Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

Many people measure success according to vanity metrics. How many followers you have rather than how much engagement you get; how much your turnover is rather than how much net profit you make; how many members you have rather than their average lifetime spend. But is success as a membership site owner all about how many members you have? Or is it about the money you make? Or the lifestyle your membership affords you? I give my take in this week's episode of The Membership Guys Podcast... Episode Summary: Are your goals ambitious enough? And if they're not, does that make you a bad entrepreneur? Why member numbers are meaningless when it comes to assessing the success of your membership Would you trade in a measure of personal happiness for a measure of increased profit? How small membership sites can actually be more attractive

If you’ve spent much time looking at online courses or membership sites and their associated plugins and software, then you are probably already familiar with the terms ‘drip feeding’ and ‘content dripping’. Drip feeding is essentially time-releasing your content so that it isn’t all available to someone immediately after they sign up to your site. But unlike simply providing ongoing content (where new content is released into the general membership regularly), your content is released on a set schedule based, usually, on when the member signed up. While this can be a great way to stagger content, prolong subscriptions and avoid 'hit and run' members; there are some downsides to consider. In this episode, I discuss the pros and cons of drip-feeding your membership content.

It can be difficult to judge whether or not you're delivering enough value in your membership for the price you wish to charge. That's mostly because "value" is an abstract concept. There is no scientific formula behind it; it's not something you can accurately measure - it's entirely subjective, based entirely on individual perception. So how do you know if you're getting it right? It is even possible to know?! That's what we're tackling in this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast. Episode Summary: What 'value' truly means in the context of online memberships The most common mistakes people make when pricing their membership and assessing what it's worth Questions you can ask yourself to get a better measure of whether you're delivering enough for what you're charging What do your members care about most, and how does that factor in to their perception of the value your membership offers

While the majority of online memberships tend to fall into the same 2 or 3 models in terms of how they deliver their premium content; there is much to be learned from those membership sites that do things a little differently. In this episode I discuss 4 content strategies for memberships that are fairly uncommon but certainly effective, and discuss ways in which you could incorporate aspects of those strategies into your own business. Episode Summary: Why platforms such as Patreon and the creator programs offered by YouTube and Facebook are giving way to a new breed of online membership. How some memberships give away their content for free initially, and then charge money for access to their archive How one of the oldest offline content distribution models could be used for a membership website Giving your members "credits" to allow them to purchases limited quantities of content

One of the key decisions to be made when planning a membership is whether to offer multiple membership levels or a single 'all access' option. While we always advocate for simplicity, there are definite pros and cons to consider. In this episode I discuss the key things you need to consider when deciding whether to have multiple levels in your membership, and provide my top tips for making this strategy work. And I also share a 'middle ground' for people who prefer to stick with a single level. Episode Summary: Pros and cons of offering multiple different membership levels The benefits of keeping things simple in your membership (especially at the beginning) How "price anchoring" can increase sales, and an alternative way to leverage it Why you shouldn't differentiate your membership levels based on content alone

Most membership owners - especially those earlier on in their journey - try to do everything themselves Chris Ducker refers to this as "Superhero Syndrome" - where you convince yourself that everything in your business rests on your shoulders; that you’re the only person who can possibly handle it all. But it’s a fallacy. You shouldn’t be trying to do everything yourself because it’s just not sustainable, especially as your membership grows. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I highlight 6 key areas of your membership business that you should look to outsource in order to free you up to focus on the things that only you can do. Episode Summary: Why trying to do everything yourself is actually bad for your membership (and your members!) Outsourcing isn't just about offloading tasks you're no good at or think are 'beneath you' How to change your mindset about paying for specialist help Why you need to be the "rockstar" and not the "roadie"

This year we embark on our biggest and most daunting challenge to date - running our very own live conference: Retain 2019 It's something we've wanted to do for years, and we're beyond excited to bring together hundreds of membership site owners from around the world for 2 days of amazing speakers and high-level networking. But the journey has not all been smooth sailing... In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I take you behind the scenes of the story so far, revealing our thought process, strategy and sharing the highs and lows of orchestrating this kind of event. Episode Summary: Why we've waited until now to run our first conference of this scale What happened that almost made us throw in the towel and cancel the entire event The specific steps we took to validate our idea for this event, including our pre-sale strategy Insights into choosing speakers, picking a location, approaching sponsors and more

