In this episode, I discuss the importance of setting realistic expectations when aiming for growth in membership businesses. Learn why ambitious membership owners need to ground big goals in practical reality and logistics, and how to avoid banking on "moonshot" opportunities. I also share valuable insights on the philosophy of marginal gains and the impact of achieving ambitious goals on a business trajectory.In this episode:- How can membership businesses ensure their growth goals are grounded in practical reality and logistics?- What are the potential pitfalls of focusing solely on ambitious, game-changing opportunities for growth?- How does a measured, steady approach to growing memberships contribute to sustained success?- What are the key considerations in setting realistic expectations for growth in online memberships?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I discuss whether membership businesses should prevent canceled members from ever rejoining. While not commonplace, it's a practice that does exist! But is it worth considering?I delve into the reasons behind this concept and how it can be detrimental to the growth and success of a membership business.In this episode:- Why would a membership businesses prevent canceled members from rejoining?- What are the main drawbacks of preventing canceled members from rejoining your membership?- How do cancellations fit into the member lifecycle and why do most membership owners view them the wrong way?- What is the importance of member lifetime value and how does it relate to the handling of canceled members?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode, I discuss the challenges faced by membership owners as their business grows and the day-to-day operations become more complex. Join me as I provide practical tips on how to intentionally become less hands-on in a membership business without compromising the quality and value of the member experience.In this episode:- How can membership owners become less hands-on in the day-to-day operations as their business grows?- What are the key steps in growing a reliable team and delegating key tasks to empower the team?- In what ways can processes be streamlined and automated to make operations more efficient?- How can membership owners create self-serve resources for their members to foster a culture of self-sufficiency within the community?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I discuss the common mistakes made with the closed door membership model, and why it may not be the one-size-fits-all solution it's often made out to be.From neglecting existing members to the dangers of overhyping, we explore the potential pitfalls of this fringe membership strategy.In this episode:- Why is focusing solely on launch promotions a mistake when using the closed door membership model?- What are the common mistakes and misconceptions around implementing a closed door membership model?- Key differences between closed-door and open-door membership models, and how might they impact member retention and community energy- What are the drawbacks and dangers of employing scarcity in marketing, especially within a closed door membership model?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I discuss 5 ways membership owners can stay ahead of the competition and keep their membership business at the forefront of their industry. From soliciting member feedback to tapping into the wealth of opportunity in their own community, I explore practical tips to ensure that membership owners remain relevant and responsive to their audience's needs.In this episode:- How can membership owners actively solicit and utilize member feedback to stay ahead of the competition?- What are the benefits of being active in one's own community as a membership owner?- How can membership owners keep their expertise sharp by remaining practitioners in their field?- Why is it important for membership owners to look outside their industry and join other memberships?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I discuss the 4 essential last-minute checks EVERYONE needs to do before launching a new membership website. These checks are crucial to ensure a smooth and successful launch without any unforeseen hiccups - so skip this episode at your peril!In this episode:- How can you prepare your website host for a membership site launch to handle potential traffic spikes?- Why is it important to inform payment processors in advance of a membership launch, and what should be communicated to them?- What are the crucial steps to ensure the seamless functionality of the purchase process and member access before launching a membership?- Why is it important to consider world events before launching a membership, and how can it impact the success of the launch?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I delve into the challenge of member retention in an increasingly busy world. Listen in to learn practical tips for membership business owners to address the common reason for members leaving due to lack of time to utilize their membership effectively. I'm sharing my top strategies to streamline content, enhance member experience, leverage community support, and adapt to member feedback.In this episode:What can membership business owners do when members leave due to lack of time to use the membership?How can membership content be streamlined to cater to busy members?What are the strategies to make your membership easier to consume for members with hectic schedules?How can membership owners harness the power of accountability, community, and member feedback to adapt and improve member experiences?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

