KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

• Although the membership model is currently a popular topic, it’s only going to get bigger and bigger.
• A membership site is technically any kind of site that requires you to login in order to access a particular product or service. Whilst it’s broad, it does mean that online courses and subscriptions services are technically memberships. The memberships that are more commonly talked about, are those that offer some form of e-learning, content and community.
• Memberships are more commonly set up by industry thought leaders¸ or people who act as curators for bringing in other experts and thought leaders in their field.
• If you’re not an expert or thought leader, you can set up a membership where you have a ‘learn along with me’ concept. Carrie Green is a great example of this.
• Memberships mean you have no place to hide, which means there is a forced transparency. You need to be clear about what role you’re going to play for your audience and that you know what you’re talking about.
• Idea validation and audience building are two of the most difficult parts of starting a membership. If you don’t have a good idea or an audience in place, who will buy from you?
• Knowing who your audience are is important, especially if you’re not currently reaching them.
• One-to-many recurring income gives you great stability, but you have to work hard for it and ensure you’re always delivering value.
• You need to design your membership experience in a way that encourages people to stay month after month.
• Free Facebook Groups are a great stepping stone into starting a membership.

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…

If you don’t want to show up and serve your audience, a membership probably isn’t for you. It’s an ongoing model where you need to provide value every month.

HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS

• Introducing Mike and Callie - 10:02
• Introducing Memberships – 20:00
• Who Can Start A Membership? – 24:00
• Knowing Your Audience – 38:34
• Is A Membership for You? - 42:05
• How to Keep People in Your Membership – 49:00
• The First Steps For Starting Your Membership – 52:30

LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE

• Phil (Podcast Editing)
• 5 Places to Use As Opportunities To Build Your List
• How to Produce A Webinar (Blueprint)
• Creating A Good Sales Page
• Carie Green
• The Membership Guys Website
• The Membership Guys Instagram
• The Membership Guys Membership
• Retain Live 2019

Transcription below

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Marketing That Converts, and a very odd intro, yet again. Honestly, without that intro and outro, I just find it really awkward to start the podcast, which is so silly, because obviously, when I record, I don't hear the intro and outro, because that gets put in afterwards, so you think I should just carry on like normal, but it is making a big difference knowing that when you're listening to this, there's no intro and outro yet.

Now, I know technically it's been two weeks. By the time you're listening to this, it's been a minimum of two weeks, since I said, that's it, name's moved over. However, in my reality, it sounds like I've just been watching Dr. Who actually, it sounds like I'm talking from a reference from that but, and the reality is that I've recorded these episodes in the space of like two or three days. So although it seems like a really long time since I initially said I need to this intro and outro, I haven't done it yet, because it's literally been a couple of days since I last said that. Does that make any sense at all? Because I'm not sure it's making sense to me, so well done if you kept up with my rambling.

Anyway, I am going to do an intro and outro, and I think I am swaying more to the idea of me doing it than having a voiceover, but I really need to think about what I'm going to say, what music I want, and then I'll have to get my lovely editor to put it all together into a nice intro and outro. Just on a side note, by the way, because I was talking about a team member last week, I think it was, in last week's episode. Phil, who does my editing and obviously will hear this because he edits the podcast, is actually a voiceover actor, which is amazing, and he sent me some samples. They were brilliant. They were so, so good, but we've chatted together, and we both agree that we think maybe I need to do it. But he's wonderful, so I'm going to make sure that we hook up to him in the show notes, because I'd really like to check him out.

And you know, the other reason I'd like you to check him out, is because he has the best branding ever. Honestly, I love it, it's so good. So in the show notes for today's episode I am going to hook up to Phil and his website, and you can go take a look, because he's really good. And if you do need a voiceover actor, then he's very good at what he does.

So before we get on with today's episode, which is a really good one, and I'll tell you all about that in a second, I want to remind you that I've got those brand new downloads for you. The first one is all about list building, and how people miss certain places to use as opportunities to build their list, so I give you five places that you could be building your list faster today, and they're really simple. It's not some crazy, amazing thing that you need to set up technical stuff or design stuff. It's really, really simple stuff. If you want that one, go to www.teresaheathwareing.com/list building.

The next one is my webinar blueprint. So if you are thinking about doing a webinar, you do webinars, and you want to know how you can better produce that presentation, and the key steps that you have to go through in order to really make that an effective webinar and get those key sales at the end, then you definitely want to check out the blueprint. So again, go to www.teresaheathwaring.com/blueprint.

The last one I produce for you is all about creating a really good sales page, and the 10 things that I put on sales pages, which I think are a must. So they're some of the key things that we use in order to help convert when people are on their sales pages. So if you want that, go to, you've got it, www.teresaheathwaring.com/sales page.

