Subscription Entrepreneur

Jordan Layman is my special guest on this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Jordan is the co-founder of a business called Idea Fab Labs. They're a "maker space" that gives people access to high-tech tools and educational workshops — sort of like a gym for artists and creatives.

What's fascinating is that Jordan uses MemberMouse to manage an in-person facility. Instead of protecting pages and videos on a website, he's protecting access to laser cutters and 3D printers in a physical space.

In our conversation, Jordan shares some thought provoking ideas about memberships, the sharing economy, and the power of a creative community. This is one of our most unique episodes to date and I can't wait for you to learn from Jordan.

So without further ado, let's get to it!

I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Do you ever wish you could take a peek behind the scenes of a successful membership site?

We do.

It'd be fascinating to see how they deliver their content, what tools they use, and how their member engagement stats look.

This is one of the reasons we love having conversations with entrepreneurs on our podcast. We get to sit down with them for an hour and hear about how they tackle the day-to-day challenges that come with running a content and community business.

Challenges like:

• What can we do to make sure our existing members stay engaged?
• How many emails should we send in our new member onboarding series?
• Where should we host our community? A Facebook group? Or something else?

That's why we're thrilled to share today's episode with you.

Our special guest is Rachael Dietrich.

She's the operations manager of a thriving membership community called Front Row Dads. They offer online courses, monthly challenges, in-person retreats, and more to help fathers become "family men with businesses" rather than "businessmen with families".

Over the past 3.5 years, Rachel has helped Front Row Dads nearly quadruple the size of their community.

She's involved with everything that happens inside the Front Row Dads membership – from new member onboarding, technology selection, community management, and more. She's super knowledgable about what really goes into running a successful membership community.

If you've ever wanted a behind the scenes tour of a growing membership, this is your chance.

We hope you enjoy our conversation with Rachael as much as we did.

Have you ever wanted to build a business around a topic, activity, or field you're deeply passionate about?

It's kind of the dream, right?

Getting to work on something day in and day out that's fueled by your natural interest and enthusiasm.

And for our special guest on this episode of our podcast – Neely Quinn – that dream became a reality back in 2013 when she started TrainingBeta. They're a membership site that provides people with world-class training programs, nutrition consulting, and educational resources for rock climbers.

We're really excited to share this conversation with you because Neely reveals what really goes into turning a passion project into a profitable business.

We explore the systems and strategies she’s put in place over the past few years to attract a loyal audience, create engaging content, and manage her growing team.

If you've ever wondered what really goes into building a successful membership site, this episode is for you.

Imagine for a second that you’re an expert fitness instructor.

You’ve learned from the best in the world, taught in-person classes for a decade, and even own a successful brick-and-mortar studio.

But you’re totally burned out and ready for a change.

Instead of scaling your in-person teaching, you want to better leverage your time and energy by building an online business.

The only thing is that you’re brand-new to online entrepreneurship.

Where do you start? What do you do first?

These are the questions that our guest on today’s episode of the podcast faced 7 years ago.

Her name is Emma Jory and she’s the founder of ePilates Online.

Emma joins us on the show today to share the highs and the lows from her experience building her online pilates membership site.

Emma is a lovely person with a ton of valuable insights to share with you.

We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

1:26 – Meet Emma Jory!
6:28 – How Emma transitioned from a brick-and-mortar pilates studio to an online platform
15:20 – A look at the way Emma creates, delivers, and markets her content
21:02 – How Emma manages the time she spends with free vs. paid members
28:54 – Emma shares some helpful pilates exercises for busy entrepreneurs
32:29 – The advice Emma wishes she received when she started her online business
40:57 – Where you can learn more about Emma

Luke Ward is my special guest on this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

I'm excited to share our conversation with you because Luke recently achieved something many entrepreneurs dream of:

He successfully sold his business – a membership site called BassGorilla.

And in our conversation, we travel through all of the key stages that led up to that moment – from starting, growing, and ultimately finding the right buyer for his business.

Something I love about Luke's journey is that he initially started his membership site as a side project.

He had no experience with tech, marketing, or course creation and learned everything he needed as he went along.

In this episode, Luke freely shares so many helpful tips and strategies you can use to grow your business and I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

You've heard the story of The Tortoise & The Hare, right?

You know...

The one where the slow-and-steady tortoise beats the overconfident hare in a foot race?

It's an amazing fable that contains an important lesson for us all – especially as entrepreneurs.

In fact, our guest on today's episode of the podcast loves it so much that she features it right on her homepage.

