Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

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.

If a membership site launches with no audience to notice, has it truly launched? In this episode we answer the much asked question of whether it's possible - or advisable - to launch a membership site when you do not have an audience. I also discuss why audience building is particularly important for membership website owners, as well as my top tips for how you can get started on building an audience for your membership, fast. Episode Summary Why "build it and they will come" is a terrible business strategy The main benefits of building your audience before building your product Why piggybacking on other people's audience is a limiting approach How to get started on building an audience for your membership

It's very easy to fall into bad habits as a membership site owner when it comes to over-working and putting too much pressure on yourself. This often leads to burnout, which in turn adversely affects your membership site. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I give my tips on how you can avoid burning out when running a membership site. Episode Summary Why over-burdening yourself is not only bad for you, but for your members too The importance of context, and understanding where your membership fits in the grand scheme of things How to set and manage member expectations What areas of your business you should develop in order to avoid burning yourself out

Conference season is upon us! For some that means cramming into a drab hall in a hotel out in the middle of nowhere, listening to long-in-the-tooth experts drone on for hours on end. For others, it's a chance to take time away, fly to somewhere sunny and fill your brain in between running up a huge bar bill on company expenses. Whichever end of the scale you land on; conferences represent plenty of opportunities for anyone running a membership website. Check out the 10 ways that membership owners can really get the most from industry conferences.

When it comes to membership sites, you’ll often find that people will come for the content, but they’ll stay for the community. An active community is the glue which holds a successful membership together. It’s where your members will form relationships, where they’ll receive and give support, where they’ll build connections and even make friends. It’s things like that which will keep people subscribed to your membership for months and years to come. However starting a community from scratch can be daunting. Which platform should you use? How do you get your members to participate? How do I avoid my community becoming a ghost town? Getting that initial momentum for your community is key to it becoming successful long-term; so here are my top tips for getting started with your membership community.

Have you ever thought about writing a book? Perhaps you already have? Being a published author can be a huge feather in the cap for anyone running a membership site - particularly one which is based around a personal brand, where you're the expert or thought leader. Chris Ducker knows just how powerful writing a book can be for membership owners. His first best-selling book Virtual Freedom played a huge part in laying the foundations for what has now become his Youpreneur community. And it's that very community that has since fuelled his brand new book 'Rise Of The Youpreneur.' To celebrate its release, I invited Chris back on the show to discuss how the book factors into the growth of his membership site, and the how being a membership owner has affected the process of writing a book. Episode Summary: How having a membership is beneficial to the process of writing a book. Where your book fits into your membership business. Tapping into your member-base for case studies and testimonials. Which should come first: writing a book, or launching your membership.

Your membership content comprises a large part of the ongoing value your site offers. But how do you keep momentum going once the ideas and inspiration for what content to create start to run dry? In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss a few effective ways to generate a continuous stream of awesome ideas for fresh membership content. Episode Summary: Ways to "crowdsource" content ideas for your membership How to identify and take advantage of knowledge gaps in your industry Methods we use ourselves inside Member Site Academy to solicit content ideas from our members What to do with the ideas that you generate

The most successful memberships are those that cater to a specific niche. Having a niche makes your offering more targeted, which increases the likelihood of someone identifying with the problem your membership solves. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you can’t just blend in with the crowd. You need to have a specialty. But how do you figure out your niche? And what happens once you’ve become successful in a specific area? Should you stay put, or expand your reach? I answer all of these questions and more on this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast. Episode Summary: Why being a specialist beats being a “jack of all trades” The biggest mistake people make once they become successful in a niche The 3 different ways to pick a niche and differentiate your offering Why “For X” is the most powerful phrase for positioning your membership

If you're trying to make more money from your membership business there are two ways you can go. One is to try to increase revenue from your existing membership site - and the other is to look at opportunities for offering additional products and services to your customers. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I explore the 7 main options worth exploring - along with the 3 avenues you absolutely should NOT go down... Episode Summary: The no-brainer areas you should focus on first to increase membership revenue How putting your price up can actually attract (and keep) more members What complementary products and services make sense for membership owners The 3 revenue streams you should stay clear of