Your membership sales page is perhaps the single most important piece of the puzzle for attracting member signups. Whether it's a cold lead or someone who has been following you for years - it's your sales page that needs to seal the deal and help them to make the final decision to join your membership. So it's crucial that you get it right! In this episode I walk through the key elements that every membership sales page should have in order to maximise new member sales. Episode Summary: Why you need to zero in on the problems and pain points your potential members have, and how to use that info on your sales page The importance of transparency, particularly when it comes to your membership pricing What "risk reversal" is and why it plays such a big part in crafting an effective sales page Pre-empting your customers questions and overcoming objections that might stop them from joining

Most online memberships involve content. A lot of content. Not only are you creating content for your membership, but often you're blogging, podcasting or creating videos as part of your marketing strategy too. It can be a lot to handle! That's why it's crucial to have a solid plan for your content production, so you know well in advance what you need to create in order to schedule accordingly and avoid constantly doing everything at the last minute. In this episode I'm joined by Janet Murray to discuss how to plan an entire year's worth of content, and the tips and tools you need to help you stay on track.

Considering starting a membership website in 2019? Perhaps you should be... In this episode I look at 6 types of people who are especially well suited to starting a membership site, and discuss some of the various strategies they could consider.

And so another year draws to a close... How was 2018 for you and your membership? Rather than lament the passage of time, once again we're wrapping up the year by taking a look back at the most loved episodes of The Membership Guys Podcast, counting down the top 10 most downloaded episodes of the past 12 months. Thanks to each and every one of you for your continued support of the show - here's to even more membership awesomeness in 2019!

Lead generation is a critical part of the sales process for membership owners. For most membership businesses, this means getting people to subscribe to your email marketing list, where you can engage with them further on a more direct basis and guide them towards joining your membership site. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I talk about how to convert website visitors into email leads, and give my top tips for increasing both the quantity and the quality of the leads that you generate.

It's easy to get carried away when creating a membership website. We often turn to other memberships for inspiration, and as a result end up with a wishlist of shiny bells and whistles that we absolutely MUST have for our own website. And the end result of cramming all of those features into your membership is a convoluted frankenstein's monster of a website that's a pain to manage and an even bigger nightmare for members to use. It's not just the tech side of things that people tend to over-complicate; we see the same thing happening with marketing, sales and overall business strategy too. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I warn against adding too much complexity to your membership business and discuss the benefits of embracing simplicity.

As the year draws to a close and many inside your membership and your wider audience will be in a festive mood, what sort of things should you be doing as a membership owner? Whether you're a Christmas fanatic or a modern day Scrooge - the festive season brings with it a few unique opportunities for your membership business. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I talk about 6 things you should do in your membership over the holiday period. Episode Summary: Creating "year end review" content - what we do at The Membership Guys, and some ideas you can try The importance of taking time away from your membership over the holidays Reviewing your achievements in the past year and setting goals for the next 12 months How the festive season affords you more opportunities for promotional campaigns

Membership websites have a whole mess of moving parts - plugins, themes, integrations, payment processors - they all add up to make memberships one of the most complicated types of sites that you can build. And even if you have help getting everything up and running, chances are there'll be numerous times you'll need a bit of tech support in the day to day running of your membership. But finding reliable help with the technical side of building and maintaining a membership can be a crap-shoot. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I run through some of the most viable options for finding tech support that you can rely on for different stages of your membership. Episode Summary: The number one resource for learning how to build your membership site yourself (Spoiler alert: it's Member Site Academy - because of course it is!) How to distinguish between a legit web developer and someone who has just learned how to configure a handful of plugins and themes Why it's not essential that your chosen web developer has specific experience with membership sites Where to get help with ad hoc tech issues and day to day maintenance

The "one to many" aspect of a membership site is what makes it such an attractive business model. The ability to leverage your time, skills, experience and expertise in order to serve hundreds or even thousands, without having to deal with issues of increased expensive, strained resources or limited capacity that can come when trying to grow other types of businesses make memberships one of the most scalable models there is. However sometimes in order to get to the next level, you need to do a few things that don't scale too well... Episode Summary: How to add a personal touch to your membership without spreading yourself too thin Times where offering a "done for you" or "done with you" service may actually benefit your membership as a whole The value of taking your community offline and organising real world meetups The biggest challenge in selling a membership, and the specific tactic that works best for overcoming it

Much of what we discuss here at The Membership Guys revolves around building and growing a successful membership. But once you've reached a point where you can call your membership "successful" - what's next? For many, the continued growth of their membership - increasing member numbers and revenue - is the be all and end all of their ambitions. And that's a perfectly valid goal. But for those who want more, what does that "next level" look like? In this episode, I discuss 5 ideas for how you could take an already successful membership business to even greater heights. Episode Summary: The damaging effects of becoming complacent in your approach to your membership Memberships are an evolution and should change over time, but not ALL change is good... The biggest mis-steps membership owners make when it comes to their community Why you shouldn't blindly follow the advice of experts and "gurus" - and yes, that includes us!

