Imagine logging into a platform and immediately finding everything you need, right at your fingertips. It's a great strategy for boosting member engagement and retention on your membership site. Your Member Dashboard page is a powerful tool that can transform the member experience from ‘meh' to ‘marvelous.'

But what if you could go a step further? What if you could offer a personalized dashboard that feels like it was crafted just for each member?

That's where WishList Member's Dashboard comes into play. Acting as a fully customizable dashboard, it offers you the chance to deliver an unparalleled, tailor-made experience for every user, every time they log in.

Intrigued? Stick around. In this comprehensive guide, you'll discover how to make the most of the Member Dashboard page to create a captivating dashboard that exceeds your members' expectations.

Let's dash to it!

Creating a Member Dashboard Page

Why Does Your Member Dashboard Page Matter?

Your Member Dashboard is more than just a ‘nice-to-have.' It's an absolute game-changer for both you and your members.

Here's why:

Improved User Experience

Who doesn't love an easy-peasy interface? A dashboard takes the headache out of navigating your site.

All the essentials – account settings, special articles, you name it – are right at their fingertips. Which leads to…

Increased Engagement

When people find it easy to use your site, they tend to use it more. It makes them want to dig deeper. Remove the frustrations, and they'll spend more time clicking, exploring, and interacting with your content. And the more they do, the more they feel like a part of your community.

Reduced Support Costs

Dashboards are also money-savers. Think of it as a ‘DIY Help Desk' where members find what they need without calling for backup.

This frees up time for your support team, so they can focus on the big issues. Fewer hours spent on support = more time to grow your community!

Improved Retention

Keeping your members is important. After all, retention is between five-seven times cheaper than acquisition.

A great dashboard adds value to their experience and gives them more reasons to stick around. When renewal time comes, they're more likely to stay if they find your site helpful and engaging.

Using our Member Dashboard After Login page, you can create a dashboard that's custom-fit for each membership level. This boosts member satisfaction and sets your site apart.

The Role of WishList Member's After Login Page

The After Login Page is like your site's personal greeter. It's the first thing your members will see each time they log in. You want to make that ‘hello' count, right?

Here, you can flex your creative muscles and tailor the page to give your members a snazzier dashboard experience. Add quick links, important messages, or that secret sauce that makes your community unique.

After Login Page Overview

And don't think it's one-size-fits-all; that’s not how we roll. You can set a Global Default After Login page or – even better – craft individual pages for different membership levels.

High-rolling VIP members? Give them the five-star treatment! Newbies? Guide them through their first steps in your community. The choice is all yours!

For more in-depth details on settings and configurations, we’ve got a whole article dedicated to just that. But for now, we’re zeroing in on how you can turn this After Login Page into a dynamo Member Dashboard.

Essential Elements for a Highly Effective Member Dashboard Page

What elements should you focus on to make sure it's not just functional but also member-friendly? Let's jump right into the key components you'll want to include.

Clear Links

We're talking about those crucial buttons or links that guide your members to their next adventure on your site. You know, that direct route to the latest webinar, the coolest forum discussion, or even the new merchandise shop.

Make those links crystal clear and easy to find. No one likes playing “Where's Waldo?” when they're looking for essential resources.

Account Area

Members should be able to update their profile, switch out that two-year-old profile picture, change their password, and manage their email settings all without needing a decoder ring.

Ensure that the account area is straightforward, easy-to-navigate, and offers everything they need to keep their membership details up-to-date.

Any Provided Extras

Have some bonus content like ebooks, exclusive videos, or special webinars? Don’t hide those goodies. Give them a spotlight on the dashboard. Trust us, your members will appreciate the extra value you’re packing into their experience.

Access to Support

Say a member can't access a feature or forgets how to find something. They'll need immediate help, and you want to be there for them.

Insert quick links to customer service, FAQs, or even live chat support. Make solving problems a breeze, and you'll have members singing your praises.

Personalizing Dashboards Based on Membership Level

One-size-fits-all might work for some things, but when it comes to member dashboards, personalization is key.

Especially if you're running a site with different membership tiers, you'll want to greet each member with an After Login page that's relevant to their level. So, let's look into how to customize these experiences using WishList Member.