When people think about launching a membership, they think about the day that they finally open their doors for the very first time and welcome their first crop of new members.It's a big deal!However that grand opening isn't the only opportunity you have to launch...There are different launch types for each stage of your business, depending on how far along you are in the membership site creation process, or what you might need your members to do to help get your product ready for market.Listen in for a full breakdown of the 6 different launch strategies you can use at various stages of your membership journey... Essential Learning Points:Validating your membership idea by running a pilot programThe difference between launch strategy for open memberships vs closed doorHow to generate seed money to help you develop your membership ideaThe best way to reduce the stress of a big launch and ease yourself into the membership modelImportant Links & Mentions:When the closed door membership makes senseJeff Walker's book, LaunchCreating an MVP for your membershipThe lean live launch strategyMembership AcademyThe Membership Guys Facebook GroupKey Quotes:“Your big launch event will usually be a week or two, where you're doing lots of promotional marketing activity to get as many eyeballs as possible on your launch – in the hopes that you'll get that influx of initial members.”  “The beta launch can be extremely useful for helping you to ensure that you are in absolute top shape, or as close as you can get to top shape, before you open the doors to your membership. And, it has the great side effect of also ensuring that you already have people there in your community.”“If you know you need a little bit of a softer entry into the world of running an online membership, then a soft launch can work for you.”

The new year is upon us and for most membership owners this is likely to be a time where you are looking ahead to what you want to achieve with your business this year.And I’m willing to bet good money that growing and improving your membership is one of your aims. Or at least it should be!So with that in mind we're kicking off 2024 by taking a look at the 5 steps that you can take today to plan your year and ensure you achieve your membership goals.Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

And just like that, another year is almost over!How was your 2023?After missing last year due to the podcast being on hiatus, we're reviving our festive tradition of wrapping the year up by taking a look back at some of the fantastic episodes of the Membership Geeks Podcast, counting down the top 10 most downloaded episodes of 2022-2023.Thanks to each and every one of you for your continued support of the show – here's to even more membership awesomeness in 2024!Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I discuss 3 essential strategies for generating member sales from your email list. I delve into the importance of initial follow-up sequences, ongoing nurture emails, and dedicated promotional campaigns, providing valuable insights on how to effectively leverage your email list for membership sales.Key takeaways:How can initial follow-up sequences be utilized to generate membership sales from an email list?What are the best practices for creating ongoing nurture emails to cultivate relationships and drive member sales?How can dedicated promotional campaigns and evergreen email automations be leveraged to boost membership sales?What resources and tools are available for membership owners to enhance their email marketing and drive sales from their email list?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I discuss alternatives to cancelling a membership that membership owners can offer to their members. I explain the importance of providing options to members who want to cancel and offer suggestions for retaining their membership in a non-intrusive way.In this episode:How can membership owners collect feedback from members who want to cancel their membership?What is the benefit of offering the option to pause a membership instead of cancelling?How can changing the billing frequency be a viable alternative to cancellation?How can offering different membership tiers help retain members who are considering cancelling?Key Quotes & Takeaways:"So if they've already gotten their head, okay, I'm gonna take a bit of a break. I'll probably come back later. Giving them the option to pause is a far better alternative to canceling...""But there's absolutely nothing wrong with making that last effort, that last effort to turn things around. And in fact, doing that shows that you care. You will get people who wanna leave who end up disgruntled at how easy it was to leave. That's kind of the irony of it.""Those little conversations, even though it's taking, you know, 10, 15 minutes out of your day or out of your team's day, that could not only reverse the decision to cancel, but also build up enough goodwill and loyalty from the fact that you're willing to actually have that face time."Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of Membership Geeks, I discuss the essential do's and don'ts of member retention. I dive into the importance of making retention a priority, taking care of new member onboarding, and collecting feedback from outgoing members. I also highlight the risks of assuming that when someone leaves, they're gone forever and the benefits of having a failed payment process in place.In this episode:Why is it important to make member retention a priority?How can we ensure a solid new member onboarding experience?What are the risks of assuming someone is happy just because they haven't cancelled?How can collecting feedback from outgoing members benefit our membership offering and win back campaigns?Key Quotes & Takeaways:"When you realize that someone leaving isn't the end of their journey, then that nullifies any reasoning you might have for making things difficult for them to leave or punishing them when they do leave.""Failed payments account for a lot of churn. It's called involuntary churn. Someone leaving your membership when they might not have intended to because their credit card payment, their PayPal subscription - however they pay you - for some reason, has failed, and they don't address it in time, and therefore, their subscription ends.""If you make the process of leaving difficult, they're never gonna come back, and they're not gonna speak positively about you to anyone else"Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks podcast, I dive into the 3 pillars of membership growth. If you have an existing membership and have been struggling with knowing where to focus in order to grow and scale your membership, this episode is for you. I discuss the importance of marketing, member attention, and management, and how to implement strategies and tactics for each pillar.In this episode:How can I attract new members and continuously build my audience?What are the key elements of a solid core sales funnel for my membership?How can I retain members and ensure they stay subscribed for the long term?What are the essential elements of managing and scaling a membership business?Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks podcast, we explore 7 ways to generate FOMO (fear of missing out) for your membership. FOMO is a powerful tool to attract non-members and create a sense of urgency and excitement about joining. Join host Mike Morrison as he shares strategies to create that FOMO and drive membership growth.In this episode:What is "member first messaging" and how can you use it to your advantage?What role does insider language and identity play in generating FOMO?How can branded merchandise and swag contribute to generating FOMO for your membership?What are the benefits of organizing in-person member meetups and how can they generate FOMO?Key Quotes & Takeaways:"That feeling when someone sees something really cool, really exciting going on that they're not part of, and they get that itch they get that urge, they get that sense that they are missing out.""Make sure you're promoting ahead of time what is happening over the next month. So release a schedule of new content or live calls every single month so that people know what's ahead.""It's always great to be able to meet your members, to actually put these people in a room, see the connections that happen, see the conversations, and it's all like minded people. You've already brought your people together online. If you can replicate that in the real world, even if it's just ten people from your membership having dinner together, it's fantastic, fantastic thing."Thank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I dive into the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its implications for online membership businesses. Get my analysis of the hype surrounding AI as well as practical insights on how membership site owners can navigate the AI landscape.In this episode:How should membership site owners react to the rise of artificial intelligence?Does AI signify the end of online education or memberships?Should membership site owners prioritize AI or stick to their current business models?How can AI be practically applied in your membership businesses?Key Quotes & Takeaways:"These are just tools, they should be used as such, which is to say they should be used to solve actual problems, not just for the novelty factor.""The rush to capitalize on AI is leading to a lot of pointless and generic content, and the content that's created is actually quite inaccurate a lot of the time and requires a lot of checking and correction."Get more detailed insights about AI for memberships hereThank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Online summits can be a fantastic way to promote and grow your memberships; tapping into the attention and urgency created with 'event marketing' and converting a captive audience into paying subscribers.In this episode of the Membership Geeks Podcast, I'm joined by Krista Miller from Summit in a Box to share her strategies and top tips for selling your membership via an online summit.In this episode:What is the ideal length and number of sessions and speakers for your online summitThe most effective strategy for generating membership sales on the back of your summitTop tips for reaching out to guest experts to participate as summit speakersHow to ensure you get plenty of people attending your summitFind out more:Get more from Krista at Summit in a BoxThank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Membership Academy just turned 8 years old!Listen in as Callie and I discuss the in's and out's of the past 12 months at Membership Academy and look ahead to what’s in store for the coming months and beyond.In this episode:Dissecting the most significant change we've ever made to Membership AcademyHow we finally solved a problem that's stumped us for almost a decadeThe big new addition to the Academy that had people thinking we're crazyWhy we've started coaching after years of turning down requestsThank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