Running a membership requires you to get into the routine of regularly showing up, serving your members by creating valuable content, interacting in your community, answering support queries and so on. These day to day habits are the cornerstone of any successful membership - however when developing those positive habits it's all too easy to also develop bad ones. In this episode, I highlight some of the more common bad habits we see membership owners falling foul of, and give my top tips for breaking them. Episode Summary: The damaging effects of becoming complacent in your approach to your membership Memberships are an evolution and should change over time, but not ALL change is good... The biggest mis-steps membership owners make when it comes to their community Why you shouldn't blindly follow the advice of experts and "gurus" - and yes, that includes us!

Cancellations are an inevitable part of the member journey. Everyone running a membership deals with them. However that doesn't mean you just have to sit back and let cancellations happen! In this episode I share some simple ways that you can pre-empt cancelling members and reduce the number of people leaving your membership. Episode Summary: Why it's crucial to get feedback from outgoing members in order to help you zero in on problem areas (and easy fixes!) Monitoring member activity and engagement, and taking action to salvage people who might be slipping away "I haven't got time" is a common reason members leave - what does that really mean and how can you tackle it? Dealing with involuntary churn from failed payments - what's the answer?

Are you worried about the churn rate of your membership? Many membership business owners look at the numbers dropping and panic. They might even believe that the membership business model is flawed, and maybe they should try their luck elsewhere. In this episode, I talk about churn rate and why it shouldn’t be the one thing you think about. This episode instead focuses on THE most important metric – customer lifetime value, and why that should be your focus before you make any decision about the future of your membership. If you’re considering switching from a membership model, listen to this episode first.Essential Learning Points:Why people get worried about churn rateWhy there’s no industry average churn rateHow to look at churn rate with contextWhat lifetime value is and why it’s the most important metricImportant Links & Mentions:The Membership GuysMembership AcademyDespite What You’ve Heard, Average Member Retention is NOT Only 3 Months5 Stages of the Member Life Cycle 21 Quick Tips for Improving Member RetentionThe Most Effective Tools for Reducing Membership ChurnKey Quotes:“The lifetime value for courses max out on day one.”“The idea of lifetime value of your customers maxing out is not exclusive to memberships.”“It's important to realize that whatever model you go with for your business, whatever type of business you run, it all essentially comes down to customer lifetime value.”“Anything you sell has a churn rate. Churn rate is merely a factor in determining the endpoint after which you get no more money from that person.”

Creating a membership is an exciting time. The creative juices are flowing, the sense of accomplishment from building and launching something new can be exhilarating, and there's an undeniable buzz you get with every new member who joins. But what about 6 months down the line? 2 years? 10 years? Is that buzz still there? Does your membership still excite you? Or perhaps it's started to feel like a chore? Maybe things haven't gone as planned. Or maybe you've just become complacent. Whatever the cause, if you're starting to feel weighed down by your membership then this can be the start of a very slippery slope. Check out this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast can find out how to prevent this from happening, and what you can do to turn things around if your membership is starting to feel like a burden. Episode Summary: The vicious cycle that occurs when you start to treat your membership like a chore How solid systems and processes, plus well-controlled boundaries, can make a huge difference in your role as membership owner Why you need to be mindful of the reasons you started a membership in the first place The importance of fighting the instinct to focus on negatives, and staying positive without becoming complacent

With so many moving parts involved in building and running a membership site, the costs can quickly add up. And while constantly trying to penny-pinch and always going with the cheap option isn't the best approach, it's also prudent to ensure you're not unnecessarily wasting money. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I share 9 ways to cut your day to day costs when running a membership business. Episode Summary: The simple step to avoiding the temptation to buy lots of tools and software that you'll end up never using! How thinking long term with subscriptions and licenses will save you money The importance of regularly reviewing your expenses and stopping any expenditure that's wasted How developing better processes can have an impact on your bottom line

