What is a membership site?

March 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What is a membership site?What – A definition:

Here is a basic definition of the word “Membership”: the total number of members belonging to an organization, society, etc.  Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/membership
Short sweet and to the point but let’s elaborate on that shall we? Basically it is a group brought together through a common interest. It can be to learn something new, strengthen a skill, working toward a common goal, promote ideas… you get the picture. When you have an idea, a product, a class – anything you want to share with your audience you can make a membership program out of it.

Now whether that will be a successful membership site, that is another story. For right now we are going to stick with the the “What” question.

What  – Examples:

Here are some examples of memberships: Church, your local Gym, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace. These are all groups that you join, become active in, learn something and share ideas – a membeship site/program is a community.

What – An Idea:

A membership site is also a place to connect with people.

This is the part I like best about membership sites and is at the core of why I am in business for myself – creating opportunities for those who are struggling to connect and find support.

The right membership site can offer that, a solution to the problem you are facing right now.

What – Building Your Tribe:

A membership site is also a way to build and support your tribe.

Sidenote: If you haven’t read Seth Godin’s book Tribes, run don’t walk to you nearest bookstore or computer and buy it. If you have read it already, I suggest you read it again before starting a membership site.

Once you have a tribe of followers and they find success in the training and ideas you are teaching, they are going to look for ongoing support. Your membership site can offer that by connecting and bringing your tribe together so that they not only help each other out but in the end, you as well!

Through interaction with your members you learn what areas they are struggling with. What is working, what isn’t. What questions are they asking, what type of support will they need in the future? This gives you all sorts of feedback and information on what products and services you may need to offer in the future.

So maybe instead of membership site, we need to call it a Tribe Site? Hmm, have to think about that one huh?

Filed Under: Membership Sites, Small Business, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , , ,

Starting a membership site in 2011

January 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There has been a lot of talk in the past year or two about membership sites, how to use them and how to make tons of money from them.

There are definitely entrepreneurs out there who make a lot of money from membership sites – to be honest from what I have seen they are few and far between. Don’t get me wrong, a well done membership site can absolutely be a money maker, the potential is there and there for the taking. However, what I see happening over and over again is the idea of throwing up a membership site, inviting some people and then the money will start rolling in.

Sorry, but it ain’t going to happen that way! Membership sites take work. They take planning, forethought and management after the fact. When I walk someone through the process of setting up a membership site they often get frustrated by all my questions. There are some that barely answer and some that realize oh, I didn’t think of that and will take a step back for a bit and put some foundational pieces in the plan.

I’m getting pretty forceful and determined about making this the first step in working with a client. I don’t know if I can emphasize enough just how important this step is… it is huge! I have seen too many great membership sites get started, working beautifully and then go nowhere because there was no plan beyond the idea of  “if you build it they will come”. I’m raising my hand on that one – I have been guilty in the past of this exact same thing.

If you take the time, up front, you will save yourself countless hours of frustration and worry later on.

Here is just one example of a planning process. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Membership Sites, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , , ,

Out with the old and in with the new

December 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hello 2011!I say this every year, but sheesh!? Where did the year go?

This Christmas weekend I’ll be spending time with my family, opening presents, eating lots of food, playing with the dogs, watching some of my favorite Christmas movies, and reading the Christmas Story. A time to just “be”.

December tends to be a reflective time of year too. A time to look back on what happened over the year and look ahead to the New Year. Last weekend I carved out a block of time to take a closer look at what got done, what didn’t and why.

This big issue I found… not planning. At least not thorough concrete plans that were written down on paper. I had lots of big plans in my head but that doesn’t get you very far does it.

There is a power in writing ideas down, seeing the words and acting on them. This didn’t happen nearly enough and I had to ask myself, why? I know part of it was overwhelm with too many ideas floating around in my head which made it hard to know where to start.

Another reason was that I did not take the time to be quiet and let the ideas flow. This is where a lot of my “aha” moments have come from this year and will be a bigger part of my business plan in 2011. These “aha” moments have come from reflective moments while at training seminars, journaling each day and many more while walking the dog. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Small Business, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , ,

Working With a VA Tip: Do your personalities match?

November 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This past year part of my journey both professionally and personally has been to take a closer look at my strengths, weaknesses and personality. Diving in and examining how that affects me and the people I work with – both as a team leader and when working with a client.

It has felt like working on a big puzzle at times, getting stuck on the outer edge, not sure how to fill in the center. But now the center pieces are starting to fall into place and understanding my personality better has had a huge impact on this process.

