Paige Gurley, Author at

Dashboard redesign and revenue analytics

Paige Gurley — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 18:18:55 +0000

Understanding the health of your business is important to your success and growth. That’s why we added new insights to your MemberSpace dashboard that help you track the performance of your products and pricing options!

New dashboard analytics

The new and improved dashboard now includes detailed revenue data, updated graphs, enhanced analytics, and customizable filters to help you better know which plans and content are performing the best and identify areas for improvement.

View data for specific plans and time periods

You now have control over the data you see in your MemberSpace dashboard. By default, your dashboard shows data from all plans over the last 7 days. But with the addition of plan and date range filters, you can now break down your dashboard analytics by specific plans and time periods.

Select one, multiple, or all plans. Then, adjust the time span to view data from the previous 7, 30, 90, or 365 days, or select year-to-date. You can also set custom date ranges.

All dashboard data and analytics will update based on the filters you choose.

Throughout the dashboard, you’ll also notice arrows that show how your data has changed by percentage compared to the previous period. For example, if you’ve selected the past 30 days, the arrows show the difference compared to the 30 days before that.

NEW!

Detailed revenue data

New revenue data helps you keep track of your online business income. View your total revenue based on the filters you’ve selected, or check out the interactive graph that breaks down your revenue by plan. See specific days in more detail and easily track which plans generated income and the total amount for each one.

The list of member payments gives you a deeper look at the plans they joined as well as the transaction dates. You can export this data using the button at the top, or if you’d like to view a specific member’s full event history, simply click the member’s name.

As always, you can review the total revenue from failed payments and signups that we’re working to recover, as well as the revenue we’ve already saved for you.

Identifying your top-performing plans can help you focus your marketing efforts on what works best and optimize your pricing strategies.

Memberships breakdown

Easily see how many active memberships you have at any given time. Your total active membership count is based on the plans and last date you selected. In other words, if you choose to view data from the last 30 days, the total reflects the number of active memberships you had as of the 30th day.

Coming soon!
See how your total membership count has changed by percentage over time. This metric is calculated differently than the others, as it compares the cumulative membership total from the starting date to the ending date of your selected period.

A breakdown of your membership data provides more insight into new and canceled memberships, trials, as well as upgrades and downgrades. If you have any questions about how a metric is calculated, just hover over the help icons to learn more!

The graph shows your cumulative active memberships by plan, making it easy to see how many members were on a specific plan on any given day. For more information about your memberships, including a breakdown of paid and free members, click View All.

Products and content performance tracking

See how many times your products have been viewed within your selected time period. These views are from all products across all plans, regardless of any specific plan filters you’ve applied.

The graph breaks down your total product views by date. For more detailed information about which products and specific members-only pages were viewed, and how many views each received, click View More.

If you’re using Content Links, you’ll see the total views for all Content Links across all plans within the selected dates. Click View More Details to see which Content Links were viewed and the number of views each received.

When looking at both product and Content Link views in more detail, you’ll have the option to export that data.

Understanding which content resonates most with your members is key to the continued success of your business!

Let your most popular content inform your future plans for expanding your offerings. Providing the materials and resources your members want and need is crucial to keeping customers satisfied and sticking around.

Reviewing historical data

As of August 8th, 2024:

Membership analytics reflect ~1 day of historical data. Moving forward, data will be tracked and stored for future viewing.
Revenue data from the past 30 days is currently available. Within 25 days after August 8th, all historical revenue data will be restored.

Customers who joined before August 8th, 2024 can access the old dashboard for the next 30 days (following the release of the new dashboard) to take screenshots of any data or graphs you’d like to preserve. To access the old dashboard, simply visit the new one via the Dashboard link in your left navigation and click the View old Dashboard link at the top.

We hope the new dashboard and the valuable insights it provides make managing your online business even easier!

Pricing migration improvements

Paige Gurley — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 14:36:33 +0000

Late last year, we introduced pricing migration and offered a few tips for how to use this feature to help grow your revenue. Thanks to your valuable feedback since the release, we’re excited to announce a new enhancement to pricing migration…

Schedule a non-prorated pricing update

Need to change your pricing, combine plans, or adjust the details of a subscription? You now have two options for moving your customers to a different plan en masse.

Change your customers' plans immediately

Choosing to update your customers’ plans immediately means they’ll be charged a prorated amount depending on the price difference between their current and new plans, as well as the amount of time remaining in their billing cycle. This grants customers access to the new plan’s products and protected pages instantly.

NEW!

Update your customers' plans on their next billing dates

If you don’t want to prorate the first payment for each of your customers on the new plan, you can instead schedule the plan update for their next billing date. This means each customer will be moved to the new plan and charged the full amount on their respective billing date.

When a customer’s plan is scheduled to change on their next billing date, they’ll see a “Scheduled change” indication in their account area under View or cancel plans. Hovering over this notice reveals the pricing migration details, including the date of the change, along with the new plan and its specifics.

As an admin, you’ll also see this in your MemberSpace account within your member’s details under Members > View member details.

