HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR MEMBERSHIP FOR LEARNING + ENGAGEMENT

In this blog, I'm going to walk you through how to organize your membership for better learning and engagement.

I'll also show you how the layout I use with my favorite software, Kajabi, makes it ridiculously easy and hands free to maintain.

And before we dive in, I highly grabbing taking my How To Launch Your Membership Site In An Hour so you can simplify your membership tech!! Watch here.

HOW IT STARTED

When I first started with my membership, I had no clue what I was doing.

I released content weekly, did livestreams once per week and pretty much let the chips fall where they may.

IT WAS A DISASTER.

I always felt frantic, my engagement kept dropping and I was spending more and more time trying to plug holes in a dam that was about to burst.

When one January I woke up to 10 members cancelling, I knew I'd had enough.

And, when I assessed the damage, I knew it stemmed from listening to too many other voices of other membership leaders. Trying to do things the way they did - thinking if would lead to the same success.

So, after hunkering down and building things 100% based on what I felt would be best for my students, I'm happy to report that everything changed.

ORGANIZING YOUR MEMBERSHIP

It all starts here. A well-organized membership makes a student feel like they're being taken care of.

Expecting them to log in to a membership area where content is all over the place is a sure fire way to get an early cancellation or - more likely - a refund.

When a member first joins, be sure to have them see a "getting started" module where they can learn how your membership works.

This means showing them how to:

• Understand the layout
• Know the schedule
• See the plan
• Take their first action

Remember, they are the student - you are the teacher. Don't be afraid to take the reigns and tell them exactly what to do.

If you have a harder time staying organized or on schedule, I recommend bringing on a community manager who can manage the group and keep you producing content and engaging with your group.

Once your getting started module is completed, you can start looking at your success path.

THE SUCCESS PATH EDUCATION

You've probably hear it before from membership guru's like Stu McLaren, but a success path is a crucial part to leading the charge of your students.

This was something I had started working on early into my membership, but ignored because I thought it was too radical.

It just shows how my gut instincts were right because now, success paths are all the rage.

So this is easy enough.

Come up with 4-5 stages of learning your students can go through to hit their big result.

For The Visibility Lounge, the stages are:

• Audition
• Guest Star
• Leading Role
• Celebrity

Totally on-brand with my Hollywood expertise, easy to understand and has the built-in goals along the way.

Once you find your path names, you can start organizing your learning content within each stage. And no, you do not have to publish it all at once.

I'm still working on completing the stages - and that's ok. As long as you're publishing new content consistently, your members will love it.

Keeping content organized is crucial for a member navigating your lessons easily. And, if you can, accompany your videos with worksheets and downloads to help cover each learning style.

I love putting workbooks in for each stage so my students can see their progress and then rewarding them when they complete each stage.

MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT

It's very easy as a membership leader to "set it and forget it". I've seen countless people show up in their membership as little as possible {usually once a month} because they want it to be as hands free as possible.

And, although it might be tempting, I have to caution you against it. I personally can't stand the rising theme in entrepreneurship to automate 100% of your business.

In my personal opinion, your students won't like it either.

What's different about The Visibility Lounge is that I am present. Every week I am there twice to either connect with a member one on one or be there live for office hours.

My members NEVER feel alone in the journey and always know they can reach me.

And what's funny is - unlike what I've heard from other creators - my inbox or pm's are never overloaded. I mean, maybe one pm because a student can't find a link like once a month.

But, other than that, I am very much respected by my members.

I believe it's because of the attention I give them on a weekly basis so they feel like I am always on their side.

Here are some ways you can connect:

• Monthly challenge
• Hot Seats
• Office Hours
• Group Coaching Calls
• Private Messages
• Bonjoro Videos
• Interviews within the community
• Prizes

With a membership, you get what you give.

So don't let yourself get distracted by the fancy memberships with hundreds of members. Usually, it doesn't last.

Stay focused on what value you can provide knowing that people are handing over money to you on a monthly basis.

THE TOOL THAT COVERS EVERYTHING

It's easy to explain all the different material to cover, but finding the right software for the job can be a nightmare.

Let me simplify it for you - choose Kajabi!! {this link gives you a 30 day trial!}

Trust me, I've tried everything: Wordpress, Squarespace, Thinkific, Teachable and Clickfunnels.

Nothing compares to the ease and organization of Kajabi.

When I made the move, I knew it was right for me.

No more jumping between email software, membership hosting, payment softwares and community.

I could have everything all in one place - and now, I can even have my students log in to The Visibility Lounge on its own app!

So here's how it breaks down:

• Every time I add a member, they are automatically tagged with "Lounge Member" and subscribed to the pre-created Visibility Lounge email sequence to walk them through the first couple weeks of their membership.
• They get immediate access to The Visibility Lounge product - which stores all of the training's and workbooks they can work through stage by stage.
• A notification is sent to my Bonjoro app, so I can send them a video right away welcoming them to the membership.
• Upon purchase, they are given the link to join the private community where I can easily add them on a daily basis.
• I've also set it up so they can cancel their membership themselves at any time. Then the power is in their hands and is all automated, so I don't have to deal with email cancellations and manual work.

Easy, right?

I also can lock stages until one is completed. So, for example, my students have to finish Audition Stage before moving on to Guest Star.

With the automation feature, I can also send them congratulatory emails when they finish specific videos in the membership.

Do you see how robust the platform is?

It's definitely an all-in-one solution that is light years beyond what any other software offers at the moment.

So, if you want to try it free for 28 days and try building out your membership, I recommend grabbing Kajabi here. And remember, this link gives you an extra 2 weeks to the normal 14-day trial.

WRAPPING IT UP

I know you can do incredible things with your membership. And hopefully, this breakdown has helped you see how powerful you can truly make it for your members.

I'd love to hear your biggest takeaways or any progress you've made in your membership creation process!

Let me know!