can do a good job.”“Some people say they’ve taken 12 or 18 months trying to get their website done and it’s a complete waste of time, because they’ve not been bringing money in.”“You don’t want to be investing cash unnecessarily without making it first.”

In today’s digital-driven society, it often feels like you can’t go far without bumping into a self-proclaimed social media ‘expert’. So, when you encounter someone who everyone else calls an expert, who speaks with a quiet assuredness and conspicuous lack of arrogance, it’s a refreshing surprise.It’s my absolute pleasure and honor to have Gavin Bell on The Membership Guys podcast. Gavin is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, and one of the UK’s leading Facebook advertising consultants.In this episode, Gavin and I discuss the most effective ways membership providers can use Facebook advertising, how to work out a sensible budget and achieve a healthy ROI, common mistakes and best practice, and so much more.This episode is chock-full of amazing advice for entrepreneurs and membership providers – I can’t think of any other way you could get more valuable information on Facebook ads in this amount of time.Essential Learning Points:The dos and don’ts of running Facebook ads for membershipsCommon mistakes in Facebook ads and best practice to followHow to calculate appropriate ad budgets based on the value of new membersWhy ads are only one part of a much bigger pictureKey Quotes from Gavin:“Good advertising is getting harder, which means we need to work harder and better.”“When it comes to running a proper Facebook ad campaign, as opposed to randomly boosting posts, we want to set it up in a way that is going to hopefully run forever.”“If you have a website with an audience already, the first thing to do would be to create a retargeting ad. If you’re someone without an audience, your first step is to try and build an audience through ads.”Important Links & Mentions:Gavin’s websiteMembership Academy9 Simple Membership Marketing Tactics That’ll Get You More Members Should I offer a trial for my membership site?

Build it and they will come.While that approach may have worked for Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams; it most certainly does not apply to launching a successful membership website.Time and time again we see cases where people are so entrenched in the process of building their membership site that they haven’t even begun to think about how to get it off the ground.In this episode I share 5 launch strategies that are straightforward but effective, and can easily be combined with your existing launch plans to make sure your membership site gets off to a good start.

Launching a membership site is an exciting but nerve wracking time.You've probably put your blood, sweat and tears into creating this site, no doubt losing some sleep along the way.But when the time comes to actually open the doors, we can often find ourselves hesitating.What if it all goes wrong?Running a beta test can be a great way of assuaging this fear, as well as ensuring that you launch the best possible version of your membership.In this episode, I share my top tips on running an effective beta test for your membership site.

We can all be overprotective of our content, especially when it comes to being open and allowing our competitors into our safe and secure membership site. I choose to have an open-minded attitude and assume the best in people. There are ways to make it work and even benefit from opening your doors and letting them in, while staying vigilant.Essential Learning Points:Learn what it is that makes you different from your competitorsFind out what to do if there’s a competitor in your communityLearn about the red flags that indicate suspicious behaviourListen to our crazy content theft storyImportant Links & Mentions: Episode 198 = What to do when someone steals your membership content: https://www.themembershipguys.com/membership-content-theft/Key Quotes:“It’s natural to be over-protective, but don’t get paranoid.”  “Always see the best in people! Don’t assume that people are joining with negative intentions.” “We know our real competitors won’t steal our content. They don’t need to because they’ve got their own experience, knowledge and expertise to draw on.”“We may be directly competitive, but there’s always a level of respect and professionalism where you would never dream of ripping each other off.” “Ultimately, if you have others in your industry doing good work, and if you can collaborate to do great things, then everyone wins.”

Do you know what people in your audience actually want from your membership?When planning your membership site, it’s easy to fall into the trap of building something that we think would be good, rather than something that’s based on research into what your audience really want (and need).In doing so, you risk spending hours creating content and investing in features, only to be left scratching your head when people simply don’t engage in the way you hope they will.Whether it’s your membership offering; your blog, podcast or video channel; or even just the updates you post on social media – discovering what people actually want and need is critical to connecting with your audience and driving them to action.In this episode, I discuss 4 ways to discover what your audience really want.

Your membership might be the best thing since sliced bread, but if you aren’t marketing it correctly, you aren’t going to be getting the sales you deserve. There are some simple steps you can take to get the most out of marketing, reach more people, and turn those on-the-fencers into fully-fledged members. In this episode, we run through 9 marketing tips that will help you go back to basics - and earn some serious growth in your memberships as a result. Essential Learning Points: You can make small, simple changes at each stage in your funnel that will produce more sales, more consistently If 9 tips sound like too many, take just 2: you need a strategy for cart abandonments and a strategy for thank you pages Show people what you’re selling and keep your email list engaged Go behind the scenes and use your content to give a real insight into your membership Use your content to shout out and speak to your members Use rewards and splinter products to get slow movers further along the funnel

So, 2019 is done and dusted. Hopefully it was a successful one for you and your membership. It was certainly a big one for us, with more highlights than you can shake a stick at - many of which you've heard us 'document' right here on The Membership Guys Podcast.And I know this is so cliche... but I swear the older I get, the faster each year seems to pass. I can't quite come to terms with the fact that tomorrow it'll be 2020.Instead of freaking out about that, we're wrapping up the year with what has become a bit of a tradition here at The Membership Guys - our end of year recap show where we look back at the top 10 most popular episodes of the podcast throughout the past 12 months.