Anyway, today's episode is awesome. Today I am interviewing Mike and Callie from The Membership Guys, and I need to tell you that I think I have a bit of an entrepreneurial crush on these guys. They are just amazing. Not only was I very lucky that when I was in San Diego for Social Media Marketing World that we got to hang out a tonne, which was ace. And you know when you meet people and think, oh man, you're just awesome, like we could be friends, because I just got everything they said and they were on the same level and we agreed about the same stuff. So it was so good to spend time with them in San Diego, and obviously mock up husband was there as well because Mike and Callie were a partnership, they're together as well as business partners, so it was really nice the four of us got to hang out.

And then, doing the interview with them, again I was really lucky. They said that they don't often interview together, I think they said this was the first time they've ever interviewed together. Normally, one of them will do an interview. So I had both of them on the interview and it was like ... It was just awesome because, let me explain.

Sometimes in the entrepreneurial world there are lots of people out there who, one, think it's a get rich quick thing, especially in the online space. So there is some people out there, and not people that obviously I try and interact with or certainly I don't bring them onto the podcast, so we don't need to worry about that, but there are people out there who sell this dream of set up a course, sell millions and you can lay on a beach in Bali. Do not get me wrong, if that is the case then amazing, I would like that. However, there's probably one or two percent of the people that actually really happens for, that they literally almost become an overnight success and they sell millions and millions and they become really successful business people.

Now I'm not saying that opportunity isn't there for everybody, it is. However, it's not this quick win that perhaps people are making it out to be. So you've seen them, those YouTube videos that come up, because I'm always watching music on YouTube or listening to it, and those videos come up. And there's one guy who's like, you know, I've just picked up my new Aston Martin and I'm in my garage with all these other cars, and it's just absolute cringe worthy.

So anyway, I've digressed slightly, but what I loved about Callie and Mike is first off, they have a very successful business. Like they are crushing it, they really, really are. However, they're the most down to earth, normal, and I hope this doesn't sound bad but fairly unassuming, as in they're not out there like shouting from the rooftops going, listen to us, we're amazing, look at how big our business is. Look at us flying here, there and everywhere, doing all this, they're not. They're like really normal people but they have an amazingly successful online business, and they're so good at what they do because they know what they're talking about.

And again, this is something that's got slightly grating for me, for someone who's worked in marketing a really long time and not only have I worked in marketing for sort of 16 years, but I have also spent a long time in the last five years learning new stuff, new techniques, new strategies and tools and all this sort of thing. So you know, I put my heart and soul into what I do and I've worked really hard to be where I am, I guess. And sometimes again, you see people wanting to do the get rich quick thing and they don't have the expertise, and they don't have the knowledge, and what was so amazing about Mike and Callie is they totally, totally do. There isn't anything those guys don't know about memberships.

So today we talk all about what a membership is, why you might want one, who's it suitable for, who's it not suitable for, the reality of running a membership, and what that might take. And in all honesty, they give us a very realistic view of what it's like to be creating a membership, running a membership, and what you need to make that work. They also give some awesome practical advice about if you are starting a membership, what are the key things that you need to be thinking about in order to get it off the ground.

So honestly, even if you haven't thought about it, this is a really fascinating one, because actually the online business space is really interesting. And when people in our industry, your industry, are working one to one with people, you realise at some point you're going to hit a ceiling and A, there's only so many people you can help, and B, there's only so much income you can earn because you only have a limited amount of time.

So for me, the reason I want to do my membership, which is coming ... Literally according to my diary it's literally coming in a few weeks, so do look out for that. But the reason I want to do it is because I want to help more people. And I want more people to have access the knowledge that I've built up and the stuff I've learned, and a membership is a very, very affordable way in which people can do that. So for me, I love the membership model. I'm also in lots of memberships as well, so I see the value of them for myself, and I'm actually in Mike and Callie's membership, which I pay for. I'm very lucky that I get some access to some memberships for free, however I do pay to be in theirs because I really see the value of it.

So who are Mike and Callie? Well otherwise known as the Membership Guys, they have spent years guiding the growth of thousands of memberships and elearning businesses and online community. w a combined 20 plus years of online marketing and web development industry, they have been the driving force behind a multitude of six and seven figure businesses in huge varieties of industries. So from weight loss to coaching to executive training to bass guitar, they've established a proven track record of helping clients to achieve fantastic results.

In 2015, they decided to take all of that knowledge and experience and use it to help entrepreneurs and small business owners to achieve success with membership sites on a global scale, and this is what they now do on an ongoing basis. They also have an award winning podcast, free resources, and of course their own membership called The Membership Site Academy. I think you're going to love them, they are the nicest people, so I won't wait another minute.

Introducing Mike and Callie

So I'm really excited today to welcome the Membership Guys, Mike and Callie, to the podcast. Welcome guys.

Thanks for having us. This is a first.

It is, yeah. Both of us, two for one.