While in a lot of cases people will have joined your membership to get the benefit of your particular expertise; bringing in experts in complimentary topics can add a lot to your offering. Not only does inviting guest contributors increase the value and variety you provide to your members; but it's also a smart strategy for minimizing the workload involved in creating all membership content yourself. In this episode I talk more about ways to make best use of guest contributors for your membership, as well as how to approach experts and get them to agree to be involved. In this episode, I discuss: The benefits of inviting other experts to contribute to your membership How best to approach your guests and convince them to get involved Examples of the types of membership content you might ask a guest to contribute How to make it easier for your potential guest to say "yes!"

During the course of running your membership site, there will inevitably come a point where you want to increase your pricing. Maybe your offering has changed, perhaps you're responding to increased demand or maybe you just want to earn a little more for your efforts. Rather than simply raising your prices overnight, check out this latest episode of The Membership Guys Podcast for my tips and strategies to help you to get the best results from increasing your membership pricing... Episode Summary Should you increase the price for existing members or just new ones? How a pending price increase gives you a huge promotional opportunity that can bring in an influx of new signups. Timing your price increase to ensure maximum impact Alternatives to raising your membership pricing that you might want to consider

Membership websites come in all shapes and sizes; but the type we primarily deal with here on The Membership Guys consist primarily of content and community. Given that content marketing is, without doubt, one of the best ways to promote your membership site; then it can be a real challenge trying to figure out which content should be free - via blogs, podcasts and the like - and which content should comprise your paid membership. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I tackle this subject and look at some of the things to consider when deciding whether your content should be free or paid... Episode Summary The truth behind the notion that membership site owners are selling content (spoiler: that's NOT what you're selling!) Some of the obvious differences between free and paid content 5 questions to ask yourself to help determine whether a piece of content should be free or should be paid Why membership owners often overlook the importance of c________e (listen in to fill the blank!)

The typical membership site owner creates a LOT of content. Not just for their paying members, but as part of their marketing strategy too. It's a lot of work - so anything you can do to increase the impact and the reach of the content you create is a big win. Content repurposing can help you squeeze every drop of value from your courses, tutorials, blogs, videos and podcasts; and in today's episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I'm joined by the queen of content repurposing - Amy Woods from Content10x - to discuss ways that you can repurpose your membership content. Episode Summary: The right way to approach repurposing your content to ensure you stand out, not just making more noise Should you try to "be everywhere" when it comes to content platforms and social media? Specific things you can do to repurpose both your paid membership content as well as your free content The 2-3 steps you can take - starting with your next piece of content - to get to grips with repurposing

Wow, time flies when you're rocking the membership world! In what has become an annual tradition - we're celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Member Site Academy with a very special episode looking back at the past 12 months of our business. And of course I'm joined once again by the other (and arguably better) half of The Membership Guys, the one and only Callie Willows, to discuss year three of running the Academy. In this episode, Callie and I discuss: Picking up where we left off at the end of our 2nd year and discussing where we went from there. Changes we've made to our strategy and the reasons and circumstances behind those decisions Our highlights from the past 12 months, what's worked, what hasn't and what challenges we've faced A sneak peek at our future plans for the Member Site Academy and the business in general

As your membership grows, so too does the likelihood that you'll encounter negative feedback from your members. You can't please everyone, it's a fools errand to even try. But what do you do if one of your members says something you don't like about your membership? How you react to and process negative feedback can have real implications on the way you run your membership. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I share my advice on handling negativity the right way, and give my tips for turning it around and using this sort of feedback for the betterment of your business. Episode Summary: Why you shouldn't immediately react to negative comments and feedback How to figure out whether it's actual negative feedback or just something you don't want to hear The importance of finding context for the feedback you receive Do you even need to respond if someone says something negative?

