Why are people not joining your membership website? 

You could have the most incredible membership…

One where you work tirelessly perfecting each and every little element of it…

But people aren't joining and you're left scratching your head wondering why.

Well there may be a good reason for it…

And we're going to help you find out what it is.

Here are nine common reasons people aren't joining your membership site…

1. You’re not asking for the sale

Or you are asking, but not enough…

This is such a common issue for people in business…

They have an aversion to marketing and don’t want their audience to think they're a sleazy salesperson…

So they avoid it completely in fear of being overly promotional.

Sound familiar? 

Maybe you link to your membership once in a sales email and then never bring it up again…

Or you don't have a link to it on your website or in your email signature…

Maybe you don't even mention that you have a membership on social media…

The thing is, if you don’t actively promote your membership, you won't get sales.

You can’t expect people to magically stumble over your website and instantly sign up…

It would be great if they did!

Purchases like these need some prompting….

You need to shout about your membership from the rooftops…

Wise words…

As I've said before, build it and they will come is not a solid marketing strategy…

I understand that you don't want to appear to be too salesy…

Because you could definitely over do it…

But if your membership is as good as you think it is, you're doing your audience a disservice by not telling them about it.

You don’t need to bombard everyone…

But a marketing strategy with a strong call to action asking for the sale is essential.

2. You have an unclear value proposition

By this, we mean that you're not clearly communicating why your membership is relevant to your audience…

Maybe you’re a bit vague about your features, and the benefits members can expect…

Or you use way too much jargon and people don't understand what you're talking about.

Memberships are a tricky thing to promote because there are usually a lot of moving pieces…

But at the end of the day, potential members need to know what they’re signing up for and what they’ll get out of it.

A common trap people fall into is only focusing on the benefits of the membership: the results, the outcome, the change you help people make.

This is what most marketers will tell you to do – and it's good advice to a certain extent…

But the member does also needs to know the specifics…

All about the features and how your membership actually works.

This gives the potential member a clearer picture of what they’re getting for their money.

People don't join memberships to stand still.

So give them a reason to join by sharing with them what you can do for them…

And how you can help them reach their goal.

3. What you offer isn’t needed

It might be that you're asking for the sale more than enough and your value proposition is crystal clear…

If that's the case then it might simply be that your offer sucks…

Mean to say I know, but it happens!

Your target market…

People fall into this trap in three different ways:

• They’re trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist
• They're charging a lot of money and offering minimal value
• The information in the membership is outdated

This usually happens when someone hasn’t researched or validated what their target market actually wants…

They rush into creating a membership site because someone told them to or because they think it's a great idea…

But they don’t put the time and effort into solving a real problem…

Finding out the challenges, pain points and problems their audience faces.

Sometimes you need to ask yourself if your offer is the best it can be…

That it delivers a much needed solution to an issue for your target audience.

Your membership needs to solve a real problem and be worth the money you’re charging.

4. Your membership is a nice-to-have, not a must-have

Perhaps your membership is more of a vitamin than a painkiller…

In other words, it may be good, useful content, but it’s not a necessity. 

Like a vitamin, you know you should take them, but there’s no sense of urgency.

Painkillers are more compelling.

If you have a headache, you’re more inclined to take a painkiller to solve it…

When a membership addresses pain and solves a problem, you’re much more inclined to join it.

People need a sense that your membership is going to solve their problem.

There needs to be a sense of urgency with potential members thinking, “I need this in my life.”

Are you positioning your membership as a nice-to-have? 

If the answer is yes then you need to change that.

5. Your pricing is confusing

Another reason why people aren’t joining could have something to do with your membership pricing…

Some people overthink and overcomplicate their pricing…

Multiple tiers and payment options, sometimes monthly quarterly and annually for each tier…

Some even have a joining fee or a trial…

Some can be paid in instalments…

And others have a limited-time discount.

It can be so confusing for potential members…

And that's the last thing you want…

Because if there’s any confusion or a hiccup in the joining process, a lot of people will just walk away.

Your potential members are busy people…

They shouldn’t have to spend time deciphering your pricing.

Remember, keep it super simple… 

Less is more.

Make it easy for them to join.

6. You’re too broad

Are you trying to appeal to everyone?

Some memberships make the mistake of trying to be everything to everyone…

But as the saying goes, “the riches are in the niches.”

Broad memberships are much harder to sell because they lack a clear focus on who they help and what they help them with.

Ideally, you want to be known for solving a specific problem…

If not, then people may think you’re not specialized or knowledgeable enough to help them with a specific need…

Or you're only going to be able to help them on a surface level because you can't possibly have extensive knowledge of everything…

That's why it's important to niche down and become known for a specific thing.

In our experience, the most successful memberships are the ones that are specialist.

7. You’re not reaching enough people

At the other end of the spectrum, you could be trying hard to market your membership, but you're not reaching a big enough audience…

It might be because the market for your membership doesn’t exist…

Or there simply aren’t enough people interested in what you're offering.

It could even be that you niched down too far.

The reason people make this mistake is again down to lack of research to establish whether or not there’s a clear need for your membership.

Unless you’ve put the time into either building an audience…

Buying one (through paid ads and joint venture partnerships)…

Or borrowing one (through teaming up with influencers with an established audience)...

You won't be reaching enough of the right people.

8. You’re indistinguishable from your competitors

If you’re in a crowded market, you may not stand out from established competition…

In fact, you may be indistinguishable from others..

With big players in any market, there are always copycats.

Don't be a copycat like Milhouse…

Many people either deliberately or accidentally end up emulating them a little too much…

Maybe your membership feels too familiar to what’s already out there…

Or maybe audiences prefer to go for the bigger name that’s been around a bit longer.

That's why you need to make sure you're not blending in and following the pack…

You need to think about how you can truly stand out. 

9. Your audience doesn’t trust you yet

Trust is everything in business…

Especially when it comes to a membership site…

Because they're not just buying one product today, they're entering an ongoing relationship with you…

Your members are signing up and agreeing to pay you money each month to learn from you…

In other words, they're putting their faith in you!

If you’re not established, if you’re not trusted….

A fancy website will not be enough to sell this ongoing relationship…

You need to generate this trust over time by sharing things like social proof, recommendations and case studies…

As well as using content marketing to sell your membership.

Even if you’ve been around for years, this kind of thing is invaluable to establishing trust…

This is why we’re such huge fans of content marketing…

Because mediums like podcasting and blogging go a long way in building that trust and connecting with people…

It just takes time. 

So why are people not joining your membership?

A lot of it comes down to simple research, establishing a need, and getting to know your audience.

If you’re finding that your membership isn’t attracting the numbers you’d like it to…

Go through each of these points and ask yourself honestly…

“Does this one apply to me?”

“What can I do to improve this?”

It may be that you rushed into launching your membership without doing due diligence on your target market…

If this is the case, don’t worry…

You can always pull this back and take the right steps now to increase your sign ups.

If you do make changes but still struggle to increase member sign ups, head over to Membership Academy and become a member…

We have tons of resources that will help you out and a supportive community on hand to offer support.