Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

In this one-off bonus episode to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, I'm opening up about my history of dealing with clinical depression.To say this is not a typical episode of The Membership Guys Podcast would be an understatement...There's nothing here about memberships, there are no tips, there is no advice. Just my story of mental health challenges which I'm sharing in the hopes of removing the stigma and normalising discussion around topics like depression.If you choose to skip this and stick to the 'membership stuff' then that definitely does not make you a bad person! However if you do listen then I hope sharing this frank, "warts and all" story of my personal fight with depression helps you to either better navigate your own challenges or to support others in your life who are struggling.Please consider supporting others by donating to www.mind.org.uk or alternative mental health charities in your area if you can.

What’s the secret to marketing your membership? Spoiler: there isn’t just one secret! There are multiple different methods to try, but there are some universal truths to always bear in mind first. In this episode, we share the 12 universal truths to membership marketing. There may not be some hidden secret that will guarantee you success, but these truths apply to all types of membership (and many other businesses as well.)If you’re unsure of what marketing approach to take or whether you need to spend much time marketing at all, don’t miss this episode!Essential Learning Points:The 12 universal truths that apply to all membershipsWhy there’s never a one-size-fits-all approach to marketingWhy building trust should be a key part of your marketingThe importance of marketing and why you can’t overlook itImportant Links & Mentions:The Membership GuysMembership AcademyKevin Kelly’s 1,000 True FansBob Berg’s The Go-Giver book Key Quotes:“Think of your membership as a painkiller, not a vitamin. You want it to be a must-have, not a nice-to-have.”“An average product that has great marketing will always beat a great product with average marketing.”“What someone says about you is worth so much more than what you say about yourself.”

There’s a lot of advice out there about memberships, some of it good, some of it downright awful! If you’re not sure who to listen to or you’re worried you’ve made a mistake about starting a membership, don’t miss this episode. In this episode, we break down the five top pieces of bad (and damaging) advice we’ve seen about running a membership. We take you through competition in the membership world, whether you really need scarcity to sell and if memberships are as dead as people claim. *Spoiler* they’re not!Essential Learning Points:How to recognize bad membership adviceWhy the membership model is NOT dying out Why healthy competition is good The problem with using scarcity to sell Why a closed-door membership does not mean less workImportant Links & Mentions:The Membership GuysMembership Academy1,000 True Fans by Kevin KellyCompeting with Established Memberships in Your MarketAre You Leaving Money On The Table in Your Membership Business?Key Quotes:“It’s fine to leave money on the table if it’s not a table you want to sit at.”“If you’re building your business and basing your strategy on whatever’s in vogue this month, then that’s the wrong approach.”“We shouldn’t be scared off by the existence of competition or worried that a market is too oversaturated. In fact, it’s more of a worry if there’s no competition.”

In this special one-off episode, we're asking you guys to help us shape the future direction of The Membership Guys Podcast by having your say on the topics you'd like us to hear more about.To help you do this, we're testing out some incredibly nifty new tech from our podcast hosts Captivate that add interactive surveys to our show - so not only do you help us out, you also get a glimpse at some cool tech stuff too. Win-win!Head over to https://www.themembershipguys.com/podcastsurvey to make your voice heard.

How can you launch a membership without any audience? The simple answer is you don’t have to. You need to put in the work to build that audience first.  That’s exactly what we did, and in this episode, we share all the little details that went into building our audience BEFORE we launched the Membership Academy. So, join me on a trip down memory lane. We’re talking about the early days of The Membership Guys and what we did six years ago to get where we are today.We share detailed tips on content marketing, blogging, building your email list, and gaining interest before you even sign up your first member. Essential Learning Points:It doesn’t take thousands of dollars to launch a membershipYou don’t need a huge email list to launch your membershipWhat steps you can take to build interest in your membershipThe importance of a solid launch strategyWhere The Membership Guys are today.Important Links & Mentions:The Membership GuysMembership AcademyMember Machine bookMembership Economy by Robbie Kellman BaxterSuperfast Business Membership ToolkitKey Quotes:“Do what you can with what you have.”“We hated having to turn people away and not being able to give them a suggestion of where to go.”“450 people on an email list…you’re not going to brag to many people about that. It’s still fairly small…but it was big enough.”