Podcasting can be an extremely effective outlet for experts and influencers to expand their reach, grow their audience and demonstrate their credibility. And for membership owners, a podcast can be a great source of new members too. In fact our podcast is perhaps one of the most important pieces of our marketing puzzle, and helps generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in membership sales each and every year. In this week's episode of that very podcast, I share 6 ways that you can use podcasting to promote and grow your membership website. Episode Summary: Why holding out for sponsorships is a dumb move for anyone who runs a membership website How to organically talk about your membership on every single episode without being salesy and annoying your listeners Ways to leverage your existing membership content as part of your podcast Running a promotion just for podcast listeners - and what you need to avoid

"The average length of time someone will stay subscribed to your membership is just 3 months." You’ve heard that before, right? You’ve no doubt seen "experts" throwing this statistic around. Heck, if you dig hard enough I wouldn't be surprised if we've repeated it ourselves once upon a time! Well here’s the truth - that 3 month average subscription length? It’s nonsense. Utter nonsense. In today’s episode I look at where the whole 3 month myth came from and why it’s persisted - but more importantly I talk about what the actual average subscription length for membership sites is. Episode Summary: Where the "3 month average" member retention myth came from, and why it's stuck around so long. Why it's impossible to determine an exact industry average for online memberships. A more accurate ballpark average subscription length, backed up by data. Why it really doesn't matter what the industry average is, and what you should focus on instead.

On June 20th, Facebook officially announced that they are trialling the option for Group admins to charge a recurring subscription fee to their members. This is definitely a huge move, and one that capitalises on the fact that there are already many membership owners using Facebook Groups "unofficially" for their paid community. So what does this mean for the membership industry? Should we all pack up our things and move our memberships over to Facebook? If you've been following us for a while, you probably know the answer to that one... In this episode, I dissect this announcement as well as some other recent developments with Facebook groups and revisit the contentious topic of using them for your membership community. Episode Summary: What we know about the Facebook paid group subscriptions so far (and what we can assume) The implications of running your entire membership through the Facebook ecosystem How this and other recent changes have made Facebook a serious player when it comes to choosing a membership platform What Facebook's track record tells us, and why it's best to tread carefully...

We're constantly banging the drum on how important it is to have an established audience BEFORE you build and launch a membership. However for some people the temptation to rush headfirst into their membership is just too strong. Truth is that if you haven't built an audience that you can mobilize and monetize, you're going to find it an uphill struggle trying to get your membership off the ground. But it's not all doom and gloom. In this podcast, I share 5 options you have if you're wanting to build a membership before building your audience. Episode Summary: The importance of validating that there actually IS a market for your idea and that you've done your research Why it's worth delaying your plans to focus on building an audience first (and what we did to prepare for our own membership launch) The 3 different options you have for accelerating your growth Alternative products you could create that would make more sense than a full-blown membership at this stage of your business

When we talk about membership sites, typically it's in the context of being the main part of the membership owner's business. However that's not the only way to do it. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I dig into 4 of the main ways you could create a membership site that's secondary and supplementary to the real focus of your business. Episode Summary: Why it's okay to not have a membership as the main focal point of your business How a free membership site can work like gangbusters for generating qualified sales leads Ways to use a membership to take your service business to the next level and crush your competitors A simple way to use a membership website in conjunction with selling high-ticket courses and programs.

This is the ultimate “how long is a piece of string” question. There’s no exact science or specific formula that will accurately predict how many people are likely to join your membership. However when setting goals for the launch of a new membership site, or even the growth of an original one, it’s useful to know whether your aspirations are realistic or just pure delusion! In this episode, I attempt to answer this unanswerable question, and give my “rule of thumb” guidance for predicting how many people you can realistically expect to join your membership. Episode Summary: Why it’s impossible to accurately predict how many membership signups you’ll get Identifying your core audience size, and the mistake so many people make with this The two most important factors affecting the percentage of your audience who will join

In today's online world you're increasingly competing with a lot of noise and distraction when it comes to your members time and attention. How do you stand out? What can you do to deliver a member experience that will make logging into your membership and spending time in your community preferable to watching hilarious cat videos on YouTube or chatting with friends on Facebook? Andrew and Pete are two of the most creative content marketers in the world. And that creativity carries over to their own membership community too. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, we look at what they're doing to craft a truly unique and remarkable member experience, and they share their tips on how you can think outside the lines and start being more creative with your membership. Episode Summary: Why you shouldn't just do what everyone else does, and how to truly stand out from your competition. The special touches Andrew and Pete add to their member experience that has turned their community into superfans What to do if you're convinced your topic is too boring, or you're not sure how to find creative angles in your business Andrew and Pete share some random ideas you can try today to put a little more personality into your marketing and your membership

So your membership is ticking along nicely, you're bringing in new members at a steady rate (and they're sticking around too), you've got your systems and processes nailed and everything is running like clockwork. What next? There are a few different paths you can take for growing and scaling your membership business; but in this episode I want to talk about my favourite approach, one that's perfectly suited to the membership model. And that is creating an 'ecosystem' of products and services with your membership smack-bang at the heart of everything. Episode Summary: Why membership owners should break from the traditional "value ladder" strategy for offering additional products and services Your existing member base is the single most qualified segment of your audience for anything else you have to sell Why your first priority should be getting new members rather than trying to sell them other stuff "The money is in the list?" - nope, the money is in the membership, literally!