Far too often, creating content gets confused with delivering value. Membership owners find themselves on a treadmill of grinding out epic course after epic course because they're convinced it's the only way to keep their members happy and - ultimately - keep them subscribed. It's not as simple as that. Memberships aren't a competition to see who can give members the most "stuff" - it goes deeper than that, and often you can deliver a lot of member value for a relatively small amount of effort. In this episode, I look at 4 no-brainer ways that you could be ramping up the value proposition of your membership. Episode Summary: Why providing value doesn't mean just grinding out epic content How to use your podcast and blog to make your membership more valuable The benefits of giving members priority access and preferential treatment A key part of your role as community leader that's also a major value-add

Membership pricing is an inexact science. It's natural to wonder whether you've found the sweet spot in terms of what you should be charging your members. However we've seen an increasing amount of people taking completely the wrong approach due to not really being able to wrap their head around the membership model, and as a result making some poor decisions when it comes to setting their membership pricing. In this episode, I help you to figure out whether you're actually undercharging for your membership, or if you're just thinking about it the wrong way. Episode Summary: How to determine whether you're at the lower end of membership pricing Terrible reasons for wanting to dramatically increase your monthly fee The main factors that determine the pricing 'sweet spot' What 3 choices you have if you do want to raise the price of your membership

In those early stages of running a membership, your priorities are pretty clear. Most of the time you're mainly going to be focused on getting enough new members to pay the bills, and making sure you're doing enough keep them happy. But what happens once you find yourself on solid footing with the basics? What comes next? Once you're over that initial hump, it's not all plain sailing! Truly scaling your membership comes with it's own set of challenges. In today's episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I highlight the core things you need to be prioritizing in order to grow your membership and take it to the next level. In this episode: The most effective way to improve membership sales and retention Why (and how) to escape the day to day grind and focus on bigger goals "Solid processes are the bedrock of successful membership sites" How you can work with us to plot out your entire years membership strategy

Anyone who has followed us for a while will probably know that we tend to put more effort into talking people out of starting a membership than we do to trying to convince people they should start one. Simple reason is that there are countless snake oil salesman out there portraying memberships as something they're not. We try to save people from that. In fact we kicked off last year with a show all about the reasons NOT to start a membership! However, today's episode of The Membership Guys Podcast breaks from our norm as we take a look at some of the most compelling reasons you should consider starting a membership website in 2018. In this episode: Why Mike usually tries to talk people OUT of starting a membership website! The upsides of recurring revenue for both profitability and business stability How working 'one-to-one' limits you in more ways than you realise The importance of being fulfilled as a business owner, and how memberships help

And just like that, another year is almost over! How was your 2017? In what's becoming a bit of a tradition, I'm wrapping the year up by taking a look back at some of the fantastic episodes of The Membership Guys Podcast, counting down the top 10 most downloaded episodes of 2017. Thanks to each and every one of you for your continued support of the show - here's to even more membership awesomeness in 2018! Episode Links (not in order - don't want to ruin the suspense!): Chris Ducker on Running Live Events to Grow Your Membership Insights & Advice from Experienced Membership Owners (Episode 100) Advanced Tips and Tactics for Offering a Membership Trial Grant Baldwin on Growing Your Membership with Public Speaking How to Use Live Video to Market Your Membership with Luria Petrucci Insights & Reflections on Year 2 of the Member Site Academy Jeff Goins on Monetizing your Skills and Creativity Tips and Tricks for Increasing your Membership Sales 5 Reasons Why I Dislike the Closed Door Membership Strategy Carrie Green on Conditioning Yourself for Membership Success

When it comes to marketing your membership, not everything is about finding that killer sales funnel or running huge promotions. More often than not, membership success comes from maintaining a consistent baseline of day to day activity – it’s about doing the “little and often” things that keep you top of mind for your audience. This episode of The Membership Guys Podcast digs into the strategy we use for keeping up this consistent strategy, and explores the sort of tactics you should be using to market your membership. In this episode: Why is consistency important in your marketing? What is the DWM Method of membership marketing? What marketing tasks should you be completing on a consistent ongoing basis? The 3 key objectives of a solid membership marketing strategy.

Your membership won't be right for everyone, and there are countless random reasons why someone may decide not to join. However in our experience of working with hundreds of memberships, we often see the same 5 objections coming up time after time. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I reveal the 5 most common objections people have to joining memberships - and more importantly what you can do to overcome them. In this episode: How to stop people thinking that your membership is too expensive. Why social proof and risk reversal are crucial components in your membership sales strategy. The most important thing to have on your checkout page. Why convincing people NOT to join your membership is actually a good thing!