Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

Discover how to navigate the challenging waters of membership downturns. Learn the key steps to assess the severity of a decline and the importance of analyzing past changes that might affect current performance. Understand the necessity of aligning expectations with reality, especially when growing your audience. Explore how data and community feedback can illuminate whether you're facing a temporary slump or a deeper issue. Equip yourself with the tools to identify root causes and ensure the longevity of your membership.

Is now a good time to have a membership site?On this special episode of the podcast, you’ll get to listen in to the opening keynote from our very first conference ‘Retain Live 2019.’ It was an incredible event with some phenomenal speakers gracing the stage eager to share their expertise and insights with the audience.The first keynote was delivered by myself (Mike Morrison) and Callie Willows, the other half of The Membership Guys. Our keynote explored the bigger picture of what is going on in the membership industry, what the future of the industry looks like and what people need to do to prepare for the months and years to come.So, if you missed the keynote the first time around, you’re in luck!Episode Summary:Positive and negative implications from the way the membership industry is goingHow to handle the increased competition for your members’ time and attentionHow to make sure your members don’t cut you from their monthly expenses as a result of subscription fatigueWhy regulation is so important in the membership site industryThe death of SEO and how this will impact membershipsHow to build your members trust in you and your membershipKey Quotes:“Memberships, at the core of their essence, are simply value exchanges. You want people to pay you on an ongoing basis, you need to deliver value on an ongoing basis.”“Third Party links to other websites are being squeezed out. Google is no longer somewhere that gives you a recommendation of the best websites to get your answer. It’s now the place that wants to give you the answer themselves.”“Even the smallest personal touch that you can make, makes a big impression…there's lots of different ways you can do this from personal videos to welcome packs to handwritten cards, are all different ways you can add a personal touch to your membership without actually needing to kind of take a lot of extra time or money to do so.”

Have you lost interest in your membership?When you first launched your membership, you were probably bursting with excitement and enthusiasm. But, over time those positive feelings you associated with your membership faded and now you can’t remember why you ever got into this in the first place, am I right?If you have a lack of interest and enthusiasm for your membership site, it’s time to make a change. Your first instinct shouldn’t be to quit. You should want to try and reignite the spark and passion that inspired you to launch your membership in the first place! In this episode, I share some tips to help you fall back in love with your membership.Essential Learning Points:How to know if your membership idea is something you can pursue long-termWhy it’s important to identify the real reason why you’ve lost interest in your membershipThe benefits of trying new things in your membershipWhy you should take a break from your membership when you need toWhat a ‘happy folder’ is and why you need to create oneWhy you should spend more time with your members to help reaffirm your passion for your membership Key Quotes:“Consider looking into ways in which you can do other activities that stoke your interest in the topic that is at the heart of your membership.”“Most people don't start membership sites because they're really enthusiastic about membership sites as a business model. They start because they're really passionate about a topic that they have knowledge, experience and expertise in.”“Getting away from things, taking a break and disconnecting from the responsibilities of running a membership, even just for a few days, could be all it takes to free up your bandwidth, to give you a bit of clarity and give you the rest that you need in order to come back reinvigorated and get over a little bit of a mental slump.” Important Links & Mentions:Episode 76 https://www.themembershipguys.com/time-away/

A waitlist is a dedicated email list that people subscribe to in order to receive updates about a membership that you are going to launch in the future.We are big believers in setting up a waitlist for your membership. But once you have it organized you have to keep everyone engaged until your launch date.In this episode, we share lots of ways you can keep your waitlist interested and engaged with you so that once you launch, they can’t wait to get on board and consume the content you have on offer.Essential Learning Points:Build your knowledge and content base through research and surveysWhy feedback and input from your list will benefit everyoneHow closed-door membership sites can also engage with a waitlist Key Quotes“Setting up a waitlist is the first thing you should do when you are creating your first membership site.”“A substantial amount of your initial subscribers when you open will come from this waitlist.”“By having input, ownership, and influence over the content in your membership site, your waitlist subscribers will be far more likely to want to join.”

