Behind The Membership with Callie Willows

Latest Episodes:

Building a Legacy by Creating a Membership with Chris Ducker Aug 15, 2019

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Chris Ducker joins Callie in the final season 3 episode of Behind the Membership to talk all about his membership site Youpreneur Academy.

Chris already had several successful 7 figure businesses before starting Youpreneur Academy four years ago, and here he talks about how his desire to create a legacy and help others achieve success led to him creating his membership in the first place. And how then niching down from focusing on general online businesses to personal brand businesses really made a difference to his results.

Chris also discusses how the positioning of the membership and its place in his ecosystem has evolved over the years as he's added additional features like a live event, new book and round table mastermind, as well as new projects he has on the horizon.

And Chris talks about how he spent 12 months testing the closed door model, and why he wouldn't do it again. How organic marketing and content is the key to their new member sales, and what he's doing to achieve a five to 6% retention rate, including the importance of growth records in his community, and why he's stopping his monthly member q&a call.

Plus, Chris reveals that he spends just three hours a week on the membership on average! Listen in to find out how.

The Accidental Membership that Became a Six Figure Success with Caylee Grey Aug 08, 2019

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"Fairy art mother" Caylee Grey joins Callie on this episode of Behind the Membership to talk all about her art journaling membership, Get Messy Art. Caylee's membership journey is actually a little different to most, as the membership was started accidentally as a result of a personal project rather than being the goal from the start.

However, it's safe to say it was a great accident as the membership is now four years old and has flourished, creating an amazing business for Caylee that has allowed her to quit her job and achieve more freedom than she previously thought possible.

In this episode, Caylee discusses how she makes use of seasonal themes for her content, and is currently testing out the closed door model to only let new members in at the start of each new season. As well as how she utilises the experiences of guest teachers and members to help with content creation.

And Caylee also talks about how she focuses on making the membership action driven, and how she nutures members and provides the space for them to connect and engage with each other on a deeper level. Plus the challenges she has had along the way, and much, much more besides!

Reducing Stress and Creating a Membership You Love with Deborah Engelmajer Aug 01, 2019

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In this episode of Behind the Membership, Deborah Engelmajer discusses her membership site for makers and handmade businesses, Tizzit HQ. Deborah's membership is just eight months old, but already a six figure a year business.

Deborah shares how she actually delayed creating her membership site in order to build her audience first, which she attributes as the key to her success. She also talks about how having a membership site has reduced stress and provided more balance, enabling Deborah to do what she loves, like focus on her community.

And Deborah also discusses how engaged the Tizzit community is and what she does to encourage this, including how she sent welcome packages to her first 250 members when she initially launched. Plus the challenges of content creation, how aspects of the membership such as coaching calls, have evolved since the membership first opened and much more.

From Overworked CPA to Successful Guitar Membership with John Hatcher Jul 25, 2019

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John Hatcher from the Blues Guitar Institute joins Callie Willows for this episode of Behind the Membership.

John was previously a CPA and tax accountant working 60 to 80 hours a week, but since having his membership he has been able to quit his job and now focuses full time on his membership site, giving him far more freedom. This is even more impressive when you consider that John's membership only actually costs $9 a month!

In this episode John talks about how he made that career transition, as well as how he manages his time and the challenge of content creation in a video-heavy membership site. John also talks about how he went from not having any community at all in his membership, to struggling to get engagement, to now having a thriving community with members connecting and sharing their own videos as well. And of course lots more too!

Experimenting with Closing the Doors to her Membership with Varvara Lyalyagina Jul 18, 2019

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Varvara Lyalyagina from Start Blog Up joins Callie Willows for this episode of Behind the Membership to talk all about her membership for Russian speaking entrepreneurs, The Studio.

In this episode Varvara's talking about how she is succeeding with her membership despite it being for a market not as familiar with the membership model, and why she has decided, after a year of being open all the time, to experiment with moving from an always open model to closing the doors and only letting new members in at certain times.

Varvara also talks about the emotional challenges of running a membership and learning not to take cancellations personally, the power of members promoting your membership for you, and how adding a personal touch with things like video and gifts is aiding her retention. And Varvara also shares her strategy for running online parties to attract new members, plus more!

Moving to an Evergreen Membership Model with Jodie Clarke Jul 11, 2019

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Jodie Clarke from The Empowered Educator joins Callie for this episode of Behind the Membership. While Jodie's membership is only just a year old she has already surpassed her member goals and even managed to retire her partner from his job, which has had an enormous impact on her family's life.

In this episode Jodie's talking all about how she succeeded with her membership, from nurturing her wait list to her webinar strategy that's bringing in 5 to 10 new members at a time on autopilot.

And Jodie also talks about moving from a closed door model to an evergreen model and why she's chosen to do that, and so much more as well!

Fitting a Membership to Your Lifestyle with Chris Marr Jul 04, 2019

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Chris Marr from the Content Marketing Academy (also known as CMA) joins Callie Willows for this episode of Behind the Membership.

Chris launched his membership in 2015 after running a six month in person masterclass and it's now a major focus of his business. Here, he talks about the importance of customer experience in creating a community culture, using free in-person workshops as a way to attract new members and how he has recently launched a very low cost price tier to help those who can't afford his full membership fee yet.

We also talk marketing challenges, how Chris is successfully using Slack for his members community and how the membership has enabled Chris to create the lifestyle that he wants, as he's undergone the transition from flying solo to being a father of four and family man.

Building a Thriving Member Community with Melissa West Jun 27, 2019

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n this episode of Behind the Membership Callie Willows talks with Dr. Melissa West all about her longstanding yoga membership.

Melissa has had her membership for nearly eight years now and here she shares how she went from burnout teaching in-person classes to setting up her membership with her husband Tim, how the membership has evolved over the years, and the importance of community and relationships in her long term success.

Melissa also talks about how she uses YouTube to attract new members (she has over 48,000 subscribers on her core YouTube channel), and some of the things that she does to ensure her membership community continues to thrive, including how she's built a team of committed volunteers that help her with her membership on a day-to-day basis, and a counterintuitive content strategy that she has introduced that is working really well for increasing engagement and retention.

Connecting One to One with Potential Members with Louise Brogan Jun 20, 2019

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Louise Brogan from Social Bee Academy joins Callie for this episode of Behind the Membership.

Louise has run the Social Bee Academy alongside her business Social Bee NI for around 18 months now and in this episode Louise shares what's been working for her when it comes to attracting new members, including how connecting one to one with people via in person workshops and networking events, as well as online via Facebook and LinkedIn messenger have been great ways to grow her site.

Louise also talks about the challenges and highlights of her membership journey so far, including why she has moved from a closed model to always being open, and how seeing the results from her members makes everything worthwhile. And you'll also hear why Louise plans to focus even more on her membership this year and really make the membership a priority in her business!

Going the Extra Mile for Your Members with Mike Collins Jun 13, 2019

Show notes

In today's episode of Behind the Membership Callie is joined by Mike Collins from The Green Room. Mike runs his membership site alongside his wife Carina, and over the five years and thousands of members that they've had, they've crafted an amazing community of people around the world, all connected by their Irish ancestry. In fact there is an incredible sense of community in everything that Mike and Carina do, and in this episode you'll hear all about the special touches they add to really make their members feel connected and part of something, including a bi-monthly magazine and member conferences with a difference.

Listen in to hear about that and more, such as how Mike manages to travel around the world creating living history for his members. And of course you'll hear about some of the challenges along the way too, like finding the right team and learning how to attract members on a consistent basis.

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