Setting Up Custom Redirects

Alright, you've got a basic After Login page that serves all your members, and that's a great start! But you've got different membership levels, and they all deserve their special welcome.

With WishList Member, you can set different After Login pages based on membership levels, and it's not even complicated.

1. Head to the WishList Member menu, then click on Setup.
2. Find the membership level you want to customize and click on it.
3. Click on the Additional Settings tab.
4. You'll spot options for Custom After Registration Redirect and Custom After Logout Redirect. Toggle the option you wish to customize and a Configure button will appear.
5. Click on Configure and add your desired custom message.

And just like that, you're on your way to delivering a highly personalized member experience. You can direct your high-tier members to exclusive content or your mid-tier members to a selection of educational resources. It's all up to you.

Pro Tip: Need to make sure your redirects are flawless?

Mastering WordPress redirects with WishList Member can be a game-changer for boosting engagement and loyalty. Get started by reading our guide: “How to Master WordPress Redirect Pages with WishList Member.“

The Best Practices & Common Pitfalls of Crafting the Ultimate Member Dashboard

By now, you should be well on your way to creating an amazing member dashboard. But, wait up! There are some super important dos and don'ts to keep in mind to make sure you really hit the mark.

Smart Moves for a Stellar Dashboard

• Make it Look Good: An eye-catching dashboard is a joy to use. Go for high-quality graphics and a polished look.
• Embrace the White Space: Like pauses in a conversation, white space can make all the difference. It helps your members easily find what they're looking for.
• Direct and Doable Calls-to-Action: Be explicit about what steps you want members to take. A button that says “Update Account Info” is way better than something vague like “Go Here.”
• Thumbs Up for Mobile Users: With people logging in from their smartphones, making your dashboard mobile-friendly isn't optional; it's a must.

Mistakes to Steer Clear Of

• Misreading User Needs: Listen, a dashboard isn't about showing off how much information you can cram into one page. It's about what your members need. So, spend some time understanding what resources and features they're actually interested in.
• Information Overload: A dashboard packed with too much stuff is like a messy bedroom – overwhelming and stressful. Keep things streamlined, focusing on what's most essential for the member.
• Jargon Jumble: Technical language or jargon just adds a layer of fuzziness. Stick to words that anyone can understand, especially when labeling buttons or calls-to-action.
• Style Whiplash: Keep your dashboard visually in line with your overall site. Consistency isn't boring; it makes things comfy and familiar.
• Skipping the Test Drive: Before the big launch, get some of your members to take the dashboard for a spin. Collect feedback to smooth out any bumps in the road.

Sooo… What happens next?

Nailing your Member Dashboard and After Login Page is awesome, but guess what? WishList Member doesn't stop there. Let's dig into some other awesome features that'll make managing your community easier and frankly way more fun.

Get to Know Your Members Better

Who is signing up for your salsa dancing course or your mystery book club? Find out by using custom registration forms, and ask some fun questions to get to know the fabulous folk joining your community.

And oh, all that precious info? Safeguarded, thanks to GDPR compliance. Rest easy knowing you're doing right by your members and the law.

Keep Your Members Engaged through Email Notifications

Email notifications aren't just a nice touch; they're a way to keep your community engaged and informed. From new content alerts to membership renewals, keep your members in the know.

WishList Member integrates seamlessly with popular email service providers and third party CRMS so you can send targeted, relevant emails out to your members.

And remember, you're the boss here – you set the permissions and decide who sees what.

Your All-Seeing Admin Dashboard

You wouldn't drive without a speedometer, would you? The admin dashboard gives you a panoramic view of all the action.

Real-time stats are just a click away, giving you insights into membership trends, content popularity, and more.

Quick & Easy Course Creation with CourseCure

Online courses can be a game-changer for your membership site. CourseCure makes it a breeze to get your courses up and running.

No tech wizardry needed – just a few simple steps and you're good to go! Add quizzes, interactive content, and even gamification elements to keep your learners hooked till the very end.

Conclusion

A well-designed member dashboard can truly be the heart of your membership site, making members feel at home while giving them quick access to all the good stuff. With WishList Member, crafting this crucial page is easier than tying your shoes.

Well-organized links, user-friendly settings, and a whole bunch of personalization options make it the go-to tool for boosting member satisfaction and engagement.

