People will leave and quit your membership. There is no such thing as 100% member retention.
The good news for you?
They leave for a variety of reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with your membership and content.
But don’t worry, there are ways to deal with (and help minimize) these exiting members.
What’s been happening this week inside WishList Insider?
Did someone say “Preparing for a NEW version of WishList Member?” 🙂
This episode includes…
You put a lot of work into creating and promoting your Membership Site so you want to ensure all of that effort pays off and your members stick around once they register.
Did you know that there are a number of small things you can do immediately following a member sign up that will drastically improve your retention rates?
Having members “stick” around is something that should be on the top of everyone’s priority list.
I love getting packages in the mail. I mean REALLY love it!
Whether it’s a new pile of T-shirts sent by Threadless or a stack of comics delivered by MyComicShop.com, getting cool stuff in the mail is awesome.
Returning home to find mail that isn’t a bill gets me excited! My guess is that many of you share a similar feeling in this situation.
So how can you deliver this same feeling of excitement to your members while also reminding them to access your site?
“Now that I have a Membership site, I don’t know what to do next.”
Sound familiar?
Do you find yourself asking; “What are the daily tasks I need to do to keep my site running?”
Then what you need is a list of items that if you achieve them, will result in a thriving community within your Membership site.
Webinars are an excellent way to add quality content to your membership site.
They allow you to re-package existing content (be it audio or written) and also to teach your members in a quick and easy fashion. Since many webinars allow audience participation, it enables you to deliver content in a totally different form.
Successful webinars can be achieved by focusing on 3 key factors.
We’ve all heard the concept of the Lifetime Value of a Member, (LVM) right?
It’s a simple concept where you take your monthly fee and multiply that by the average number of months somebody remains a member, and there you have it! You now know the expected revenue from each member.
The hard question is, do you actually use that info productively? This is an area where most membership site owners fall short.
Marketing guru Dan Kennedy once said that what happens after the sale is made is critically important to the lifetime value of that customer.
I’m going to take that a step further and say that when it comes to membership sites and continuity programs, I believe that what happens after the initial sale is the single most important element to the lifetime value and retention of your members.
Your members are giving you money because they feel you have something valuable to share with them.
You can convince people though sales letters and referrals that you’re providing value, but if they sign up and can’t find it, they’ll think you cheated them.
You haven’t done anything unethical but the perception is there.
“Where’s all this great content I was promised?”, they’ll ask themselves as they slam your site to others.
The information is there but they can’t find it. They were dumped on the home page without directions.
So how do you let them know about all the content you have created and keep them from leaving?
I’ve been asked by a few people over the last little while (I’m looking in your general direction, Stu ;)) to write up a piece comparing the parallels running between the comic book industry and membership sites/communities.
Initially, you might think to yourself;
“What similarities can be found between my Membership site and a bunch of nerds reading about Thor and Superman punching stuff?”
Well, you might be surprised actually. And don’t worry, since I’m a self-proclaimed “nerd” myself, I can use that term 😉
Did you know that comic book readers/collectors are one of the most diehard groups of loyalists out there today? You would be hard-pressed to find another collection of individuals coming together with such passion each and every week.
Of course, the big questions is HOW can a comparison of these two groups help improve your membership site?
To borrow some comic book terminology; “Turn The Page For More!”