Build Membership Starter Page
Welcome to working with me to build your membership by the first of the year!
I’ll start with the first video on Tuesday, in the meantime, I want you to get some things squared away:
- Be thinking about what content you have that you want to include in your membership.
- Be thinking about what 10-20 pieces of content (pdfs, manuals, short videos, audios) you need to create to round out your membership for launch
- Write out a list of the content you have line by line, listing each item
- Write out a list of the content you need to create, line by line, listing each item
- Think about how now that you know what’s going to go into it, it’s a matter of creating the missing items, putting everything logically into posts or pages on your site, then using the membership software I show you to set up to turn those posts and pages into fully-fledged membership material
That’s your initial homework . . . .
And once you’ve done that, your mind will be much, much clearer about your membership, then on Tuesday we’ll start day by day, with short easy videos (so you can keep up each day and not get behind)
Now . . get started on steps 1-5 above!
Step 1: Now that you have written out the list of content, you are ready for the first video:
If you don’t already have wordpress installed (preferably on wordpress hosting, you’ll need it for the next lesson, this is the hosting I personally use: Web Hosting I Personally Use
And if you haven’t chosen a name yet for your URL for the membership, I highly advise you read these 2 books:
MicroScript Rules by Bill Schley
And pages 151-153 in the Star Principle by Richard Koch (don’t worry, the rest of the book is golden too!)
Those 2 books will teach you how to create a concise, meaningful name for your membership, and worth more than every minute you’ll put in . .
Step 2: Create Membership Structure on Your Site
Step 3:
I haven’t added another video yet, and your next instruction is right here.
I want to deconstruct something.
Most folks have joined this program because they have gotten stuck technologically when trying to install a membership before.
Different folks, different stuck.
So . . . I am teaching this from a COMPLETELY different angle.
And I am going to ask you to FORGET everything you know, have heard, or learned anywhere, about memberships, and just follow along and DO these steps as I show them to you, and please trust me that the parts you don’t understand or see me doing, or want to understand NOW will be revealed as we go through these 15 days!
Hey, if it was just as easy as buying the software and installing it – you’d spend $200 for perfect software.
BUT . . . it’s not that easy.
The KEY to a membership is the content organization.
If your content organization is right you can layer on ANY membership software from free to $1000 and ANY SOFTWARE works.
The problem is the organization of the content.
SO . . . instead of teaching to choose and install software first, I am insisting on the organization first . . .
then I will PROVE to you by loading DIFFERENT software into my app, that any one works.
Then you can layer your own in.
So . . . I know I am being redundant, I know you don’t need to hear this again, but someone does!
So . . .please, please, please forget everything you know and everything you’ve learned or heard or seen about membership setup
and just follow along and finish ONE THING this weekend:
get your blank lessons in your site for ALL situations.
For example, you have 12 lessons about topic x, great, make 12 placeholder lessons, category: x
You have 52 weeks with 5 trainings per week:
great, create 52 categories, week 1, week 2, and then 5 lessons in each category.
Please trust me.
You have 50 modules you want to drip?
Great, make 50 categories, put 10 lessons in each.
The software comes later.
The more I see your fellow members’ questions, the more I am convinced that this piece of the puzzle . . .
You may or may notice that I work differently than a lot of folks you know . . very efficiently, orderly, etc . . .
and there are strategic reasons for that, and this step is one thing that I have found helps my clients achieve results as many as 3x – 5x faster . . .
So . . . this is a critical step!
Step 4: By now it’s critical that you have created your placeholder lessons, as the next step is impossible if you haven’t done that.
Next step (note if you watched the long, confusing version yesterday, I have re-recorded a concise, much more direct and one-way-to-do-it video here): Step 4 Final Cut Video
If you still want to see the rambling, less direct, not concise video, you can watch it here (yes, even experienced marketers do things incorrectly, you got to see a live mistake in action, and you can see how it was fixed by watching the above final cut video):
Here is a link to purchase the page builder I use as an example:
WP Beaver Builder (yes, that’s an aff link, I will make a small commission if you buy it, if you are opposed to that, just go to wpbeaverbuilder.com)
You can, of course, search for a free option for page building, but my personal experience for years has been Beaver Builder, it works great for me!
And if you want another example and explanation for why I like WP Beaver Builder :
Your homework for today:
Create Your Own Membership Access Page Using the Placeholder Lessons You Created in Steps 1-3
If you get stuck, shoot me an email.
once you have created your membership page, please send it to me (I may hold off on the next lesson until at least a few folks have completed this step, if it turns out to be a 2-day step instead of one day, I don’t want to rush anyone . . the next step is useless until this step is done!
Notice how for this program I am really focusing on ACTION and doing each step sequentially, this is important, and I hope that although you may be wishing you could see ahead, you are appreciating that fact that you are DOING The work and you will have a complete membership by January 1st!
Step 5: Add Membership Software:
Thanks for your patience on this step!
I wanted to make sure everyone had created their membership lessons first, I know there are still a couple hold-outs 🙂 – but when you see how easy the membership step is since your lessons are already created, you’ll truly understand why.
Here goes:
Choosing and Installing Your Membership Software
Step 6 (Final Step)
Now that you have your membership built out
And you have the membership software overlaid on your membership format so that folks can get access to your membership . .
Your final step is writing a sales letter that tells folks what they’ll get in your membership.
My deepest advice would be to read every membership sales letter you can possibly read (you’ll find membership offers in your inbox likely nearly every day) and learn as you read, assimilating ideas to include in YOUR membership sales letter (or deciding you DON’T LIKE certain tactics, so you choose not to use them)
But I have created a training that will teach you the basic format, make it easy, and show you what to include in your membership salesletter.
My advice: use this format to get started, but keep your eye on tweaking as you see ideas you like, and totally personalize it.
Here is the training: How to Write a Membership Sales Letter
Once you’ve done that, you membership is ready to go, it’s time to start getting leads, writing emails, and introducing folks to your membership via your sales letter, so folks who need what you offer can get involved!
Sean