Although every membership site is unique, you’ll usually discover that seven types of members keep showing up in every single one of them. While some of these will mimic your ‘ideal member,’ others will test your patience and frustrate you beyond belief. Whatever the case, you’re sure to recognize some (if not all) of these ‘member profiles’ within your membership site! Listen in to discover the seven types of members you will see in every membership site. Essential Learning Points: The seven member types you’ll find in every membership site Key traits of members who engage and contribute more than others Why some members seem to just disappear from your membership A few unfortunate characteristics of members who are most likely to frustrate you Key Quotes: “The ‘Average Joes’ are the people who make up the majority of your member base. They're awesome. We love them. They are the lifeblood of our membership.” “The Power User are the one percent. These types of members are awesome because they contribute so much inside the community. They instigate discussions, they proactively help other members and they seek out opportunities to be of service in your membership.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Are you thinking about charging a joining fee for your membership? A joining fee is an arbitrary fee that new members pay on top of their first monthly payment. If you ask me, I think that joining fees are unnecessary and there’s often no real justification for it. However, there are situations when a joining fee may be necessary. If you’re considering having a joining fee for your membership, make sure you listen to this episode of the podcast or read the blog post, where I dive into the topic of joining fees and explain everything you need to know about them. Essential Learning Points: Why joining fees are usually nothing more than unjustified arbitrary fees The hard truth that if someone is charging joining fees, they may not have their member’s best interests at heart How to control your members access to your back catalog of content Legitimate reasons when a joining fee may be appropriate Key Quotes: “They've realized that no one is staying in the membership for more than two or three months. Instead of addressing the real problem…they just charge a joining fee instead to make more money from you.” “It's very rare that you get an incredible membership that is very ethically run where the content is amazing, the customer service is phenomenal and that also has a joining fee.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

You know your membership is going through a downturn when you notice a reduction in sales, fewer member signups and a potential slowdown to your overall growth rate.When your membership experiences a downturn, it can be pretty nerve-wrecking as thoughts of its impending doom race through your mind. But, before you jump to conclusions, you need to take some time to analyse the situation and come up with ways to turn things around.In this episode of the podcast, I talk about how you can deal with a downturn in your membership so that it’ll survive for many more years to come.Episode Summary:How to assess the severity of your membership’s downturnWhy it’s so important to have context and account for every possible factor as to why your membership is experiencing a downturnHow changes you made to your membership months ago can impact it todayHow to find the root cause of the current downturn in your membershipKey Quotes:“If you think your membership should be going up by 1000 new people every single month, you're just getting started and you have quite a small audience, those expectations might not be aligned with reality.”“You've got to be more analytical. You've got to back-up your interpretation of performance with some data and with some feedback.”

Is now a good time to have a membership site?On this special episode of the podcast, you’ll get to listen in to the opening keynote from our very first conference ‘Retain Live 2019.’ It was an incredible event with some phenomenal speakers gracing the stage eager to share their expertise and insights with the audience.The first keynote was delivered by myself (Mike Morrison) and Callie Willows, the other half of The Membership Guys. Our keynote explored the bigger picture of what is going on in the membership industry, what the future of the industry looks like and what people need to do to prepare for the months and years to come.So, if you missed the keynote the first time around, you’re in luck!Episode Summary:Positive and negative implications from the way the membership industry is goingHow to handle the increased competition for your members’ time and attentionHow to make sure your members don’t cut you from their monthly expenses as a result of subscription fatigueWhy regulation is so important in the membership site industryThe death of SEO and how this will impact membershipsHow to build your members trust in you and your membershipKey Quotes:“Memberships, at the core of their essence, are simply value exchanges. You want people to pay you on an ongoing basis, you need to deliver value on an ongoing basis.”“Third Party links to other websites are being squeezed out. Google is no longer somewhere that gives you a recommendation of the best websites to get your answer. It’s now the place that wants to give you the answer themselves.”“Even the smallest personal touch that you can make, makes a big impression…there's lots of different ways you can do this from personal videos to welcome packs to handwritten cards, are all different ways you can add a personal touch to your membership without actually needing to kind of take a lot of extra time or money to do so.”