You can request a pricing migration at any time directly from your MemberSpace account by navigating to either Members or Pricing in the left navigation and clicking the Pricing Migration button.

Be sure to include in your request the name of your customers’ current plan and the new one to which you want to migrate them. Also, let us know if you’d like to migrate customers immediately or have them pay full price on their next billing date.

Pricing migrations are available for recurring payment plans.

Migration reports

After MemberSpace runs a migration on your behalf, you can find the full report in the plan migrations view under Members > Pricing Migration.

With this new update, the migration report will now indicate whether your customers have already been migrated or if the migration is scheduled for your customers’ next billing dates.

The CSV report contains a new Scheduled for column which will include either the date the migration was performed (if an immediate, prorated change) or the corresponding customer’s next billing date (if a scheduled change).

Additionally, the Status column will now indicate whether a customer has already been “Migrated” or is “Scheduled” to be.

Failed payments

If a customer’s payment fails during a pricing migration, they will still be moved to the new plan. However, they will be given a “past due” plan status, and MemberSpace will automatically try to recover that payment on your behalf.

If a customer schedules their current plan to be canceled on their next billing date, the migration will fail for that customer.

Changing a plan immediately with no charge

There may be a scenario where you wish to move your customers to a new plan immediately (so they can access the new plan’s assigned products/protected pages), but you don’t want to charge them again until their next billing date. Here’s what we recommend in this case:

Edit the old plan and update the access criteria so it matches the new plan.
Move forward with a scheduled migration.

No new customers should be joining the plan you’re moving members away from, so this should help you give customers the new plan’s benefits without charging them for the new plan until their next billing date.

Follow the steps in the link below to start a pricing migration and optimize your MemberSpace plans to meet your business goals!

Pricing migrations are available for recurring payment plans.

Membership Success Story: Commercial Receivers Association

Paige Gurley — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 19:15:08 +0000

Membership type: Content library, Newsletter, Member directory, Events
Built with: WordPress + MemberSpace
Established: 2020

Commercial Receivers Association (CRA) is a membership designed to educate and connect receivership professionals throughout the country.

The Commercial Receivers Association (CRA) membership provides a one-stop resource hub for receivership specialists (such as attorneys, accountants, bankers, and more) to access important legal information as well as connect with colleagues. Members are supported via a content library, quarterly newsletter, members-only events (and discounts for public ones), and an exclusive listing in a directory of professionals.

Receivership is when a court appoints a third party, known as a receiver, to manage a financially troubled company. The receiver oversees the company’s assets and operations, typically aiming to pay off debts either by restructuring the company or liquidating its assets.

Meet the CEO

Eric Moraczewski is the CEO of CRA. Before launching his membership, his full focus was on operating a consulting firm.

Now, in addition to the firm, he runs a successful network of professionals, helping educate and connect individuals in the receivership industry across the country.

We've launched our first strategic plan in an effort to understand what people enjoy most about the association.

Eric Moraczewski, CRA

Membership Q & A

Some responses have been slightly edited for context.

What is the pain point you solve for your customers?

By starting the CRA, we made it easy for receivership specialists to connect with colleagues from across the country. We also provide educational and practical resources to our members to benefit their businesses and expand their knowledge base.

CRA members get the exclusive opportunity to be listed in a directory of receivership professionals.

What were you doing before your membership business?

I founded a consulting firm where we seek to empower small businesses, nonprofits, and public-private enterprises through trusted consulting partnerships.

Membership Tip
Starting a membership can be an extension of what you already offer. Add members-only perks to existing services, or bundle multiple digital products into an all-inclusive membership.

What challenges did you have in the early stages of your business?

Building a nationwide network.

Membership Tip
Profitable membership ideas often come from identifying gaps you’ve experienced yourself. It’s likely you’re not the only one searching for resources, services, etc. that may not exist. Filling those gaps will allow you to help yourself, while also benefiting others!

Were there any keys to success, or big "a-ha!" moments that really elevated the growth of your business?

Just getting out into the communities and meeting people.

Membership Tip
Don’t underestimate the power of face-to-face connection. Getting to know your ideal customer can help you understand and, ultimately, serve them more effectively.

Did you have a social media following or large email list before you started your membership?

No.

How do you market your membership and find new members?

Local events, social media, e-blasts, word of mouth

Public events help to spread the word about the CRA, while member-exclusive events add value to the membership.

Do you spend any money on paid advertisements?

Have you done anything to focus on retention and reduce canceled members?

We’ve launched our first strategic plan in an effort to understand what people enjoy most about the association.

What are some of your favorite online tools for running your business?

Canva, Whova, Mailchimp

Do you have a team helping with your membership business?

Nope, just me!

What's your source of inspiration?

Our members

Via MemberSpace, the CRA offers different plan options that correspond with the member’s needs.

If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

“Build a network.”

What's next for your business?

Growth of the association, we anticipate doubling in size in the next 12-18 months.

We anticipate doubling in size in the next 12-18 months.

