Ready to start building your membership website?
That’s great news!
Now there are some tough membership tech decisions you need to make.
With so many different systems, plugins and tools out there to choose from…
And a lot of questions for you to mull over…
Wordpress or hosted platform?
What should your domain name be?
Should you build your website yourself or hire a developer?
It can all get a bit overwhelming…
Which is not surprising when there are so many moving parts to manage!
This is why it’s important to do your due diligence to make sure you build a site that’s right for you and your prospective members…
And we’re here to help you do just that…
So if you’re ready to build your membership website…
Or are currently fleshing out your idea for your membership…
Then this blog is a must read for you.
Here are some tips on how to tackle five of the toughest tech decisions you need to make when starting out…
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Mark Asquith, founder of Podcast Success Academy, is my guest on this week’s episode of Behind The Membership.
Mark’s membership story is a little different to most, not only because of its position as part of a wider ecosystem of businesses, but also because it has a whole tier that members can access for free!
In this episode Mark shares how Podcast Success Academy came to be and what inspired him to build it using the freemium model. He also shares how he’s building a community with two very definitive segments who share an interest in all of his products and the challenges he’s faced in getting his audience to take action.
Plus he explains how he’s going the extra mile to give his audience the best learning experience by plugging a gap of knowledge in the podcast industry, without the hard sell… And much more.
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Are you thinking of switching your membership enrolment model from closed to open?
Making the decision to open your doors permanently isn’t as simple as flipping a switch…
It can change a lot about your business…
And you need to make sure you’re fully prepared to manage these changes effectively…
For the good of both you and your members!
We’ve previously talked about moving from the open door model to closed…
And now we’re doing the reverse!
Here’s what you should take into consideration before switching your membership from a closed-door model to an open one…
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We’re kicking off season five of Behind The Membership with an awesome guest. Jenny Finnell is Founder of CRNA School Prep Academy, a highly specialized membership for nurses in the United States who want to become Registered Nurse Anesthetists.
The Academy has recently reached its first memberversary and in that time has become a big success – so much so that Jenny was able to retire her husband within eight months of launching the membership!
In this episode we talk to Jenny about her membership journey so far. How some queries from nurses resulted in her creating a free Facebook group that sowed the seeds for her idea of the Academy, why she hired a team to help her ahead of her launch and how she’s growing her membership successfully with little to no marketing.
Plus we talk about the challenges she faces managing her time juggling life as a mom of three children (one of which is a newborn) while managing the Academy, how the flexibility of the membership model enables her to better serve her members and much much more!
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Are you thinking of switching your membership enrolment model from open to closed?
If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know that I’m not usually the biggest fan of the closed-door model…
In my experience, the memberships that do best are the ones that are always open…
However, there are definitely some situations where a closed-door membership makes sense…
And I’m not here to convince you otherwise.
What I am here for is to help you prepare to make this switch…
To consider all the implications…
And prepare you for what’s next once your doors are closed.
Because managing a closed-door membership is very different in a lot of ways from an open-door one…
And many people who make the switch aren’t fully aware of what lies ahead for them…
And find the process difficult to manage…
Or regret their decision to make the change…
Let’s make sure you’re not one of them!
Here’s what you should take into consideration before switching your membership from an open to a closed-door model…
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Good news… it’s my birthday!!
Bad news… I literally NEVER work on my birthday…
It’s one of my rules…
And as much as I love The Membership Guys podcast…
I can’t break this rule.
So I’m taking the day off….
And that can mean only one thing…
CALLIE IS TAKING OVER!
(And I get to eat cake)
Join the other (some would say ‘better’) half of The Membership Guys for a very special episode, as Callie shares her top takeaways from season 4 of her podcast, Behind the Membership, and reveals the release date for season 5.
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Running a membership involves spinning a lot of plates…
Some spark your passion and fill you with joy…
Others… not so much!
I mean it can’t be fun all of the time, can it?
Owning a business comes with responsibilities…
Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s to make sure your membership operates in the right way and is fully protected may seem boring…
That’s probably because it is for some of us…
But this is the kind of stuff you can’t ignore.
It’s in the best interests of both you and your members to make sure you’re on top of your game when it comes to the ‘boring’ stuff…
So are you?
Let’s find out…
Here are seven boring but super important things you NEED TO KNOW when running a membership…
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Is your membership stressing you out?
When you first started your journey to being a membership owner, the chances are you didn’t picture sleepless nights…
Or the feeling of dread you can’t seem to shake at the thought of switching on your device to begin working on your business every day…
This ISN’T how it should be!
While owning any business can come with stressors…
We believe memberships are the only type of online business model where you can build a stress free life.
So if you’re feeling the strain right now…
And you’re struggling to feel happy and motivated running your membership…
Don’t worry, we’re here to help!