Have you lost interest in your membership?When you first launched your membership, you were probably bursting with excitement and enthusiasm. But, over time those positive feelings you associated with your membership faded and now you can’t remember why you ever got into this in the first place, am I right?If you have a lack of interest and enthusiasm for your membership site, it’s time to make a change. Your first instinct shouldn’t be to quit. You should want to try and reignite the spark and passion that inspired you to launch your membership in the first place! In this episode, I share some tips to help you fall back in love with your membership.Essential Learning Points:How to know if your membership idea is something you can pursue long-termWhy it’s important to identify the real reason why you’ve lost interest in your membershipThe benefits of trying new things in your membershipWhy you should take a break from your membership when you need toWhat a ‘happy folder’ is and why you need to create oneWhy you should spend more time with your members to help reaffirm your passion for your membership Key Quotes:“Consider looking into ways in which you can do other activities that stoke your interest in the topic that is at the heart of your membership.”“Most people don't start membership sites because they're really enthusiastic about membership sites as a business model. They start because they're really passionate about a topic that they have knowledge, experience and expertise in.”“Getting away from things, taking a break and disconnecting from the responsibilities of running a membership, even just for a few days, could be all it takes to free up your bandwidth, to give you a bit of clarity and give you the rest that you need in order to come back reinvigorated and get over a little bit of a mental slump.” Important Links & Mentions:Episode 76 https://www.themembershipguys.com/time-away/

A waitlist is a dedicated email list that people subscribe to in order to receive updates about a membership that you are going to launch in the future.We are big believers in setting up a waitlist for your membership. But once you have it organized you have to keep everyone engaged until your launch date.In this episode, we share lots of ways you can keep your waitlist interested and engaged with you so that once you launch, they can’t wait to get on board and consume the content you have on offer.Essential Learning Points:Build your knowledge and content base through research and surveysWhy feedback and input from your list will benefit everyoneHow closed-door membership sites can also engage with a waitlist Key Quotes“Setting up a waitlist is the first thing you should do when you are creating your first membership site.”“A substantial amount of your initial subscribers when you open will come from this waitlist.”“By having input, ownership, and influence over the content in your membership site, your waitlist subscribers will be far more likely to want to join.”

Payment disputes are a reality of running any business, including membership sites. Luckily, they don’t happen often. But when they do, they take valuable time away from your business and revenue generating activities. Since the beginning of the Membership Guys Academy site, we have had over 6,000 members and only 20 payment disputes. We have learnt a few things about this issue along the way. Have a listen to find out what to do when they happen to you, and ways in which you can minimize the risk of them happening again in the future.Essential Learning Points:The typical payment dispute processThings to consider when a dispute is illegitimateWays to minimize the risk of payment disputes from happeningKey Quotes“Having a refund period that is fair is a good way of reducing the number of disputes that are filed against you.”“Even if you can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that someone is filing a totally spurious payment dispute, a nonsense dispute, and even if the payment provider believes you, they won’t always side with you. ““You won’t be able to escape the possibility of getting rid of a complaint completely, but you can minimize the likelihood of it happening.”

In our early days of working with memberships, we stumbled across an article that claimed that the average member only stays subscribed for a mere 3 months. You’ve probably heard this yourself. It’s a claim that’s been repeated and republished so much, that it became readily and widely accepted. But it’s nonsense. There’s not a single shred of data or evidence for that ‘3 month’ claim. No source data, report or study cited, anywhere. The fact that this claim persisted for so long is part of a larger problem. There is no reliable data available about the online membership industry. Truth is, this market is relatively tiny. It’s a niche, of a niche, of a niche. What data we do have comes from either the broader subscription industry, or from membership associations. Neither of which reflect the online membership world. We figured it was time to change that. It’s time for some real data and benchmarks for the online membership industry. So we’ve spent the past 4 months tapping into our audience of tens of thousands of membership business owners to identify how they’re performing, what challenges they’re facing and which benchmarks and trends are prevalent. And we've compiled those results into the very first Online Membership Industry Report In today's episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I talk about some of the biggest takeaways from this report and discuss which membership benchmarks surprised me, the trends to pay attention to and other interesting tidbits and insights taken from the survey results. In this episode... How this report obliterates two of the most common myths in the online membership space The definitive answer to the "Open vs Closed" membership debate What's the most worrying trend amongst membership site owners? Surprising insights around pricing, retention, team size and more...

It's coming up to that time of year where promotions and discounts abound.Whether it's Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas or New Year, the sales season is definitely upon us.While these kind of sales are traditionally for physical products, there's no doubt that digital products have jumped onto the bandwagon over the last few years, and you'll see more and more discounts being offered.But what about membership sites? Should you capitalize on these busy promotional periods where some kind of special offer is almost expected?And what about the rest of the year?Promotional campaigns can be a bit of a minefield for membership site owners, who need to walk the delicate line between getting new members in the door and keeping existing members happy.In this episode we're going to explore the different types of promotions that you can run for a membership website and the situations where they can be beneficial.