Making the move from working one on one with clients, to running a "one to many" subscription business like a membership can be a daunting transition. It's one Mark Asquith made several years back, when he called time on his successful digital agency to focus entirely on his SAAS company. And it's a journey we've taken ourselves with The Membership Guys. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, we discuss our respective journeys, and Mark shares an inside look into how he made the transition both from a practical sense as well as a mental one. It's a must-listen episode for anyone looking to make a similar switch in their business. Episode Summary: How many entrepreneurs create a "lifestyle prison" by following the wrong advice The practicalities of transitioning from agency owner to running a subscription business Key mindset changes you need to make in order to successful grow a community Why it's okay to keep things simple with your membership and not constantly chase the "next level"

Most memberships in the online space feature some form of video content. But the question of where to host these videos continues to confuse many membership site owners. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I delve into the 6 main options you have for hosting your membership videos and give my definitive recommendation (as well as what the absolute no-no is when it comes to video hosting) Episode Summary: Why it's important to use a purpose-built video host rather than simply using a file hosting company What are the implications of storing video files on your own website host or server? Are those unlisted videos on YouTube really as protected as you thought they were? Our number one video hosting recommendation for membership owners.

Refunds suck. Let's face it - someone asking for their money back is never cause for celebration. But the fact is that while it might hurt your feelings, hurt your wallet or just flat out annoy the hell out of you when people ask for a refund - having a fair refund policy is ultimately a good thing for you and for your membership. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I explore the best ways to deal with refund requests, and provide my top pointers for what you need to include in your membership's refund policy. Episode Summary: Why you should have a fair refund policy, even if you have totally legit reasons to not want to give money back The problems and pitfalls with trying to fight back against refund requests Key conditions to include in your membership's refund policy What to do if someone asks you to refund several months of membership payments

Much of the marketing advice you'll come across conditions you seek out a magic bullet that will unlock a tidal wave of leads and sales. The blueprint for the perfect funnel; the foolproof launch strategy; the latest killer Facebook ads hack. It's all nonsense. There is no "easy button" - and the people telling you there is are almost always trying to sell you something (or regurgitating the advice of someone else whose "magic beans" they bought) Truth is that it's extremely rare to find one big thing that will move the needle in your membership. It's about doing a lot of the little things, and doing them well. This week, I'm sharing with you 6 very quick, very simple marketing tactics that you can try out with minimal time or effort. Some of these might sound obvious to you, but so often we see people overlooking the no-brainer stuff because they're searching for that magic bullet. So, forget searching for your 'Golden Goose', listen to the episode and give some of these ideas a try... Episode Summary: The totally obvious marketing tasks that so many membership owners shy away from A simple 5 minute tactic that will start a whole bunch of sales conversations Easy ways to whet people's appetite, show them behind the scenes and create FOMO that will compel them to join Why a lot of marketing advice out there is nonsense - and the surprising source of over 50% of our own sales that goes against what you may have been told.

A clear understanding of what makes your audience tick is key to ensuring your marketing is on point. So often people forget this. They get swept up in the latest quick fix marketing tricks, Facebook ad hacks and flavour-of-the-month sales funnels that they ignore that the foundation of successful marketing is understanding your audience. Their pains, their problems, their motivations. This stuff isn’t difficult to zero in on. And in this week’s podcast, I discuss the 3 questions every single membership site owner should be asking, and what to do with the answers to improve both your marketing and your retention strategies. Episode Summary: Why you need to understand your members motivations in order to refine your marketing communications The 3 most important segments of your audience that you need to be speaking to Specific examples of how to use member (and non member) feedback in order to change your sales page, email messages and other areas of your marketing strategy The keys to preempting and preventing cancellations, and tempting ex-members to return

Social proof is a powerful marketing tool. Everyone expects you to talk about how awesome your membership is - that's a given - but when others back you up then it's a whole different ball game. Testimonials, endorsements and success stories go a very long way - and as a membership site owner you have the perfect resource at your disposal to generate this sort of social proof: your existing member base! In this episode, I talk about the most effect ways of tapping into your existing members to help you to create highly persuasive and effective social proof that will help you to skyrocket your marketing.