I have read a ton of books on these subjects, I’m a sucker for those personality tests, I’m curious to see what results will be. This year has been different, the personality tests have started to make sense. Light bulb moments of why I enjoy certain things and others I don’t, why this job/task/project has been so much fun and why this one really drove me nuts.

My business is starting to change as a result of this understanding. I am taking a closer look at they type of work I do, services I provide and the people I work with. Now I can put a finger on why some things worked and some really did not.

When doing a consult with a client, I am now learning to listen better and ask questions about work styles, work preferences, communication needs etc. Interestingly, this journey has shown me that some of my strengths, or at least what I have thought of as strengths, are tasks, jobs etc. that I have grown into – not because they are things I like to do but because I have been around long enough to know the “big picture” and this is the “next logical step”. This happened quite a bit in the corporate world and I have seen it in my journey with clients as well.

Here are some of the things I have come to understand better about me this year:

  • I’m a troubleshooter & a fixer – give me a problem to figure out and I will dive in and see how to make it work. This is one reasons I love working with WordPress, creating videos or editing an audio – I see what needs to be done now, I know how to do it but now it is time to jump in figure out how to make the pieces fit.
  • I’m an emailer – Even as a kid I was not one to talk on the phone, did not enjoy it at all. Nowadays, if it can be typed, drawn and faxed/emailed, woohoo, I’m your gal. Of course the phone is not out of the question but I do avoid it if at all possible. But I am much more comfortable with the written word then I am the verbal. It will also depend on the client or team member I am talking to. There are some that a regular call is no problem, the call will be fun, energizing, creative etc. it is a connection point with others – especially when really technical explanations are needed, just give me my keyboard!
  • I’m not a manager/minder – I enjoy collaborating with professionals but have come to realize that I am not a manager anymore. I’ve done the whole hiring, training, firing thing before, for many years in fact and it is not something I am looking to go back to. The team I will be building over the next year will be professionals I can collaborate with and not have to manage.
  • I’m a collaborator – There is something magical about sharing creative energy, sharing ideas, brainstorming and then working with someone to make it happen. Working with a group of people, all of whom are working from their strengths to bring that vision to life. That is so energizing. This is a new focus for me in 2011, finding ways to collaborate with others whose services, skills, personality etc. compliment mine and create something really cool and meaningful.

What about you?

Do you know and understand your personality enough to know what type of VA you can work with? Enough to know what kind of VA you need? Did you catch the difference in those 2 questions? We’ll talk about the first question here.

What type of person can you work with:

  • Are you a phone person or an emailer?
  • Communication – Do you need lots of details or are you more of a “just the facts ma’am” type of person?
  • Are you serious? Funny? Sarcastic?
  • What speed do you operate? Full speed ahead all the time, fits and starts, slow and methodical?

These are all things you should be aware of and be able to talk with a potential VA (or your current one…) to find the best fit for you. Once you know and understand your needs, you can ask questions during a consultation about how they prefer to work and who they like to work with. The answers to these questions can give you confidence in your decision or it might show you some potential red flags before you get in too deep.

This may seem like a lot of work but it is such an important step that it warrants some time and attention. Make sure you are noticing your work habits, work hours and communication preferences. What bugs you when talking with or emailing others, what makes you say, wow, that was a great email, I know exactly what they are talking about. Or I really need to be on the phone for this one to help us both understand what I need. Are you visual in your learning? Audio?

All of these are important in your journey as a business owner. The team you bring on will either help move you forward or hold you back. Make sure you are building a team that will help move you and your business forward.

What other personality traits do you think are important when working with a virtual assistant?

Filed Under: How To Find & Hire A Virtual Assistant, The Blue Jeans VA, Virtual Assistants Tagged With: , ,

The Blessings of Self Employment

October 25, 2010 By 1 Comment

Following my dream of Self-Employment has been a roller coaster ride. Figuring out what my business would be, taking that leap of faith, the first day of the business, finding my first clients, learning new skills, watching the bank account rise and fall, days with not enough work and others I couldn’t get it all done…

Each step along the way, no matter if it was forward or backwards, I have known that I was on the right path. Amazingly (trust me amazingly….) I have never doubted my decision to go out on my own, no second guessing, no wondering, “What have I done???”. Of course there are days of questioning and searching for answers but never the thought of “I need to go find a J-O-B”.

This month has been one of the most amazing and one of the hardest months of my self-employment journey and I’m still working on getting my feet back underneath me and one day at a time I am getting there.