Despite what the slickest of snake oil salesmen will try to tell you, there is no secret sauce or golden formula for building a successful membership website.The key to the long term success of your membership site lies beyond marketing tactics, sales spiel and fancy production values; and the memberships which do best are those which - at their heart - understand and embrace a core set of fundamental principles.In this episode, I outline 7 essential principles shared by the most successful memberships around.

The path to membership success is paved with a litany of mistakes.Along the way you’re going to screw up, especially in the early days. It’s all part of the learning curve and it happens to the best of us – yes, even your friendly neighbourhood Membership Guys!However you will come to a point where it feel like you truly have your house in order, you’re now on the right track and those initial stumbles are far behind you.But time and time again we see seasoned membership site owners falling into the same traps as they attempt to manage and grow their business.In this episode, we’ll take a look at some of the most common pitfalls for experienced membership owners and, more importantly, how you can avoid them.

There are many reasons people are attracted to the membership model.The most compelling for us is how dramatically different (and better) making recurring income from a membership is compared to servicing clients on a one-on-one basis.This is particularly true if you’re a “one man band”, where you’re solely responsible for the delivery of what you sell, so that might be: Website developersBusiness coachesGraphic designersMarketing consultants Or anyone else who works with clients one on one or even in small groups. Your business is holding you back. In this episode, I’m going to explain why the membership model is far superior to offering one-to-one services, as well as show you how you can start incorporating memberships and subscriptions into your own business.

Retain Live 2019 was a phenomenal success - especially for our very first live event! However as we discussed during the first part of our "debrief", it was a little rocky in the build up. In this concluding episode, Callie and I talk through the event itself, breaking down everything that happened and how it all came together; sharing some of our biggest lessons and top takeaways for anyone thinking of running a similar event. In this episode... The moment we realised that all of our hard work, and the complete burnout we'd experienced, was totally worth it. A recap of the sessions, speakers and surprises from across the 3 days of the event How we added special touches and memorable moments to make our event truly remarkable Answering that all important question about whether we'll be running another event like this one

Two weeks ago, we kicked off our very first live conference: Retain Live 2019. It's the first time we've run an event of this scale, and to say it was a new, interesting and challenging experience would be a major understatement! While the event itself was a huge success and we've had overwhelmingly positive feedback - getting there certainly wasn't smooth sailing. In the first of our two-part debrief, Callie joins me on the show to discuss the weeks leading up to the event - as the workload (and stress levels) ramp up. In this episode... Why we hated the whole process of selling tickets for our event, and the reason we ended ticket sales early The big discovery we made about ourselves while preparing for the conference and working with our event team Unexpected challenges and frustrating obstacles that led to us hitting breaking point the week before the event Our biggest lessons and top takeaways for anyone thinking of running an event like Retain Live

