157: Running a Successful Membership that is ALL about the COMMUNITY (Featuring Zac Small & Craig James)

Today we’re doing a few things differently, so get ready: we have two guests and zero “traditional” online courses involved. But don’t worry, because my discussion with Craig and Zach of Fraternity of Excellence is still super-relevant to many aspects of having a more typical online course business or membership model.

“Don’t let the fear of not being perfect when you launch keep you from launching.”

- Craig James

“Inside a membership community, it’s all about relationships.”

- Zach Small

In This Episode, We Talked About:

(0:40) Dr. K is back: where was he and what do lizards have to do with it?

(6:18) Our Asheville, NC recommendations + David’s ideal Instagrammer

(8:47) Getting recognized “in the wild”

(10:27) An update on my quest for the ultimate course platform

(11:37) Creating course content with other teachers and how I’ve set up compensation

(14:25) Setting the stage for today’s interview

(17:09) Why and how Craig and Zach partnered to create their membership site

(21:06) The 4-Hour Workweek mindset versus the community-based membership model

(21:35) Bootstrapping and their early business models

(24:35) Figuring out pricing with nothing to compare to

(27:38) The challenge of communicating value in exclusivity

(28:56) How Craig and Zach would change their approach to pricing if they were starting over

(30:27) Who their audience is and how they provide value to their niche

(33:18) How Craig and Zach’s offer has evolved

(36:25) A favorite story of how their group impacted one of their members

(39:11) How Zach quit his day job as their membership grew

(42:53) Getting started with their site and figuring out best tools and software

(46:21) Slack, “babies,” and focusing on the end goal

(50:47) Is the paid version of Slack worth it?

(53:00) How Craig and Zach make sure their membership never gets too big for its own good?

(55:32) The pen name dilemma

(1:03:41) Live events: how important are they?

(1:07:19) What Craig and Zach do to prevent member churn and encourage community-building

(1:10:35) Dealing with trolls and naysayers

(1:15:40) Making partnerships work

(1:18:43) Advice for new and aspiring course or membership creators

(1:22:19) David’s questions about the appeal of membership to me

(1:24:08) App development stories (plus an AI interruption)

(1:31:25) A not-so-shocking reveal

(1:34:36) Thinking about the challenges inherent to partnerships

(1:38:26) How I handle trolling plus how David avoided impersonating Michael Scott

(1:48:46) Finding the line between trolling and constructive criticism

(1:50:14) Wrapping up

That’s all for now, folks! See you on the next episode of The Online Course Show.

Links

Offers and Tools:

Bonjoro Free Trial

ClickFunnels Free Trial

Win of the Week

Guest Links:

Fraternity of Excellence

Family Alpha

Masculine by Design

Resources and Recommendations:

Chandler Corbin

Tupelo Honey Cafe

Pizza Mind

Upwork

Fiverr

Paid Memberships Pro

Slack

Zoom

Episode 95

David's video about running

Jacques’ Courses:

The Online Course Accelerator

Next Level Courses

Piano in 21 Days

David’s Courses:

Wellness Program Expert