Eric Moraczewski, CRA

Membership Business Takeaways

Your membership can be based on your professional work! Some of our most successful memberships are customers who’ve turned their existing professional knowledge into a digital product or service.
If you notice a gap in resources or services in your industry, consider creating something to share your expertise. Filling those gaps will help others — and you’ll also reap the benefits!
Getting to know your ideal customer is essential to the success of your business. Speaking directly with customers and understanding their pain points will help you craft something truly valuable for them.

MemberSpace makes it easy to sell digital products and memberships. It all starts with a simple idea and the willingness to develop customer-centric solutions to challenges your audience is facing.

For additional resources on marketing and selling digital products and memberships, check out MemberSpace University, our hub of step-by-step guides, educational videos, technical and strategy tips, and more.

New feature: Easier member signup

Paige Gurley — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 22:04:06 +0000

We’ve made it easier for your customers to sign up for your membership and purchase digital products with MemberSpace!

Customers can now sign up using their Google account, which means fewer steps to convert website visitors into paying customers. We’ve also made a few enhancements to your signup and login forms to support easier member signup.

Let’s take a look at what’s new!

Sign up with Google social sign-on

Customers no longer need to create a new account to sign up for your membership or purchase your digital products. Instead, your signup form now gives them the option to continue with Google.

After authenticating with Google, their MemberSpace account will automatically be created. If you’ve created any custom signup fields to be completed during signup, those will still show after Google authentication. Otherwise, customers will then be prompted to join a specific plan or choose any of your public plans (depending on the signup link they used).

Enabling and disabling Google SSO

Google social sign-on (SSO) will automatically be enabled for new sites connected to MemberSpace starting April 30th, 2024.

If you connected your site before that date and want to enable Google SSO, or if you want to disable it, you can manage this feature in the Look & Feel editor within your MemberSpace admin.

Customizing the Google SSO button

You can also customize how the Google SSO option appears on your signup and login forms within the Look & Feel editor. Change the button theme and shape to seamlessly fit your brand.

Signup/login form enhancements

In addition to adding Google SSO, we made a few other changes to your signup and login forms to improve your member experience.

When creating an account from scratch, your customers are no longer asked to confirm their email address, which means fewer signup fields to help improve conversion rates.

Additionally, the Create Account and login buttons are now full-width, and we’ve removed the “forgot email?” link to minimize confusion (though, members can still get help logging in to their accounts via the “forgot password?” link!).

The default text for your Create Account button has also changed, though this doesn’t affect any customizations you may have made to your Create Account button in your MemberSpace admin.

Improve conversions with after signup fields

To further improve your customer signup experience (and facilitate conversions!), we recommend saving all of your custom signup fields until after signup. Keeping signup fields to a minimum is a proven way to turn more website visitors into customers.

Once a customer has created an account (or continued with Google SSO) and has officially joined one of your plans, they’ll be asked to provide any additional information.

If your after signup fields are required, customers won’t be able to close the popup until they’ve completed the form. And now, if a customer refreshes the page, the popup will continue to reappear (regardless of the page they visit on your website) until the signup fields are completed!

reCAPTCHA has been replaced

You asked, we listened…

reCAPTCHA has been replaced by an alternative security system that works in the background and is not noticeable by your members 99%+ of the time. This should lead to a faster and smoother signup process among other things. No more confusing bus pictures or sidewalks to click!

MemberSpace News: Spring 2024

Paige Gurley — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 22:07:53 +0000

New Features

Organize pages as products

The MemberSpace admin is now structured around products, which are comprised of specific protected pages on your website, or links on other websites (like a private social media group, a Zoom event link, or a template in another software, like Canva or Google Sheets).

Grouping multiple protected pages or links into a single product makes it easier to manage and sell your digital content.

Add external links to your Member Menu

With the introduction of products, you can now include external links in your Member Menu, helping you streamline your content navigation for your members.

Enhancements

Member Button mobile enhancements

We made a few behind-the-scenes improvements to your floating Member Button. On mobile, your Member Button will now maintain the same width as desktop and the same position you set in your Look & Feel editor. This helps to prevent any other floating buttons or beacons on your website from being covered.

Signup and login form updates

We’ve made a few changes to improve your signup and login forms. Your customers are no longer asked to confirm their email address, which means fewer signup fields to help improve conversion rates. Additionally, the Create Account and login buttons are now full-width, and we’ve removed the “forgot email?” link to minimize confusion (though, members can still get help logging in to their accounts via the “forgot password?” link!).

Membership business resources

Inspiration from thriving membership businesses

Meet three MemberSpace customers making an impact with digital products:

Jenni shares her proven movement techniques through virtual yoga classes and an online course.
Abagail helps small business owners become financially free and gain control of their personal lives.
The team at Birthing from Within provides support through educational resources for new and experienced birthing professionals.

Check out the interviews for their secrets to success!

Creative ways to earn money online

MemberSpace customers monetize their expertise with digital products in many ways! Learn how to start a paid book club, publish serial fiction, sell Canva templates, teach music lessons online, or start an online running club.

MemberSpace blog

Hoping to get more customers opening your newsletter? We’ve got a few recommendations for the best day and time to send a newsletter.

