The Membership Guys Podcast - Practical Advice For Membership Website Owners

Lead generation is a critical part of the sales process for membership owners. For most membership businesses, this means getting people to subscribe to your email marketing list, where you can engage with them further on a more direct basis and guide them towards joining your membership site. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I talk about how to convert website visitors into email leads, and give my top tips for increasing both the quantity and the quality of the leads that you generate.

It's easy to get carried away when creating a membership website. We often turn to other memberships for inspiration, and as a result end up with a wishlist of shiny bells and whistles that we absolutely MUST have for our own website. And the end result of cramming all of those features into your membership is a convoluted frankenstein's monster of a website that's a pain to manage and an even bigger nightmare for members to use. It's not just the tech side of things that people tend to over-complicate; we see the same thing happening with marketing, sales and overall business strategy too. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I warn against adding too much complexity to your membership business and discuss the benefits of embracing simplicity.

As the year draws to a close and many inside your membership and your wider audience will be in a festive mood, what sort of things should you be doing as a membership owner? Whether you're a Christmas fanatic or a modern day Scrooge - the festive season brings with it a few unique opportunities for your membership business. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I talk about 6 things you should do in your membership over the holiday period. Episode Summary: Creating "year end review" content - what we do at The Membership Guys, and some ideas you can try The importance of taking time away from your membership over the holidays Reviewing your achievements in the past year and setting goals for the next 12 months How the festive season affords you more opportunities for promotional campaigns

Membership websites have a whole mess of moving parts - plugins, themes, integrations, payment processors - they all add up to make memberships one of the most complicated types of sites that you can build. And even if you have help getting everything up and running, chances are there'll be numerous times you'll need a bit of tech support in the day to day running of your membership. But finding reliable help with the technical side of building and maintaining a membership can be a crap-shoot. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I run through some of the most viable options for finding tech support that you can rely on for different stages of your membership. Episode Summary: The number one resource for learning how to build your membership site yourself (Spoiler alert: it's Member Site Academy - because of course it is!) How to distinguish between a legit web developer and someone who has just learned how to configure a handful of plugins and themes Why it's not essential that your chosen

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 rate Why there’s no industry average churn rate How to look at churn rate with context What lifetime value is and why it’s the most important metric Important Links & Mentions: https://www.themembershipguys.com (The Membership Guys) https://www.membershipacademy.com/ (Membership Academy) https://www.themembershipguys.

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

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