When many entrepreneurs launch a membership site they have a natural tendency to overgive.
We constantly strive to overdeliver, by giving more than what is expected of us.
“If we are making our way in the world, we’ve given a lot and continue to give a lot. As a PSA, have confidence in what you’re giving. If you’ve made it this far, clearly you’re doing it right.”
– Licia Morelli
When adding a membership site to your business model, keep in mind that the amount of content you’re creating needs to be sustainable for both you and your members.
Less Content Can Provide More Value
Let’s dive into Kate Northrup’s membership launch Origin: Reclaim your time and energy.
Kate is the author of, Do Less, and if you’re familiar with her book, it will come at no surprise that, that’s exactly what she’s doing with her membership site.
When Origin was first founded, Kate delivered 4 pieces of high-value content each month.
However, Kate and her team quickly realized that their members didn’t have enough time to digest and implement everything they were receiving as part of their membership.
Members needed an implementation week just to get through each month’s deliverables and apply it in their lives and businesses.
After gathering feedback from members about what they found the most value in Kate and her team reduced the amount of content they were creating and delivering each month.
The decrease in content meant that Origin’s members were no longer suffering from information overload. This also helped Kate’s team prevent burnout by reducing the amount of content they were creating each month.
Pro tip: Sometimes less is more. Start with a lower price point membership with 2 deliverables per month and give new members access to the library of past content.
Kate’s Formula for Membership Launch
Kate ran a beta test for her membership to understand what material and format resonated the most for members, and now she sticks to a traditional launch formula to open enrollment for a limited amount of time twice a year.
This allows Kate and her team to focus on the people coming in as a larger group, and deliver content in the best way possible to retain them over time.
She’s able to create a lot of momentum around her enrollment period through the delivery of free, high-value content in the form of a 3-part video training series, accompanied by live webinars.
Kate also hosts Facebook live events where she gives potential new members a guided tour of the membership so they know exactly what they’ll receive when they join.
Pro tip: Treat your membership launch like it’s a $2,000 product. Go all out.
How To Prevent Content Burnout
Initially, the creation of Kate’s membership site required a large time investment, but that was to be expected, as many big projects do. With proper planning and timelines in place, they were able to build out the membership while also selling courses in the interim.
To streamline the content creation once the membership site was officially launched, Kate and her team put processes in place to ensure they are able to create new content in a way that’s both sustainable, and efficient for them.
They’ve created templates for all graphics needed for each month’s content, and schedule interviews for masterclasses in batches so they have a bank of content to pull from when putting together each month’s deliverables.
Pro tip: Once your membership site is launched, create your systems for producing new content so the work is streamlined and mapped out each month in advance. You won’t be scrambling to finalize the content right before it’s released.
3 Tips For Launch Success
Simplify your big vision.
Membership sites are the holy grail of information that can be delivered, but if you overdo it, you could end up losing members and not being able to support them long-term. Really think through the user experience from start to finish.
Your tech stack can make or break your membership site.
If things aren’t working seamlessly behind the scenes, your members won’t be confident in your offerings. Make sure that all pieces play well together. As a result, your member churn will be high and you could end up missing out on referrals from existing members.
Decide on your membership site format, content, and design.
If you’re at the level financially where custom design makes sense, make the investment.
But if not, do your research around what WordPress themes and page builders work with your LMS plugin.
If you want inspiration, check out some membership site examples to get your ideas flowing.
You’ll want to focus on software that is more plug-and-play.
Plan from the inside out, not the outside in.
Last but not least, if contracting work out, make sure your contractors, can work cohesively with the other people you’re currently working with as well. A membership launch is a team event, so you have to hire designers and developers who can work as a core team member.
Why Kate Northrup Chose AccessAlly
A membership site is a hub for the people who really want to learn from you. When they join your membership, they will want to go deeper and sign up for your other offerings.
From the first time they visit your sales page, through the checkout experience, to login you want to ensure you’re creating a seamless experience, and that lies largely on your tech foundation.
Kate’s team chose AccessAlly as their membership management platform for a few reasons. They knew and trusted the plugin’s founder, Nathalie, but it went beyond that:
1. They felt fully supported by the AccessAlly team.
Kate’s team shared that AccessAlly’s “customer service experience is so incredible.” As they built out and continue to add to their membership site, they are confident, knowing that there’s a team of tech experts who are just an email away.
2. They trusted the company’s experience.
AccessAlly was created by a team of professionals who have been in the online course and membership industry for years. With over a million dollars in revenue from courses and memberships alone, the AccessAlly team has the experience and insight needed to continue developing a product that will truly help other businesses (like Kate’s!) succeed for years to come.
All things being equal, people do business with people they know, like, and trust. We want to be that business for you.
Let’s get started planning and launching a membership site for you!