There's an element of risk involved with every type of business. Particularly online. However when it comes to membership sites there are a few things in particular that you want to pay special attention to. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast - I look at 5 of the biggest risks membership owners need to be aware of and give my top tips for pre-empting and preventing problems. Episode Summary: How some membership owners are building on borrowed land, and what problems this may cause in the long run Tips for keeping your membership secure and minimising the risk of your site being hacked Protecting your intellectual property and your membership content How your particular membership model and strategy could be leaving you wide open

The one-to-many aspect of the membership model is one of it's greatest benefits. Being able to serve your audience on a larger scale is what attracts a lot of membership owners to this type of business - however it does come at a cost. The larger your membership grows, the less able you are to create a more personal connection with individual members, and that can be unsatisfying for both them and you. However there are still ways you can add a personal touch to your membership, even with hundreds and thousands of members to serve, and in this episode I talk about 8 of the best ways to do that. Episode Summary: Why even the smallest personal touch can make a massive difference within a one-to-many environment How video can really help you to make a deeper connection with members Tactics for offering personal coaching in a highly leveraged, manageable way that doesn't overburden you How to gain better insights into what your members want and need in order to give tailored attention

Gamification is the strategy of using gameplay elements as a means of encouraging engagement with your product, course or membership. Typically with membership sites, this manifests itself as point systems, badges and other rewards for completing content or contributing in your community. While gamification can be a highly effective strategy, it isn’t a “magic button” for creating an engaging member experience, and if implemented poorly can actually have an adverse effect on your membership. In this episode I discuss some of the potential problems with using gamification techniques for memberships.

Are you in an industry where there may be a demand for group access to your membership? Whether it's partners in the same business, employees in a single company, or even just an entrepreneur wanting their assistant, web designer or some other member of their team to access your site - it's not uncommon to receive requests to provide shared access. In this episode I discuss the 3 ways you can facilitate this in your membership site.

Cancellations suck. There's no denying it. Obviously a member ending their subscription is pretty much the worst case scenario. By nature of the business model it's pretty much the last thing we want to happen, right? So why would you make it easier for members to leave by giving them the ability to cancel their membership themselves without you being involved or having a chance to talk them round? In today's episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I dive into the pros and cons of allowing members to cancel their own subscriptions vs implementing a process that requires them to contact you first if they want to leave.

Live calls are a great way of delivering value to your members without a lot of the headaches and added effort that goes into creating many other forms of member content. Webinars, live Q&A's, member coaching calls - this sort of content is ideally suited to most types of memberships. In today's podcast episode, I dive deeper into how to get the most out of live member content and give my top tips for raising the bar and improving the quality and impact that it can have. Episode Summary: Why live calls such as webinars and Q&A sessions are a great addition to your membership Recommendations for reducing the tech barriers for members to attend How one change can help you to create a more personal connection Ways to get more people to turn up live to your calls

Offering a trial is a great way of moving people off the fence and encouraging them to give your membership a try. However should that trial be free, or should it involve a nominal charge? In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I cover the pros and cons of each option, and dive deeper into the benefits and considerations of offering a trial for your membership. Episode Summary: How offering a trial on your membership can significantly increase sales Why most people instinctively choose to make their trials free The psychology behind a trial period, and how it differs from free vs paid The only metric that matters when assessing the performance of your trial

The launch of a new membership site can be a nerve-wracking time, and adding to that anxiety is the question of whether you have enough content to open your doors. Is there a set amount of content that a membership site needs to have before you release it to the public? What content should you be creating and how do you know when to say “when”? In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I tackle this question, and provide my top tips for approaching content creation as you gear up for launch. As well as looking at the key things to consider when thinking about your membership launch content, I also discuss specific examples from our own membership – the Member Site Academy; and provide insight into our specific approach to content creation as we were preparing to open our doors. It’s easy to get sucked into the trap of grinding out high levels of content just so we can say that we offer the most course, tools, resources or whatever other widgets we have on the market – but as membership site owners, especially ones who are getting ready to launch – this is absolutely the wrong approach and the wrong mindset.