So get started with WishList Member today and you'll be able to confidently control your members' experience on your site. WishList Member is designed to make it easy to customize and configure your site to your exact needs. And if you need help along the way, our customer success team is on hand to help you make the most of our extensive features.

Got any questions about creating a membership dashboard? Want to share your tips and best practices with the WishList Member community? Leave a comment below!

And if you want more revenue-boosting tips and best practices for your membership site, don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

A New Beginning for WishList Member – Letter from Tracy Childers, Co-Founder of WishList Products

I’m thrilled to share some exciting news with you. WishList Products, the parent company of WishList Member and CourseCure, has been acquired by MemberPress.

Caseproof CEO and MemberPress creator, Blair Williams – together with his team – has a big vision for the future. And we’re honored they’ve chosen WishList to join them in walking out that vision.

I know many of you may be wondering what this means for WishList Member and our customers.

Rest assured our entire team will continue to run WishList with the guidance of Blair Williams and the MemberPress team. We'll carry on providing you with the consistent support and continually refined product you've come to know and love.

I also want to take this opportunity and thank everyone who's supported WishList over the years. From our dedicated team members to our loyal customers: You've made WishList Member the success it is today.

Finally, I want to recognize our amazing team. Each of you have played a critical role in making WishList an incredible product we can all be proud of. I'm grateful for your hard work and dedication, and I know you'll continue to thrive under Blair's leadership.

As for me, I’ve decided to take some time off and figure out what I want to do when I grow up. But I’m excited to watch and see what the future holds for WishList Member and its community under the leadership of the MemberPress team.

Thank you again for your support and loyalty. We couldn't have done it without you.

All the Best,

Tracy Childers

What Does the Acquisition Mean for the Future of WishList Products?

For starters, the amazing Caseproof team, led by CEO Blair Williams, has acquired WishList Products.

You may not recognize the Caseproof name, but you're certainly familiar with at least one of the WordPress plugins the Caseproof team is behind – MemberPress!

Caseproof Products

MemberPress: A full-featured membership, LMS, and monetization solution for WordPress. Grant and revoke access to posts, pages, custom post types, categories, tags, feeds, communities, and courses based on the products your users have purchased or are subscribed to.

Easy Affiliate: A complete affiliate program management plugin for WordPress. Create your own non-salaried sales team by starting an affiliate program for your online membership or storefront. Dramatically increase traffic, attention, and sales.

Pretty Links: An advanced link cloaking and redirection plugin for WordPress. Shrink, track, cloak, and share links. Pro version features include advanced reporting, geographic-redirects, keyword replacement, split testing, link rotation, and product display links – even the ability to push links to twitter, and much more.

Thirsty Affiliates: A sophisticated link management and promotion tool designed to help power bloggers make major money.

Buy Now Plus: An easy to use, cloud-supported pay-now service built on the powerful Stripe payment gateway. Start accepting credit card payments instantly through simple buy now buttons placed anywhere on your website, and even on your social media profiles.

In February, Caseproof also acquired the enterprise-grade membership plugin, MemberMouse.

Now, we can add WishList Member to this impressive list!

Blair Williams is an experienced entrepreneur, veteran WordPress developer, and thoughtful leader. And when it comes to the specifics of the WordPress membership space, he's one of the most knowledgeable people out there. 

Blair’s powerful vision for the future of WishList gives me great confidence, and I couldn't be happier that he's now at the helm.

The WPBeginner Growth Accelerator

In 2018, Caseproof joined the WPBeginner Growth Accelerator, partnering up with Syed Balki – the brains behind WPBeginner and 20+ of the world’s most-used WordPress plugins. 

As Caseproof’s newest addition, WishList, too, becomes part of the growth accelerator and is set to benefit from the combined resources and experience of some of the most successful companies in the WordPress space.

What Does the Change Mean for Existing WishList and CourseCure Users?

Change can be scary and unsettling for all of us.

But there’s nothing to be afraid of here! We’ve got nothing but genuine excitement and great expectations for the future of WishList Member and CourseCure.

That said, we’ll start by sharing what this change doesn't mean:

• WishList Member won't be re-branded or rolled into another plugin
• We won’t suddenly change how we operate, raise prices on existing customers, or fundamentally change the platform
• We won't change anything about our support team – you'll continue to get the same level of support you've come to expect

With that out of the way, here are some spectacular things the big change will bring about.

