Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

Some memberships need great video content. Others need a complex email campaign. Some need entirely unique elements.All memberships need a website.So how do you go about it? Do you hire in a professional or do you do it yourself?It’s one of the biggest questions you can ask as you launch your membership, so I got together with two of the finest web designers I know to dive into the best approach for membership owners.Martin and Lyndsay, owners of Jammy Digital and Make Your Mark Online, are web design experts and join me on this episode of The Membership Guys podcast to give some advice you might not be expecting…Essential Learning Points:Why it’s often better to make your own websiteWhen it’s better to hire a professionalHow to hire the right web designerWhat the right web designer looks likeOur own experiences where DIY websites helped our businesses grow and paying a designer would have hampered us Important Links & Mentions:Jammy DigitalMake Your Mark OnlineThe Membership Academy – where you can access our membership site theme, MemberoniWhy Membership Site Owners Need to Niche Down (And STAY Niched)Membership Mastermind from The Membership Guys (Facebook group) Key Quotes:“Unless you’re at a certain point financially and in terms of your understanding of your business, it’s not worth paying a web designer.”“It’s rare that we find a web designer who charges a small amount and can do a good job.”“Some people say they’ve taken 12 or 18 months trying to get their website done and it’s a complete waste of time, because they’ve not been bringing money in.”“You don’t want to be investing cash unnecessarily without making it first.”

In today’s digital-driven society, it often feels like you can’t go far without bumping into a self-proclaimed social media ‘expert’. So, when you encounter someone who everyone else calls an expert, who speaks with a quiet assuredness and conspicuous lack of arrogance, it’s a refreshing surprise.It’s my absolute pleasure and honor to have Gavin Bell on The Membership Guys podcast. Gavin is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, and one of the UK’s leading Facebook advertising consultants.In this episode, Gavin and I discuss the most effective ways membership providers can use Facebook advertising, how to work out a sensible budget and achieve a healthy ROI, common mistakes and best practice, and so much more.This episode is chock-full of amazing advice for entrepreneurs and membership providers – I can’t think of any other way you could get more valuable information on Facebook ads in this amount of time.Essential Learning Points:The dos and don’ts of running Facebook ads for membershipsCommon mistakes in Facebook ads and best practice to followHow to calculate appropriate ad budgets based on the value of new membersWhy ads are only one part of a much bigger pictureKey Quotes from Gavin:“Good advertising is getting harder, which means we need to work harder and better.”“When it comes to running a proper Facebook ad campaign, as opposed to randomly boosting posts, we want to set it up in a way that is going to hopefully run forever.”“If you have a website with an audience already, the first thing to do would be to create a retargeting ad. If you’re someone without an audience, your first step is to try and build an audience through ads.”Important Links & Mentions:Gavin’s websiteMembership Academy9 Simple Membership Marketing Tactics That’ll Get You More Members Should I offer a trial for my membership site?

Build it and they will come.While that approach may have worked for Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams; it most certainly does not apply to launching a successful membership website.Time and time again we see cases where people are so entrenched in the process of building their membership site that they haven’t even begun to think about how to get it off the ground.In this episode I share 5 launch strategies that are straightforward but effective, and can easily be combined with your existing launch plans to make sure your membership site gets off to a good start.

Launching a membership site is an exciting but nerve wracking time.You've probably put your blood, sweat and tears into creating this site, no doubt losing some sleep along the way.But when the time comes to actually open the doors, we can often find ourselves hesitating.What if it all goes wrong?Running a beta test can be a great way of assuaging this fear, as well as ensuring that you launch the best possible version of your membership.In this episode, I share my top tips on running an effective beta test for your membership site.