Let me tell you a little story…

…about my Great Aunt Berneice. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, The Blue Jeans VA

WordPress Wednesday: Press This Tool

August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The more I learn about WordPress the more I realize I have to learn. The “Press This” tool is quite a tool, to not have to think about logging into your site in order to do a quick post may be exactly what is needed to get your blogging habit back on track.

For my bookmarks toolbar I use Xmarks which you can sync across computers and different browsers. Hmm, I”m sensing another tutorial….

Thanks to Andy Traub for introducing me to this cool little tool!

Filed Under: Blogging, The Blue Jeans VA, Wordpress Tutorials Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Do you have the right tools for your business?

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Over the weekend I made a purchase I have been putting off, simply because I didn’t want to spend the money and even more… I didn’t want to go through the hassle yet. At least not until I had some time (have you heard that excuse before?). Thankfully, I changed my mind!

I have been a huge fan of the eMachine computers (I know… don’t laugh too hard!). They have been awesome computers for me, just outgrew my 2nd. Rarely had any problems and both lasted for a long, long time.

But the poor little guy was getting old, I needed way more space and a quite a bit more computing power. In comes the granddaddy of a computer… an HP with a 1 TB hard drive and a wonderfully huge 6 GB RAM. Woohoo! Now this might not seem like a big deal these days but consider that my desktop pc was chugging along with only a 160 GB hard drive and 1GB RAM, it was a trooper each day, especially with what I was putting it through!

Using it has been a dream, at least it was after I got everything transferred over, that took a long time and I still have a few programs that need to be installed. I am faster, more efficient and I’m no longer wishing for greater speed or wondering what I can delete or uninstall to give the poor computer some breathing room.

So this got me thinking, what other areas in my business have I put off, or ignored, getting the right tool for? It hit me the other day that I have not been taking advantage of the help of other VAs. Yes, I have been ignoring the very thing I tell my clients to do. So last week one of the VAs I had worked with earlier this year, got in touch to say hello and check in and my goodness what excellent timing! I realized right then and there that this was a tool I needed to have in my business and keep in my business. Good ole’ fashioned help. (Not to generalize virtual assistants as tools… really more of an asset :) but I think you get the drift)

By bringing on another virtual assistant to help me out in my own business, I am going to become even more efficient, the to-do-list and want-to-do list is going to start being tackled (it already is!), and I am going to be able move some of my projects forward. Wow novel idea!

So I am taking a closer look again at that to-do-list and see what other areas I can have her take on so that I can keep moving my business forward and tackle some of those wish list items that seem to keep falling to the bottom of my to-do-list.

What tool do you need today to keep your business moving forward?

If you had an assistant, what could you tackle and cross of your to-do-list today? This week?

P.S. If you have ever considered bringing on a virtual assistant onto your team check out our FREE special report “How To Find And Hire A Virtual Assistant”. Sign up for it here on our site for instant access.

Filed Under: Small Business, The Blue Jeans VA, Virtual Assistants Tagged With: , , , , ,

Cleaning House – Clearing the Inbox

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

So how many free reports, telesememinars, training programs and newsletters have you signed up for lately? Probably more then you realized.

I just spent some time going through my inbox that was way overcrowded with emails that I was not reading, or barely glancing at. It made me realize that I could start cleaning house and cutting way back on the number of emails I receive on a daily and weekly basis. What a relief!

There is no fun to be had with a full inbox filled with newsletters and announcements that you just haven’t had time to read and keep putting off reading. Ah the sweet sound of the delete key.

Not only is this a great way to clear up the inbox it is also a way to gain back control of your time, effort and focus so that you can use your time wisely and effectively.

Filed Under: Email Management, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , ,

Mistakes Coaches Make When Setting Up A Website – Part 3

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In the first 2 parts of this series we covered the pros & cons of the All-In-One Package for coaches and the awesome pawesome custom designed WordPress site… until it isn’t so awesome.

The missing piece, not thinking long term

Now I don’t want to target coaches only with this problem, just about every entrepreneur out there when they are getting started, have this issue. It’s also perfectly natural.

You are getting started in your coaching practice, you have a million things to consider, organize and set up. You are most likely bootstrapping your business and every dollar counts. So you look at the very short term and set up only what is absolutely essential right here, right now to get you up and running.

In many areas this will work, you do what you can then, add features plus all the bells and whistles you need, as you need them. But are you looking ahead 1, 3, 6, even 12 months down the road? Have you laid out an action plan of steps and needs as you grow your coaching practice? This is essential for your online presence: Website, Social Media, eCommerce.

