Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

I think it's fair to say that we're pretty big fans of the membership model.

You don't call yourselves "The Membership Guys" and dedicate yourself to teaching this stuff if you're not...

But for all we love the whole world of running membership sites, as with any type of business there is an ugly side that you'll undoubtedly encounter at some point when running a membership of your own.

In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I talk about 3 "ugly" issues that we've recently had experience with for our own membership and our advice for dealing with it should those same problems come up for you.

In this episode, I discuss:

• How to deal with "copycats" who take immitation too far and cross the line into plagiarism
• Why you shouldn't take attempts to prevent piracy too far
• What to do if your membership content is pirated, and your options to have illegal links removed
• Disputing false chargeback claims with your payment processor

Creating membership content can be one of the most time consuming parts of running a paid membership website.

If you're billing people on a recurring basis, you need to deliver value on a recurring basis; and often delivering that value involves some form of content.

In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss how to approach content strategy for your membership, and the steps to take in order to ensure your production process is streamlined so you're not constantly grinding to put out new content.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Two key mindset shifts to embrace that will change how you approach your membership content
• What content you should be creating, and how to deliver more while actually REDUCING your workload
• The steps you need to take before hiring someone to help you to produce content
• The one thing that will make a monumental difference to your content production process

Creating a membership website involves a lot more work than most people expect.

Memberships have a lot of moving pieces; not just on the technology front, but also when it comes to strategy, marketing and the day to day logistics too.

It's not surprise then, that so many people get "stuck" when trying to figure out which software to use, what features their site should have and how to implement them, how often to release content, what content to create and so on, and so on... and so on!

In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss the steps you need to take in order to overcome "Paralysis by Analysis" - the situation where you're so bogged down in overthinking every little thing that you get stuck in the mud, not making progress.

Most of the strategies, principles and tactics we cover here and inside the Member Site Academy apply across the board regardless of which niche or market your membership website is in.

However when it comes to B2B and B2C memberships there are some key differences that you need to be aware of when it comes to positioning, marketing and pricing your offering.

In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I dive into what those differences are and ways in which you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

In this episode, I discuss:

• What are the 4 main differences to consider between business-to-business and business-to-consumer memberships?
• How these 2 distinct member types will each perceive things like value, cost and priorities
• Why important thing you need to consider when planning your membership content depending on your customer profile
• Ballpark price ranges for both B2B and B2C memberships, and the one factor that may enable you to increase your prices

It's easy to fall into the trap of playing the "numbers game" when it comes to creating your membership content.

Taking pride in having more courses, more tools, more bells and whistles than the next guy.

However as I cover in this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, it's a foolish game to play and one which not only leads to you failing your members but also puts your entire membership business at risk.

In this episode, I discuss:

• What you REALLY need to be focusing on when it comes to creating membership content
• Why putting too much content into your membership site is a bad thing
• How relying too much on content as your selling point puts your business at risk of being wiped out by your competitors
• The question you need to ask yourself to re-align your thinking about your membership offering

When it comes to creating membership content, it can be easy to get sucked into the "numbers game", focusing on churning out quantity rather than quality.

Your members join because they have a result they want to achieve, a problem that needs solving; so it's important to make sure that the content you create helps them to get to where they want to go.

In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast I'm joined by Colin Gray from ThePodcastHost.com. Not only does Colin help to teach people how to get the most from podcasting, but he's also got a PhD in Online Education; so I really enjoyed discussing how to make your membership content effective and truly educational.

Every topic and every industry has its fair share of bad advice, outdated information and dubious “best practices”; and there’s certainly a lot of that out there when it comes to the subject of membership sites.

As with most subjects it can be a bit of a minefield trying to maneuver around the misinformation – so to help you out we’ve broken down 8 of the most common ‘myths’ about creating and running a membership site.

If you've been selling one-off courses for a while, then deciding to transition to the membership model is a big move with more things to think about than you may realise.

We've worked with plenty of people who have successfully made the switch, but there are some definite considerations in terms of cashflow, marketing and how the complexion of your day to day business can change.

In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss the main implications of moving from selling courses to running a membership, how to ease the transition and my advice for deciding whether it's the right decision for you.

In this episode, I discuss:

• The main things to consider when deciding whether to switch to the membership model
• How to deal with past customers who have purchased your courses
• The biggest thing most people don't think about when moving into memberships
• Advice on deciding whether this is the right decision for your business.

While running a membership site can highly profitable on its own, it doesn't have to be the only piece of your business puzzle.

Complementing your membership website with a diverse range of products and offerings can not only give you increased income from multiple revenue streams but also enable you to better serve a greater proportion of your audience.

In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss ways in which you can add multiple revenue streams to an existing membership business.

In this episode, I discuss:

• 7 ways you can add additional revenue streams to your existing membership
• Why you should be careful about affiliate commissions and joint ventures
• The importance of clarity when you have multiple product offerings
• How to leverage your other revenue streams to add value to your membership

This past year has been an exciting one for us, and as we reach the 12 month anniversary of the opening of the Member Site Academy we're feeling a little reflective.

To celebrate this milestone I'm joined once again on the podcast by the other (some say better) half of The Membership Guys, the one and only Callie Willows, to discuss our first year of running the Academy.

In this episode, Callie and I discuss:

• What aspects of running the Academy we each found to be most surprising or unexpected
• Changes we've made to our strategy and the reasons and circumstances behind those decisions
• What we each enjoy most about running the membership
• What the future holds for Member Site Academy