Behind The Membership with Callie Willows

Latest Episodes:

Conquering Multiple Markets with Jared Falk Jul 30, 2018

Show notes

Jared Falk from Musora and Drumeo joins Callie on the last episode of Season 2 of Behind the Membership.

Jared has not one, but four membership sites, all in different music niches. And with over 10,000 active members in his original membership site, Drumeo, and having served over 200,000 customers so far in his business, he's achieved a lot by anyone's standards.

In this episode Jared is discussing world domination when it comes to membership sites, including how he is replicating his successful drum membership site into other markets, and how he's grown his business to a team of 35, with most working on location in his offices in Canada.

And he reveals why he's always trying new things when it comes to marketing and retention and how what works for one site doesn't necessarily work for another, even in similar niche, and how he's able to release an hour of new content every single day, without overwhelming himself of his members.

Learning to Love the Membership Model with Kim Jimenez Jul 23, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Behind the Membership, Callie is talking with Kim Jimenez from The Business Lounge, a membership site for online business owners.

Kim has had her membership for nearly two years now, and in this episode she discusses how she didn't initially want to create a membership site, what changed that opinion, and how starting one has actually transformed her business and life.

Kim also talks about how she is using YouTube, webinars, and trials to attract new members, and why she has both a Facebook group and an onsite forum for her membership community, and how she balances the two.

We also delve into work life balance and burnout, why a successful membership site isn't just about adding content, and much more besides.

A Member a Day Without Marketing with Nigel Moore Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Behind the Membership Callis is talking with Nigel Moore all about his membership site, The Tech Tribe.

Nigel places a high emphasis on providing excellent service for his members, including offering all members a personal coaching call when they join, a private coaching section in his community and creating most of his content based on member questions and needs. As a result he's really tuned into what his members and his potential members are looking for, and what will help them to get results and this has enabled him to build a six-figure membership site with relative ease.

Here we also talk about how Nigel gets a member a day without marketing, and what happens when he actually turns his marketing funnel on. And we're talking about the challenge of content creation, dong things that don't necessarily scale, and introducing a higher membership tier into the mix, plus more.

Cultivating a Membership Community with Terra Dawn Jul 09, 2018

Show notes

In today's episode of Behind the Membership Callie talks with Terra Dawn from Uncork Your Dork and the Wham! Bam! Business Plan!

Terra's had her membership for over a year now and in this episode they're talking about why she initially moved from Teachable to WordPress and why she's recently moved her community from an onsite forum to Mighty Networks, and the effect that this has had on both her engagement and her retention.

Terra also discusses how she uses challenges and summits to market and grow her membership site, how the membership has changed her business focus and what she's doing next to grow the membership even further.

Low Cost and High Volume with Mark Warner Jul 02, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Behind the Membership Callie talks with Mark Warner about his membership site for teachers, Teaching Packs.

Mark has a very different model to most membership site owners, offering only a very low cost non-recurring annual membership. So we're talking about why Mark made that decision, and how it's enabled him to attract 15,000 teachers to his membership over the last five years, as well as completely transform his own life in the process.

We're also talking about how Mark has spent 20 years building his audience, including an impressive three million Facebook page likes. And Mark discusses how he uses reviews and free resources to attract new members, and why, unlike most memberships, his members join for the content and stay for the content.

Hiring as You Grow with Tim Topham Jun 18, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Behind the Membership, Callie talks with Tim Topham from TimTopham.com, whose membership site is all about helping piano teachers to improve both their creative skills and their teaching businesses.

Tim's had his Inner Circle membership site for two years now and in this episode we dive into how he made the leap from his teaching job to full time membership site owner, and the challenges and opportunities that that's brought for him.

We also talk about increasing member engagement via gamification, challenges, and apps, and how Tim uses monthly webinars to attract new members.

And we discuss growing a team, making your first hire early, bringing in other content creators and the importance of just getting started and fine tuning as you go. And much more!