If you have a great idea for a membership, you need to validate whether or not it’s destined to fail or succeed. Like Rome, the world’s leading membership sites weren’t built in a day. They started as an idea in someone’s mind, which was nurtured, tested and validated until there was undeniable proof the idea was a winning concept. When you’re excited about an idea for a membership, it’s easy to let your bias belief that your idea is gold get in the way of reality. This frame of mind can give you a false sense of security and cause you to invest everything in an idea that will never get off the ground. Before you pursue your membership idea, you need to test and validate it with an MVP. This will help you to discover whether your idea has true potential or not. In this episode, I reveal the importance of using an MVP to test and validate your membership idea and how to create one. Episode Summary: What an MVP is and how it will validate the potential success of your membership idea The characteristics of an effective MVP An insight into the six main types of an MVP as they relate to membership sites How to know what type of MVP will work best for testing your specific membership idea Why you should still use an MVP to test your new membership idea despite already selling products or services successfully Key Quotes: “A good MVP should solve a problem or deliver an outcome that's either the same or similar to that of your membership.” “An MVP is a minimum viable product, something that you offer to your market that is a relative representation of your membership with just enough features. It’s the bare minimum that you need to be able to put it out there and try and get people to buy or register interest.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Deciding how much you should charge for your membership site is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Charge too little and you risk losing out and making no profit. On the other hand, if you charge too much, there’s a chance nobody will be able to afford your membership. So, how much should you charge? Unfortunately, there’s no one-size fits all approach when it comes to pricing your membership. But there are four key areas to look at to help you land on a price that you and your members are happy with. Tune in to hear what they are and discover a few helpful tips when it comes to defining your membership pricing strategy. Episode Summary: Why you need to know your cost of member acquisition How to make sure your membership site is profitable and sustainable How to move the focus away from the price of your membership and towards the value of your site instead Considering your competitors when working out what to charge Why you need to consider the profile and financial situation of your audience A general rule of thumb for B2B and B2C membership prices Mentioned in this episode: Membership Academy Membership Mastermind Facebook Group Key Quotes: “Above all else, your membership site needs to be profitable. If you're not making money, you're not going to last long. And the business that doesn't make money isn't a business. It's a hobby.” “Your members should be getting so much value from your site that they don't ever question whether it's worth paying the $50 a month or whatever you charge. “Do not compete on price. Competing on price very quickly becomes a race to the bottom. No matter how cheap you are, there is always someone who will undercut you. Remember, your membership needs to be profitable, don't price yourself out of business.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Have you ever wondered what the main differences are between B2B memberships and B2C memberships? When it comes to membership sites, most of the strategies that we talk about on the podcast and inside the Membership Academy can be applied to pretty much any niche or market. But, there are a few key differences to look out for between a B2B membership and a B2C membership. These differences are important because they can potentially impact how you approach your strategy, marketing, and even your mindset when it comes to your membership site. Dive into this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast to hear what those key differences are and how you can use that knowledge to plan your membership content accordingly. Episode Summary: How vast the range of potential impact your membership can have with a B2C market vs. B2B The importance of assessing where you fit on the scale - between something that’s seen as a hobby and something potentially life-changing How attitudes towards cost and affordability vary between B2B and B2C members Adjusting expectations when it comes to how much time your members can afford to give to your membership site Why you need to consider the level of exposure your market has to advertising, sales and marketing tactics Key Quotes: “The scale of how important your membership is and how much of an impact it can make is usually going to be far broader with a B2C membership.” “While there is no one size fits all approach to pricing and there’s certainly not a set industry average, you'll often find in terms of monthly payments, that a B2C membership will fall somewhere between $15 to maybe $35, or $40. Whereas B2B memberships usually around the $30 to $60 mark.” “It’s down to you to find ways that you can deliver value and deliver results without demanding a lot of your members time, you need to make it convenient for them to use your membership.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Holy smokes, has it really been four years already?! It honestly feels like yesterday that we were gearing up to open the doors to the Academy. I'm not sure we fully realised the awesome journey we were about to embark on. Join us as we celebrate the 4th anniversary of Membership Academy by taking a look back at the last 12 months and highlighting the 7 'ups' and 3 'downs' from the past year. In this episode, Callie and I discuss: How the changes we'd introduced a year ago have changed the way the Academy runs in a major way The HUGE milestone we hit, and why we haven't been shouting about it from the rooftops! What effect planning the Retain conference has had on our business (and our lifestyle) Our top priority as we head into year 5...

Like it or not, membership cancellations are going to happen. Hopefully if you run your site well those cancellations will come at the end of a long tenure, but regardless they will happen. How you deal with these cancellations has numerous implications for the continued success of your membership site or online course; so it’s important to know how to handle them and also what to avoid. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I share my top tips for dealing with member cancellations the right way.

Having a hard time deciding which membership plugin is for you? Although the main feature of a membership plugin is to give you control of the content in a restricted ‘members-only’ area of your site, there’s a lot more to consider when selecting the right one for your site. So, what should you keep an eye out for when choosing a membership plugin? Tune in to hear four factors that could be huge game changers and make all the difference between making the right choice and making the wrong choice when it comes to your membership plugin. Episode Summary: Why the customer support options offered by the developers of the plugin are so important What to look out for when looking at the specifics of the license that your plugin comes with and the potential restrictions The problem with having a plugin with encrypted code including customization drawbacks and potential issues with your web host Why you should check when the plugin was last updated Key Quotes: “If you bought a plugin where the only support available is through a forum or a Facebook group where the developer themselves isn't present, you’re relying on other users to support you, and that might not be great if you have an emergency.” “If the developer of your membership plugin hasn't released a new update in several years, and that is a huge, huge red flag. Chances are there's potentially security issues.” “Make sure that you pay attention and do a little bit of research on the nature of the licence required for your membership plugin. Make sure you know if there’s any restrictions, how many websites you can use our plugin for and make sure you're aware of any recurring costs that you're going to have to keep paying in order to use that plugin.” Important Links & Mentions: Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Have you ever had somebody tell you that your membership is overpriced? Honestly, it would be a surprise if you haven’t. Discussions like this are usually followed up with a bargaining attempt to reduce the cost of your membership. You might have experienced when a somewhat pushy potential member tries to haggle your price down. Or, they might even ask for a discount or a free trial run that lasts for an entire month. If somebody tells you that they can’t afford your membership fee, it’s important to take it with a pinch of salt. Don’t take what they’re saying to heart because the truth is that not everyone will be able to afford your membership, and that’s okay Listen in to find out what you should do the next time someone tells you that they can’t afford your membership site. Episode Summary: Why you shouldn’t read too much into it when someone questions your affordability Whether it’s ever a good business strategy to offer a free trial and if so, when? How to reframe things to ensure people focus on the value of your site, not the cost Ways to make people aware of the various joining options Understanding that not everyone will be able to afford your membership and why it’s unrealistic to expect otherwise Key Quotes: “For as many people who think that your membership is too expensive, there'll be just as many or more who think that it's an absolute bargain.” “Pricing is not based on logic, it's all about value perception. There's no sweet spot, there's no correct price to offer…So, you want to reframe things to ensure that people are focusing on value, not on the cost.” “Not everyone will be able to afford your membership, it's unrealistic to think that they will. Your membership doesn't have to be accessible to absolutely every person. It's okay if someone's not ready or not able to join right now.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Our members often ask questions about how we run our membership and how our business has grown over time. The first thing we tell them is that our success didn’t fall out of the heavens and onto our laps. It took a lot of hard work, dedication and strategic thinking to get to where we are today. We’ve intertwined a concoction of approaches and strategies that have helped move our business forward. In this episode, we pull back the curtain and reveal five things that have positively impacted the growing success of our business as well as a few that we thought would work but ultimately turned belly side up. Essential Summary: Why you shouldn’t stray from your niche and risk confusing your audience How segmentation helped us to craft compelling lead magnets and grow our email list The importance of creating a killer opt-in and how to know if yours is good enough to move the needle How our unique Memberoni Theme for WordPress has helped us attract new members What we include in our weekly email blasts to increase open rates and keep members intrigued A few things that we thought would have a great impact on our business but turned out to be a let down Mentioned in this episode: Membership Academy The Membership Plugin Comparison Chart Key Quotes: “When we really started making use of segmentation, our sign-ups literally doubled overnight. Within a space of 24 hours, we were getting more than twice as many email signups just because we've been more deliberate about segmentation.” “By going above and beyond what most people will do when creating their lead magnets and creating something that was truly comprehensive that had a real practical benefit that people just HAD to have, was a massive game changer.” “The more that we speak and the more that we get to know other speakers on the circuit, the more we realise that public speaking is not a big deal in terms of delivering sales and increasing traffic.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts iTunes. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes to make sure that you never miss an episode

