The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast
150: Start a Membership Site with Amanda McKinney
Description:
Have you been thinking about starting a membership site? Perhaps you’ve heard of membership sites and you’re wondering how you can start one as a yoga teacher. Shannon and Amanda McKinney both started their own membership sites in 2019 and dive into what it takes to start and run a successful membership site.
Amanda is a marketing coach for yoga teachers with a membership site, Marketing Yoga with Confidence, which focuses on helping yoga teachers to market themselves and their businesses authentically, without slimy, sales-y marketing. Shannon’s membership site, Pelvic Health Professionals, provides pelvic health advocates including physiotherapists, yoga teachers, fitness professionals and more, with updated information surrounding pelvic health.
Starting a membership site is not something either of them had considered, but eventually they did. They share their journey of why they started their membership sites, and what they have learned along the process. Amanda and Shannon also discuss some of the finer details of running a membership site, from doing launches, the technology and methods for content creation, and how to get started.
If you are wondering how this can be used by yoga teachers wanting to focus on more online offerings, or you’ve wanted to learn more about the inner workings of starting and running a membership site, this episode is for you.
Key Takeaways:
[5:28] Shannon introduces her guest for this episode - Amanda McKinney.
[7:19] What is Amanda's membership site and what got her started on that?
[11:56] Amanda was familiar with the technology for her membership site when she launched, but didn't have any of the content ready.
[13:16] Amanda and Shannon had the idea for a membership site at the same time. Shannon shares her journey of starting her membership site.
[15:45] Both Amanda and Shannon initially opened their membership sites and let their founding members guide the direction for the content.
[17:48] What is a membership site and how does it apply to yoga teachers?
[20:30] A yoga membership site has been called an "online yoga studio". Does this mean that students will no longer be going to classes?
[23:12] What are some of the different decisions Shannon and Amanda have made in creating content? They share some of their techniques and methods for conveying content.
[27:43] Shannon and Amanda discuss their platforms for their membership sites.
[29:26] Let's talk tech. What are some of the tech that Amanda and Shannon use?
[35:06] One of the things to manage is people feeling like they're getting left behind with the amount of content available on membership sites. Be careful with that!
[37:10] Another option is making your own customized platform for your membership site, but be sure not to go off on a tangent or invest too much before you need to.
[40:44] What's the best way to gather information from ideal clients?
[44:29] Be open to the possibilities of what your idea could become!
[49:31] Churn (people leaving) is a natural part of running a membership site. Do not become heartbroken or discouraged!
[54:12] Both Amanda and Shannon open and close the doors to their membership sites at certain times. Why have they chosen to go this route?
[1:00:57] Share your ideas for membership sites for yoga teachers or your own membership site in the comments!
Links:
Gratitude to our Sponsor Schedulicity and Pelvic Health Professionals
Quotes from this episode:
"Listen to what your audience says." - Amanda
"The idea that my audience was asking for it was reason enough for me to figure it out." - Amanda
"If anyone's thinking about creating a membership site, in and of itself, think about who you want in there. ... At the beginning, it is really important to have quality." - Amanda
"I really try and help yoga teachers understand the power of online classes, because yes, it's different, but it's so impactful." - Amanda
"Use what you have, and figure out what you need." - Amanda