Looking for ways to keep customers around longer? Check out 11 cost-effective membership retention strategies for creators.

Catch up on the latest MemberSpace news, membership marketing advice, and more on our blog.

Membership Success Story: Boss Project

Paige Gurley — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 21:52:23 +0000

Membership type: Content library, Online course, Community, Digital downloads
Built with: Squarespace + MemberSpace
Established: 2015

Boss Project was designed to help individuals launch and grow a thriving business through coaching services and their all-inclusive membership.

Boss Project started their membership, the Co-op, to help people launch and grow an online business. Through virtual resources like a content library, online course, community, and digital downloads, members of the Co-op learn how to create a sustainable and scalable business, all while freeing up time for their personal lives.

Instead of buying each product separately, the Co-op grants members unlimited access to all resources.

Meet the owner

Abagail Pumphrey is the co-founder and CEO of Boss Project and the Co-op membership. After a layoff, Abagail started her now 7-figure work-from-home business!

Her goal is to help small business owners gain financial freedom while maintaining control of their personal lives.

Membership Q & A

What is the pain point you solve for your customers?

Our membership is designed to grow your revenue and save you time. We focus on offering a mix of solutions — some are easy to implement (we’re talking a minute or less strategies), and others are more long-term focuses that help people turn their business into an asset that fuels their financial future.

What were you doing before your membership business?

Prior to launching the Co-op, we sold primarily courses. Rolling out the membership meant we could now focus on not just growing recurring revenue, but also providing opportunities for one-off sales to the products available INSIDE our membership.

Membership Tip
In addition to an all-inclusive membership, consider selling individual pieces of your membership as one-off digital products.

What challenges did you have in the early stages of your business? How did you solve those challenges?

Challenges aren’t just something you experience in the early stages of your business. New things pop up all the time. I like to think of them as opportunities. I ask “How can we tackle this new problem like an experiment and try and test things?” rather than thinking about it as a linear problem and solution.

In the early stages, we pretty cold-turkey let go of our 1:1 clients to pursue educating our audience through courses. While this was very effective and grew rapidly, it also meant we were only bringing in one-time purchases. To create more sustainability and ultimately build the team we wanted, we needed a guaranteed base to start from. Growing a membership allowed us to not have to start from $0 at the beginning of every month, even though it presented its own set of unexpected challenges.

Challenges aren’t just something you experience in the early stages of your business. New things pop up all the time. I like to think of them as opportunities.

Abagail Pumphrey, Boss Project

Were there any keys to success, or big "a-ha!" moments that really elevated the growth of your business?

There were many, but one that really sticks out was unraveling my self identity with that of the business. Ultimately having my worth tied into the success or failure of the business meant I was on a whiplash-inducing rollercoaster. One minute I felt on top of the world, and the next felt like I crashed into a brick wall. Until I could really pull back and see myself as independent from my work, I had a ceiling on my potential. Fueled by both the intimidation of actual success AND the larger risks that came with managing a larger company.

At this point I know enough about business that I can see what levers to pull. My mindset and focus play a much bigger part in outcomes at this stage.

Did you have a social media following or large email list before you started your membership? Which platform(s) was your audience on, and how did you initially grow your audience there?

Yes. Initial audience growth was from blogging and Instagram.

How do you market your membership and find new members?

Our membership is on what I like to think of as a launch loop. We drop new templates and resources inside our membership once monthly. This gives us a natural opportunity to promote what’s new to our existing audience and spark a little FOMO. A few times a year we will do a larger promotion, sometimes accompanied by a sale, to add a bit of urgency since our membership is always open.

Each of the Co-op’s pricing tiers is linked to a plan-specific signup link powered by MemberSpace.

Do you spend any money on paid advertisements? Which platform(s) do you advertise on, and how helpful is this in finding new members?

We ran ads significantly in the past, however, we are not currently running any ads to the Co-op.

Facebook/Instagram — with the rising cost of acquisition, we turned off ads for a significant period of time and are just now re-experimenting with them.

Have you done anything to focus on retention and reduce canceled members?

Retention (i.e. minimizing churn) is a massive focus for us internally. While I don’t think there is a prescriptive way that always works (sometimes you try something that worked before, it may not work again), one of my favorite approaches is really taking a pulse on our members.

We consistently poll, survey, and listen to our customers to understand their current challenges, what they are facing in the market, as well as current trends we might want to capture. This fall, we actually did a pretty massive overhaul and moved from exclusively templates to including both the tools and strategies. We rolled out the inclusion of many of our most popular courses. This both was an effective way to attract members and also keep them staying around.

Membership Tip
Surveying and listening to customers is an important way to maintain awareness of their current needs and help you better serve (and retain!) them.

What are some of your favorite online tools for running your business?

Adobe, ManyChat, Slack, Instagram, Fellow, Squarespace

Abagail linked to the login form in her top navigation so members have easy access to protected content.

Do you have a team helping with your membership business? What does your team help with? Are they full-time, or independent contractors?

Yes, we have a lean team of 4 full-time staff.

