Is starting a membership the right move for you?
This is probably not a question you’d expect me to ask…
We’re here to guide you on how to plan, build and grow a membership after all…
But we’re also realistic…
A lot of people out there will tell you that every single person can start a membership…
And that’s simply not true…
Running a membership isn’t for everyone.
Don’t get me wrong, they can thrive in every market and for every business…
But that doesn’t mean that everyone should launch one.
There are a lot of factors to take into consideration that might mean a membership is the wrong move for you.
So if you’re still on the fence on whether or not to launch a membership website…
Or are currently asking yourself “Is this what I should be doing?”
Then we’re going to give you some clarity to help you make that decision.
Here are 9 signs that you shouldn’t start a membership…
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As 2016 draws to a close, we’re in a reflective mood here at The Membership Guys HQ.
It’s been a great year for us and for many within our community; and a particular highlight has been the growth and evolution of The Membership Guys Podcast.
We’ve had the great privilege of being joined by a number of great guests, and it’s been humbling that many of our most popular episodes feature only Mike and, well, a mic!
In this special holiday edition of the show, I’m counting down the 10 most popular episodes according to download numbers during 2016, and revisiting some of the biggest gems and value-bombs from them all.
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In some circles, working every hour under the sun and being so busy that you’re eating your Christmas lunch with your laptop on your knee, is seen almost as a badge of honour.
Evidence that you’re “hustling” harder than anyone else and as a result your business will be more successful.
It doesn’t work like that.
In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast we talk about why taking a break is so important, and I share a story about when I first realised that the world doesn’t stop spinning if you step away from your business.
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Most memberships are focussed on helping people to reach a goal or achieve some sort of positive outcome.
Whether you enable this with courses, worksheets and tools, community or something else – it’s the result that matters.
Running a free online challenge as part of your audience building and lead generation strategy taps into this in a big way and as a result can be one of the most effective tactics for attracting new members.
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Live video is extremely popular right now, and it’s only going to become even more powerful as a marketing channel.
A lot of memberships we see are centered around an authority or expert of some type; and it stands to reason that one of the most effective ways of demonstrating your expertise, establishing your credibility and truly connecting with your audience is to get in front of a camera and share your message.
In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I’m joined by Luria Petrucci from LiveStreamingPros.com. These guys are absolutely nailing live broadcasting, and Luria has brought her years of experience in online video to the show to give you the steps and strategy you need to follow to make live video work as part of your membership marketing strategy.
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If you’re creating an online course then you may want to consider using an LMS plugin instead of or as well as a membership plugin. Here I’ll compare the top 4 LMS plugins for creating an online course – Woo Sensei, WP Courseware, LifterLMS and LearnDash.
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Growing your membership audience can be a slow, painstaking process.
Ultimately when all things are equal, people will buy from people they know, like and trust; and that sort of relationship takes time to develop.
However there are ways to speed up the process; and in this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I look at 4 of the tactics you can use to accelerate your audience growth.
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What happens at the end of your journey as a membership owner?
When you’re ready to move onto your next venture…
You may have reached a natural end point in running your membership…
Or maybe you’ve lost that spark and passion for the topic that you once had…
And you’re thinking about shutting down your site.
This can be a very difficult time as a business owner…
As not only do you have deal with your own often conflicting thoughts on this…
But you also need to manage the process in a way that doesn’t have a negative impact on your relationship with your members…
Or your reputation!
So how should you handle shutting down your membership site?
Let’s find out..
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Black Friday is almost upon us…
What was once a US-centric highlight (or for some, a ‘low-light’) of the holiday shopping season is now a global grab for hot deals and discounts.
And for those of us who prefer not to be trampled in a supermarket doorway, the Internet provides plenty of opportunity for frenzied bargain-hunting.
As a membership site owner, it also presents business opportunities and indeed some challenges to content with; so here are our top tips for how to survive and even thrive this Black Friday
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Memberships give people the opportunity to tap into the skill, knowledge, and expertise of the site owner.
After all, people join memberships to achieve a goal, make a change, or complete a transformation.
Helping people to achieve those goals and grow into the person and lifestyle they’re aiming for is awesome – and it’s a very appealing career!
But what if you don’t have a discernible skillset or knowledge base that fits with running a membership site?
It’s going to be harder to run a membership, no doubt!
But… it’s not impossible…
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Running a membership website is a fulfilling and rewarding experience…
But as with anything when it comes to business there is an ugly side.
Having worked with memberships of all shapes and sizes in different markets for a number of years…
We’ve seen it all…
And when it comes to our own membership, we’ve experienced some unpleasant things first hand…
And that’s what we’re going to explore in this blog…
How to deal with with the ugly side of running a membership website when it comes to copycats, piracy, chargebacks and Payment disputes
So let’s dive right in…
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Creating a membership website involves a lot more work than most people expect.
Memberships have a lot of moving pieces; not just on the technology front, but also when it comes to strategy, marketing and the day to day logistics too.
In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss the steps you need to take in order to overcome “Paralysis by Analysis” – the situation where you’re so bogged down in overthinking every little thing that you get stuck in the mud, not making progress.
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It’s easy to fall into the trap of playing the “numbers game” when it comes to creating your membership content.
Taking pride in having more courses, more tools, more bells and whistles than the next guy.
However as I cover in this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, it’s a foolish game to play and one which not only leads to you failing your members but also puts your entire membership business at risk.
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When it comes to creating membership content, it can be easy to get sucked into the “numbers game”, focusing on churning out quantity rather than quality.
Your members join because they have a result they want to achieve, a problem that needs solving; so it’s important to make sure that the content you create helps them to get to where they want to go.
In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I’m joined by Colin Gray from ThePodcastHost.com. Not only does Colin help to teach people how to get the most from podcasting, but he’s also got a PhD in Online Education; so I really enjoyed discussing how to make your membership content effective and truly educational.
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Every topic and every industry has its fair share of bad advice, outdated information and dubious “best practices”; and there’s certainly a lot of that out there when it comes to the subject of membership sites.
As with most subjects it can be a bit of a minefield trying to maneuver around the misinformation – so to help you out we’ve broken down 8 of the most common ‘myths’ about creating and running a membership site.
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If you’ve been selling one-off courses for a while, then deciding to transition to the membership model is a big move with more things to think about than you may realise.
We’ve worked with plenty of people who have successfully made the switch, but there are some definite considerations in terms of cashflow, marketing and how the complexion of your day to day business can change.
In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss the main implications of moving from selling courses to running a membership, how to ease the transition and my advice for deciding whether it’s the right decision for you.
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