Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

A membership has many moving parts, lots of technical elements, and will take plenty of hard work to get started. But there is one element of running a membership site that is constant and, if you don’t have it, you won’t keep your membership alive. If you don’t have an audience, you won’t have a membership. So, if you’re just starting out and eager to get your membership going, it’ll pay dividend...

Setting boundaries is essential if you want your membership to be productive and positive for you – and your members. But how do you do it without cutting people off, coming across as aloof or inaccessible, and how can you ensure your members are having their questions answered whilst still respecting your boundaries. It’s certainly a balancing act, but it’s one you can perfect by putting into pra...

“Cancellation” is a word that sends a shiver down the spine of any membership site owner, but are membership site owners missing a trick when it comes to how they handle cancelled members? In our own membership, Membership Academy, 25% of members who leave end up rejoining. This is why it’s essential not to burn your bridges – and to put a rock-solid win-back strategy in place. Join us in this epi...

Your blog and your website host all of the content used in your marketing – so how do you join the dots between your blog and your membership? There are plenty of ways membership site owners can do this, but many don’t because they’ve heard bad advice from marketing ‘gurus’ or they’re worried about sounding salesy. The good news is there are direct and indirect ways of linking from your blog to yo...

Despite my protests over the years, I’m ready to admit that there are a few instances where it is a good idea to use a closed door membership model. Some of them are very niche, some of them require a few “ifs” and asterisks, but they are entirely valid and are all better suited to a closed door model. This episode is well worth checking out if you’re just starting out or if you’re trying new thin...

Community is often the heart of membership sites but working out the best way to introduce it to your membership isn’t as easy it might seem. Often, we see debates around how to host membership communities that end up focusing on quantity of engagement, rather than quality. Quantity isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not always what you’re actually aiming for. If you want to find the signal in the noise...

Member retention is critical to the long-term success of your membership website. It costs 7-10 times more on average to win a new member than it does to hold on to an existing one; and if you’re losing more members than you bring in then your business won’t last long! In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, we’re giving you 21 quick tips for improvements you can make to your membership st...

Every industry, topic and niche has its fair share of jargon. And memberships are no different. There’s already so much to juggle as a membership site owner, so the last thing you want to have to worry about is needing to wrap your head around all of the lingo! So to make it easier for you, we’ve rounded up the 9 key terms and phrases you need to know if you run a membership.

Facebook remarketing is one of the most exciting developments in online advertising in recent years.  Now, instead of being limited to picking demographics and targeting options that we think relate to our target audience; we can actually leverage actual user behaviour to determine which ads they are shown. This enables us to show the right message to the right person at the right time, which...

Running a membership site is a juggling act. There’s a seemingly never-ending list of things to keep on top of; and with much of the focus revolving around things like producing content and marketing to bring in new members it’s easy to see why some of the basics get missed. However it’s often the relatively minor day to day activities that have the real impact on how successful a membership...

Social proof is a powerful, persuasive factor when it comes to making buying decisions. If we see others behaving in a particular way, buying a product or, say, joining a membership site; then we're far more inclined to follow suit. More and more, customers are basing their buying decisions on what other people recommend, rather than promotions, discounts and other sales tactics. In this episode,...

Memberships are a marathon, not a sprint. Unlike other products where the sale is the end of the journey, with memberships it’s just the beginning. That “journey” – the  Member Lifecycle  – typically breaks down into 5 key stages: acquisition, onboarding, engagement, retention and reactivation. In this episode, we’re looking at each of these 5 stages and what they mean for you as a membe...

Choosing the right membership plugin is a task that’s easier said than done. The fact that it can be a bit of a nightmare switching plugins after your membership has opened its doors is something which makes your decision even more important. There is no “one size fits all” best membership plugin for every situation, and so the process of deciding which to go with involves identifying your specifi...

Email automation can massively power up the marketing and operation of your membership site; enabling you to trigger various different actions and email sequences according to how your audience and your members behave. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I identify the 4 essential email automations that every membership website should have in place.

Live content is a great way of delivering ongoing value to your membership without the level of upfront work and other hassles that typically go into producing courses, tutorials or other types of “pre-made” content. However including this type of content in your membership does add a new wrinkle to worry about – member attendance. If the turnout for your live membership calls is low, this can dir...

People join your membership because they have a goal they want to achieve; an outcome they want to realise – and it’s your content that’s going to get them there. But with so many plates to spin running a membership website, it’s easy to settle for “good enough” when it comes to creating that content. In this episode of The Membership Guys Podcast, I discuss why it’s important to focus on improvin...

In the early days of running your membership, you’ll find yourself preoccupied with the day to day, short-term stuff. How many new members did we get this week? Have we had any cancellations? Do I have enough time to get this new piece of content out to members? However once things have settled and stabilised then it’s time to think bigger in terms of how you’re going to scale and grow your member...

When it comes to offering trials of your membership site or online product, opinions tend to be divided between those who consider it a smart strategy and those who believe you shouldn’t give anything away, no matter what. We’re big fans of utilising trial periods as part of your pricing strategy; however we recognise that they’re not something which will necessarily be right for everyone. If you’...

Most membership sites include some form of premium content locked away behind a paywall. But locking your membership content down is a double-edged sword. You could have the most incredible content in the world, but if the only people who know about it are your paying members then you’re missing on an opportunity to get so much more bang for your buck. So before you hit ‘publish’ on your next piec...

Your sales funnel is a key part of attracting new members to your community; and so it's no surprise that some membership owners have a constant itch to tweak and tinker with every little detail. Knowing when to adjust your sales funnel is an imprecise art, but people often fall foul to making changes too often. In this episode, I discuss how often you should be adjusting your sales funnel, h...

One of the strongest ways you can grow your membership at speed is to start a joint venture promotion. First of all, you may be asking what exactly a joint venture promotion is… Put simply, it’s working with someone who has a sizeable audience who you want to speak to in exchange for commission or some other value exchange. Now that we’ve got that cleared up – do you want to know how you can use j...

Content marketing is the most valuable strategy a membership site owner can deploy. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again and again and again! But having a blog or a podcast isn’t enough – not for the most successful membership sites, at least. To really ramp up your content marketing to the top tier, there are certain approaches you might want to consider that will help you create a killer...

Whether you’re at the start of your journey to running your own membership website or a seasoned pro, there are some universal truths of this world that we all need reminding of every now and again. The Membership Guys and our podcast exist to make running a membership easier, more accessible, and less stressful. These 8 must-know facts are the cornerstone of running a happy, successful membership...

Most memberships are based on the owner’s expertise and knowledge, so why would you start giving it away for free? It may feel counter-intuitive, but content marketing has proven time and time again to be a hugely successful way of growing memberships. The fear of free content is one of the most common topics in The Membership Academy, so I’ve brought together the three reasons why you really don’...

Consistently producing valuable, relevant content for your membership is not easy work. If you’re feeling stuck for inspiration or ideas at the moment, I might be able to help! In this episode, I go through 5 of the best ways you can find ideas and inspiration for your membership site. They’re all different in their ways, but there is an overarching principle to them all – and that’s that we need...