Growth Phase 1: An Acquisition Opportunity – For You!

If you’ll remember, the WishList Product set includes CourseCure. It’s an online course builder and LMS featuring all the bells and whistles you could want, including an epic points and badges system.

CourseCure also has things like…

• A course builder
• A quiz builder
• Progress tracking
• Course previews
• Built-in mobile responsiveness

To kick off the expansion, we will be combining the two separate WishList Products – WishList Member and CourseCure – into one robust monetization solution later this year.

And that merger makes for the first of many awesome opportunities for users. Starting now, you can buy WishList Member and get instant access to CourseCure.

It’s a smokin ‘deal because, as it stands, WishList will cost you less than any competitor product on the market – plus you’re getting a robust LMS platform with built-in gamification thrown in for nothing.

Once the two are combined, the price will go up.

A Shared Vision

The Caseproof and WishList Member teams have a shared vision to make WishList Member even better and easier to use than it already is. In the coming weeks, months, and years, expect to see major improvements, additions, and upgrades to the platform.

Blair will lead the WishList Member team from here on out. And just to reiterate, the team you rely on for world-class support, product development, and helpful content is staying exactly the same. 

The only thing changing here is that Tracy Childers will no longer be involved in the business.

Ultimately, the change comes down to this: WishList Member is now part of a larger family of WordPress products. 

That means exponentially more knowledge, more experience, and greater resources to develop WishList Member into the best enterprise WordPress membership plugin there is.

One of the major reasons you’ll love using Thrive Themes is that everything was built with design and sales in mind. All of their templates, user interfaces, etc. are beautifully designed and the page templates included in Thrive Architect (you get over 300+ of them) are all expertly created to convert.

WishList Member currently offers direct integration with the following:
Thrive Apprentice
Thrive Architect
Thrive Automator

Thrive Apprentice + WishList Member Integration

WishList Member works out of the box with Thrive Apprentice. Thrive Apprentice is a learning management system (LMS) similar to CourseCure, LearnDash, and LifterLMS.

Thrive Apprentice will help you deliver your digital, online courses in a stylish way.

The integration with WishList Member means that you can set protection for specific courses within Thrive Apprentice that can only be viewed if a member has been granted access using levels in WishList Member.

In other words, you can use your WishList Member memberships to protect your courses. And automatically grant access!

You can read our full documentation about using the Thrive Apprentice integration here.

Thrive Architect + WishList Member Integration

As mentioned above, Thrive Architect is a powerful, marketing oriented page builder. It works similar to other page builders like Elementor, but where Elementor is more design focused, Thrive Architect focuses around speed and conversion ability.

By default, you’ll get a range of blocks/elements that will help you with conversions. Countdowns, trust badges, and delayed content reveal options to name a few.

Of course, it also features all of the regular elements you’ll need to build your pages.

With all that being said, don’t think this is ONLY for building landing or sales pages.

Thrive Architect can be used across your entire membership site to build all of your necessary pages.

Conditionally Show and Hide Thrive Architect Elements with WishList Member

And it’s even better now that there is direct integration with WishList Member. This integration allows you to easily set protection and access for elements within Thrive Architect. Content can be set to only be viewable by specific membership levels. You can also set content to only be viewed by members who are not in a selected level.

Use Cases for the Thrive Architect + WishList Member Integration

To help you jumpstart using this integration to the fullest, here are some use cases. This list is NOT exhaustive at all…

• Targeted Upgrade Offers: Show an upsell or upgrade offer only to those members who it applies to.
• Deliver Bonus Content: Add bonus content to your courses or lessons that only shows for those who bought a membership that included it.
• Teaser Content: Leave your page itself unprotected so people can see some of the content, but protect the rest of the content using this feature. Entices people to sign up.
• Dynamic Members Dashboard: Show only the content/courses they have purchased on their member homepage.
• Booking Link: Put a calendar booking embed inside a protected element so that only your top-tier members can schedule a call with you. Or sell individually.

These are just some ideas to get you thinking in the right direction about this.

Ultimately, you will come up with more ideas and ways to use this feature that is specific to your membership site and niche.

You can learn more by checking the full documentation here.

Thrive Automator + WishList Member Integration

Finally, you can now use WishList Member inside of Thrive Automator!

