The Membership Guys Podcast - Practical Advice For Membership Website Owners

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

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

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

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

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.