Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

I regularly talk about how your members will join for the content, but they'll STAY for the community; and that's something we see reflected in every successful membership site we've been part of. But what options do you actually have for creating your community from a technical standpoint? How do you add an online forum to your membership? In this episode I talk more about the importance of community, forums in particular, and discuss the various routes you can go down to add one to your website. In this episode, I discuss: How adding a forum gives your passionate members a space to engage with others Why community is a vital asset for membership sites Examples of Wordpress plugins and stand-alone software you can use to set up your forum Why a Facebook group isn't an adequate replacement for building your own community

As membership site owner, the ability to protect our premium content is at the heart of how your business functions. And when that protection is threatened you, naturally, start to panic. So it stands to reason that you'd want to take action to prevent "hit and run" members who sign up, download everything you have to offer, and then cancel straight away. However before you batten down the hatches, make sure you listen to our advice on how to handle this sort of situation... In this episode, I discuss: Preventing the fear of temporary members discouraging you from providing your best experience Pros and Cons of limiting your membership-only content as online only Examples for how to keep your subscribed members engaged over time Why you shouldn't focus your energies on preventing piracy

It's easy to see why the strategy of offering lifetime memberships is a divisive one. Unquestionably the biggest benefit of the membership model lies in recurring revenue, so the notion of providing unlimited access to your site for a single one-off fee may seem counter-intuitive; however as we discuss in this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast there are definite pros and cons to this strategy... In this episode, I discuss: Pros and Cons of offering a lifetime membership option Examples of the type of sites or situations where a lifetime option could work very well Why it's important to define what a lifetime membership actually is How to decide on what to charge for lifetime access

Most memberships will consist of two things - premium content (such as courses and tutorials) as well as community. While the quality and depth of those elements will vary greatly from site to site; it does mean that when your potential member is considering several options for sites to join it can be hard to tell the difference between memberships which appear to essentially be offering the same thing. This is where going that extra mile to provide added value to members is key to standing out from your competition - and one of our favourite ways of doing this is to offer exclusive member-only perks and offers. In this episode I discuss this further as well as provide my tips on how to approach vendors to negotiate deals for your membership.

It's easy to assume that mainstream media coverage is the domain of celebrities, huge businesses and crazies claiming to know where the aliens took Elvis. As such, most membership site owners don't even think about trying to use PR to get their story out there, as they see traditional media as out of their reach. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I'm joined by Janet Murray who not only explains why this isn't the case but also gives advice and tips from her 15+ years in journalism on how you can attract media attention for your membership site. Many membership sites revolve around their founder or founders positioning themselves as an authority on a given topic or in a specific market; and attracting media coverage can be invaluable to establishing and strengthening that credibility. Even if you're not running an authority-based membership, chances are you have a story to tell that it would benefit you to share with the world. This interview is packed with actionable advice and tips that work, from someone who not only has been in the industry for a decade and a half, but also helps countless businesses and individuals to get media attention too. If your business would benefit in any way from media coverage, then this really is a can't-miss episode.

One of the more challenging changes that comes with moving to the membership model is dealing with the increase in how many people are contacting you and vying for your attention. Supporting hundreds or thousands of members can certainly take its toll and becoming uncontrollable without procedures and a solid approach for dealing with handling communication. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I talk about how you can set boundaries and expectations in order to ensure your membership remains manageable. It should go without saying that if you think a membership isn't going to involve work that you're mistaken - but that doesn't mean that handling member communications has to take over your life! Having a solid strategy for supporting members and enabling communication is key to the long term success of your membership site. Establishing boundaries enables you to better and more effectively serve your whole membership base, so it's key to put these into place early.

To celebrate the 50th episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, we decided to do something a little different. Not only did we bring Callie onto the podcast (for only the second time!) but we did so as part of a live Q&A we hosted on Blab.im all about our favourite subject - membership websites! We had audience questions, a guest appearance, and a pretty epic rant from Mike that you're really going to want to hear (unless you can't handle the occasional curse word.. or twenty!) In this Q&A we discuss: What most appeals to Callie about the membership model Can you create a membership if you don't have knowledge, skills or experience? Why snake-oil salesman and lazy marketers are doomed to fail When it would be the wrong situation to create a membership The future of live video and what it could mean for membership owners How to organise your activity and plan content Which membership plugins are best to use with LMS platforms ...and more!

The launch of a new membership site can be a nerve-wracking time, and adding to that anxiety is the question of whether you have enough content to open your doors. Is there a set amount of content that a membership site needs to have before you release it to the public? What content should you be creating and how do you know when to say "when"? In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I tackle this question, and provide my top tips for approaching content creation as you gear up for launch.

In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I'm joined by Amy Schmittauer from Savvy Sexy Social to talk about how you can build authority by incorporating online video into your marketing strategy. Amy has built a huge audience for her own business, with over 3 million views across the 600+ videos on her own Youtube channel, where she teaches others to effectively use video marketing in their own business. Amy specializes in using video to build brand and personal authority - something which many of us as membership site owners are trying to do as we carve out our spot as the "go-to" people in our market; and that's something which we talk about during this interview. In this episode, Amy Schmittauer and I discuss: Where video marketing should fit in terms of the bigger picture of your overall strategy, and how important it is to focus Amy's top tips for getting started with your first online video How to overcome the fear that your business or topic simply isn't interesting enough create videos about Tips for improving the videos you create for your membership content Amy's thoughts on the recent rise of live video and where this fits in the overall strategy ... and a whole lot more!

Finding the right web designer is like navigating a minefield. With so many people out there claiming to know what they're doing - and often no real way for the typical prospective membership site owner to know whether those claims are legit or BS - it's unsurprising that pretty much everyone and their dog has a horror story about that one web designer who screwed them over. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I share my top tips on finding and hiring the right web designer to create your membership site.