Thrive Automator is a ‘secret weapon’ you can use to do an unnumbered amount of things with. That’s not very descript and you’ll see some examples below to help clarify. Essentially, we’re talking about Zapier inside of WordPress.

Here’s some things you could automate:

• Add a customer to your mailing list after they receive a certain membership
• Create a new WordPress account with a WishList membership level when an incoming webhook is received (opens the door to all external systems)
• Unlock more content for your members when they complete a course
• Display bonus content after completing certain tasks or sections of content
• Award points when someone comments on a lesson or forum…

The surface really isn’t even being scratched with these examples.

You can check out our full documentation here for Thrive Automator + WishList Member.

So, no matter what niche you’re in, using the Thrive Suite inside your membership site is like having an unfair advantage over everyone else not using these sales-optimized tools.

There you have it, we hope you love this latest integration between Thrive Themes and WishList Member.

However, before you create your membership site on Wix you should consider the following.

1. Do I want to commit to Wix forever?
2. How can I move away from Wix without losing my content and subscribers?
3. Does Wix offer the level of customizability I need?
4. Will I get charged more and more as my membership site and business grows?

Now, I’m completely biased since I’m the CMO at a WordPress Membership plugin company – that is usually a lot cheaper than Wix.

In fact, we’ve begun doing case studies with some of our most successful customers who have said they started on platforms like Wix and others but eventually had to move due to some limitation.

In that process, they ended up losing subscribers because it’s nearly impossible to move credit card data these days and they couldn’t get everyone to resubscribe. Let alone the confusion of having two sites for a period of time.

Needless to say, everyone we’ve spoken to says they wished they started on the right platform for them.

What Functionality Does Your Membership Site Need?

The first thing you need to do is sit down and list out all of the functionality that you want/need for your membership website. For example, here are some features our customers use:

• Payment integration with Stripe, PayPal, or Authorize.net
• Drip content delivery so members get access to new content over time
• Membership tiers with different content or access levels
• Access to exclusive forums or groups
• Downloadable resources like PDFs, eBooks, etc.
• Integration with other applications like MailChimp, Zapier, Google Analytics, etc.

Once you know all of the features you need, you can begin to research which platform will be the best fit. Wix does have some membership functionality, but it may not be as robust as you need.

For example, Wix has limited payment providers and limited storage.

So, if you need to offer a lot of content or have many members, Wix may not be the best option.

Additionally, Wix is not as flexible when it comes to customizations. So, if you need to really customize the look and feel of your membership site, Wix may not be the best platform.

How Much Do You Have to Invest Upfront in Your Membership Site?

Another important consideration is how much you have to invest upfront in your membership site. Wix does have a free plan, but it has limited storage bandwidth, and most importantly it puts ads on your website.

The free plan simply doesn't make sense.

This means you'll need to spend at least some amount of money in order to get a website without ads and with unlimited bandwidth.

Wix advertises their pricing at the annual price. Meaning, the $39/m VIP plan is actually $47/m paid month-to-month. Just a point of consideration that to get savings, you might have to pay upfront for an entire year.

Additionally, as your membership site grows you will need to upgrade your Wix plan in order to accommodate more subscribers and more content. So, there's a potential that your costs could go up over time as your membership site grows.

That however isn't any different with running a WordPress based membership site with a robust system like WishList Member. Now, we don't have “confusing” pricing like Wix (author's opinion only), but you will have to purchase web hosting which can range from $2/month to $100+/month.

Starting out, you can go with cheaper shared hosting from a company like Siteground.

The bottom line is that it's important to consider how much you have to spend upfront as well as ongoing costs when choosing a platform for your membership website.

Do You Plan to Grow Your Membership Site?

Another important consideration is whether or not you plan to grow your membership site. If you're just starting out, it's hard to know exactly how successful your membership site will be.

However, if you have big plans for your membership site, then you need to make sure the platform you choose can accommodate that growth.

A very real fact is that you may only want this to be a side source of income. Not replace your full-time income. If that's the case, having an advanced system like WishList Member may NOT be the right fit.

There's nothing wrong with that.

We don't want you to overspend on features you're not using or plan on using any time soon. That would be a waste of your money.