Jen is our Operations Assistant. She handles customer service, keeps our project management systems running and manages the production of our podcast.

Caitlin is our Program Manager. She assists with curriculum development, ascension planning, program maintenance, and works to understand the needs of our clients and students. AND handles a ton of design work behind the scenes.

Jared is our Marketing Manager and resident encyclopedia. He can recall just about any resource our team has on hand to help a customer in need. He also handles email communication, tech setup, payroll and benefits management.

I’m the owner & CEO. I write nearly all our content. Handle sales strategy. Focus on vision for the company. Host our podcast. And consult with our clients both in group and 1:1 settings.

What's your source of inspiration?

My inspiration is a bit of a moving target. Sometimes it’s a walk in my neighborhood. Other times it’s cooking a new recipe. Maybe a podcast that sparks an idea. Or someone I just see totally crushing it. I constantly look for what is bringing me joy and motivating me to show up.

If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

Don’t make it so complicated. Once you commit to something and consistently show up there. It’s hard to set things down. Simple is scalable. No need to chase all the sparkly squirrels that come your way.

Simple is scalable.

Abagail Pumphrey, Boss Project

What's next for your business?

Just watch out. 2024 is about to be our most wild year yet. We have a lot of top-secret projects on the docket.

Membership Business Takeaways

Selling individual components of your membership as one-off products can be a great way to grow your revenue, as well as introduce new customers to the value of your membership.
Try to see your business challenges as opportunities to experiment, learn new things, and continuously improve!
Staying tuned in to your customers’ current needs can provide valuable insights to inform your membership content and improve retention.
Simple is scalable. Starting small is much better than not starting at all! You can always add additional value as you go.

MemberSpace makes it easy to sell digital products and memberships. It all starts with a simple idea and the willingness to develop customer-centric solutions to challenges your audience is facing.

New Feature: Organize Pages as Products

Paige Gurley — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 21:54:41 +0000

We’ve made it easier to protect and sell your digital products with MemberSpace!

The MemberSpace admin is now structured around products, which are comprised of specific protected pages on your website.

Grouping multiple protected pages into a single product makes it easier to manage and sell your digital content. And, products can now also grant access to links on other websites (like a private social media group, a Zoom event link, or a template in another software, like Canva or Google Sheets).

This exciting enhancement is now live in MemberSpace!

But first…

What are digital products?

Digital products are simply pieces or collections of your digital content.

Some popular examples are:

Content Library — A collection of digital content like videos, tutorials, templates, images, downloadable guides, printable worksheets, and more.
Online Course — Organize your expertise into sequential lessons or modules.
Community — An interactive virtual space for your customers to communicate and connect.
Paid Newsletter — Share updates and exclusive content with paying subscribers.
Private Podcast — Broadcast your expertise privately to paying customers only.
Event — Host a digital or in-person event like a webinar, workshop, or meetup.
eBook — Sell your eBook, drip chapters or excerpts of it, or bundle a series of eBooks.
Video Conferencing — Sell access to a video conferencing event like a coaching session or 1:1 call.
Other — Protect and sell access to any webpage or digital content piece!

MemberSpace Tip
Membership businesses can offer various types of digital products! For example, if your membership includes a private community, that community is a digital product. Or if you send a recurring newsletter only to your members, that’s also a digital product.

Organizing protected pages into products

In MemberSpace, your existing protected pages can now be organized into multi-page products.

This means that instead of managing a long list of webpages in your MemberSpace admin, all protected pages will be neatly nested within a product.

For example, let’s say you’re selling a content library, and you previously protected 3 separate pages:

/videos
/images
/templates

Now, instead of treating each page as a separate piece of digital content, you’ll compile them all within one digital product — your Content Library. From there, you can create one or more plans to grant access to that product (more on plans and pricing below!).

Another important new feature of products:

Easily share external links with your members!

You asked, we listened. We’ve added the option to include external links (like a private social media group, a virtual meeting link, etc.) within your products.

That means any product you create can be comprised of protected pages on your connected website and/or external links on other sites. And yes, those external links can be included in your Member Menu!

Already have existing protected pages in your MemberSpace? We’ll walk you through how to organize your pages into products.

Setting the price for your products

Not much has changed with how you price your digital content. You’ll still create plans to set the pricing for your products. But instead of plans granting access to individual pages, they now grant access to your products.

Create as many different plans and pricing tiers as you need. Each plan can grant access to one or more products, and any given product can be assigned to unlimited plans.

No need to change your existing plans (unless you want to) — just add access to any new products you’d like those plans to have.

Adding value with new products

In addition to helping organize your existing content, this update also makes it easier to add more value to your membership with new products!

Perhaps you currently sell a content library, and would like to offer a more advanced, guided experience with an online course. Or maybe you have a private podcast or newsletter following and your subscribers would like to interact with you and each other in a members-only community.

Structuring your pages as products means you can easily add new products and grant access to those products across different plans or tiers of membership.

How to add a new product to MemberSpace

Once you’ve finished creating your digital content and are ready to share it with the world, you can easily add it to MemberSpace.

