Terms
Ben L Collins, the Google Sheets expert behind the education site benlcollins.com Ben L Collins is extremely grateful for his membership business and the economy of creators all over the world. "When you've created something - whether you're creative or creating a technical course or a building membership - when a random person opens their wallet and gives you money, you realize the incredible privilege you have in this particular moment in time where you can do that kind of work and connect with so many individuals.
"If somebody is spending the time to firstly - take a look at my work and like it enough to spend the money, I want to do absolutely everything I can do to make it as perfect as it can be for the person," he continues.
Ben enjoys the idea of membership as it's so much more than a single fee: "We're not talking about a consulting agreement where the person hires you to complete an assignment which is written down and everyone is aware of the terms of service they're receiving. More of a relation in which the person says, 'I want to join your bandwagon for the next year, month or quarter. I love what you're up to and I'd like to help your efforts and join in this."
The membership program provides you with a powerful incentive to be the very best that you can, and strive to make wonderful content. "People will naturally expect me to make high-quality stuff, but I also really want to - to make it for them as well as for myself. "
Ben states that it can help in building a strong bond with the community "I think I'm contributing to people rather than an random person purchasing the course but you do not know whether they even look at it. It feels more immediate with the membership or closer. It's about establishing a stronger connection that is more than an exchange."
From "always-on" to microdeliverables
When the covid-19 pandemic struck, Ben had been delivering classes on manipulation of data using Google Sheets for 10 years. "I taught more than 15 courses via Teachable, perhaps with 25 launches, because some of my classes had been revived. When you teach the courses is a must to commit as much, if not more effort - in marketing, than actually delivering the course. Although it's fascinating, I'm not a fan as it's not what I am good at."
Ben L Collins Ben L Collins had delivered e-courses for ten years before covid struck
Ben knew he preferred to focus on technical spreadsheet contents and assisting people. "People would come to me and say 'How do I do that?' and it would be fascinating to figure out.
"Membership is a concept I was thinking about maybe two or even three, times in the past," Ben says. Ben. "I enjoyed the concept since it's a recurring income. By joining, you're not having to constantly launch something in order to earn money. You can have a big spike but then you're left with nothing after that." He explains that it's a much more secure platform, which allows the creator to concentrate on creating as well as the connection with the audience, more than having to handle marketing.
"For a few years I'd considered the concept of joining a club, but never got past the process of research. I was afraid about feeling like that I was always on when I followed this approach in which I was always doing something. I was always able to pull back and kept on going with the lessons." But he had finished what he set out to achieve.
"I'd almost done everything to cover with full courses. It was hard to find other courses that weren't becoming more specialized, and the market gets smaller with more advanced things," he continues. "There wasn't a good economic case to do some of the classes I could consider."
Ben adds that he had a feeling of burnout. "I was thinking "I've got to create 100 Teachable video tutorials that must be one unit.' I didn't have the energy to create this in a single block. You don't even know whether people will purchase it. "
Ben explains that online courses require the creator to publish their work before they try to sell it, and you don't necessarily know whether it will be a success. "It might take you between three and six months to design an excellent course. If the course doesn't work in the market, you won't be able to sell the course in the future, " he adds. "I realized that I needed an ongoing connection with my readers with Microdeliverables and microdeadlines."
Chess Simulating a game of chess. Google Sheets
Membership was suddenly logical. "I'll sign up for a daily newsletter. We can also have templates and tutorials However, they don't have to be part of an entire topic, and tied into each other. The information could be a bit smaller which is more manageable for me - and more manageable for readers to digest."
Also, from a user viewpoint, a lot of people don't complete their online courses "It's daunting when you buy the course which has 10-hours of content. It's difficult for students to squeeze in 10 hours of content therefore you stop and you never get around getting it done. If you get one email a week, you could set aside 30 minutes over a lunch break and get lots of value from the week before you ignore it for the next week." Ben explains.
At the beginning of spring 2024 Ben began to consider about joining. Through the summer, he sat down to draw out precisely what it would look like when he launched the club in the month of September.
Email is king
Talking about his career, Ben is keen to thank his partner. "I'm very fortunate that my wife has accomplished everything I've mentioned prior to. She has had her own company; she's launched a number of products and was able to create an email database." Ben received a number of tips early during his career in membership "that was extremely helpful" - and one of those lessons was the need to establish an email list.
Ben's wife was working as a content marketer when Ben was beginning to establish his network. "She had an agency that did marketing for clients, writing blogs, SEO posts as well as social media. This was extremely helpful, evidently for what I was trying to achieve at the time." Ben adds.
"Emails are the most important channel to interact or connect to your target audience," he continues. The author admits that this may not be as relevant to the younger generation, but says: "The problem with social media, especially newer platforms like TikTok are that they create this detachment between you and your followers.
It's your responsibility to create content but the platform just shows whatever is viral as well as what's trending. it doesn't matter if you've got 10,000 or 100,000 fans, if the piece of content doesn't rank per the algorithm, not any of your followers likely to be able to view it. There's a risk of a weak connection. Your existence is governed by the rules of this platform. If they modify their algorithms or fall out of favor - we've seen lots of social media sites disappear - therefore, having an email list is essential.
Tips for those who want to become membership managers
"If someone were to start a new membership I'd advise them to "Just start!" Ben smiles. "With hindsight, I wish I'd done this just two years ago. The things that take time. When you start sooner to get started, the more time you'll have."
Ben at Zoom Ben hosting an online session with his members
He admits that it's always simple to conduct a bit further research "You may convince yourself that there's something you're missing or that there's a better approach. I've made that mistake before. However, when you press "Go" and release things out into the world, and start interacting with people in real life It takes on a new life. It becomes a matter of actually solving problems you must solve and not these imaginary issues."
The author advises members to not overthink it: "If you're addressing someone's problem - or is in need of solving a issue, and your membership could help, then start talking to them! It can be improved in time."
Additional information
To find out more and sign up to Ben's daily Google Sheets tips, go to benlcollins.com.