On the other hand, if you do have big plans and dreams for your membership site, then choosing a platform like WishList Member is probably best to start on from day 1 versus migrating down the road and potentially losing subscribers/members.

Wix vs. WishList Member

So, which platform should you choose for your membership website? Wix or WishList Member?

To answer that question, it really depends on what you need and want for your membership site.

Wix is an all-in-one platform that makes it easy to get started immediately at the cost of customizability and complete control. It is probably costlier in the long-run. Finally, it's “Online Program” feature which lets you sell courses is pretty cookie-cutter.

WishList Member on the other hand has a higher learning-curve. Lets you customize everything you want. Has recently been made easier to use in v3.0. Is a WordPress plugin which means it integrates with a lot of other WordPress plugins and can be extended.

Additionally, with WishList Member you can not only sell courses but also create a true membership site experience where people login and can access a variety of items included in the membership such as courses, live calls, recordings, downloads, forums, etc.

So, it really just depends on what is important to you for your membership website.

Related Questions:

Do membership sites make money?

Yes, membership sites can make money. In order to make money with a membership site, you will need to charge people for access to your content.

There are several ways you can do this such as charging a monthly fee, yearly fee, or per content item (such as a video, course, or PDF).

What makes a good membership site?

A good membership site is one that provides consistent, long-term value to its members and is easy to use. Additionally, a good membership site will have a mix of content types (such as video, audio, and written) to appeal to different learning styles.

How can I create my first membership site?

The best way to create your first membership site is to start with a platform like WishList Member which will give you the flexibility and control you need to build the exact site you want.

We've put together a full guide which you can check out here for step-by-step details.

In the recent podcast we published with Brian Kurtz, one thing he said that caught my attention was, “Once people renew once, the odds that they'll renew again grows.”

Brian also mentions that “renewals give me the most satisfaction.”

We’re talking about Recurring Revenue. Subscriptions. Continuity.

Right now, there's a lot of talk about our economy and whether or not we're in a recession. I'm not an expert when it comes to economics or what the definition of a recession is.

What I do know is that during COVID when a lot of business owners were struggling, online courses and training were doing better than ever because people were at home, in front of their computers, bored, and they knew that they needed to increase their skillset.

If YOU have a skillset that you can teach others, trust me when I say you have potential for a business.

There are a lot of different models you can use for a membership site, but if you want something more recession proof, allows you to reach more people, and provides a steady stream of income then you need to look at offering subscriptions.

You can make a million dollars by selling $39/m subscriptions one at a time. Look at the news companies, Netflix, Spotify…. And it will probably be easier than selling $2,000 courses one at a time.

Why?

Because the upfront investment is small. And once you get someone on that subscription and they renew, each time the odds they’ll renew grows.

Sell once and collect over the lifetime of that subscription. In addition to what you’re doing to generate new sales.

I would strongly recommend adding some sort of continuity to your membership model if you haven’t already done so.

But even more, I would recommend that you listen to the full interview with Brian Kurtz because there is an unbelievable amount of practical advice and wisdom in it.

The number one difference between those people who succeed in creating courses and those who don’t is speed.

We heard this during a podcast interview we did with Armand Morin this past week which you can listen to here or on all major podcast apps…
[buzzsprout episode='10917621′ player='true']

What Armand was telling us is that most people already have the knowledge needed to teach and record their course. They don’t need to learn the subject.

The problem most people face is they get stuck in the planning phase forever. Or worse, they don’t get started at all.

After 6 months or a year of planning, most people will have lost interest in the idea of creating the course and so it never happens. Where if you just sat down one weekend and recorded the entire course, you’d have it ready to sell.

It may not be perfect, but you can now start getting traction and members which will motivate you to continue to improve things.

This really is just one of the gold nuggets that Armand shared with us on the latest podcast episode. If you haven’t already, I’d strongly recommend you give it a listen while you’re driving, working out, etc.

Also, if you're thinking of starting a NEW membership site or maybe you already have one, we have a resource you can get below that talks about 10 different business models. Get instant access to that below…

BUT they have a million excuses about why they can’t so they never actually start.

By far, the number one excuse I hear is that “I’m not an expert on [fill in the blank]” or “There are people much more knowledgeable about the topic.”

