“We just aren’t sure what to do at this point… it feels like we’ve tried everything.” There was clear frustration in her voice. The association had tried a variety of different learning programs. They did member surveys. They upgraded their website. They spent more...

Perhaps the only thing more frustrating than people NOT knowing about your membership is when the perfect prospect DOES know about it but doesn't take action. One of my favorite things to do is to facilitate live retreats. There’s something powerful about getting away...

Perhaps the only thing more frustrating than people NOT knowing about your membership is when the perfect prospect DOES know about it but doesn't take action. It's as if the prospect gets stuck in the "thinking about it", so instead of joining quickly and starting to...

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to speak to a local gathering for Optimist International, a worldwide volunteer organization with 2500 local clubs working to bring out the best in children, their communities and in themselves. In just my brief time that I...

It happened again yesterday. Someone emailed me potentially starting a membership, but expressed concern that his target audience would likely have ‘budget’ issues. The typical advice that you might hear is that you’re working with the wrong avatar – that you...

Have you ever been around someone who does nothing but talk about themselves?  It's uncomfortable, isn't it?  And definitely gets boring quickly. Unfortunately, a lot of people who talk constantly about themselves don’t really realize that they’re doing it. They think...

Ask nearly anyone who runs a membership what their biggest struggle is, and chances are that they’ll answer one of three things: Signing members Engaging members Getting members to renew These are three very different problems that happen at completely different...

I just posted a new interview in The Joy of Membership™ Community and I think that this may be the first time I’ve covered a topic that I literally know *nothing* about… nada… zippo. Quite frankly, social media isn’t a tool that I’ve used much in my business. I’m...

Do you know what this is? And how does it relate to a membership site? Read on to find out. Hint: If you’re a bald man, you probably have no use for it. However, if you’re a woman, or you have daughters, or I guess even if you’re a man, who has thick lustrous hair,...

A couple times a year, I give my email list a good pruning. Last week, I dropped 245 people. Some might think this sounds crazy, but bear with me. I have my reasons. 1) A big email list means nothing if people aren’t engaged. The size of your email list is nothing...

My husband has always liked Jeeps, but a few years ago, he went “all in” and became an avid member of a local Jeep Club. One thing that I’ve noticed from hanging out around the Jeep Community is that they share a passion for overcoming a challenge.  Show them a...

I facilitated a group in April for people who are in the very early stages of planning their membership communities. They want to build and maintain a thriving community. This is one of my FAVORITE things to do because I love, love, love when people are excited and...

If you are on my mailing list, you may have noticed that I mentioned a few weeks back that I have a big charity project brewing.  I’m finally able to let you in on what’s happening and I am SO VERY EXCITED about how this has turned out! Mission and Magnetism: A...

One of my clients recently shared that she has more than 500 business cards from people she’s recently met just sitting in a pile.  She was planning to send them off to a transcription service to have them added to her contact database. For me, a natural question...

Do you know what happened when I cancelled? Nothing. Literally nothing. Don’t misunderstand. I definitely don’t think there should be big hoops to jump through to cancel a membership, but I truly wondered if the business owner even cared or noticed? Did he or she...

If you’re struggling with membership growth, there may be only one thing that you can say with certainty: the status quo is not sustainable. But how do you know where to start making a change? It’s tempting to throw money into marketing. In fact, that’s what a lot of...

Spend any time at all surfing the Web these days and you can’t avoid the hottest term in online marketing:  funnels. So, what’s the deal with funnels and does a membership, or membership-based organization, need them? Let me start by saying that there’s actually a...

  I was browsing through an online group recently and noticed the same question repeatedly asked in a variety of ways: What’s the best way to make money from my community? How can I get people to pay for my membership? If I offer a free membership, how will I get...

Over the past few weeks, I've been posting in a new series about The Path to Community. You can read previous articles inside the Community here (it's free to join): https://joyofmembership.mn.co/topics/509853 If you've been following along with the series, you'll...

Your membership program is awesome, right?  You're no ordinary cake donut. You're the frosting covered, ooey-gooey, gotta-lick-my-fingers kind of donut, right?   Then how do we get more people to notice that?  If you really were a donut, I'd be telling you that you...

What question is top-of-mind for most people who are interested in starting or growing a membership-based initiative?  "Where do I find new members?"  (followed very closely by, "How the heck do I get these people to engage?!") My response to that first question is...

While listening to a podcast this week, I heard a guest quip, “You can’t automate relationships!" At first, it’s an easy statement to agree with, right?  Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I actually do use automation a lot in my relationships...

Membership technology is easier and more affordable than ever. This means it's completely possible nowadays to set up your own membership site and you don’t need to be a technical wiz to do it. But should you do-it-yourself or hire it out?  That depends... and you...

I’m sure you’ve heard it, haven’t you? It’s not about you… it’s about the customer. It’s not about you… it’s about building with the member in mind. It’s not about you… it’s about the greater purpose. And so on. Those things, my friend, are nonsensical.  Those are...

Today is New Year's Eve, so of course, people are getting all reflective and many are doing some sort of dreaming, visioning, planning about the year ahead. It's like seeing yesterday's footsteps get filled in with fallen snow. You awaken to the opportunity to create...

They creep up on you when you least expect it, keeping you stuck and making membership-building feel extra hard. They are the ‘joy stealers’. They suck all the fulfillment and reward out of the membership-building experience. When they are around, it’s easy to feel...

More than a decade ago, I received a thank you from a client that I have never forgotten.  In fact, I appreciated that thank you so much that it has remained above my desk all these years. It came from a guy named Scott, after conclusion of a project that we had been...

During one of last week’s Live Chat sessions for The Movement Summit, I asked people if their membership was informational or transformational.  The responses were mixed, but one person in particular commented that “transformational memberships have more staying...