We can all be overprotective of our content, especially when it comes to being open and allowing our competitors into our safe and secure membership site. I choose to have an open-minded attitude and assume the best in people. There are ways to make it work and even benefit from opening your doors and letting them in, while staying vigilant.Essential Learning Points:Learn what it is that makes you different from your competitorsFind out what to do if there’s a competitor in your communityLearn about the red flags that indicate suspicious behaviourListen to our crazy content theft storyImportant Links & Mentions: Episode 198 = What to do when someone steals your membership content: https://www.themembershipguys.com/membership-content-theft/Key Quotes:“It’s natural to be over-protective, but don’t get paranoid.”  “Always see the best in people! Don’t assume that people are joining with negative intentions.” “We know our real competitors won’t steal our content. They don’t need to because they’ve got their own experience, knowledge and expertise to draw on.”“We may be directly competitive, but there’s always a level of respect and professionalism where you would never dream of ripping each other off.” “Ultimately, if you have others in your industry doing good work, and if you can collaborate to do great things, then everyone wins.”

Do you know what people in your audience actually want from your membership?When planning your membership site, it’s easy to fall into the trap of building something that we think would be good, rather than something that’s based on research into what your audience really want (and need).In doing so, you risk spending hours creating content and investing in features, only to be left scratching your head when people simply don’t engage in the way you hope they will.Whether it’s your membership offering; your blog, podcast or video channel; or even just the updates you post on social media – discovering what people actually want and need is critical to connecting with your audience and driving them to action.In this episode, I discuss 4 ways to discover what your audience really want.

Your membership might be the best thing since sliced bread, but if you aren’t marketing it correctly, you aren’t going to be getting the sales you deserve. There are some simple steps you can take to get the most out of marketing, reach more people, and turn those on-the-fencers into fully-fledged members. In this episode, we run through 9 marketing tips that will help you go back to basics - and earn some serious growth in your memberships as a result. Essential Learning Points: You can make small, simple changes at each stage in your funnel that will produce more sales, more consistently If 9 tips sound like too many, take just 2: you need a strategy for cart abandonments and a strategy for thank you pages Show people what you’re selling and keep your email list engaged Go behind the scenes and use your content to give a real insight into your membership Use your content to shout out and speak to your members Use rewards and splinter products to get slow movers further along the funnel

So, 2019 is done and dusted. Hopefully it was a successful one for you and your membership. It was certainly a big one for us, with more highlights than you can shake a stick at - many of which you've heard us 'document' right here on The Membership Guys Podcast.And I know this is so cliche... but I swear the older I get, the faster each year seems to pass. I can't quite come to terms with the fact that tomorrow it'll be 2020.Instead of freaking out about that, we're wrapping up the year with what has become a bit of a tradition here at The Membership Guys - our end of year recap show where we look back at the top 10 most popular episodes of the podcast throughout the past 12 months.

Although every membership site is unique, you’ll usually discover that seven types of members keep showing up in every single one of them. While some of these will mimic your ‘ideal member,’ others will test your patience and frustrate you beyond belief. Whatever the case, you’re sure to recognize some (if not all) of these ‘member profiles’ within your membership site! Listen in to discover the seven types of members you will see in every membership site. Essential Learning Points: The seven member types you’ll find in every membership site Key traits of members who engage and contribute more than others Why some members seem to just disappear from your membership A few unfortunate characteristics of members who are most likely to frustrate you Key Quotes: “The ‘Average Joes’ are the people who make up the majority of your member base. They're awesome. We love them. They are the lifeblood of our membership.” “The Power User are the one percent. These types of members are awesome because they contribute so much inside the community. They instigate discussions, they proactively help other members and they seek out opportunities to be of service in your membership.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Are you thinking about charging a joining fee for your membership? A joining fee is an arbitrary fee that new members pay on top of their first monthly payment. If you ask me, I think that joining fees are unnecessary and there’s often no real justification for it. However, there are situations when a joining fee may be necessary. If you’re considering having a joining fee for your membership, make sure you listen to this episode of the podcast or read the blog post, where I dive into the topic of joining fees and explain everything you need to know about them. Essential Learning Points: Why joining fees are usually nothing more than unjustified arbitrary fees The hard truth that if someone is charging joining fees, they may not have their member’s best interests at heart How to control your members access to your back catalog of content Legitimate reasons when a joining fee may be appropriate Key Quotes: “They've realized that no one is staying in the membership for more than two or three months. Instead of addressing the real problem…they just charge a joining fee instead to make more money from you.” “It's very rare that you get an incredible membership that is very ethically run where the content is amazing, the customer service is phenomenal and that also has a joining fee.” Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. We would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show in Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.