Simply visit Products in your left navigation and add a new product.

Select the type of digital product you’d like to sell and give it a name. Then, add protected pages (from your own website) or external links (link to an external website). Next, choose whether it will be included in your Member Menu, and determine when the product should be available to customers (e.g. immediately, or dripped after X days).

If you previously set up the plan(s) that will grant access to this product, you can select them before clicking Add Now at the bottom. Otherwise, skip this step and simply add your product. Then, you can set the pricing for your product.

Need help creating and selling products?

If you need help creating and selling digital products, we’ve got you covered.

Check out our detailed product guides, which walk through the steps to start monetizing your expertise with different types of digital products.

Membership Success Story: Birthing from Within

Paige Gurley — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 20:14:05 +0000

Membership type: Content library, Online course, Community, Events, Member directory, Digital downloads
Built with: Squarespace + MemberSpace
Established: 1998

Birthing from Within prepares parents for childbirth and assists new and experienced birth professionals with valuable educational resources via various digital products.

Birthing from Within is a vibrant membership designed exclusively for birthing professionals. Their extensive resource hub offers a range of educational materials, including a content library, online courses, a private community forum, events, a member directory, and more.

Get the details on Birthing from Within’s journey to success and uncover behind-the-scenes strategies that have helped them thrive!

As a member, birth professionals are listed in a member directory available to parents looking for an expert.

Meet the team

The Birthing from Within team includes multiple leaders and trainers. Before launching their online digital resources, they were focused on hosting in-person live courses and retreats.

Now, they work together to provide birth workers with skills and techniques to support growing families!

We offer various free "intro" workshops to give potential customers a taste of our style and philosophy.

Lauren Vallone, Birthing from Within

Membership Q & A

What is the pain point you solve for your customers?

We provide an alternative to mainstream approaches to perinatal support and birth worker education.

What were you doing before your membership business?

Offering in-person live courses and retreats.

What challenges did you have in the early stages of your business? How did you solve those challenges?

Creating standardized processes and procedures in a business whose customer base requires flexibility. We have had to craft much more detailed and thoughtful policies and find ways to communicate them clearly to our customers.

Were there any keys to success or big "a-ha!" moments that really elevated the growth of your business?

Realizing we could use memberships to offer our online courses on our own website rather than being forced to use a Learning Management System (LMS).

Membership Tip
Hosting digital products on your own website gives you complete control over your content — including the layout, design, member journey, and more!

Birthing from Within hosts various online courses directly on their website.

Here’s an inside look at one course with various modules. Customers can view the different courses to which they have access via the Member Menu.

Did you have a social media following or large email list before you started your membership? Which platform(s) was your audience on, and how did you initially grow your audience there?

Yes, Instagram. We’ve grown our audience by posting sharable content and having a distinct voice.

Membership Tip
Posting shareable, valuable content on social media can boost your business by word of mouth, while establishing a distinctive voice helps to set your brand apart from the crowd.

How do you market your membership and find new members?

We market via Instagram and other social media, as well as including a free year of membership with enrollment in some of our larger programs. We also offer various free “intro” workshops to give potential customers a taste of our style and philosophy.

Membership Tip
Free events can be an effective way to introduce new people to your business and start building trust with them. If they enjoy the event, it’s possible they’ll leave wanting more!

Do you spend any money on paid advertisements? If so, which platform(s) do you advertise on?

Yes. Instagram and Facebook have been useful channels for finding new members.

Have you done anything to focus on retention and reduce canceled members?

We are continuously adding member benefits and soliciting feedback.

Membership Tip
Adding additional benefits to your membership is a great way to continue adding value for your members over time.

What are some of your favorite online tools for running your business?

Trello, Canva, and Circle

Custom registration buttons on the website are linked to branded signup forms powered by MemberSpace.

What's your source of inspiration?

The book that began our company: Birthing from Within

If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

Good enough and completed is better than perfect and unfinished.

What's next for your business?

More in-person events and parent resources.

Good enough and completed is better than perfect and unfinished.

Lauren Vallone, Birthing from Within

Membership Business Takeaways

Selling your digital products from your own website empowers you to take complete control of your content. Set up your customer journey in a way that best suits your audience, and design everything to showcase your unique brand!
Crafting content that encourages sharing can organically increase your business’s visibility. Developing a unique voice helps your brand stand out among the competition.
Hosting complimentary events can be an impactful way to acquaint new people with your business and begin establishing trust. Once they experience what you have to offer first-hand, there’s a chance they’ll be eager for more!
Adding additional perks to your membership shows your commitment to customer satisfaction and can be helpful for growing your pricing (and revenue!) over time.

MemberSpace makes it easy to sell digital products and memberships. It all starts with a simple idea and the willingness to develop customer-centric solutions to challenges your audience is facing.

Membership Success Story: Jenni Rawlings

Paige Gurley — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 21:37:25 +0000

Membership type: Content library, Online course, Community
Built with: Squarespace + MemberSpace
Established: 2016

Jenni Rawlings provides yoga training via science-based classes and continuing teacher education.