Here are eight things you can do to reduce your stress levels and learn to love your life as a membership owner again…
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Is now the right time for you to start a membership site?
You might have been thinking about this for a while…
But you’re not sure how or when to start exploring this further…
Or even if it’s a good idea to start one at all!
(Let’s be honest… owning a membership isn’t for everyone.)
The thing is, memberships are a complex business model…
There are a lot of moving parts and things to consider to keep the machine spinning…
And timing is everything.
Memberships aren’t the type of business you should start on a whim…
The last thing you want is to realize a few months in that you probably should have waited or prepared a bit more…
And once you’re up and running, it’s a lot harder to roll back your plans because you’ve got people counting on you (and paying for their subscription.)
So, to avoid getting into that situation, you’ll want to think about timing first.
So are you ready?
Let’s take a look at some good indicators that will help you decide…
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As membership site owners, we’re constantly looking for new ways to market ourselves…
But the world of online marketing moves quickly.
Things are always changing, always evolving.
And it can seem like every day there’s a new tactic or platform we need to jump on to drive member sales.
However for as fast-moving as things may seem, it’s important to recognise something:
There are some core universal marketing truths that will never, EVER change.
Before you get too carried away with that shiny new platform or this months hot new marketing trend – here are a few key things you need to remember…
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As true Membership Geeks – the main thing Callie and I pride ourselves on is, obviously, our ability to give good advice about memberships!
The feedback we get and our track record in the space suggests we do it very well…
But what about the bad advice out there?
Sadly there’s no shortage of it…
Especially when it comes to online memberships.
We find that it often comes from people who have a very small amount of exposure to our industry…
But think that’s enough to tell others how to run their membership business.
And quite frankly… their advice usually kinda sucks!
Unfortunately, we’re often left to cut through the noise to sort the good advice from the bad…
And it’s our job to help you to do the same.
So here it goes…
Here’s some seriously bad advice about memberships that you NEED to ignore…
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How do you build an audience before you launch your membership?
This is a question every successful membership owner has had to contemplate at one point.
Because doing things the other way around – launching a membership and then trying to find an audience – simply doesn’t work.
When Callie and I decided to launch Membership Academy, we started pretty much from zero…
We had little to no audience and our marketing activity was inconsistent…
Yet we’ve gone on to build a seven figure business that has attracted thousands of members…
So how did we do it?
Here’s the story of how we built our audience before launching our membership…
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How can you increase the “sticky factor” of your membership, making it a place that people don’t want to leave?
One simple way is to signpost future value…
This is one of the areas where many membership site owners typically fail.
They focus too much on the now…
They don’t focus enough on building awareness of the value their membership will bring in the future.
If this is something you do, then you’re missing a huge opportunity…
Because, if members are considering leaving and find out there’s engaging content is on the horizon, it will make their decision more difficult…
Signposting future value will play into the ‘pain of disconnect’ and create FOMO (the Fear of Missing Out) for future content.
So how can you increase the stickiness of your membership by signposting future value?
Here are seven simple ways…
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You did it! You’ve launched your membership…
All the hard work, blood, sweat and tears has paid off and your vision has now become a reality.
Congratulations!…
Now what?
You see, launching a membership isn’t just about opening the doors to your site…
It’s about what you do post-launch…
The first 30 days after you launch your membership are absolutely crucial…
So how can you make the most of this time and get your membership site off to best possible start?
Here are six things you should do after you’ve launched your membership…
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Every superhero has an origin story…
And as we’re celebrating a huge milestone of releasing 300 episodes of The Membership Guys podcast…
Callie and I decided it’s finally time to share ours.
This is something we’ve never done before!
We’re typically very private, focusing on creating content that helps people rather than creating content about our personal lives…
But seeing as we’re superheroes of the membership industry…
(because we are, right?)…
And “with great power comes great responsibility” and all that…
We’re sharing how we got to where we are today – overcoming some very big challenges along the way – with the hope that maybe it can help you on your journey to achieve the freedom, flexibility and fulfilment that comes with owning a membership site.
Because for us, that’s what it’s all about.
Enjoy!
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What should you do when your membership topic has a natural ‘end date?’
A fixed point when members have achieved what they set out to do and simply don’t need to stay subscribed to your membership.
For example, planning for a wedding or a birth, working towards a qualification or navigating the application process for college…
All of these topics have a very definitive outcome, that once achieved renders your membership redundant.
There are also topics that your members will simply outgrow…
Like a beginners level membership on podcasting, for example, which members will eventually complete and potentially want to move onto the next level.
If your membership topic has a natural ‘end date’, you might be banging your head against a wall trying to figure out what you can do to make people stay in your community after they’ve achieved what they joined to do…
But should you just accept it?
Or do you find ways to adapt your business to prevent members from leaving?
Let’s look at your options…
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