How do you ensure that your membership doesn’t get the chop when your members decide it’s monthly subscription payment Armageddon? With so many businesses moving into the membership space, consumers are faced with an overwhelming amount of choice. There comes a point when rather than juggling a countless array of subscriptions, your members will do a brutal clear out and scrap anything they consider non-essential. No mercy. So, what can you do to ensure your membership is classed as essential, and doesn’t get tossed on the scrap pile? Tune in to hear my six top tips to dodge the chop when people are battling subscription fatigue. Episode Summary: Why you should take steps to personalize your member’s experience How to combine subscription products to stack your value proposition The value of creating multiple pricing tiers and how this can help keep members in your ecosystem Why giving members the ability to pause their account can be a better alternative to losing them completely How to remove the subscription element to your membership site and attract more members with flexible fixed-term passes Steps you can take to make your membership essential and indispensable Key Quotes: “Anything which makes their relationship with you and your membership have more of a personal connection will make the decision to end their subscription much harder when they're evaluating their expenses…so take steps to personalize your member experience.” “The flexibility of offering something like a three-month pass or a one-year pass to your membership could actually attract more members who otherwise might be put off by the idea of a recurring subscription.” “Ensure that your membership is not only delivering great value to members…but also that you're doing a great job of communicating to your members the value they're receiving.”

Memberships have been a hot topic in recent years. Everybody is talking about them, and it seems like everyone and their dog is starting a new membership; but what happens when all of this hype dies down and people move onto the next thing - what will that mean for the future of the membership model? Are memberships just the new shiny fad? And is there any point starting a membership if the bubble is about to burst? I address these questions head on in this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, and dissect whether memberships are a passing fad or whether there's a future for this industry. Episode Summary: Why it feels like everyone is suddenly jumping on the membership bandwagon What is the "recency illusion" and how does this affect the membership market? Signs that the stage is set for significant growth in the membership industry The real danger that the rise of memberships and subscriptions poses to your business

It's an exciting time for us here at The Membership Guys as we unveil a fresh new update for our brand, and also announce that Member Site Academy is now Membership Academy! While on the surface it may not seem like a major change, there's a lot more involved than meets the eye... In this episode I give a bit of backstory about why these changes mean so much, and walk you through the process we used to update our brand identity. Episode Summary: Why changing Member Site Academy to Membership Academy is such a big deal for us The $10 secret behind The Membership Guys brand... Why your logo is one of the least important elements of your businesses brand Our top takeaways for anyone going through a brand refresh

Membership site owners wear a lot of hats and juggle a lot of tasks on a day to day basis. With so many moving parts, and so many plates to keep spinning, anything that we can do to streamline our workload and become a little more efficient is a big win. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I talk about 4 specific things we do within our business to make us far more productive in running our membership Episode Summary: The one small change to our video creation process that cut production time in half The specific way we involve our team members in our regular live calls that seriously lightens the workload for us How batch creating several months worth of content at one time is far more efficient than doing it on the fly The importance of documenting processes for any task you repeat more than once per month

