The Membership Guys Podcast - Practical Advice For Membership Website Owners

Trying to pick the right WordPress membership plugin can be a painstaking process. It's harder still if your expectations and understanding of what a membership plugin will and won't do are unrealistic. Too many people expect their membership plugin to check off every single requirement they have, without understanding that they're simply one piece of the puzzle when it comes to building a membership site. In this episode I go through the 5 things you need to understand before you even start shopping for a membership plugin, in the hopes that it will make the whole process easier and save you some frustration. In this episode you'll learn: Why it's so important to have realistic expectations from your WordPress membership plugin How WordPress plugins work in tandem with themes, and how this affects your membership The challenges of changing your mind on which membership plugin to use What functionality won't typically be included with most membership plugins and what you'll need to do instead.

Sales and marketing are crucial parts of your role as a membership site owner. Even the best membership website in the world will fade away into obscurity if you’re not doing anything to attract new members. However when selling your membership offering, there are certain tropes and cliches that you want to avoid to ensure you’re not lumped in with the sleazier elements of online businesses. Here are our top tips for attracting new members without feeling like a scumbag…

Producing membership content can be taxing. Especially if your members expect something fresh on an ongoing basis. And if you’re also creating free content as part of your marketing strategy you can quickly find yourself buried in writing articles and recording videos day in, day out. They key is working smarter with your content strategy. In this podcast, I dive into 9 simple tactics for leveraging the things you’re already doing in your business as a way to more effectively create new content for your members. In this episode you’ll learn: The difference between creating content and delivering value How to add massive value to your members by selling them your other products and services Best ways to leverage your blog, podcast and even live events Why you might already be sitting on a wealth of potential member content

There's a single, absolute truth of memberships, and indeed business in general: there is no 'one size fits all' approach. What works like gangbusters for one membership, can end up completely flopping for another. However it’s hard to deny that there are certain norms when it comes to memberships; conventional wisdom that extols the importance of community, retention being more important than acquisition, memberships being a value exchange and so on. If you've been following us for a while then you’ve heard us bang those drums on numerous occasions. So in this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I wanted to talk about doing things differently - things that go against the grain, break the norms and in some cases contradict what is typically considered best practice in the membership space. In this episode you'll learn: Why a "one size fits all" approach is a fallacy. Scenarios in which it makes sense to not charge a recurring fee. Whether you actually need an online community, and situations where

Choosing which domain name to host your membership site on should be a simple decision. But it’s easier said than done – as evidenced by the fact that this question comes up perhaps more than any other in both our free Facebook group and our own paid membership. Essentially it comes down to hosting your members: On your main domain name On a separate website On a subdomain And when you dig into it, it’s understandable why people struggle with this choice – as where your membership lives has greater implications than you might realise. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast – I drill down into the pros and cons of each of these choices and give you all of the info you need to make your decision. In this episode you’ll learn: The main implications of where you choose to house your membership site Pros and cons of hosting on your main domain name vs a separate site vs a subdomain Example situations that will affect your choice of where to host your membership How this applies if using a hos

Keeping your members engaged and happy is key to maximizing your member lifecycle and, as a result, ensuring the long-term success of your membership site. When members aren't engaged, that's when they'll start to question whether it's worth sticking with your site and whether they're getting what they're paying for. Ultimately that path leads to only one place - cancellation. Fortunately there are a variety of things that you can do in order to encourage your members to stick around.  Here we identify 4 key ones.     

One of the biggest reasons memberships never get off the ground is that the initial idea for the product just wasn’t right. While you can research the market and survey your audience until the cows come home, it’s extremely easy to allow your bias towards what you think is a winning concept to sway your analysis of that research or - even worse - to ignore warning signs that you’re heading down the wrong path. If you want to be successful, you need to truly test and validate that your idea is worth pursuing, and one of the best ways to do this is with an MVP. Join me for the latest episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, where I deep dive into what an MVP is, why they're important and how to go about actually creating one. In this episode you'll learn: What is an MVP and why creating one is the best way to test whether your idea will work Characteristics of an effective MVP specific to membership sites 6 core types of MVP that you can create, with examples and tips for each Why it doesn't matter that

Just like that, another year is over. As we reach the 2nd anniversary of Member Site Academy, we have some insights and lessons to share from the past 12 months. In what is sure to become a tradition, I’m joined on this very special episode of the podcast by the real brains behind The Membership Guys, the one and only Callie Willows, to discuss year two of running the Academy. In this episode, Callie and I discuss: Picking up where we left off on last year’s episode and looking at where things 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

So you've toiled for weeks and months - planning the perfect membership, wrestling with tech to turn those plans into reality; and now that you've finally opened the doors you can take a big sigh of relief that the hard work and headaches are over. Right? Wrong! Once your membership is up and running, that's when the real work begins! And during those initial few months as a new membership owner, you'll have a whole mess of new challenges to deal with. Fortunately, those challenges are pretty common across the board, so we can help you prepare to tackle them. In the latest episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I dive into the 6 most common challenges that every new membership site owner faces; and give you my insight and advice so that you don't have to face them alone. In this episode you'll learn: How to control your start-up costs and avoid paying for stuff you really don't need Solving the "chicken and egg" problem when starting a new community My recommendation to avoiding early tech headaches

How regularly you charge your members has an effect on generating sales, engagement inside your membership as well as member retention. Not to mention the implications on your business itself in terms of stability, cashflow and more. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I dig deep into the pros and cons of each type of subscription frequency; as well as present some additional and alternative options for membership billing. In this episode you'll learn: Pros and cons of monthly versus annual membership pricing Psychological triggers involved in the decision to join your membership Why offering both pricing options works even better than choosing just one Other options for membership billing