What most people fail to realize is that just because you may not be #1 when it comes to knowing everything about a subject, most of the time the people who are #1 are not the ones creating content, courses, or offering coaching.

And since they’re not offering that content, the market is being underserved.

Think of it this way. Since there is a Harvard professor teaching economics, does that mean all other professors teaching economics should just quit since someone “more studied” than them exists?

Of course not!

You also have to realize there is a difference between book knowledge and practical wisdom gained from experience.

Many times the courses created by people who aren’t “educated” about a topic are actually more actionable because it’s practical advice from someone who has “been there, done that.”

Here’s a clip from our Memberships and Courses podcast where our guest, John Childers, explains exactly that…

So here’s the bottom line, YOU have something valuable to share. Someone out there is waiting and ready to BENEFIT from your content.

If you haven’t started a membership site yet (Get Started with WishList Member), once you get that first testimonial about how your course/membership changed their life – you’ll be hooked on providing more and more value each day.

He said, “Don't invest a lot of time or money when starting a new project, start with an MVP and go from there. Your customers will tell you what's the direction to go and what they like or don't like about your product. That will save your time and money.”

Something that I've seen over and over again are people who put EVERYTHING into building a course or membership site without first validating the idea at all.

Don't get me wrong, I've been there and understand the mentality.

But there is a better way.

Maybe you already have a successful site and you're wondering what this has to do with you. What I'm about to share works for starting a new site, but also adding new programs to existing, established sites.

So…

Before you spend a ton of time and energy planning, recording, editing, and marketing your program, try this.

1. Reach out to all your contacts and potential buyers (if you're just starting, this is likely all your friends on social media, colleagues, etc.)
2. Invite them to a live 4-8 week course held on Zoom, 1 hour each week, over the topic you'll be creating your course on
3. Charge a nominal fee for it
4. Use this to gauge the interest

If you can't get 3 people to sign up for the live course, you're going to have a hard time getting people to buy into a membership program.

The other reason why this is so powerful is you don't have to have all the content ready ahead of time. Go in prepared to teach the first lesson and then the next lesson will be tailored around what your students need help with.

By the end of the program, you will have actual feedback from real students who paid you. This will help you build a course that's actually valuable since you will have uncovered ideas/problems/solutions you didn't originally think of.

I hope you can use this tip whether for a new membership site or just adding a new course to your existing one.

John Morris here with WishList Products, and in this video, I'm going to reveal “Three Often Overlooked Marketing Sins to Avoid When Selling Your Membership Site” that cannot only cost you new members, but also increase the cancelations of your current members.

Plus, I'll show you three strategies that you can use to avoid these pitfalls to increase new members' sign ups and increase your retention rates. So with that said, let's dove in.

All right. So sin number one is what's called “Intangibility.” Now, this word I first learned of it, I don't know if he invented it, but I first learned of it from a guy named Carl Ronisky, who is a professor at New York University that specializes in digital marketing.

And his definition of intangibility is this; so he says “In marketing services, intangibility means the inability of a consumer to pre-assess the value of using a service. Unlike a physical product, a service cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard or smelled prior to its purchase. 

This makes it hard to evaluate its quality. You can't ‘kick the tires' in a service.” Now, of course, he's talking about service, but it's the same when you're talking about trying to sell a membership site and digital information. 

Because really the core proposition of a membership site is more; it's access to more up to date information on a particular topic. But that's vague. It's intangible, and ultimately it's harder to sell. Now, again, yes, all digital products are intangible, in a sense, beginning a course or a PDF, an audio file, a video, all of those things feel a little bit more tangible than simply access to more content.

So one solution to the problem is to make your membership concrete and tangible by objectifying it. So let me show you an example. Now, this is a monthly print newsletter, but the same principles apply. Notice here how Ben Settle, the creator of this membership only spends a few paragraphs talking about the actual membership before he introduces a book that you get as a bonus. And then he spends the rest of the sales letter talking about that book. Now, if you don't know Ben, he's considered one of the more savvy online marketers out there.

In fact, you can see from the testimonials on his sales pages that it's a literal who's who of copywriters and online marketers. So if he's doing it, you know that it's on purpose. And there's a very good reason why: because it works. And the reason it works is it's easier to understand for the prospect. It's a finite, tangible thing that they're getting instead of an intangible “more.” Now, of course, this is only one way to apply this principle.