Are you trying to be all things to all people with your content? The truth is, the more broad your content is, the less compelling, relevant and effective it's likely to be for the individual reader. By trying to cater to everyone, you end up catering to no-one. This is where segmentation can be a gamechanger. By identifying 3-5 key segments within your audience, and tailoring not only your content but also your lead generation strategy, your sales funnel and your email marketing to those segments; you can move the needle right across all the important KPI's in your business. More traffic, more leads and ultimately more membership sales. Episode Summary: Why trying to help everyone with your content results in you actually helping nobody! The 3 main options for segmenting your audience, and how they apply to memberships How to apply segmentation to not only your membership site, but also your content and sales funnels Examples of how we use segmentation in our own business, and the dramatic results it's had

Are you delivering an exceptional member experience? Your membership could have the best content in the world, but if your member experience isn't up to scratch then people just aren't going to engage. They're less likely to log in, less likely to consume your content or participate in your community, and ultimately less likely to stick around long term. Much of crafting a remarkable member experience comes down to finding ways of making your members feel extra special, and in this episode I highlight 6 simple ways to do just that. Episode Summary: Don't underestimate the importance of personally welcoming new members to your site How making a deliberate effort to loop other members into conversations can be hugely empowering Why you need to be attentive to your power users and reach out to people who are slipping away How using your platform to showcase members and celebrate their successes is a major win-win

Attracting the right people to your membership is essential for the growth of your business. Not all members are created equal - the best ones will consume your content, positively engage with your community and actually use what they're paying for. These are the members who will stick around for the long term. But how do you tailor your marketing to ensure you're attracting more of the right type of member? Episode Summary: Why trying to get sales at any cost is a dumb mistake we see too many people making The qualities and characteristics of members who are more likely to stay subscribed long term The gulf in difference between a member who is interested in your topic, and one who is committed to it Steps you can take to better identify your ideal members, and adapt your marketing to appeal to those people

We regularly get asked for our recommendations on the top tools for membership website owners. The truth is that there’s no such thing as the “perfect” membership site setup that will work for everyone – it all depends on what it is you want to achieve with your membership site, what features and functionality you need it to have, which email and payment software you’re using and a whole bunch of other details that determine which membership tools are the best fit for you. In this episode, we talk about the tools we use for our own membership website – Member Site Academy – as well as the reasons why we chose those particular options. Episode Summary: Which membership plugin and other software we're using to power Member Site Academy Why you don't need to use the exact same setup that we use (or anyone else is using) Changes we're considering making to our tech stack and frustrations we have What WordPress theme do we use for our websites?

This week we're doing something a little different on The Membership Guys Podcast! You may or may not know that we actually have another show called 'Behind The Membership', which is hosted by the one and only Callie Willows Behind The Membership features hype-free, no-fluff, frank conversations with real membership site owners just like you about the highs, lows and day to day realities of running a paid membership business. These are real people, real stories, real memberships. We're gearing up for our THIRD SEASON, which will be kicking off on June 13th; but to whet your appetite we've gone back into the archives from past seasons and picked out one of our favourites to share on The Membership Guys Podcast. This episode features Scott Devine from Scott's Bass Lessons Scott was actually a client of ours for many years, the very last client we stopped working with in fact. And we saw his site go from free YouTube videos and a PayPal donate button to a seven figure membership site in the 5 years that we worked with him. Scott's Bass Lessons has been running for 8 years now and has attracted over 50,000 members in that time. It's also gone from one-man bad to having a full faculty of world class bass educators. So there's a lot to pack into this episode!

Memberships can be challenging products to sell, as often they're made up of so many different things that it's hard to get specific in your marketing. One way to counteract that is with the "Splinter" strategy. This is where you take one piece of content from your membership and you make it available to buy as a standalone product. But you market it in such a way that makes joining your membership a preferable option to purchasing just that one thing. In this episode I dig deeper into how the "Splinter" strategy works for memberships and talk about how you can start testing it within your own business. Episode Summary: Why one of the best things about memberships also makes them challenging to sell What the 'splinter' strategy is and how it applies to membership websites How 'anchoring' is used to make joining your membership a total no-brainer Simple ways to test and validate whether the splinter strategy will work for you

It's easy to get carried away in those early days of planning and building a membership site. So many people get overexcited by their idea and a little too swept up in the process that they skip the first few fundamental steps. Most importantly: idea validation and research. And then when they launch their membership and it doesn't quite go to plan, they're left scratching their heads wondering where it all went wrong. In this episode, I highlight the 7 most important things that you need to validate BEFORE moving forward with your membership idea. Episode Summary: The important of solving problems for your members, and how to know which problems people will actually pay for a solution to. Why identifying a gap in the market is over-rated, and doesn't always mean there's an opportunity for you. How having the perfect product and a 'hungry' market is not enough. There's an important third ingredient... Why you need to seriously question your own long term objectives for your membership

We're celebrating a huge milestone for The Membership Guys Podcast as we hit our 200th episode! To mark the occasion, we thought we’d do something a little special... So both Callie and I opened the floor up to you, and invited our members and wider audience to ask us absolutely anything you wanted - about anything! We’ve picked the best questions and answered them together in this special 200th episode. Enjoy! Episode Summary: How we handle working together, and our top tips for running a business with your spouse If we could go back in time, what would we do differently with our membership? What were those early days like for us? What challenges did we have? Did we have any doubts or fears? PLUS we discuss everything from community engagement to videogames, movies to content strategy and more!