Listen in to hear:

How Tim's membership evolved from his free blog sharing tips with other piano teachers
The benefits of launching to an existing audience
Why he quit teaching to run the membership site full time and how that enabled him to grow quicker
The challenge of pricing a membership aimed at solo practitioners
How Tim is running monthly webinars to bring in a steady stream of new members
How sending physical gifts and personal videos at key points has improved churn
The effectiveness of running challenges throughout the year as well as giving members ways to mark progress
Why he created an app for delivering his free content to members
The part tech plays in the long term success of your membership site and why he wish he'd got it right from the start
How he's building a team to enable him to focus on the more important tasks and his top tips for getting started with hiring
How bringing other experts in to create content provides a wider perspective for members and diversifies the experience

Success in a Crowded Niche with Scott Baptie Jun 11, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Behind the Membership Callie talks with Scott Baptie from Food for Fitness about his new membership site, The Food for Fitness Inner Circle.

While Scott's membership site has only been open for a few months, he already has a few hundred members, and here we're talking launching, going all in on the membership model after years of offering services and products, and how he's managed to attract members, despite being in a very crowded market.

We also dive into how Scott uses features like private coaching and accountability groups as part of his membership, as well as what he's doing to grow his membership and improve retention going forward.

Removing the Barriers to Membership Sales with Kim Bultsma Jun 04, 2018

Show notes

On Episode Four of Season Two, Callie is talking with SEO and content strategist Kim Bultsma about her membership site, A Cup of Content.

Kim and I talk niching down, running completely free trials to attract new members, implementing member challenges to improve engagement and retention and the joy of watching your members make progress thanks to your content.

We also talk about how Kim came to start her own business in the first place after years of being a teacher, and the impact that this change has had on her family and her life.

Plus, Kim shares some of the challenges that she's encountered along the way, particularly when it comes to balancing time between her service business and the membership site. So,

Listen in to hear:

How her daughters serious health problems led to Kim leaving teaching to start her own business and how they are all happier as a result
Why a membership site was a natural addition to her service business and allows her to reach more people
The need to niche down rather than be everything to everybody when it comes to attracting members
Using bite-size 5 day challenges to provide member content and increase engagement
The challenge of juggling time with both a service business and a membership site
Why Kim changed from a $1 trial to a completely free, no credit card required, trial, and how that impacted sign-ups
The importance of making members feel valued and important for increasing retention
Why Kim spends an hour a day building relationships and engaging with other people's content
How the membership site is continually evolving and why listening to members is key

Highs and Lows of a Closed Door Model with Brandon Vogt May 28, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of behind the membership, I'm talking with Brandon Vogt from Claritas U about how he's achieved success with his membership site for Catholics who want to get clear on their faith.

Brandon has managed to create and run this six figure membership site alongside a full time job and gained over a thousand members with just his first launch, a pretty impressive achievement by anyone's standards.

Here we look at how Brandon uses the launch model to only open his site twice a year and the pros and cons he's found of doing this, including how it impacts his churn and ongoing member numbers.

We also talk premium tiers, engagement, content creation, retention and more!

Listen in to hear

How he managed to achieve over 1200 members with his first launch
The pros and cons he's found of having a launch cycle membership and why he might not choose that route if he was starting again
How he cut his churn in half and and uses ongoing content to keep members coming back for more
Why Brandon decided to move from books and speaking to a membership site and how it's saving him time and stress
How Brandon created and runs his membership alongside a full time job and with a minimal team
Offering both standard and VIP membership options and how this impacted sign up numbers
How he overcame objections from an audience unfamiliar with membership sites
Why he gave influencers in his niche free accounts and how this created a loyal band of evangelists for the membership
Why he's considering moving to an evergreen membership despite his success with launches

Creating a Successful Membership Ecosystem with Janet Murray May 21, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Behind the Membership I'm talking with Janet Murray, PR and marketing strategist and owner of The Studio membership.

Janet has actually built a whole ecosystem around her membership, providing a natural progression through a different range of services and products including books, live events, consulting and mastermind groups.

Here we dive into the role The Studio has in Janet's business, and how the membership has evolved and expanded over the last few years, actually resulting in a current rebrand and a restructuring.

We also look at why customer care is vital and some of the things Janet is doing differently to help with both attracting new members and keeping existing members, including the use of open days, reset and exit calls.

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