Yeah. You and I are giving a world exclusive.

So honoured that I've got both of you guys, it's ace. So I'm really looking forward to today for a couple of reasons. One, because you guys are so cool and you are a font of all knowledge. And two, that we get to talk about memberships, which we haven't done before. But before we jump into that, it would be great if you could just give us a very brief overview, and because I love your story. It's kind of the one that people dream of, that they're going to have. If you could give us an overview to how you got to do what you're doing today, that would be awesome.

Well, we kind of started working together, wasn't it about 2012, 2013?

Yeah.

We were both self employed, running our own businesses. Callie kind of had a subscription box business in the health industry, I'd been running an online marketing business for number of years, and we met. We are an actual couple, that always is something that confuses people. You know, are you together, or are you-

They don't want to put their foot in it.

Yeah, and kind of the big thing for you, you were the one that was really hooked into subscriptions and memberships.

Yeah, I was fascinated with memberships, subscriptions, all kind of repairing revenue using your online education kind of element and things like that. So I loved that element and I started, as Mike said, I had a subscription box and a membership, but I started helping other people and it helped me with creating my own memberships, as a result.

And because of that, so you know, you kind of expanded into like [crosstalk 00:11:51]. Yeah, it was like the digit of the year for memberships and subscriptions, and then there was a few projects started coming along where you needed a little bit more.

I needed a code monkey.

Yeah, you had the need for someone on the code side, or-

Is that a special name you have for him?

Yeah.

Or, you know, for the more advanced strategies, or we just needed more manpower. So we found ourselves starting to work together just a little bit more on our project, and then that become more and more and more frequent. Tot point where literally every job that we were each working on, we were working on together. So we formalised that, started officially working together, started running our digital agency, which over time just became more and more specialised in just working with membership businesses.

Because you know, we were doing memberships, but also online courses, also ecommerce businesses we were working with, but memberships were always the type of online businesses that we gravitated towards, because there are so many different elements to them, and they are a lot of fun. The people who start memberships tend to be very savvy, very passionate people and that just made our jobs a lot more enjoyable. And, they were the types of jobs we were getting the best results from for our clients.

So over time we just became more niched, more niched, more niched, to the point where all we were doing was membership projects. And through doing that, we became just more and more successful, to the point where we had a small, select group of clients and we just did not have capacity to work with anyone else. You know, we were heavily entrenched in a number of membership businesses, and that's great, but it also comes with a downside that you have to say no a lot more. So we were having to turn people away.

We were getting emails literally daily, weren't we? From people with questions or you know, I don't have a budget to hire you but can you just review my 20 page strategy?

Yeah sure, yeah, of course.

Yeah, and so we hated having to turn people away. So originally we set aside some time to just try and find somewhere else to send these people.

Yeah, we were looking for somebody a bit lower cost or a coach or a membership site or anything [crosstalk 00:14:24].

Yeah, surely there would be a membership about membership [crosstalk 00:14:28].

You would think so, you would think so.

Yeah, so we were looking for somewhere where we could send people that we couldn't help and we just couldn't find anything. There was a few kind of more internet marketing ebase ...

Sleazy.

Yeah, courses at the time, which wasn't the style that we worked with. It wasn't the style of membership that we worked with where it was the kind of, you know, get rich quick kind of membership. That's not our style. And so there just wasn't anything good that we could send people to, and so ...

There were no good podcasts, there weren't even good blogs, you know. You would have, you'd be able to find a whole lot of blogs, but they were all really basic. So it would be maybe people who did marketing who wrote one blog about-

About, yeah.

... memberships, right? So we kind of had to make a call. Either we get more comfortable in just not helping everyone, because you can't, you can't always help everyone, or we step up, and we decided to do the latter. So we started creating free content and we set up our Facebook group, and then we put plans in motion to create the membership about memberships, and it just kind of snowballed from there.

That's amazing. And you got to, well, fairly quickly amazingly as well, got to a point where ... Which actually I said amazing, it's not amazing because you've been doing it for long time and you are experts, so that makes perfect sense. But you got to the point where you could then say, thank you clients, but we are now busy doing this side. Which is lovely, because not only do you get to help more people because it's on a much larger scale, but also there are some downsides to having to work one to one with someone in terms of managing your time and your expectations and their expectations. So that must have been a really nice point to do that and go, thank you, but done.

Yeah, it was, but it came around a lot quicker than we thought it would.

Yeah, we had originally thought it would take about 12 months to start transitioning away from client work and-

We thought 12 months before we would even have the conversation about okay, are we in a position now to move away from client work? But it went a little faster than that.

Yeah, we launched the membership at the end of August and by Christmas we were like actually, you know what? We need to go all in on this, we need to just focus on this. I think part of that was, I think we both just realised that was, for want of a better way of putting it, our zone of...