Membership websites are a value exchange. As long as you keep delivering value to your members - in the form of content, resources and ongoing investment in your product - they'll keep giving value to you in the form of their continued subscription payments. So what content can you actually include in your membership in order to ensure you keep up your side of the bargain?

When publishing content online - whether freely or inside a membership - there's always the chance that someone will copy or steal your hard work. In truth the only way to guarantee that this won't happen is to not publish anything online. However this doesn't mean you should just roll over if it happens to you. In this episode I give my top tips for dealing with people stealing and copying your content, with specific examples of the process we use in our own business. Episode Summary: The two main types of content theft that membership owners are susceptible to, and what you can do about them. Why the worst type of theft is the one where the offender likely doesn't realise that they're doing something wrong! What copyright theft actually means, and how to identify and gather evidence on more nuanced cases The process (and exact wording) that we use for approaching people who have ripped off our content

Reducing the price of your membership might sound like the last thing you'd ever want to do. As time goes on and you add more content, the value of your membership increases - so surely you'd be considering putting your prices up, not down? Why would you want to go backwards? However there are some situations where lowering your price might make total sense. Maybe what you're offering has actually changed? Maybe you got your pricing wrong from the start? Maybe you started off very hands-on but now you want to remove yourself from the picture. These are just a few scenarios where a price decrease might be considered. In this episode I discuss the implications of reducing your price and how to navigate the change in a way that doesn't cause problems with your existing members. Episode Summary: Situations where you might need to consider reducing the price of your membership site Why it's more complicated than you might realise to reduce the price of existing subscriptions Our top tips for making pricing changes without losing your existing members An alternative to reducing your membership price that's a win-win for everyone

Whether you're teaching a specialist subject, or want to support others who share your interests; it's now easier than ever to reach a global audience and get paid for sharing your time, skills, experience and expertise. Two of the best models for doing so are online courses and paid membership websites. However with those terms often used loosely and interchangeably, it can be tricky figuring out which is best for you. In this episode, we discuss the differences between courses and membership sites, and talk through the key factors to consider when choosing which to create.

We can spend months creating content, writing workbooks, pulling our hair out, and spending a small fortune on promoting a new membership site and then when we finally launch it… nobody joins. We all dread this as membership owners; and when it happens, the panic sets in and we start scrambling to rearrange the website, add testimonials, and change prices. This is all completely irrelevant stuff and won’t turn things around. So what should you do if your new membership fails?

One of the best things about running a membership website is that we can market and position it in a way that we attract the sort of members that we most want to work with. However no matter hard you try to get only the “right type” of people in your membership, you will inevitably experience problem members. Sometimes it will be a personality clash, where certain members just rub you up the wrong way; however there will be instances where you need to deal with potentially toxic elements among your member base. So how do you deal with them? I address that question and more on the latest episode of The Membership Guys Podcast. Episode Summary: The questions you need to ask yourself before dealing a ‘problem’ member How to implement a two-tier “strike” based approach to dealing with issues When it’s the right time to kick out difficult members The process and steps to take when removing someone from your membership

Creating membership content can be one of the most time consuming parts of running a paid membership website. If you’re billing people on a recurring basis, you need to deliver value on a recurring basis; and often delivering that value involves some form of content. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss how to approach content strategy for your membership, and the steps to take in order to ensure your production process is streamlined so you’re not constantly grinding to put out new content. Episode Summary: Two key mindset shifts to embrace that will change how you approach your membership content What content you should be creating, and how to deliver more while actually REDUCING your workload The steps you need to take before hiring someone to help you to produce content The one thing that will make a monumental difference to your content production process

Less than a month ago, Callie bought a book. Unbeknownst to her, that simple act would be the start of the single worst buyer experience she's ever encountered, as she found herself subscribed to a membership she never signed up for, with no clear way out. In the interests of seeing how far the rabbit hole of terrible business practices went, she decided to see it through... Join us on this rather unusual episode of The Membership Guys Podcast as we take a step by step tour through how NOT to run a membership (or any other business, for that matter!) Episode Summary: Why tricking people into joining your membership is a seriously dumb strategy! (And could land you in serious trouble) Ignoring support emails and deleting comments from your community will hurt your rep and cost you customers Trying to hold members hostage and making it impossible to cancel doesn't work Why seeing people who lack integrity and use bad practices motivate us to be better