Her name is Elena Mutonono. She's an online entrepreneur, coach, and educator who helps language teachers start and grow their online teaching businesses.

While she's definitely experienced her fair share of "sprints" in the course of building her business, she runs her business a bit more like the tortoise.

"Slow and steady wins the race."

In our conversation, we dive deep into how Elena navigated the specific growth stages of her membership site – from startup to scaling.

She shares what initially inspired her to start her business. Plus, how she found her niche, got traction, and built her content & community platform.

And like most people building online businesses, Elena faced a fair number of technical challenges along the way. You’ll hear all about these hurdles and discover what she did to overcome them.

We're honored to share this conversation with you and sincerely hope you enjoy it.

George Papazov is my special guest on this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

He's an inspiring entrepreneur, remarkable human, and the founder of TRADEPRO Academy.

They're a membership site that helps aspiring traders achieve lasting and sustainable success through in-depth courses and supportive communities.

In this episode, you'll get to know George and hear all about how he started, grew, and expanded his membership site.

Plus, he shares the specific strategies he used to double his lifetime customer value and triple overall revenue after hitting a bit of a plateau in his business.

We also explore many of the mindsets, attitudes, and perspectives that've helped him achieve success as an entrepreneur.

There is a lot of strategic advice and practical wisdom in this episode and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen. And this is Episode 176 of the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

"This has always been my challenge – how can I multiply myself? Because exchanging my time for money is unsustainable. With MemberMouse, I now have a way to strategically get my knowledge and content out there."

Does dicing onions have anything to do with choosing WordPress plugins?

Could mastering the sous vide help you work with a page builder?

And is cooking in Michelin star kitchens the perfect preparation for entrepreneurship?

Our guest on this episode of the podcast seems to think so!

His name is Jamie Raftery. He’s a classically trained chef who’s worked in some of the world’s top kitchens over the past two decades.

Jamie joins us on the show today to share how his journey as a chef led him to create his business – The Holistic Chef Academy. It’s a cooking website that aims to educate, inspire, and empower people to prepare healthy and delicious plant-based recipes.

Plus, we discuss the challenges he faced as he prepared to launch a brand-new membership offering for his community.

Jamie is an inspiring entrepreneur and we sincerely hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

Teresa Heath-Wareing is my special guest on this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

I'm excited to share this conversation with you because I feel it speaks perfectly to the energy and momentum of starting new journeys.

While the idea of fresh starts, big dreams, and new projects can be exciting...

...building and launching anything new can also be a bit nerve-wracking.

This is doubly true for business ventures that often require months of planning and significant investments of time and energy.

And that's what this episode is all about.

In it, you'll hear the story of how Teresa planned, built, and launched her first membership site.

We dive deep into the way she planned her launch, the specific webinar strategies she used to get a 25% conversion rate, and what she did to ensure her members wanted to stick around for the long-haul.

Plus, she shares how she conquered the fear that held her back from launching once and for all.

As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and I sincerely hope this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast helps you move closer to accomplishing your goals.

Can you answer a quick question for us?

(…and no, this isn’t for a job interview or dating profile )

How would you describe yourself?

Would you say that you’re…

 —Fun?
 —Adventurous?
 —Easy-going?

Would you ever describe yourself as a “numbers person?” As someone who loves to crack open Excel or Quickbooks on a Saturday morning and power through an annual budget or profit forecasting plan? 

If you answered yes to that question, more power to you!

But if you’re like a lot of entrepreneurs, diving into your books is pretty low on the list of things you look forward to. You’d rather be creating something new or connecting with your audience.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Who has time for such a tedious activity anyways? Can’t we just leave it to the bean counters?”

But here’s the thing:

As an entrepreneur and business owner – especially if you don’t consider yourself a “numbers person” – you have a responsibility to know your numbers and understand your books.

When you do, you can make informed and empowered decisions that can lead to even more profits in your business.

In fact, this is exactly what our guest on today’s episode of the podcast preaches over and over again to her clients.

Her name is Danielle Hayden. She’s the creator of the Profit Planner and the co-founder of Kickstart Accounting.

She’s made it her mission to empower entrepreneurs to better understand their numbers and financials so they can grow their businesses and lead the lives they want to live.

And as we head towards the end of 2021 and the start of a new year, we thought it’d be a good idea to have her on the show to share her financial wisdom with you.

This episode is full of practical advice and helpful mindsets you can use to get a better understanding of the financial side of your business – even if you’re not a numbers person.

We have an open and honest conversation about all things related to finance and entrepreneurship, and hope you enjoy our conversation as much as we did.