Meet Jenni Rawlings, a yoga instructor using MemberSpace to share her knowledge with others. Through her membership, she grants access to an extensive content library of virtual yoga classes as well as various online courses, all carefully curated with her proven movement techniques.

Curious to know the secrets behind her thriving membership business? We put together an exclusive interview with Jenni, diving into her journey and the keys to her success!

Membership includes a content library with 200+ on-demand yoga classes.

Meet the owner

Jenni Rawlings is a yoga teacher with a focus on anatomy, biomechanics, and movement science.

Before launching her online resources, Jenni was teaching in-person classes at local yoga studios. Now, she offers a vast library of on-demand classes as well as courses for ongoing learning.

One key to my success has been giving my yoga teaching a specialized identity.

Jenni Rawlings

Membership Q & A

What is the pain point you solve for your customers?

I provide movement science-based yoga classes as well as continuing education for yoga teachers about anatomy, biomechanics, strength science, pain science, and more.

What were you doing before your membership business?

I taught yoga in person at local yoga studios.

What challenges did you have in the early stages of your business? How did you solve those challenges?

I started creating online yoga classes back in 2016. In the beginning, I was selling each class individually, but I quickly realized that this approach required quite a bit of work and energy because I’d have to announce and promote every class as it was ready on a one-by-one basis. In order to address this challenge, I waited until I’d created about 20 total classes, and then I packaged them all together into a monthly membership library. This meant that I could simply promote my yoga class collection as a whole, which was much easier!

Were there any keys to success, or big "a-ha!" moments that really elevated the growth of your business?

One key to my success has been giving my yoga teaching a specialized identity. The yoga world is huge, and there is a sea of online yoga classes from which to choose! I knew that if my yoga teaching style had a specific focus or specialization, this would help me stand out from the crowd. Movement science underlies the whole way I approach yoga, the body, and movement, so that’s the “brand identity” I decided to emphasize.

Membership Tip
Establishing a unique brand identity is essential to stand out in your niche. Identify a distinctive aspect of your business and shine a spotlight on it!

Jenni uses MemberSpace to offer multiple membership tiers and power the signup process.

Did you have a social media following or large email list before you started your membership? Which platform(s) was your audience on, and how did you initially grow your audience there?

Yes. When I first started my yoga membership, the main platforms I developed were my blog and my business Facebook Page (Jenni Rawlings Yoga). I initially grew my audience in these places by writing and posting about unique and surprising topics that appealed to yoga practitioners who specifically had an interest in the human body and movement. (Since that time, I’ve grown my audience on several other platforms, but the blog and Facebook page were the first main platforms I found success on.)

How do you market your membership and find new members?

My approach is to offer a lot of free and educational yoga content that is useful for people through social media, my blog, and my email list. Throughout this content, I pepper in mentions of my yoga class library and my Continuing Education membership for yoga teachers. My hope is for this “slow and steady” approach to build my membership over time.

Membership Tip
Providing free valuable content builds trust with your audience and casually introduces them to your paid offerings.

Do you spend any money on paid advertisements?

Have you done anything to focus on retention and reduce canceled members?

A few years ago, I added a 7-day free trial to the beginning of my memberships. My hope is that this free trial period gives people a chance to feel out my membership offering and make sure it’s a good fit for them before they commit. This hopefully reduces the amount of cancelations I’d otherwise receive. I also enabled MemberSpace’s built-in cancelation options to offer an extended trial option and a discount coupon option for people who are about to cancel, and I’ve definitely had members take me up on these options!

Membership Tip
Presenting cancelation alternatives like extended trials or discount codes encourages customer retention, often saving those who plan to cancel.

What are some of your favorite online tools for running your business?

Google Sheets, Canva, Typeform, Tidio

Do you have a team helping with your membership business?

Nope, just me!

What's your source of inspiration?

I don’t have a single source of inspiration. I mostly do my best to learn and optimize my business through experience and trial and error.

Membership Tip
Feel free to explore new ideas and experiment with additional digital products; trial and error offers valuable feedback for growth. Remember, failure is actually an opportunity to improve your business!

If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

Come up with creative ways to build my email list more quickly than I did in the very beginning. (For example, turn a blog post I’d already written into a PDF that I could use to tease a social media post and send to people for free through a simple email sign-up form. I do this quite a bit today and it’s been a great strategy. I just wish I had started doing it sooner!)

I don't have a single source of inspiration. I mostly do my best to learn and optimize my business through experience and trial and error.

Jenni Rawlings

What's next for your business?

I’ve done a lot of work on building my social media audience, but to maximize my reach and potential, I’d also like to put more attention on improving the SEO of my actual website. My hope is for Google to help with bringing leads to my offerings in addition to social media.

Membership Business Takeaways

Discover a distinctive element within your business to set yourself apart from others in your niche. Establishing a unique brand identity can help influence customers to choose you over competitors.
Providing valuable content to your audience at no cost helps to build trust in your brand and serves as a subtle introduction to your paid membership offerings.
To help discourage customers from canceling, try providing cancelation alternatives like an extended trial or discount code. When a customer goes to cancel, they’ll be presented with an alternate solution.
It’s okay to fail. In fact, it’s a natural part of growth. Experiment with new digital products or implement fresh ideas. Even if things don’t go as planned, you gain valuable lessons to shape your future business decisions.

