You’re not where you want to be… but let me tell you something … neither are you where you used to be!
I’m always banging on about having systems in place that work for you, systems that save you time, systems that save you money but the other week I was on a FREE strategy call with a lady who was wanting to set up a membership and I wanted to share the story with you today.
She came to me initially to talk about setting up a specific platform which was this all singing all dancing platform that would house everything.
Right up my street, yes?
You’re not wrong!
I LOVE everything about them!
However, time was not on our side.
Yep we could set up this platform and:
- Invest time
- Invest money
- A whole lot of energy
However ….
a) it would be done in such a short period of time between then and Xmas requiring an VIP day.
b) there wouldn’t actually be anything to put in there yet!
The membership wasn’t yet open & wasn’t technically due for public launch for a good few months!
In this instance and due to budget, it seemed unnecessary to invest as much as we would at such an early stage of the membership journey when all the lady needed to do was to use what she already had in place to just start.
Granted if she already had the platform or if the membership had been up and running for a while and the content was building up OR if there were a desperate need for a back office for example you had absolutely nowhere to host your trainings .. then of course the only option would be to get it all set up.
Of course there is also the argument of getting everything set up as you mean to go on which is absolutely an option and something I highly recommend too.
However my suggestion on this occasion was to do what I had done similar with my own membership Pain In The Tech! and initially launch it solely to just founding members using whatever platform or systems she currently had in place right now.
What is a founding member?
A founding member is enrolled on what is usually a membership at a super low ‘grandfathered price’ for as long as they are in the membership.
The idea is that it’s not yet this ‘all singing all dancing’ membership and that those founding members in there know that they are helping you to create a membership fit for a king (or queen!) in the not so distant future.
They share their thoughts, they welcome changes, they understand that things might not work as well as you had intended them to because they are being part of the journey with you to build what will soon become a recurring revenue stream.
But why?
My client didn’t need this all singing all dancing platform right now. Yes the aim is there to use it eventually and likely come Q2 we’d be building the membership’s back office but by then she will have:
- The membership structure
- The copy for the sales page
- Member testimonials to put behind a full launch
- Video Trainings
- Client feedback
- Customer onboarding/offboarding procedures etc
I mentioned at the start I am all about systems and procedures and while on one hand yes I do love the platforms where you can house EVERYTHING because they do save so much time and effort.
But I am also going to be honest when someone comes to me wanting x if for now they just need a helping hand with y or their budget doesn’t allow for an all signing all dancing platform just yet.
So I’ll finish this super long post with two things I’d like you to take from this depending on which stage of business you are at….
- Don’t feel like something is completely out of reach because you can’t afford these kinds of platforms just yet… and don’t stop taking small steps towards those big goals. There is work you can do beforehand and I’m 99% sure too that you are working on some platform right now (even if it’s as simple as a PayPal link to set up recurring payments and a Facebook group) to do a soft/founding member launch.
- Even if you CAN afford these big platforms and you are soooo desperate to have everything in one place; don’t forget about the work that you still need to do before you launch. The platform you use to deliver is just one element of the whole system.
Reconsider jumping in with two feet on platforms that are actually really quite expensive to just sit there doing nothing for months.
Get your bearings, make sure that you have the structure of the membership, you know what’s going in there, how often you have to show up, the onboarding process, off boarding process (because people will leave!) and take it one step at a time.
If you need a hand to work on ALL the elements of your next launch or even a membership perhaps then please reach out!
My Systems Bootcamp allows us both to get our heads together and do some process mapping, looking at the customer journey, go through the tech that will work best for you right now and going forward should you need me too; implement EVERYTHING that needs implementing (yes I won’t just tell you what to do I will actually do it for you if you want!).
Book a call now if you want to chat about how I can help.. and if you plan to launch in the up and coming months then it’s not too early to put a deposit down for my time to start when you’re ready!