How do you make your membership ‘stickier’? By that, we mean, how do you get members to stick around for your content?The key is to give them something worth sticking around for. You might have great content on the horizon, but do you members know about it? In this podcast episode, I share seven simple ways to let your members know about all the amazing things you have planned for future content. Most of these are simple tweaks you can do today, such as posting on social media or emailing your members. We also share some less commonly known tactics to showcase upcoming valuable content. Essential Learning Points:Why it’s so important to signpost future contentHow to use the ‘Pain of Disconnect’ or FOMO to keep your members interestedWhy an upcoming content list is a simple way to signpost future valueThe types of future content you should promote and howHow to use future content to influence current content.Important Links & Mentions:The Membership AcademyDigital Marketer The Memberoni themeAddEvent7 Things to Consider When Choosing a Membership Site Theme21 Quick Tips for Improving Member RetentionKey Quotes:“Memberships are a value exchange.”“The true value from a membership comes from the things the content enables, the results, the wins, the success stories.”“You’re giving them a glimpse at a possible future that they could have, in terms of outcome, transformation, results, wins, if they actually apply the content that is being released.”

What should you do after you launch your membership? Once the launch is all over and done with, what next? Do you just wait for more members to drop by? No, you’ve still got plenty of work to do to grow your membership business. In fact, the easy part is over!  In this podcast episode, we share six things you need to do once you launch your membership to keep growing. You’ll want to focus on member retention, follow up with non-buyers, and develop a solid marketing strategy. Listen in to hear my top tactics for making the most of your successful launch, so interest doesn’t just fizzle out. Essential Learning Points:How your membership launch is probably the easiest marketing you’ll ever doWhy the first 30 days of your new membership are the most importantHow to utilize your happy members for future marketingWhy running a membership isn’t just about getting new members, it’s all about what happens after the saleImportant Links & Mentions:The Membership AcademyGoogle Analytics Key Quotes:“90% of success is all about what happens on the inside of a membership.” “In the afterglow of your launch, those first 30 days or so, really keep an eye out for any posts, comments, and feedback that you can use from your community…and then turn that into marketing collateral.”“You want those people that were on the fence during your launch and decided against joining to be kicking themselves for not signing up.”

Every superhero has an origin story…And as we're celebrating a huge milestone of recording 300 episodes of The Membership Guys podcast, Callie and I decided to do something a little bit special and share ours.In this episode we talk about things we’ve never talked about publicly before, giving you an insight into how The Membership Guys came to be and how we got to where we are today. Hopefully some of our story will resonate with you. Enjoy!  Episode Summary:The story of how Callie and I metOur business journey, including bad partnerships, 20 hour work days, and of course… membershipsSome personal struggles with depression, burnout and general health that we've never talked about beforePLUS we discuss how Callie has never seen the movie Karate Kid (shock), how in a weird multiverse The Membership Guys may never have come to be and much more!

What if your membership has a natural end date? While no membership will last forever, some hit a natural point where members drop off. This doesn’t necessarily mean the content was bad or you did anything wrong. That’s a whole other story. Sometimes members get everything they need and simply don’t need to remain a member. For example, if you have a membership site for helping people pass a driving test, that has a natural end date. After they pass, they probably won’t need your content anymore. So, what can you do? Do you just accept it, or do you fight to keep these members? In this episode, I discuss some of the tactics you can use to retain members, but also some alternatives and different ways of looking at it. If you’ve been scratching your head trying to come up with a solution, give this episode a listen, and hopefully, it’ll give you some fresh ideas to try out. Essential Learning Points:Why you need to question whether the membership model is right for youHow you can extend the scope of your content to maximize interestWhy retaining members isn’t always the right moveHow a natural end date could actually be a good thingThe most important metric to know in a membership business.Important Links & Mentions:The Membership AcademyWhy Member Lifetime Value is More Important Than Churn RateDespite What You’ve Heard, Average Member Retention is NOT Only 3 Months Key Quotes:“Membership works best when it’s addressing a recurring need.”“One-off needs like “I need to learn this specific process or pass this test” tend to work better as a course where there’s a very clear start and endpoint.”“When it comes down to numbers, everything is about one metric: Customer Lifetime Value.”

We all want to win over as many new members as possible. But did you know that keeping those members is often more important?Member acquisition is still essential. But unless you’re keeping those members, you’ll find yourself always relying on short-term, one-off members to make ends meet. Making people stick around is often harder than getting them interested in the first place. However, this is exactly what will help you grow your membership business. In this episode, I discuss the six top member retention mistakes I see businesses make. I also talk about why retention is often more important and valuable than member acquisition. Essential Learning Points:Why member retention is so important Why cancellations are not always a bad thing How important feedback is for keeping members The best ways to approach canceling membersImportant Links & Mentions:The Membership AcademyIntercomThe Membership Economy book by Robbie Kellman BaxterKey Quotes:“If the only thing standing in the way between someone being a member and someone leaving is that you have hidden the cancelation button, you’ve got bigger problems.”“When you’ve got members on your site engaging and using your membership, getting results, making progress, and forming connections, that is fuel for continued growth in your membership.”“Make the DECISION to cancel difficult, not the process.”