It may not surprise you - given where you are - that we're HUGE fans of podcasting as a way to promote and grow a membership business.This podcast has been the cornerstone of our marketing strategy since 2015.But a LOT has changed since then as the podcast industry has experienced multiple boom periods and in more recent years seems to have hit a whole new level.In this episode I'm joined by one of the leading voices in the industry, Mark Asquith from Captivate.fm, o dive into what - if anything - this means for membership owners using podcasting as part of their strategy and how we should be adapting our approach to stay ahead of the curve.In this episode:The most significant ways in which podcasting has changed, and what that means for the "average" podcast hostThe importance of self-editing to stay focused and ensure you're delivering valuable content that helps you stand out in a crowded audio spaceUsing podcasts as a promotional tool for memberships and ways to more closely integrate your membership business with your showHow podcasting can enhance your member experience and open up additional revenue streamsThank You For ListeningWe really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show. They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally!Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

We regularly get asked for our recommendations on the top tools for membership website owners.The truth is that there’s no such thing as the “perfect” membership site setup that will work for everyone – it all depends on what it is you want to achieve with your membership site, what features and functionality you need it to have, which email and payment software you’re using and a whole bunch of other details that determine which membership tools are the best fit for you.In this episode, we talk about the tools we use for our own membership website – Membership Academy – as well as the reasons why we chose those particular options.In this episode:Which membership plugin and other software we're using to power Membership AcademyWhy you don't need to use the exact same setup that we use (or anyone else is using)Changes we're considering making to our tech stack and frustrations we haveWhat WordPress theme do we use for our websites?