MemberSpace makes it easy to sell digital products and memberships. It all starts with a simple idea and the willingness to develop customer-centric solutions to challenges your audience is facing.

MemberSpace News: Winter 2024

Paige Gurley — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 22:10:27 +0000

New Features

Increase conversion rates with convenient checkout options

On MemberSpace payment forms, your customers can now autofill their payment info via Apple Pay and Google Pay. Current users of these digital wallets will have a simple, one-click option to complete their purchase.

Boost your revenue with Plan Migration

We’ve made it easy to implement a pricing update with our newest feature, Plan Migration! Seamlessly move your customers (and their existing payment method) from one subscription to another, en masse.

Membership business resources

Step-by-step guides to build your digital products

Ready to expand your membership offerings? Browse our new Product Guides for ideas, and learn how to set up additional digital products to add more value to your membership!

Introducing MemberSpace University

MemberSpace University is here to support you in launching and growing your membership business! This free resource hub includes step-by-step guides to create and sell digital products, live events with MemberSpace experts, marketing tips and resources to grow your sales, and more.

Inspiration from thriving membership businesses

We recently interviewed Jeremy and Stephen, two MemberSpace customers making an impact with digital products. Jeremy’s digital community boosts productivity, and Stephen empowers those who stutter through his online course and content library. Check out the interviews for their secrets to success!

Start a private community on social media

In addition to our single sign-on integration with Circle, our customers can set up a community forum on other platforms like Instagram or Facebook Groups (convenient for members who are already on social media!).

2023 State of Membership report

Our free State of Membership report shares what we learned from surveying thousands of creators and business owners about what made memberships successful in 2023. We even included some tips on how you can implement the trends we uncovered!

MemberSpace blog

Ready to launch your online coaching practice? Whether you’re a fitness coach, life coach, business coach, or beyond, discover the 6 key steps to kickstart your online coaching business in under 48 hours!

Thinking about promoting your membership or digital offerings through video content? Check out 10 ways to use video to sell digital products on YouTube.

Catch up on the latest MemberSpace news, membership marketing advice, and more on our blog.

Paige Gurley, Author at

Dashboard redesign and revenue analytics

New dashboard analytics

View data for specific plans and time periods

Detailed revenue data

Memberships breakdown

Products and content performance tracking

Reviewing historical data

Pricing migration improvements

Schedule a non-prorated pricing update

Change your customers' plans immediately

Update your customers' plans on their next billing dates

Migration reports

Failed payments

Changing a plan immediately with no charge

Membership Success Story: Commercial Receivers Association

Meet the CEO

Membership Q & A

What is the pain point you solve for your customers?

What were you doing before your membership business?

What challenges did you have in the early stages of your business?

Were there any keys to success, or big "a-ha!" moments that really elevated the growth of your business?

Did you have a social media following or large email list before you started your membership?

How do you market your membership and find new members?

Do you spend any money on paid advertisements?

Have you done anything to focus on retention and reduce canceled members?

What are some of your favorite online tools for running your business?

Do you have a team helping with your membership business?

What's your source of inspiration?

If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

What's next for your business?

Membership Business Takeaways

Need help getting started?

New feature: Easier member signup

Sign up with Google social sign-on

Enabling and disabling Google SSO

Customizing the Google SSO button

Signup/login form enhancements

Improve conversions with after signup fields

reCAPTCHA has been replaced

MemberSpace News: Spring 2024

New Features

Organize pages as products

Add external links to your Member Menu

Enhancements

Member Button mobile enhancements

Signup and login form updates

Membership business resources

Inspiration from thriving membership businesses

Creative ways to earn money online

MemberSpace blog

Membership Success Story: Boss Project

Meet the owner

Membership Q & A

What is the pain point you solve for your customers?

What were you doing before your membership business?

What challenges did you have in the early stages of your business? How did you solve those challenges?

Were there any keys to success, or big "a-ha!" moments that really elevated the growth of your business?

Did you have a social media following or large email list before you started your membership? Which platform(s) was your audience on, and how did you initially grow your audience there?

How do you market your membership and find new members?

Do you spend any money on paid advertisements? Which platform(s) do you advertise on, and how helpful is this in finding new members?

Have you done anything to focus on retention and reduce canceled members?

What are some of your favorite online tools for running your business?

Do you have a team helping with your membership business? What does your team help with? Are they full-time, or independent contractors?

What's your source of inspiration?

If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

What's next for your business?

Membership Business Takeaways

Need help getting started?

New Feature: Organize Pages as Products

What are digital products?

Organizing protected pages into products

Easily share external links with your members!

Setting the price for your products

Adding value with new products

How to add a new product to MemberSpace

Need help creating and selling products?

Membership Success Story: Birthing from Within

Meet the team

Membership Q & A