What To Do (And What to Avoid) When Someone Cancels Their Membership

Like it or not, membership cancellations are going to happen.

Hopefully if you run your site well those cancellations will come at the end of a long tenure, but regardless they will happen.

How you deal with these cancellations has numerous implications for the continued success of your membership site or online course; so it’s important to know how to handle them and also what to avoid.

Building a Legacy by Creating a Membership with Chris Ducker

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.

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!

The Accidental Membership That Became a Six Figure Success with Caylee Grey

“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 & Creating a Membership You Love with Deborah Engelmajer

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 Full Time Guitar Membership with John Hatcher

John Hatcher from the Blues Guitar Institute joins Callie 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 focus 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 by Closing the Doors to her Membership with Varvara Lyalyagina

Varvara Lyalyagina from Start Blog Up joins Callie 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 both engage existing members and attract new ones, plus more!

Switching to an Evergreen Membership Model with Jodie Clarke

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

Chris Marr from the Content Marketing Academy joins Callie 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.

They 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

Melissa West joins Callie for this episode of Behind the Membership. Melissa has had her membership for nearly eight years now and here she shares how she went from burnout 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 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

Louise Brogan from Social Bee Academy joins Callie for this episode of Behind the Membership. Louise has run the Social Bee Academy for around 18 months now and 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 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

In this Behind the Membership episode Callie talks with Mike Collins from The Green Room who, over the five years and thousands of members that they’ve had, have crafted an amazing community of people, connected by their Irish ancestry, all over the world.

Listen in to hear all about the special touches The Green Room provides to really make their members feel connected and part of something, including how Mike manages to travel around the world creating living history for his members. And of course you’ll hear about some of their challenges along the way too, like finding the right team members and learning how to attract members on a consistent basis.

6 Biggest Takeaways from Behind the Membership Season Two

As we get ready for Season 3 of the Behind the Membership podcast we thought a great way to prepare for another awesome season would be to take a look back at some of the biggest lessons and key takeaways that emerged from Season 2.

Long time listeners will know that our guests come from a very wide range of different niches and styles of memberships. Some have been up and running for just a few months, others have been around for years. We cover a lot of territory!

However there are several underlying threads throughout the stories of all of our guests that I want to share with you here…

Should You Create an Online Course or a Membership Site?

Whether you’re teaching a specialist subject, or want to support others who share your interests; it’s now easier than ever to reach a global audience and get paid for sharing your time, skills, experience and expertise.

Two of the best models for doing so are online courses and paid membership websites.

However with those terms often used loosely and interchangeably, it can be tricky figuring out which is best for you.

Should You “Drip Feed” Your Membership Content?

Drip feeding your membership or course content can be a good way of increasing the value and stickiness of your membership, as well as providing other benefits for both you and your members.

But what actually counts as drip feeding and in what circumstances should you use it?

Conquering Multiple Membership Markets with Jared Falk

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.

Learning to Love the Membership Model with Kim Jimenez

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.