A Guide To Starting Your Own Memberships With The Membership Guys

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCASTAlthough 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 MISSIntroducing Mike and Callie - 10:02Introducing Memberships – 20:00Who Can Start A Membership? – 24:00Knowing Your Audience – 38:34Is A Membership for You? - 42:05How to Keep People in Your Membership – 49:00The First Steps For Starting Your Membership – 52:30LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODEPhil (Podcast Editing)5 Places to Use As Opportunities To Build Your ListHow to Produce A Webinar (Blueprint)Creating A Good Sales PageCarie GreenThe Membership Guys WebsiteThe Membership Guys InstagramThe Membership Guys MembershipRetain Live 2019Transcription 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...