Deciding on your membership pricing is often easier said than done. You'll always be too expensive for some people, and too cheap for others. And until you launch your membership and actually get people signing up you have no real reliable way of testing which price-point will work best for your audience. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, you'll learn the 4 key areas to factor into deciding what to charge for your membership, as well as my advice for hitting the "sweet spot" with your pricing strategy. In this episode you'll learn: The 4 key factors to consider when setting your membership site pricing Why you should NEVER compete solely on price The "rule of thumb" range for membership pricing and how it differs for B2B and B2C memberships How to find the "sweet spot" for what to charge for your membership

An active online community can play a huge role in getting your members to stick around long term. However even just a small negative element can quickly turn your community into a toxic place that nobody will want to be involved in, unless you keep on top of things and implement steps to ensure a positive environment. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I delve more into managing your community dynamic and how you can ensure your online group or forum is one that members enjoy being part of. In this episode you'll learn: Why the dynamic of your membership community is crucial for member retention The importance of setting and enforcing community guidelines What your role as community leader involves, and how you should set the tone Why it's a good idea to use real names and profile pictures

Momentum plays a huge part in your membership growth. In fact you’ll often find that there’s a snowball effect which kicks in once you achieve a certain level of growth, where everything seems to pick up speed. But what if your membership has slowed down recently and started to stagnate? What can do you to reignite that momentum and get back on track? In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, we look at how to reignite your membership growth and regain momentum. In this episode you'll learn: How to research and identify the core problems that have caused your membership growth to stall Two ways to relaunch your membership, and whether you should close your doors The honest questions you need to ask yourself about whether you're actually delivering value to your members Ways of re-engaging your existing members

One of the most effective ways to position yourself as an authority in your industry is through public speaking, and done right it can be a great way to grow your membership business. However for many the idea of standing up and speaking in front of a room full of strangers is the stuff that nightmares are made of! And even if you're comfortable with public speaking, then there's the question of how you actually get booked, how do you make sure your presentation is good and - importantly - how do you make it a worthwhile activity for you and your business. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, we speak to Grant Baldwin from The Speaker Lab about how to get started with public speaking and use it as a platform to grow your business.

With our community of thousands of membership site owners, we see the same patterns emerging when it comes to wrestling with membership tech. People starting their site build and then 6 months later they're still stuck, spinning their wheels, trying to get everything perfect and making no progress! Often they'll blame this on the technology being too tough, but more often than not it's because of their own unrealistic expectations. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I give a kick up the backside to anyone stuck.

We've all come across the concept of the "starving artist" - the notion that to pursue creativity and artistry is to sacrifice any hope of making money. Jeff Goins is on a mission to dispel this myth. Many successful memberships are built around the skills and passions of their founder; however we've seen time and time again in our community that in more traditionally "creative" industries there can be a little resistance to the idea of monetization - almost as if to do so would be "selling out." In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, Jeff Goins breaks down where this whole idea came from and how you can shake this mindset and effectively monetize your "art." In this episode you'll learn: Where the whole idea of the "starving artist" originated from; and the surprising truth about how wrong it is! How you can shake limiting mindsets around monetizing your creativity How Jeff Goins uses his books to sell digital products The 3 steps anyone can take to start monetizing their skills

When you either have a large amount of content inside your membership, or you’re continuously adding new content on a regular basis – there’s a real risk of overwhelming members. And when members are overwhelmed, they're less likely to stick around. This is where having a smart approach to your membership content strategy is crucial. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast; we look at the most common causes of member overwhelm, and the tactics you can employ to avoid it. In this episode you'll learn: Why overwhelm is a dangerous thing for your membership site A breakdown of the main kinds of overwhelm common in memberships and what causes it The "Four S's" you need to focus on in order to reduce overwhelm Managing your own workload so that you don't become overwhelmed too!

Chris Ducker is the founder of the YouPreneur membership community and the man the man behind popular events such Tropical Think Tank and the upcoming YouPreneur Summit. It's through these live events that Chris has been able to help his community to build connections and develop relationships way beyond what's possible online; and this has been a key factor in the success of his membership. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, Chris shares his insights into the benefits of running live events as a membership site owner; plus his advice on how you can orchestrate your own events. In this episode you'll learn: How Chris Ducker has used live events to grow his membership community The 3 most important things to consider when organising your own live event How to choose speakers for your event and - more importantly - get them to agree Specific ways to make events extra special for your community members (and get more signups from other attendees!)

Looking to increase your membership sales? Who isn't, right?! We often find that rather than huge complex sales strategies and eye-watering ad budgets, it's usually a culmination of minor tactics and little details that end up moving the needle in terms of attracting new members. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I dish out 5 specific, quick and actionable tips that you can implement right away in order to increase your membership sales. In this episode you'll learn: What tools should you add to your sales page in order to increase conversions? The small tweak you can make to your checkout page that stops you losing sales How to use your membership content to get more qualified leads A simple risk reversal technique to increase membership sales

Podcasts have made a significant resurgence in recent years, having never quite hit their full potential back when they first became “a thing” in the mid-2000’s. This growing popularity, coupled with it being easier than ever to start your own podcast, makes for a great opportunity for membership site owners to really get ahead by incorporating podcasting into the content marketing strategy. In this episode, I discuss the main reasons you should consider using a podcast to promote your membership site, and the 5 steps you can take to get started.