Payment disputes are a reality of running any business, including membership sites. Luckily, they don’t happen often. But when they do, they take valuable time away from your business and revenue generating activities. Since the beginning of the Membership Guys Academy site, we have had over 6,000 members and only 20 payment disputes. We have learnt a few things about this issue along the way. Have a listen to find out what to do when they happen to you, and ways in which you can minimize the risk of them happening again in the future.Essential Learning Points:The typical payment dispute processThings to consider when a dispute is illegitimateWays to minimize the risk of payment disputes from happeningKey Quotes“Having a refund period that is fair is a good way of reducing the number of disputes that are filed against you.”“Even if you can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that someone is filing a totally spurious payment dispute, a nonsense dispute, and even if the payment provider believes you, they won’t always side with you. ““You won’t be able to escape the possibility of getting rid of a complaint completely, but you can minimize the likelihood of it happening.”

In our early days of working with memberships, we stumbled across an article that claimed that the average member only stays subscribed for a mere 3 months. You’ve probably heard this yourself. It’s a claim that’s been repeated and republished so much, that it became readily and widely accepted. But it’s nonsense. There’s not a single shred of data or evidence for that ‘3 month’ claim. No source data, report or study cited, anywhere. The fact that this claim persisted for so long is part of a larger problem. There is no reliable data available about the online membership industry. Truth is, this market is relatively tiny. It’s a niche, of a niche, of a niche. What data we do have comes from either the broader subscription industry, or from membership associations. Neither of which reflect the online membership world. We figured it was time to change that. It’s time for some real data and benchmarks for the online membership industry. So we’ve spent the past 4 months tapping into our audience of tens of thousands of membership business owners to identify how they’re performing, what challenges they’re facing and which benchmarks and trends are prevalent. And we've compiled those results into the very first Online Membership Industry Report In today's episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I talk about some of the biggest takeaways from this report and discuss which membership benchmarks surprised me, the trends to pay attention to and other interesting tidbits and insights taken from the survey results. In this episode... How this report obliterates two of the most common myths in the online membership space The definitive answer to the "Open vs Closed" membership debate What's the most worrying trend amongst membership site owners? Surprising insights around pricing, retention, team size and more...

It's coming up to that time of year where promotions and discounts abound.Whether it's Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas or New Year, the sales season is definitely upon us.While these kind of sales are traditionally for physical products, there's no doubt that digital products have jumped onto the bandwagon over the last few years, and you'll see more and more discounts being offered.But what about membership sites? Should you capitalize on these busy promotional periods where some kind of special offer is almost expected?And what about the rest of the year?Promotional campaigns can be a bit of a minefield for membership site owners, who need to walk the delicate line between getting new members in the door and keeping existing members happy.In this episode we're going to explore the different types of promotions that you can run for a membership website and the situations where they can be beneficial.

Despite what the slickest of snake oil salesmen will try to tell you, there is no secret sauce or golden formula for building a successful membership website.The key to the long term success of your membership site lies beyond marketing tactics, sales spiel and fancy production values; and the memberships which do best are those which - at their heart - understand and embrace a core set of fundamental principles.In this episode, I outline 7 essential principles shared by the most successful memberships around.

Success in membership sites often comes with a series of missteps. Many seasoned owners fall for common pitfalls, forgetting the value of their initial loyal members. Resentment can brew against early adopters, hindering growth. Complacency is another trap, as adapting strategies too frequently can destabilize success. Ongoing learning is crucial to navigate these challenges effectively. Embracing change while honoring the past can lead to a more sustainable membership business.

There are many reasons people are attracted to the membership model.The most compelling for us is how dramatically different (and better) making recurring income from a membership is compared to servicing clients on a one-on-one basis.This is particularly true if you’re a “one man band”, where you’re solely responsible for the delivery of what you sell, so that might be: Website developersBusiness coachesGraphic designersMarketing consultants Or anyone else who works with clients one on one or even in small groups. Your business is holding you back. In this episode, I’m going to explain why the membership model is far superior to offering one-to-one services, as well as show you how you can start incorporating memberships and subscriptions into your own business.