I encourage you to develop other ways that fit your style and your audience. But the bottom line is this. The more you can objectify your membership and make it concrete and tangible, the easier it will be to market, to sell your membership and to get new members. All right. Sin number two, then, is what I call “Forever Syndrome.” So if you work with membership sites long enough, one of the things you start to realize is that most members don't sign up, expecting to stay members forever.

In fact, it's quite the opposite. Oftentimes what happens is something in a promotion or your sales letter catches their eye and they sign up to get that one thing.

So one example that you could think of for this is how HBO Max used Wonderwoman 1984 to boost sign ups or how Disney+ will release movies in theater and on the platform simultaneously in order to boost memberships. Now, how many of those people do you think sign up saying that they're going to stay a member of those platforms forever?

Probably not many, but those platforms know that. So what do they do?

Do they just hope that people stay? Do they hope that you like their regular content enough that you'll stay? No.

They continue to put out these movies and TV shows like this as often as they can and get you to stay just one more month to get that “one thing.” And every month or so, they'll have another one. So there's another reason and it just goes on forever until eventually you just kind of give up and say, “OK, you know, I'm just going to stay a member of this thing.” That is what's called a “Compelling Monthly Reason.” Every month you give your members a compelling reason to join or stay, on top of the regular content that you produce.

Maybe it's an interview with an industry industry expert that they only get if they're a member for that month. So that is they can't sign up later and then come back and get it in the archives. That's not how you do this. They have to be a member of that month in order to get it. And if you notice with the way HBO Max and Disney+ does it, they often premiere the movies for about a month and then they go off of the service.

And then at that point, you do have to go to the theater, you have to buy it on DVD, etc. until sometime later when they put it back on, etc.. So you have to be a member during the time period when it's released in order to be able to get it, that's what this is, that's your “Compelling Monthly Reason,” and if you do this kind of thing, then you're going to retain more members. You know, you're going to have a compelling reason to go to your lead list and give them to sign up that particular month.

Now, again, it could be an interview. It could be a monthly course. It could be a video, could be a training, whatever fits your style and audience. But it has to be highly compelling. So here you want to think sizzle, not steak, so you can give the meat and vegetables and your regular membership content, here you want to give them the sizzle; the thing that they want, not necessarily the thing that they need. So something they just have to know or someone they have to listen to in your industry and then simply aim to do that every month, have something like this every month. And if you do, you'll watch as your retention rates and your new monthly sign ups skyrocket.

OK, the last sin then is “Too Much Information.” So let's talk about overwhelm a little bit, which is the arch nemesis of membership site owners, because you're in a little bit of a tricky spot.

You want to provide enough information to justify your monthly fee, but if you do too much, then your members will get overwhelmed and they're not going to consume it and then it has no value to them. And if that goes on long enough, they're going to cancel. In fact, and all the membership sites that I've worked on over the years for all of the big-named people that I've worked with, the number one reason, the most common reason that I've seen for canceling and all those membership sites is too much information.

So it's a balance. Now, the approach that I've found that works really well is to think “synthesis, not volume.”

So think of it this way. Today, no one is at a loss for information that might have been the case 30 years ago. It is not the case today. What people need today instead is to make sense of all of the information that they have.

What's the right information, what information fits best with them and their style, how do they apply it, etc.. Those are the things that people want and need. Your job really is to synthesize information, to take the “piles of paper,” metaphorically speaking, and organize them for your members.

Trash what's not necessary and organize and explain what is, so they can actually implement it and get use out of it. That's what people need today. And when you're when marketing your membership site, that's the value proposition that you want to speak to, not necessarily volume, because that is, today, what people actually want.

Now, all told, these aren't gimmicks or “hacks” to instantly triple your conversion or anything like that. But these big picture strategies will make your core membership offer more compelling and your membership site easier to market and sell. And that could lead to many more new members over time and a lot less energy spent getting new members. So you can focus on helping the members that you do have and increasing your retention rates and growing your membership site.

So hopefully you got something out of that. If you like the video, I'd appreciate it ifa you'd hit the like button. If you haven't yet, be sure to subscribe. And of course, if you need the technology for building your membership site, head on over to wishlistmember.com to learn more about our plugin. All right. Thanks for watching.

We'll talk to you next time.