When you don’t take that peek down the road a bit it is very easy to get caught in a trap of a solution that “Will work for now”. I can’t tell you how many times that has come back to haunt many entrepreneurs… and yes I’m including myself in that statement. Of course watching the $$ is vital but when you skimp in important areas such as shopping cart, list management and website it will hurt you in the end more then it helps up front.

Your website will become your home base on the internet and it needs to have a strong foundation in order for you to grow and expand, without needing to re-do the entire thing in a few months time. As mentioned before, a self hosted WordPress site is my favorite foundation to get started with.

There are many who think a WordPress site is too “bloggy” looking and I can see that point. You want your site to stand out, be noticed and not look like everyone else’s. But you also want and NEED a site that can be up and running in a short period of time, is something that you can be comfortable working with and does not cost you an arm and a leg in the process. A WordPress site can do that for you… can your current site do all this:

  • Easily change the look by installing a new theme
  • Let you easily update the site
  • Allow you to easily add new marketing mediums, blogging, video, podcasting & social media
  • Expandable and adaptable website to allow you to add to new products, programs & features as you add them
  • Need a membership site? No problem WordPress can handle that with WishList Member or Digital Access Pass
  • Easily integrate your shopping cart and/or list building  into the site
  • Add a forum in a matter of a couple hours… at most!

So make sure to plan

Take some time to look down the road and review the goals you have in place for your business. What areas of the business will you be developing in the next few months, what role does your website need to play? Will you be venturing into new forms of marketing? What features will you be needing with the new products and/or programs coming up in the next 12 – 18 months?

Do you feel you have a strong foundation in place to get started and grow with? If not contact me today for your FREE consultation and we can see if WordPress might be a good solution for you.

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, List Building, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , , , ,

Mistakes Coaches Make When Setting Up a Website – Part 2

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Site looks perfect – how do I add a page?

Okay you have totally awesome graphics, you love the look and feel of your website! You have it uploaded to your site either as a traditional HTML website or as a custom blog design. It looks great, you are getting great comments on the look of your website. Great that is what you were hoping for…

After a few weeks you realize you need to add a page or remove a page. You need to add some sub pages that appear when you hover over the navigation tab. Then it hits you, uh oh I don’t know how to do that!

You check with the designer and you find out that your entire menu is a graphic. So in order to add a page you will need a new graphic made, have it installed and linked to the new page.

Now I am not a proponent of the coach doing it all. Coaching, website guru, designer, bookkeeping, customer service etc. In fact I think that is the fastest way to burnout. BUT I firmly believe that you the coach needs to be able to quickly and easily jump into your site to make minor changes. That sentence that you REALLY want to tweak or add a new page, drop in a video etc.

In order to get that small little thing that is staring at you from your to-do-list you need to be able to jump in and take care of it in just a couple of minutes.

Your site looks incredible… content? I don’t remember what it was about.

You have your design in place and it looks great you are getting comments on how nice your site looks… but where are the comments on your content? On the great blog post? There may be a few mentions but not nearly as many as you thought.

Take a look at you design – is it overwhelming and taking away from the content? A nicely designed, professional looking website is a must but there is also such a thing as “Simple is Best”. When your content is getting lost in the beautiful design it may be time to reconsider the design.

I have seen some gorgeous websites and I get caught up in the design details and then have to scroll down to the content.  Not good! You are establishing your online presence to have people get to know you and what you offer, not how wonderful your designer is.

Don’t get me wrong I think a designer is an important part of the team and the right designer who gets what you are trying to accomplish can create something for you that looks incredible but does not take away from your content.

What can overwhelm your content?

  • A header section that is wide and moves the content to the bottom of the screen or below it sometimes.
  • Sidebars that have huge loud graphics so that your eyes bounce from sidebar to side bar missing the juicy content in the middle.

So what do you need to consider before having a custom design created?

  • What is my message? What do I want to convey right away when a visitor arrives on my site?
  • Will my content and headlines be visible right away or does the header move it all to the bottom?
  • How many sidebars do I really need? Will 1 be enough or do I need 2? What can I do to keep the important info displayed but not overwhelm?
  • Can I add and delete pages without needing a new graphic made?
  • Are there different page styles available? Full page (no sidebars), Left or Right Sidebar only (only 1 sidebar) etc.

If you have a website for your coaching business is there anything you would love to change right now? If so what  and why?

Filed Under: Blog Design, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts