Subscription Entrepreneur: Recent Episodes

Eric Turnnessen

Welcome to the Subscription Entrepreneur podcast with your host Eric Turnnessen, founder of MemberMouse, a membership platform which powers subscription websites. Eric draws from his 10+ years experience working with recurring revenue businesses and in this podcast explores the challenges faced and lessons learned by company founders, consultants and innovators. We discuss how you can find your personal expression in business, practical tools to get you up and running, high-level strategies, common pitfalls, navigating the digital world and actionable steps for you to succeed at anything. Our goal is for each interview to be a mentor and guiding light for your personal journey. Learn more about starting a subscription-based business at membermouse.com.

We are beyond excited to share this episode of our podcast with you today.

This conversation was over 6-months in the making and we can't tell you how much joy it brings us to finally press *publish* on this post.

Why's that, you ask?

It's because our guest is none other than André Chaperon.

If you're not already familiar with André and his work, you are in for a real treat.

You see, it'd be almost impossible to tell the story of online marketing without devoting at least one chapter to André and his work. In fact, there is an entire chapter in Dotcom Secrets devoted to an email marketing concept he created.

André is the creator of online courses like the Art of Email and Sphere of Influence - which have been carefully studied and used by tens of thousands of successful online entrepreneurs over the years.

He rarely appears on podcasts and we are truly grateful for the opportunity to share his wisdom and perspective with you.

And while it's true that André can teach you email marketing strategies that result in greater profits for your business, he's also capable of helping you realize something much more important.

André is a systems thinker at heart and has a true gift when it comes to helping people understand the frameworks they need to succeed. And that's what this episode is all about.

So, go grab yourself a cup of tea and be sure to pay attention. André freely shares from the wisdom he's acquired over his past 17 years of creating income online.

We hope you enjoy!

DotCom Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Company Online (1st Edition)

Why did you become an entrepreneur?

Starting a business is a risky path where success is far from guaranteed.

If we had to guess your answer, we'd say the potential upside of entrepreneurship was too appealing to resist...

The ability to control where, when, and how much you work
The end of taking orders from a boss who doesn't appreciate you
An earning potential that's limited only by your own vision and efforts
And the possibility of reaching your full personal & professional potential

...or maybe you're a "natural born entrepreneur" who couldn't last more than one day in a regular job anyways. We know your type 😉.

Either way, we all have to start somewhere, right?

Something we've noticed throughout hundreds of conversations over the years is that the dreams of entrepreneurship often seem emerge at some of our lowest points. Like when you've been laid off from a job. Or have a big project shut down by the "higher ups" who don't even make an effort to see your true value.

In these moments – as attractive as the idea of being your own boss or 10x'ing your income might be – all you can think of is escape. Escape from the day-job, the unfulfilling rat race, or the stifling corporate environment.

And so, your singular goal becomes finding a way to replace your income and pay your bills so you have the footing to pursue your deeper dreams.

The thing is, getting to this point can take awhile. For some entrepreneurs, they toil away for years on a side project before it ever comes financially viable.

While this may be a "normal" part of entrepreneurship, there are exceptions to the rule.

Our guest on today's episode of the podcast is one of them.

Her name is Haley Ingram. She's the founder of a successful online business called Coffee & Contracts. They're a membership site that provides real estate agents with marketing tools and social media templates.

When Haley started Coffee & Contracts three years ago, her goal was the same as so many aspiring entrepreneurs: to replace the income from her job as soon as possible.

The amazing thing is that Haley managed to do this in just two months! She really took that "as soon as possible" thing to heart.

We're so excited to share this conversation with you because in it, Haley shares the exact steps she took to accomplish this.

We also explore topics like:

How you can harness the power of social media to quickly grow your business
Haley's approach to consistent content creation and project management
The importance of bringing your personality to your business
And much more

Haley is a really smart entrepreneur and we can't wait for you to learn from her journey.

Does it ever feel impossible to stand out in a world that seems to be getting noisier each day?

Have you ever wondered how you can find your voice and communicate in a way that resonates with your audience and builds a community?

These are tough questions and their answers don’t come easy.

The online marketing world is full of teachers, experts, and “gurus,” who are ready to sell you the latest tactics and strategies to hack your way to success.

But the reality of things oftentimes looks much different.

Tactics and “growth hacks” don’t work the way you think they will.

So, what can you do? How can you identify the right areas of your business to work on? How do you know what the best next step to take is?

For the answers to these challenging questions, we turn to our very special guest on today’s podcast episode: David Sherry.

David is the founder of Death to the Stock Photo. Even if you’ve never heard of his company before, chances are high that you’ve seen their creative photos. Traces of their work can be found on websites across all corners of the internet.

David created Death to Stock 6 years ago and successfully grew the company to over 500,000 subscribers and $1.5 million dollars in revenue without the use of advertising. He's a huge-advocate of word of mouth marketing and shares advice from his experience on how you can best implement it in your business.

After building and growing Death to Stock, David now focuses his time and efforts on helping companies and brands succeed with effective, personal, and most of all human marketing. If you've ever felt like your marketplace is too noisy for you to stand out in or ever wondered if you can create a business and be yourself at the same time, this episode is for you.

David shares how you can find your voice, create content that resonates with your audience, build momentum, and take the right next step in your business and marketing efforts. If you're tired of hearing regurgitated "tactics" and "techniques" from so-called experts, this episode will be a breath of fresh air for you. We hope you enjoy and benefit from this episode!

What do you think of when you hear the word magic?

Maybe your mind conjures up the image of a David Blaine wannabe – asking you to pick a card, any card with a bit too much bravado in their voice.

Or perhaps you're transported to the wizarding world of Harry Potter – hearing Hermione correct Ron on the correct pronunciation of wingardium leviosa.

And yet, for our guest on today's episode of the podcast, the word magic has a completely different meaning. For her, magic is a practice that you can use to grow your business.

Her name is Sam Garcia, and she's the founder of a marketing agency called Dirty Alchemy. She helps entrepreneurs, experts, and coaches grow their online businesses through both practical and mystical means. Sam is an expert in everything from launch strategy, funnel design, content marketing, and copywriting.

We're thrilled to share this episode with you today because Sam has a really interesting – and unconventional – approach to growing online businesses.

As we hinted at earlier, Sam views the act of building your business as both a magical practice and a form of spiritual development.

We have an expansive yet practical conversation that touches on a lot of things we don't hear many entrepreneurs talk about, like:

What it means to externalize your energy as an entrepreneur
A process you can go through to meet the soul of your business
& How to tune into your emotions and nervous system for guidance

This is a really fun and engaging episode that we hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Ahh... recurring revenue.

It's the dream, right?

About as close as you can come to the mythical "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow.

When done right, recurring revenue can create a highly stable, predictable, and scalable income stream for your business.

Plus, it comes in all different shapes and sizes and can be designed in a way that perfectly fits you and your business model.

For example, recurring revenue can be generated through an online course, a digital content subscription, or even a private membership community.

In fact, here at MemberMouse, we work with thousands of online entrepreneurs and business owners who are all hard at work building recurring revenue in one form or another.

And Mike Cliffe-Jones — our special guest on today's episode of the podcast — is no exception.

Before we introduce him to you, let us tell you the quick story of how this episode came to be in the first place.

You see, Mike is a long-time listener of our show and recently sent us an incredibly nice note, thanking us for creating these episodes.

After emailing back and forth a bit, we eventually hopped on a call to connect.

As we got to know Mike and hear his story, it became clear that we needed to record an episode with him.

Here's why:

Over the past 12 years, Mike has quietly built a remarkable online business called Lanzarote Information.

While he's not the sort of guy to brag about his achievements, we can tell you firsthand that he has a ton of wisdom to share with you about creating success AND recurring revenue online.

In this episode, you'll discover how he started his online business in the first place, why he added a subscription revenue stream, and the important lessons he's learned since launching a private membership club and paid newsletter.

And the best part?

All of the ways to create recurring revenue you'll learn from Mike are clear, simple, and very straightforward. There are no 500-piece funnels or mind-boggling automations involved at all.

We're beyond grateful for the opportunity to share this conversation with you and hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Neil Asher is my special guest on today’s episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

If you’re not familiar with Neil, he's the founder of Aussie Online Entrepreneurs.

They’re a membership business that’s helped over 5,000 people create profitable Amazon businesses over the past 9 years.

In our conversation, you'll hear how Neil built an online membership site that now gives him the freedom and flexibility to travel the world, spend more time with his family, and positively impact the lives of thousands of people.

We chat candidly about all things related to life, business, and entrepreneurship, exploring a number of engaging topics like:

— The vital importance of community in the digital age

— Why it’s so important to set the proper foundation for your membership from the very start

— And Some of the specific MemberMouse features that have helped Neil add over $100,000 to his business

Neil is an amazing entrepreneur and I'm grateful for the opportunity to share his wisdom with you today.

As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Over the past 13 years here at MemberMouse, we’ve seen our customers start successful membership sites in nearly every niche imaginable:

Japanese nail art
Handstand training
Paleo meal planning
Electronic bass music
Canadian natural textiles
Dating for single parents

The list goes on and on and on. Trust us.

And even though it’s become almost cliche to utter the advice…

“The riches are in the niches”

…more and more, this seems to be true.

If you’ve ever doubted the power of getting super narrow with your niche selection – or felt mildly afraid that no one will understand your idea because it’s too “weird” or too specific – we’re beyond excited to introduce you to our guest on today’s episode of the podcast.

She’s living proof that even the most esoteric and specific niches are full of people who are longing for deeper education and connection.

Her name is Danielle MacKinnon. She’s an animal communicator (also known as a pet psychic), author, and entrepreneur.

Over the past 8 years, Danielle has built a very successful online business that consists of membership sites, online courses, and private communities.

She joins us on the show today to share the story of how she became an animal communicator, started her online platform, and grew it into a thriving business.

If you’re working on an idea that you’re worried might be “too niche,” this episode is for you.

In it, Danielle shares a ton of helpful advice about trusting your intuition and following its lead.

Anne Janzer is our special guest on today's episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

We're excited to share this conversation with you because Anne is the author of an amazing book called Subscription Marketing.

In it, Anne makes the case for a new approach to marketing that's specifically designed to help membership and subscription businesses grow.

She calls this approach "value nurturing." And it’s what we explore in today's episode.

We dive deep into frameworks and strategies you can use to...

Help your customers quickly find success with your product
Create value outside of your product
and align your business with your customers' values

If you're building a recurring revenue business of any kind, this episode is for you.

One last note before we get started:

In the second part of my conversation with Anne, she mentions a guide that summarizes all the value nurturing strategies found in her book. If you'd like a copy of it, you can find it in the show notes of this episode. Just head on over to SubscriptionEntrepreneur.com/185 to get it.

So without further ado, let's get to it!

Let’s play a quick word association game:

When you think about building your business, what thoughts, feelings, and ideas come to mind for you?

Would you say it’s…

Exciting
Rewarding
& Challenging?

Or maybe you’d describe it as…

Trying
Stressful
& Exhausting?

To be honest, the reality of starting and growing a business is a big blend of all of these.

And yet, our special guest on today’s episode of the podcast — Jordan Gray — chose a different word to describe the “gestalt” of his entrepreneurial journey.

What word is that?

You guessed it: FUN.

If you’re not familiar with Jordan, he’s a relationship coach, writer, and online course creator.

Over the past 8 years, he’s built a very successful online business that’s reached over 80 million readers, generated multiple seven figures in revenue, and transformed the lives of 10,000+ students.

(all while having a lot of fun in the process)

We are really excited to share our conversation with you today for one reason in particular:

You see, most of the time when Jordan appears on a podcast, he’s there to talk about dating, relationships, and intimacy.

This makes sense since he’s an expert in these areas…

…but almost no one takes the time to ask him about his business.

And that’s what today’s episode is all about.

You’ll learn about Jordan and hear the story of how he found joy in building his business from the ground up.

We’re grateful for everything that Jordan shares and sincerely hope you enjoy our conversation.

Esai Arasi is my special guest on today's episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

I'm really excited to share our conversation with you because Esai is a membership engagement expert.

For over 12 years, she's helped entrepreneurs design membership experiences that encourage course completion, build community engagement, and boost member retention.

In fact — in a fitness membership — Esai was able to 10x member engagement and lift retention by almost 90%.

She does this by combining the power of personality types, video game theory, and tech automation.

This is a highly practical episode where you'll discover the systems and frameworks she uses to create engaged memberships. Plus, you’ll learn how to implement them in your own business.

One note before we get started:

In the second part of our conversation, Esai shares a specific way you can use MemberMouse to identify the most and least engaged people in your membership. She does this with the assistance of a tool called Zapier. If you're not familiar with Zapier, it's an amazing tool that helps you connect different software that you use and trigger automated tasks. If you want to implement the strategy she teaches you, be sure to sign up for a free Zapier account.

So without further ado, let's get to it!

I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Jordan Layman is my special guest on this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Jordan is the co-founder of a business called Idea Fab Labs. They're a "maker space" that gives people access to high-tech tools and educational workshops — sort of like a gym for artists and creatives.

What's fascinating is that Jordan uses MemberMouse to manage an in-person facility. Instead of protecting pages and videos on a website, he's protecting access to laser cutters and 3D printers in a physical space.

In our conversation, Jordan shares some thought provoking ideas about memberships, the sharing economy, and the power of a creative community. This is one of our most unique episodes to date and I can't wait for you to learn from Jordan.

So without further ado, let's get to it!

I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Do you ever wish you could take a peek behind the scenes of a successful membership site?

We do.

It'd be fascinating to see how they deliver their content, what tools they use, and how their member engagement stats look.

This is one of the reasons we love having conversations with entrepreneurs on our podcast. We get to sit down with them for an hour and hear about how they tackle the day-to-day challenges that come with running a content and community business.

Challenges like:

What can we do to make sure our existing members stay engaged?
How many emails should we send in our new member onboarding series?
Where should we host our community? A Facebook group? Or something else?

That's why we're thrilled to share today's episode with you.

Our special guest is Rachael Dietrich.

She's the operations manager of a thriving membership community called Front Row Dads. They offer online courses, monthly challenges, in-person retreats, and more to help fathers become "family men with businesses" rather than "businessmen with families".

Over the past 3.5 years, Rachel has helped Front Row Dads nearly quadruple the size of their community.

She's involved with everything that happens inside the Front Row Dads membership – from new member onboarding, technology selection, community management, and more. She's super knowledgable about what really goes into running a successful membership community.

If you've ever wanted a behind the scenes tour of a growing membership, this is your chance.

We hope you enjoy our conversation with Rachael as much as we did.

Have you ever wanted to build a business around a topic, activity, or field you're deeply passionate about?

It's kind of the dream, right?

Getting to work on something day in and day out that's fueled by your natural interest and enthusiasm.

And for our special guest on this episode of our podcast – Neely Quinn – that dream became a reality back in 2013 when she started TrainingBeta. They're a membership site that provides people with world-class training programs, nutrition consulting, and educational resources for rock climbers.

We're really excited to share this conversation with you because Neely reveals what really goes into turning a passion project into a profitable business.

We explore the systems and strategies she’s put in place over the past few years to attract a loyal audience, create engaging content, and manage her growing team.

If you've ever wondered what really goes into building a successful membership site, this episode is for you.

Imagine for a second that you’re an expert fitness instructor.

You’ve learned from the best in the world, taught in-person classes for a decade, and even own a successful brick-and-mortar studio.

But you’re totally burned out and ready for a change.

Instead of scaling your in-person teaching, you want to better leverage your time and energy by building an online business.

The only thing is that you’re brand-new to online entrepreneurship.

Where do you start? What do you do first?

These are the questions that our guest on today’s episode of the podcast faced 7 years ago.

Her name is Emma Jory and she’s the founder of ePilates Online.

Emma joins us on the show today to share the highs and the lows from her experience building her online pilates membership site.

Emma is a lovely person with a ton of valuable insights to share with you.

We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

1:26 – Meet Emma Jory!
6:28 – How Emma transitioned from a brick-and-mortar pilates studio to an online platform
15:20 – A look at the way Emma creates, delivers, and markets her content
21:02 – How Emma manages the time she spends with free vs. paid members
28:54 – Emma shares some helpful pilates exercises for busy entrepreneurs
32:29 – The advice Emma wishes she received when she started her online business
40:57 – Where you can learn more about Emma

Luke Ward is my special guest on this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

I'm excited to share our conversation with you because Luke recently achieved something many entrepreneurs dream of:

He successfully sold his business – a membership site called BassGorilla.

And in our conversation, we travel through all of the key stages that led up to that moment – from starting, growing, and ultimately finding the right buyer for his business.

Something I love about Luke's journey is that he initially started his membership site as a side project.

He had no experience with tech, marketing, or course creation and learned everything he needed as he went along.

In this episode, Luke freely shares so many helpful tips and strategies you can use to grow your business and I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

You've heard the story of The Tortoise & The Hare, right?

You know...

The one where the slow-and-steady tortoise beats the overconfident hare in a foot race?

It's an amazing fable that contains an important lesson for us all – especially as entrepreneurs.

In fact, our guest on today's episode of the podcast loves it so much that she features it right on her homepage.

Her name is Elena Mutonono. She's an online entrepreneur, coach, and educator who helps language teachers start and grow their online teaching businesses.

While she's definitely experienced her fair share of "sprints" in the course of building her business, she runs her business a bit more like the tortoise.

"Slow and steady wins the race."

In our conversation, we dive deep into how Elena navigated the specific growth stages of her membership site – from startup to scaling.

She shares what initially inspired her to start her business. Plus, how she found her niche, got traction, and built her content & community platform.

And like most people building online businesses, Elena faced a fair number of technical challenges along the way. You’ll hear all about these hurdles and discover what she did to overcome them.

We're honored to share this conversation with you and sincerely hope you enjoy it.

George Papazov is my special guest on this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

He's an inspiring entrepreneur, remarkable human, and the founder of TRADEPRO Academy.

They're a membership site that helps aspiring traders achieve lasting and sustainable success through in-depth courses and supportive communities.

In this episode, you'll get to know George and hear all about how he started, grew, and expanded his membership site.

Plus, he shares the specific strategies he used to double his lifetime customer value and triple overall revenue after hitting a bit of a plateau in his business.

We also explore many of the mindsets, attitudes, and perspectives that've helped him achieve success as an entrepreneur.

There is a lot of strategic advice and practical wisdom in this episode and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen. And this is Episode 176 of the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

"This has always been my challenge – how can I multiply myself? Because exchanging my time for money is unsustainable. With MemberMouse, I now have a way to strategically get my knowledge and content out there."

Does dicing onions have anything to do with choosing WordPress plugins?

Could mastering the sous vide help you work with a page builder?

And is cooking in Michelin star kitchens the perfect preparation for entrepreneurship?

Our guest on this episode of the podcast seems to think so!

His name is Jamie Raftery. He’s a classically trained chef who’s worked in some of the world’s top kitchens over the past two decades.

Jamie joins us on the show today to share how his journey as a chef led him to create his business – The Holistic Chef Academy. It’s a cooking website that aims to educate, inspire, and empower people to prepare healthy and delicious plant-based recipes.

Plus, we discuss the challenges he faced as he prepared to launch a brand-new membership offering for his community.

Jamie is an inspiring entrepreneur and we sincerely hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

Teresa Heath-Wareing is my special guest on this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

I'm excited to share this conversation with you because I feel it speaks perfectly to the energy and momentum of starting new journeys.

While the idea of fresh starts, big dreams, and new projects can be exciting...

...building and launching anything new can also be a bit nerve-wracking.

This is doubly true for business ventures that often require months of planning and significant investments of time and energy.

And that's what this episode is all about.

In it, you'll hear the story of how Teresa planned, built, and launched her first membership site.

We dive deep into the way she planned her launch, the specific webinar strategies she used to get a 25% conversion rate, and what she did to ensure her members wanted to stick around for the long-haul.

Plus, she shares how she conquered the fear that held her back from launching once and for all.

As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and I sincerely hope this episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast helps you move closer to accomplishing your goals.

Can you answer a quick question for us?

(…and no, this isn’t for a job interview or dating profile )

How would you describe yourself?

Would you say that you’re…

—Fun?
—Adventurous?
—Easy-going?

Would you ever describe yourself as a “numbers person?” As someone who loves to crack open Excel or Quickbooks on a Saturday morning and power through an annual budget or profit forecasting plan?

If you answered yes to that question, more power to you!

But if you’re like a lot of entrepreneurs, diving into your books is pretty low on the list of things you look forward to. You’d rather be creating something new or connecting with your audience.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Who has time for such a tedious activity anyways? Can’t we just leave it to the bean counters?”

But here’s the thing:

As an entrepreneur and business owner – especially if you don’t consider yourself a “numbers person” – you have a responsibility to know your numbers and understand your books.

When you do, you can make informed and empowered decisions that can lead to even more profits in your business.

In fact, this is exactly what our guest on today’s episode of the podcast preaches over and over again to her clients.

Her name is Danielle Hayden. She’s the creator of the Profit Planner and the co-founder of Kickstart Accounting.

She’s made it her mission to empower entrepreneurs to better understand their numbers and financials so they can grow their businesses and lead the lives they want to live.

And as we head towards the end of 2021 and the start of a new year, we thought it’d be a good idea to have her on the show to share her financial wisdom with you.

This episode is full of practical advice and helpful mindsets you can use to get a better understanding of the financial side of your business – even if you’re not a numbers person.

We have an open and honest conversation about all things related to finance and entrepreneurship, and hope you enjoy our conversation as much as we did.

“I think we glamorize being busy. I mean, I do anyway. I used to brag about how stressed out I was. Something happened where I hit a wall. So, it's only recently that this has changed for me." - Krista RipmaHave you ever felt the toll of entrepreneurship on your mental, physical, or emotional health?

Or — to be honest — on all three?

Starting your own business is no joke.

It is not for the faint of heart.

Once you’re up and running, it’s like your business takes on a life of its own. It demands more and more from you, asking you to learn new skills, step into uncomfortable roles, and evolve beyond your current identity.

Because of this, it can be easy to put your nose to the grindstone and just work, work, work.

To make matters worse, we live in a world that seems to glamorize 80-hour weeks, pushing yourself beyond exhaustion, and working till your eyeballs bleed (as Gary Vee would say ).

It can even get to the point where you feel guilty if you’re not working.

Raise your hand if you can relate to that!

Now…

We’re not saying that there isn’t a time for hard work and hustle.

What we are saying is that it’s now more important than ever to know when you’re pushing yourself too far. Otherwise, you risk burning yourself out. This can put your health and the future of your business into jeopardy.

In fact, this is exactly what happened to Krista Ripma — our special guest on today’s episode of the podcast.

About three and a half years ago, she started her business — Authentic Audience. They’re a marketing agency that helps creative entrepreneurs tell their stories, attract their ideal customers, and create more success and abundance in their businesses.

Her business grew quickly and she was soon working all of the time. And, as you’ll hear in the intro to this episode, she used to even brag about how stressed out she was.

Earlier this year, Krista hit a wall like never before. She tumbled into a deep state of burnout that she now calls a “mini death.” This forced her to step away from her business and devote herself to regaining balance in life.

Today, she comes on the podcast to talk about her journey as an entrepreneur and shares the specific ways she recovered from burnout, including some powerful self-care routines that are now a part of her daily life.

If you’ve ever struggled with stress, anxiety, or burnout as an entrepreneur, we have a feeling you’ll connect and benefit from our conversation.

Griff Williams is my special guest on today's episode of the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Griff is an online entrepreneur and the founder of MindEasy.com.

They're a membership site that helps people discover the life-changing power of meditation.

Griff joins me on the show today to share the story of how he transitioned from his career as a full-time firefighter to an online business owner.

We explore the myriad of challenges he faced at the beginning of his journey, how he first gained traction and grew MindEasy, and his plans to continue the evolution of his business.

Griff & I have an open and honest conversation about the reality of building an online business and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is episode 172 of the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

We have a very special guest to welcome onto today's episode of the podcast.Her name is Rui Liu and she's the founder of an amazing company called Grass People Tree.Her business is a unique combination of eCommerce and online education where she provides people with access to rare, artisan teas and in-depth information and teaching about tea culture.In our conversation, Rui shares the story of growing up in a remote and rural region of China, moving to London as a teen, and rediscovering the significance of tea as an adult.Plus, you'll hear how returning to her roots awakened her desire to share the wonders of tea with the world.We have a free-flowing and down-to-earth discussion and sincerely hope you enjoy it.

“Eternal marketing truths… really? Isn’t that a bit of a hyped up exaggeration?”Not when they’re coming from Brian Kurtz — our special guest on today’s episode of the podcast.You see, Brian is not your garden-variety marketer.He’s more of a living legend. Dare we say the Michael Jordan or Tom Brady of the marketing world?Whichever analogy you want to go with, here’s what you need to know:Brian has a storied career that spans 40+ years across 5 decades. His marketing strategies have helped sell over a billion dollars worth of books, information products, and recurring subscriptions.Now it’s his mission to teach and transmit the timeless truths of marketing he’s discovered to the next generation of entrepreneurs and business owners.And that’s one of the reasons we’re so excited to share this episode with you.The second is because Brian is an extraordinary person who embodies his core values and practices what he preaches:-Generosity-Relationships-& OverdeliveryIn our conversation, Brian cracks open his vault of marketing wisdom and shares at least 11 timeless marketing truths with you. Truths you can use to build lasting relationships with your customers, sell more products and services, and grow a powerful and ethical business.Plus, we explore the importance of recurring revenue and detail ways you can optimize the systems in your business to increase member retention and boost lifetime customer value.If this is your first time meeting Brian, then we’re grateful for the opportunity to introduce you. If you’re already familiar with him, then you already know why this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

Have you ever thought about starting your own podcast?There are so many reasons to do so:-They are a great way to create content for multiple marketing channels (your blog, social media, etc.)-They can help position you as a leader and trusted expert in your field-You can have in-depth conversations with experts in your industry (who you might have a hard time connective with otherwise)We could go on and on about the benefits of podcasting. Yet, even with all of the positive things a podcast can do you for your life and business, you can probably think of a few reasons to not start one:-I don't have much experience at interviewing and am terrified of public speaking...-Who will want to come on my show and talk to me? I'm nobody!-I'll probably need to get a bunch of expensive recording equipment and soundproof my office, right?We get it.In fact, many of these same fears floated through our minds when we decided to start our podcast a few years back.That's one of the reasons we invited Jeremy Weisz onto our show today. To talk with you about all the amazing things a podcast can do for your life and business. The other reason we invited him on the show is because he's an all-around amazing human being who's can eat a near unlimited amount of soup (seriously, ask him about it sometime).Jeremy started his show — the Inspired Insider Podcast — back in 2008 when podcasting was still in its infancy. Since then, he's interviewed thousands of the world's top entrepreneurs, experts, and business owners. On top of that, he attributes much of the success he's achieved in life and business to starting and sticking with his podcast.Jeremy is a wealth of information and we explore many helpful topics like...-The easiest ways for you to start a podcast-How to get the best guests to come on your show (no matter how "famous" they are)-What Jeremy does to prepare for fantastic interviews-And much more!If you've ever wanted a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into running a successful podcast, this episode is for you.

What if right now is the perfect time for you to launch your membership or subscription?…and we don’t mean now in a “rah rah, NOW is the time to take massive action” sort of way (said in our best Tony Robbins voice).…or in an Eckhart Tolle “the present moment is all that exists” kind of way.Nope.The “now” we’re talking about refers to something we learned from Natalie Walstein — our special guest on today’s episode of the podcast.Natalie is an awesome online entrepreneur, career astrologer, and the founder of Soulshine Astrology.In this episode, you’ll hear why memberships are a perfect match for the energy of 2021 and beyond. We also dive deep into the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship and hear what it took for her to build a successful online business.In our conversation with Natalie, you’ll hear all about:— How & why Natalie started her business in the first place— Why it’s so important to take breaks from your business (and how to do it)— And what inspired her to switch from her old business model to the membership modelNo matter where you are in the process of planning, starting, or growing a membership, we have a feeling you’ll love this magical episode.

"Long story short, I got laid off from my job on Monday at 3:00 PM. I woke up the next morning, listened to Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' and decided I was going to work for myself.”Do you see that quote? ☝️It’s the very abbreviated version of how John Doherty — our special guest on today’s episode of the podcast — started his company Credo. They’re a marketplace that connects businesses with qualified digital marketing providers and agencies.Today, Credo is growing and thriving as a business. But as you’ll hear in this episode, a lot happened in between John blasting Eminem in his headphones and becoming the CEO of company he actually wanted to run.To put that into perspective, John tried 5 different business models over the course of 8 years before landing on the recurring revenue model Credo uses today. Talk about persistence!We have a fun and down-to-earth conversation with John where you’ll hear more about his journey building Credo, learn how he manages his time and energy, and discover some of the biggest lessons he’s learned as an entrepreneur.After you listen to it, you may even feel inspired to play your own favorite hype song and tackle that project you’ve been dreaming about for ages.

John Warrillow is our special guest on today's episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.If you're not familiar with John, he's the best-selling author of three books that are "must reads" for anyone in the membership or subscription world.More than that, he's an expert in helping entrepreneurs design, build, and scale truly valuable businesses.You know... the kind that can be sold for life-changing amounts of money.And that's what today's episode is all about.In our conversation, John reveals why recurring revenue businesses are so attractive to potential buyers. And we explore what the process of selling a business actually looks like.John’s a wealth of information and shares many real-life stories of people who have built and sold their own membership and subscription businesses.Plus, you'll discover some practical steps you can take to get your business ready to sell and the biggest mistakes you should avoid in the process.Even if you never plan on selling your business, this episode is full of insights and advice that can help you make it as valuable as possible.

Kim Werker is our special guest on today's episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.Kim is the co-founder of Digits & Threads. They're a member-supported online magazine that’s solely focused on publishing stories and articles about the Canadian fiber and textile arts industry.Yep...She took that whole "pick a niche" thing pretty seriously!Kim joins us on the show today to share the exciting story of how she and her business partner started Digits & Threads back in May of 2020.We discuss how the limitations and constraints posed by the pandemic were actually a good thing that helped her make strategic choices that led to meaningful progress.Plus, Kim shares the exact strategies she used to enroll her first 148 founding members and prove that her idea for a member-supported magazine was also a viable business.Kim is full of insights, energy, and enthusiasm and we can't wait for you to hear her fresh perspective on memberships and entrepreneurship.

How well do you know your customers?Are you acutely aware of their needs, wants, fears, frustrations, and desires?Can you define their challenges with astounding detail and describe their dreams with perfect clarity?More importantly, can you succinctly show them how your product or service is the thing that will help them resolve their problems and achieve their goals?Unless you’re already a superstar marketer, we’re guessing you didn’t answer either of those questions with an emphatic YES.When it comes time to communicate the value you have to offer your market, it probably feels a bit more like guesswork.Like you’re aiming for a bullseye while blindfolded.Here’s the thing:The difference between knowing what goes on in the hearts and minds of your prospects and taking a random shot in the dark can be the deciding factor in whether you attract, convert, and retain your best customers… or not.So, how do you actually do this?How do you discover what the people in your market actually want and communicate with them in a way that leads them to think:“Yes! This is exactly what I’m looking for.”The answer lies in two simple words:Customer Research.(Don’t roll your eyes!)While these may not be the sexiest words in the English language, they do hold the key to creating marketing, messaging, and even products that are irresistible to your current and future customers.Today, we’re thrilled to share this episode of our podcast with you because our guest is an absolute expert in all things related to customer research.Her name is Jen Havice.She’s the author of Finding The Right Message and a messaging strategist who works specifically with mission-driven membership and subscription business owners.Jen knows a thing or two (or three) about conducting the kind of customer research that uncovers the insights you need to speak directly to the pains, needs, and desired outcomes of your market.In our conversation today, we dive head first into the world of customer research and explore what it is, why it’s so important, and how you can implement it in your business.Jen is full of practical insights and openly shares her strategies, methods, and even the specific questions you can ask to get in perfect sync with your prospects.If you’ve ever wondered how to craft the sort of messaging that attracts, converts, and retains your best customers, this episode is for you.

What are your hopes, goals, and aspirations for 2021?Are you feeling ready and excited to turn your dream for an online business into a reality?Or maybe you finally have the energy and inspiration to create that new product, course, or offering for your audience.Whatever it is, the new year is an incredible time for fresh starts and bold initiatives.There seems to be a little bit of magic in the air after the clock strikes midnight and the calendar switches over to 2021.And in the spirit of the new year, we are thrilled to share this very special episode of our podcast with you.Our guest today is none other than Miles Beckler.If you're not familiar with him, Miles is a digital marketing, content creating, and business building extraordinaire.Over the past decade, he's built two wildly successful online businesses in two polar opposite niches (you'll hear what they are at 3:44 in the episode).Through his websites and content, Miles has reached over 40-million people and grown his YouTube channel to over 160,000 subscribers.In our conversation today, we kick things off by posing a question to Miles we hear time and time again from our own customers and community: “How can I gain more visibility for my online business?”Miles is a true expert when it comes to building an engaged audience online and we can't wait for you to hear his answer.From there, we dive deep into an exploration of the key strategies, mindsets, and perspectives you'll need to succeed online in 2021 and beyond.Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or brand new to this whole online business thing, we can't think of a better person to help set you up for success in the new year.Plus, we convince Miles to share his closely-guarded popcorn recipe that we secretly think is the true source of his limitless energy and enthusiasm.

15 more days.Can you believe it?Just over two weeks is all that's left of the year that flipped nearly everything upside down for everyone.If you feel like you're running on fumes, just trying to make it out of 2020 with your sanity intact, we have a feeling you'll get a welcome lift from this very special episode of our podcast.You see, last December we invited one of our customers — who also happens to be one of the world's leading astrologers — onto the show to talk about personal development, astrology, and entrepreneurship.That episode of our podcast became so popular, that we thought it would be fun to invite Harmony back onto the show to discuss what we can expect moving forward into 2021.Before you listen to the episode, here's something you should know about Harmony:She isn't the type of astrologer who makes "concrete prophecies" or "play-by-play predictions."Instead, she analyses and interprets the astrological weather in terms of themes, symbols, myths, and archetypes from the perspective of a depth psychologist.Our conversation today is full of honesty, hope, and practical advice about how you can gracefully transition into the coming year.So, if you'd like an astrological analysis of 2020 and a glimpse at what's to come in 2021, we have a feeling you enjoy our conversation.

Have you ever had an idea, vision, or flash of inspiration for your own business?Maybe you’ve come up with a handy gadget that’ll change the way people peel potatoes forever.Or, perhaps it’s a few lines of code that could cut the amount of time it takes to complete of your daily tasks in half.Whatever it is, we’re sure you can relate. We’ve all had these fleeting ideas pop into our heads.The problem is that’s typically where they stay: in our heads, as ideas, waiting to fade back into the realm of potential.Yet, for those who do act on these hunches, magic can happen.That gadget you dreamed up could wind up in kitchens around the world.Or, that line of code could evolve into a full-blown software business.In fact, for our guest on today’s episode of our podcast, that’s exactly what happened.His name is Kurt Thoennessen and he’s an accomplished insurance advisor and the founder of RiskRevu.They’re an online subscription business that emerged out of an idea Kurt had to improve his own workflow.We’re really excited to share our conversation with you today because Kurt shares the inspiring story of how he took this idea and transformed it into a full-fledged online business.If you’ve ever wondered what it really looks like to take an idea you have and turn it into a product that other people love to use, this episode is for you.

My special guest on today's episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast is Mike Cliffe-Jones.Now... before I introduce him to you, let me tell you a quick story about how this episode came to be in the first place.Mike is a long-time listener of the podcast and recently sent me a nice thank you note.After emailing back and forth a bit we eventually hopped on a call to connect.As I got to know Mike and hear his story, it became clear that I needed to record an episode with him.Here's why:Over the past 12 years, Mike has quietly built a remarkable online business called Lanzarote Information.While he’s not the sort of person to brag about his achievements, I can tell you firsthand that he has a ton of wisdom to share with you about creating success AND recurring revenue online.In this episode, you’ll discover how he started his online business in the first place, why he added a subscription revenue stream, and the important lessons he’s learned since launching a private membership club and paid newsletter.And the best part?All of the ways to create recurring revenue you’ll learn from Mike are clear, simple, and very straightforward. There are no 500-piece funnels or mind-boggling automations involved at all.I'm beyond grateful for the opportunity to share this conversation with you and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Let's play a quick word association game:When you think about building your business, what thoughts, feelings, and ideas come to mind for you?Would you say it's...+ Exciting+ Rewarding+ & Challenging?Or maybe you'd describe it as...+ Trying+ Stressful+ & Exhausting?To be honest, the reality of starting and growing a business is a big blend of all of these.And yet, our special guest on today's episode of the podcast — Jordan Gray — chose a different word to describe the "gestalt" of his entrepreneurial journey.What word is that?You guessed it: FUN.If you're not familiar with Jordan, he's a relationship coach, writer, and online course creator.Over the past 8 years, he’s built a very successful online business that's reached over 80 million readers, generated multiple seven figures in revenue, and transformed the lives of 10,000+ students.(all while having a lot fun in the process)We are really excited to share our conversation with you today for one reason in particular:You see, most of the time when Jordan appears on a podcast, he's there to talk about dating, relationships, and intimacy.This makes sense since he's an expert in these areas......but almost no one takes the time to ask him about his business.And that’s what today's episode is all about.You'll learn about Jordan and hear the story of how he found joy in building his business from the ground up.We're grateful for everything that Jordan shares and sincerely hope you enjoy our conversation.

Our special guest on today’s episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast is John McIntyre.Aside from being an all-around fascinating person, John is a successful online entrepreneur, course creator, and email copywriter.He’s been on a really interesting journey over the past decade and comes on the show to share some of the most important lessons he’s learned with you.And while his adventures have taken him to unexpected places like the beaches of the Philippines and Richard Branson’s private island… John has found the most meaning and renewal through his journey inwards.In today’s episode, we fall into a deep and organic conversation about the transformational nature of entrepreneurship.We compare notes and take a look at how things like mindfulness, self-awareness, and emotional healing can radically impact both your life and business.We sincerely hope you enjoy and benefit from our conversation.

We are so excited to share today's podcast episode with you!Why's that?It's because we welcome none other than Robbie Kellman Baxter back onto the show.If you've spent any amount of time in the membership or subscription world, we'd bet that you've encountered Robbie and her work at least once.Robbie is a preeminent expert on all things related to membership, subscription, and recurring revenue businesses. She's also the author of two of the most important books ever published in our industry: The Membership Economy & The Forever Transaction.This is actually the second time Robbie's come onto our show and we are so grateful to share this encore episode with you. Her first episode from April of 2019 is all about pricing for membership sites. It's also a must-listen conversation.In today's episode, we dive deep into the intricacies of a trait that can be found at the heart of the world's most successful membership businesses. It's what Robbie calls a "forever transaction" built around a "forever promise."Our discussion is grounded in real-life examples. You'll see how businesses like Oral B and the Miami Heat converted one-time buyers into loyal members for life.And hey, if a toothbrush company can create a forever transaction, so can you!So, if you're ready to discover how to design a membership so compelling that your customers will never want to leave... this episode is for you!

We are so grateful for the opportunity to share this episode of our podcast with you today. Why's that?It's because our guest is Ryan Jordan of Backpacking Light. He's an accomplished online entrepreneur with over twenty years of experience building his business.Backpacking Light is an online publication and membership site devoted to educating their community about lightweight hiking and wilderness travel.Ryan and his wife started the site way back in 2001.This was before WordPress was even a thing and online memberships were essentially non-existent.Since then, he's poured his heart and soul into the business, growing it into a robust community website with over a million posts and 150,000 forum topics.Today, Ryan comes on the show to share how he's preparing for a major website redesign with the goal of improving user experience and ensuring the long-term success of the business.We have a fascinating conversation and I have a feeling you'll learn a lot from the lessons he shares from his own entrepreneurial journey.So without further ado... let's get to it!

If you’re an avid listener of our podcast, you’ll know that Ali Jafarian was one of our very first guests way back in 2018.In that episode, we talked about everything online entrepreneurs need to know before starting their membership sites.From how to know if a membership site will work for you, plan your site build, and choose the perfect tools for your business, we covered a lot of ground in our original conversation.But here’s the thing:Starting your membership site is really only half the battle.And truth be told… it may be the easier half.Once you’ve launched your site, you now face the task of actually finding the people who want to be part of your community and pay for your content.That’s why today, Ali comes back on the show to complete the picture.We have an in-depth discussion about what to do in the days, weeks, and months that come after your launch.Over the past 7 years, Ali has helped hundreds of online entrepreneurs build, launch, and grow their membership sites.In this episode, he reveals the exact systems and strategies he uses to help his clients successfully navigate the post-launch stage and build an online business that lasts.If you’re wondering what to do after you launch your site, this episode is for you.

"A story is an ancient technology that helps us make meaning and draw conclusions. A story well done leads us down a path that guides us to a decision. It's an experience that enters our mind."Before we introduce you to Kyle — our special guest on today’s episode of the podcast — let’s play a quick game.Here are the rules:Imagine that you’re standing in front of a group full of your ideal customers.You have exactly 10 minutes to tell them a story.When your 10 minutes are up, if someone walks up to you and buys your product, course, or membership, you win!If on the other hand no one buys anything from you… you lose.Whomp whomp.Ask yourself, how confident are you that you could actually win this game?Do you know the exact story you would tell that would all but guarantee someone buys your product or service?If you’re like most people, you’d probably need a little help crafting the perfect story for your audience.This is where Kyle comes in.You see, Kyle is an entrepreneur, author, and story strategist. He helps coaches, experts, and influencers create deeper levels of connection and trust with their audiences through the power of storytelling.In this episode, Kyle carefully details three specific stories you can tell to instantly connect with your audience and move them to action. We also explore a number of fascinating topics related to storytelling and entrepreneurship.After you listen to this episode, we have a feeling that you’ll feel much more confident in your ability to tell a story that sells. We hope you enjoy!

Fun fact: Did you know that we create a detailed outline for every interview we do here on the podcast?Sometimes we stick to it step by step... and other times we use it as a starting point and allow the conversation to evolve organically.Well, in the episode you're about to hear, we never even looked at the outline. Not once.And why is that?It's because as soon as we started speaking with our special guest Sanyika Street, we immediately connected and spontaneously began exploring deep and intimate issues that are close to our hearts.You see, so often as entrepreneurs we think we've got to stick to business and strategies... but as you'll discover in this episode that couldn't be further from the truth. At the end of the day it's all about connection and relationships.Yes, Sanyika is a successful entrepreneur, masterful storyteller, and moving public speaker... But more than that, he's a truly powerful person who's willing to have the sometimes hard and always meaningful conversations with himself and others.We sincerely hope you enjoy and benefit from our conversation.

Our special guest on today's episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast is Sarah Hatter.Sarah is the founder and CEO of CoSupport, a business that has helped over 200 companies create excellent customer support experiences since 2011.Sarah is also the organizer of the ElevateCX conference AND the best-selling author of The Customer Support Handbook.Yep... that means she literally wrote the book on customer support.Sarah describes herself as being "spiritually passionate" about good customer support and has an immense amount of wisdom to share with you.In today's episode, Sarah and I sit down for a candid and engaging conversation about all things related to customer experience. Plus, we get deep into the joys and pains of entrepreneurship.If you're wondering how you can provide your customers with the best possible experience or want to learn how to apologize in case you slip up... you won't want to miss this episode.It was such a joy speaking with Sarah and I sincerely hope you enjoy our conversation.As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is Episode 151 of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

My special guest on today's episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast is Andrew Lee Miller.If you're looking for real-life strategies you can use to grow your online business even if you have a $0 marketing budget, I have a feeling you're going to love my conversation with Andrew.You see, Andrew is an experienced growth marketer who has helped everyone from early stage startups to bootstrapped entrepreneurs create serious growth in their businesses.Andrew's mind is full of valuable tips and tactics that you can use today to create growth in your own business. We're lucky to have him on the show and I'm grateful he was so willing to crack open his "growth hacking playbook" for you.In our conversation, we cover everything from specific ways you can get your first paying customers to how you can create a press release that can bring tens of thousands of new visitors to your website in a single day.You’re about to discover a ton of valuable ideas, tools, and resources in this episode… but don’t worry about taking notes. You can find links to every single resource we mention in this episode over at SubscriptionEntrepreneur.com/150.So without further ado, let's get to it!

Before I introduce you to our guest on today's episode of the podcast, can I ask you a quick question?When you send an email to your audience or try and engage with a new lead for your business, does it ever feel like you're kind of talking with your imaginary friend...? Like there's no one on the other end of your messages who actually cares about what you have to say?I know I’ve been there in my own journey as an entrepreneur - it’s not fun.And if you can relate to this - I have a feeling that you're going to love what you’ll hear in my conversation with Matt.You see, Matt is the founder of an awesome company called Bonjoro. If you’re not familiar with it, Bonjoro is a tool that can help you create personalized videos that will amaze your audience, leads, and customers.And what Matt has discovered over the years is that using this type of personalized video is one of the most effective ways for you to actually create meaningful connections and relationships with the people in your audience.And yes… that means higher email open rates, longer customer retention, and significantly more word of mouth referrals for you and your business.So if you're still wondering how you can turn those anonymous visitors on your site or email list into and engaged customers and raving fans... this episode is for you.So without further ado, let’s get to it!As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is Episode 149 of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Normally, I'd introduce you to Tim Wright as the guest on today's episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.But, it wouldn't be entirely accurate to call Tim my guest on the show.You see, Tim is the host of the XpoNorth Podcast - which is devoted entirely to helping artists, musicians, and other creative professionals earn a living doing what they love.Tim recently invited me onto his show to talk about how creative workers can use the membership model to create stable and predictable income streams that support both their lives and work.We had such an engaging discussion that I asked Tim if I could share our conversation with you here.Thankfully, he said yes!As you'll hear in this episode, Tim asks a lot of thought-provoking questions that helped me reflect on the trends and patterns I've seen in my work with thousands of successful online entrepreneurs over the past 10 years.We cover some important topics like:+ The easiest ways for you to create a paid membership or community...+ How to see value in your creative work and actually put a price tag on it...+ The biggest pitfalls and traps you should avoid when getting started...+ And much more!If you've ever wondered if it was actually possible for you to create an online income stream around your creative work, this episode is for you.As always, I'm your host Eric Turnnessen and this is Episode 148 of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Welcome back to another episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast. Our special guest this week is Soma Miller.Soma is a men’s coach who works to build both online and in-person communities of powerful, inspired, and purpose-driven men. He provides his clients with 1-on-1 coaching and mentorship as well as an online monthly membership community.In this episode, we have a deep and spontaneous conversation with Soma, exploring a number of fascinating topics like…+ How an easily overlooked part of yourself can keep you stuck in life+ Why meditation can help you see and overcome your obstacles and destructive patterns+ How to discover your innate gifts and life’s purpose+ And much more…It was a true pleasure to have Soma on the show and we hope you benefit from our conversation.

Our guest on today’s episode of the podcast is Chris Sage.Chris is a creative professional who works in the visual effects industry in Los Angeles. Yes… that means he’s worked on Hollywood movies and television commercials you’ve probably seen. Chris is also a friend of mine who I first connected with over one of my main hobbies: tea.In fact, the idea for this podcast episode came from a virtual tea session Chris and I recently did together. You see, now that we’re all spending a lot more time in our homes due to the coronavirus, we’re all coming up with creative ways to connect with our friends, families, and colleagues at a distance.While Chris and I met for tea over Zoom, I got to hear a bit about what it’s been like for him to transition from working in an office everyday – to doing everything remotely.In this episode, Chris and I have a candid conversation about the challenges and the opportunities that remote work brings. We explore the pros and cons of how his work, relationships, communication, and project management style have changed. So, I invite you to go grab yourself a cup of tea and join us in our exploration of these topics. If you’re wondering how to adapt to life and business in the time of quarantine, this episode is for you.

Has there ever been a moment when you’re up late working on your online business, with a dozen plus tabs open in your browser, about ready to bang your head against your keyboard because what you’re trying to do just isn’t working?As you flip back and forth between a YouTube video with spotty audio and that outdated blog post from 2016, you think to yourself…😖 – “I just wish I could talk with a real human being who gets what I’m going through right now…“In that moment, imagine that a true expert in your space sent you a text asking if you were free to meet up for coffee. What would you do? Would you politely decline and keep scouring the internet for solutions…? Or would you grab your laptop and run out the door as fast as you could, ready to pick the brain of quite possibly the only person who could help you at that moment?We know what we’d do!And if your problem has anything to do with an online membership or subscription business, this moment can feel doubly intense. Finding clear answers and practical advice in our little corner of the internet can be downright excruciating at times.So if you’ve ever felt this way, we have a feeling you’re going to love meeting Mike Morrison, our special guest on today’s episode of the podcast.Mike is a true membership expert and the co-founder of The Membership Guys. Over the years, he’s helped thousands of experts, influencers, and entrepreneurs build sustainable online businesses using the membership model.In our conversation, we investigate important topics like how to safeguard your business against subscription fatigue, membership pricing strategies, and much more.So, if you’ve ever wanted to pick the brain of a membership expert, this episode is for you.

Be honest with us for a second…How would you respond if a friend of yours asked you this question:“How’s your email marketing going?”Would your eyes light up with joy as you proudly proclaimed…🤩 – “It’s going great! My business is making more money than ever specifically because of the emails I’m sending my audience.”Or would your stomach turn just a bit as you sighed out…😰 – “It’s tough to say… I think it’s working?”If you resonate a bit more with that second example, we get you.The world of online marketing can be tough to wrap your mind around given all the different things you need to master as an online business owner. It’s easy to let something that seems as simple as email fall by the wayside.And more importantly, it’s not your fault if you don’t yet feel confident in your email marketing efforts.As online business owners, we’re constantly bombarded by shiny marketing objects and flashy new technologies. And because of this, it’s easy to put tried-and-true strategies like email marketing on the back burner.If you have that gut feeling that email marketing could be doing more for you and your online business, we think you’re going to love this episode of our podcast.Why’s that?It’s because our guest is an expert email marketer named Brennan Hopkins. He comes preaching the good news of email marketing: it’s easier to implement in your business than you might think AND it has the power to make a real difference on your bottom line.If you’ve ever wondered how to write friendly, natural sounding emails that actually make money, this episode is for you. And after you listen to this episode, we have a feeling you’ll want to open up your email service provider and implement a few of the proven “money making email campaigns” Brennan outlines in the second half of our talk.

Today on the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast we are proud to have Jack Born on the show. Now, before I introduce you to him, I’d like to quickly take a step back and point out how fortunate we are to have Jack on the show.You see, Jack is a marketing virtuoso who’s been actively building online businesses since 2001.Over the years, he’s collaborated with some of the most successful online entrepreneurs like Perry Marshall, Ryan Levesque, Andre Chaperon, and more. At one point, Jack even helped tennis hall-of-famer and Olympic gold medalist Gigi Fernandez successfully launch her digital product.To say that Jack knows his stuff about online marketing and business building would be an understatement. If there were a marketing Hall of Fame, he’d be voted in on the first ballot without question.Anyway, I bring all of this up to say that having Jack on the podcast is truly an opportunity for you to learn from a master. In our conversation, we dive deep into one of the most important aspects of an online business: your marketing funnels.So, if you’ve ever wondered if there was a way to improve your own funnels or are still trying to wrap your mind around what they actually are… this is the episode for you.And after you listen, you might feel like you just got the condensed version of a masters-level class in online marketing.So, without further ado, let’s get to it!

I am beyond excited to share today’s episode with you for two reasons:The first reason is because my guest and I have a profound and almost philosophical discussion on online marketing, audience attraction, and business building. I think you’re going to love it.And second, because the person I have that conversation with is none other than André Chaperon. If you’re not familiar with who André is and what he does, you are in for a real treat today.You see, it’d be nearly impossible to tell the story of online marketing without devoting at least one chapter to André and his work.He’s the creator of courses like Auto-Responder Madness and Sphere of Influence – which have been carefully studied and used by scores of successful online entrepreneurs over the years.André rarely appears on podcasts and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to share his wisdom and perspective with you.And while it’s true that André can teach you email marketing strategies that result in greater profits for your business, he’s also capable of helping you realize something much more important.André is a systems thinker at heart and has a true gift when it comes to helping people understand the frameworks they need to succeed. And that’s what this episode is all about.So, go grab yourself a cup of tea and be sure to pay attention. André freely shares from the wisdom he’s acquired over his past 17 years of creating income online.As always, I’m your host Eric Turnnessen and this is Episode 142 of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

You’re in for a really special episode of our podcast today.Why?Because today we’re sharing our conversation with Muffa Saylawala with you. He’s unlike anyone we’ve had on the show before and we can’t wait for you to listen to this episode.You see, Muffa is an ecopreneur. Meaning, an entrepreneur who carefully designs businesses that will benefit both the people and environments they exist in. The intention behind all of his ventures is to create greater good in the world.At the time we’re releasing this episode, Muffa runs 10 different businesses – ranging from eco-friendly hotels, an organic farm, and even a “bean-to-bar” chocolate company.If that sounds like a lot to juggle, don’t worry.In this episode, Muffa shares how when you design businesses according to the laws of nature, each business can support the others and ultimately form a self-sustaining ecosystem.It’s fascinating stuff.But things weren’t always this way for Muffa.In our conversation, we start at the very beginning and hear how Muffa transformed from an overachieving kid on a traditional career path into a purpose-driven, socially conscious entrepreneur.So, regardless of where you are on your own entrepreneurial journey, I hope you’ll walk away from this episode with a new perspective – a new vantage point from which to see your life, business, and success.We hope you enjoy this episode!

Neil Asher is our special guest on today’s episode of The Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.Neil is the founder of Aussie Online Entrepreneurs – a membership site where he’s taught over 5,000 people how to achieve financial freedom by creating profitable businesses on Amazon.com.He’s a self-described nomadic, traveling entrepreneur and currently splits his time between his home base in Australia and Lisbon, Portugal.In our conversation, you’ll hear from Neil about how he built an online membership business that now gives him the freedom and flexibility to travel the world, spend more time with his family, and positively impact the lives of thousands of people.We chat candidly about all things related to life, business, and entrepreneurship, exploring a number of engaging topics like:+ Why starting a business is like learning a new language…+ The perils and pitfalls of not creating the proper foundation for your membership site from the very start…+ Some of the specific MemberMouse features that have helped Neil add hundreds of thousands of dollars to his business…+ And a lot more!Neil is a seasoned entrepreneur and we're grateful for the opportunity to share his wisdom with you. Our hope is that you’ll walk away from our conversation with a more expansive perspective about what’s possible for your life and business.

Welcome back to another episode of the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast!This week, our guest is Jacob McMillen. Now, before we introduce him to you, we'd like to ask you two quick questions:1. Do you know how to write a piece of content that ranks on the first page of Google's search results?And 2... Once you've done that, do you know how to write copy that converts those visitors into leads, email subscribers, and customers?If you're shaking your head "no" to either of those questions, have no fear! Getting answers to these two pressing questions was the exact reason we invited Jacob onto the show today.You see, Jacob is an accomplished copywriter and content marketer who helps online businesses implement highly effective copy and content marketing strategies. We dive deep into both copy and content in this episode, covering important topics like:- The 10 essential principles of effective copywriting- How you as an entrepreneur can create your own copy (even if you HATE writing)- The key differences between copywriting & content marketing- And much more!If you've ever felt like you're swimming in a sea of misinformation about copywriting or content marketing, this episode is for you. Jacob is a fantastic teacher and does a great job of clarifying what it is you should and shouldn't be paying attention to if you want to increase traffic and conversions.Over the past year, Jacob has also started his own membership community. Towards the end of our conversations, he shares his main takeaways from running an online membership community, including the do's and don'ts of new member onboarding. This is a really special episode and we hope you enjoy!

Regardless of what marketers or "gurus" might have sold you, entrepreneurship is by no means an easy path. If you’re growing a business, you know this all too well. The entrepreneurial roller coaster will try and test you at every turn, rewarding only the one’s who are too stubborn to give up.Adam Robinson — our guest on today’s episode of the podcast is no stranger to this.In fact, the ride he’s been on over the past decade seems more intense than most! A look back at some of the crucial moments of his journey see him:Hopping on a train from New York to Boston to meet with someone who could guarantee the success of his companyFilling his apartment in New York with over 30 sales people, cold-calling prospective customers from sun up to sun downPropelling his company Robly to over $5 million in annual revenue, only to hit an apparent dead-end…And finally discovering a piece of groundbreaking technology that might change the way online businesses communicate with their audience foreverAdam joins us on the show today to share both the highs and the lows from his journey as an entrepreneur.No matter where you are on your own entrepreneurial journey, we have a strong feeling you’ll resonate with Adam and his lessons. We hope you enjoy our conversation!

Our special guest on this episode of the podcast is Harmony from DivineHarmony.com.(…and yes, her real name really is Harmony 😄)She’s an astrologer, writer, and teacher with a master’s degree in depth psychology. Her work can be found on major online publications like OneOEight, MysticMamma, Neptune Cafe, and more.And over the past decade, she’s built a successful online membership site centered around all of her astrological offerings. In fact, we featured Harmony in one of our Customer Success Stories earlier this year. You can read all about her journey building an online business here.Harmony recently co-facilitated an online training where she detailed what we can expect in 2020 from an astrological perspective. The information she shared there was so intriguing, that we were inspired to invite her onto the podcast. We thought she’d make a great guest… and it turns out we were right!We dive deep in this episode and have a really engaging conversation where we explore many interesting areas such as:— What’s on the horizon for us in 2020 as we enter a new decade— The importance of shadow work in the evolution of our person and business lives— And how our unconscious blindspots can massively impact our lives, relationships, and businessesIf any of these themes resonate with you, we have a feeling you’ll enjoy our conversation.

Have you ever found yourself pondering the same question over and over again?…or contemplating a theme or concept until your brain hurts just a bit?That’s been happening a lot for us here at MemberMouse…Which is why today on the podcast we’re inviting YOU to have a seat and be our guest on the show.Join our host Eric Turnnessen in an active exploration of two concepts that have been circling around his mind recently: Communication & Creativity.In this episode, Eric turns to one of his favorite mediums as a means to deconstruct the complexities and navigate the subtleties of these two concepts.And which medium is that?Music.Music has been a powerful teacher and mode of expression to Eric throughout his life. In fact, you’ll even hear a song he composed and performed at the end of this episode!We had a lot of fun recording this episode for you and sincerely hope you enjoy and benefit from it. If you like this episode, please leave us a comment below and let us know!

We have a really special episode of the podcast in store for you today. In it, we sit down with a remarkable entrepreneur named George Papazov. Now, you might recognize his name because we actually featured George in a Customer Success Story last year. George is a expert stock trader & teacher, online entrepreneur, and successful MemberMouse customer. He runs a membership site called TRADEPRO Academy and teaches his members everything they need to know to become an effective stock trader.Since the last time we spoke to George, he and his team have doubled the lifetime customer value of their members and tripled their revenue. How did they do this? To make a long story short, they use the power of the MemberMouse Advanced Reporting Suite to get specific metrics and high-leverage business insights. George and his team then strategically use this information to improve their marketing, member engagement, and product offerings.While this might seem simple and straightforward on paper, the reality is a bit more complex. As you'll discover in this episode, it's not quite enough to know your metrics and KPI's... you need to DO something with them to grow.In our conversation, we dive deep into many interesting topics like:-How George strategically designed and developed his membership site-The specific ways he uses metrics to intelligently grow his business-His attitude towards risk, opportunity, and ego-And much more!We're grateful for everything George shared in this episode and can't wait for you to listen to it. We hope you enjoy it and walk away with an insight or two that can help you succeed in life or business.

Meet Talia Koren, our guest on this episode of the podcast.Talia is the founder of a new subscription business called Workweek Lunch.For less than the cost of one Chipotle burrito bowl (per month), Talia teaches her members everything they need to know about meal prepping. She started Workweek Lunch to show busy people that it’s easy to create quick, tasty and budget-friendly meals. Through her program, she helps them save time & money, while making healthy eating convenient.The really interesting thing about Talia and her business is that she uses Instagram as her primary marketing channel. In fact, over the past three years she’s grown her following from ZERO to almost 400,000 followers. Talia skillfully and strategically uses Instagram to promote her subscription and has been quite successful. As a result, she’s grown the Workweek Lunch subscription to more than 2,500 paying members in just over a year’s time!Pretty impressive, right?Talia joins us on the show today to talk about…-The journey she undertook to start, build, and grow Workweek Lunch-Why she ultimately chose the subscription model for her business-The exact strategies she uses to promote and sell her subscription on Instagram-And much more!You are in for a real treat with this episode. Definitely grab a pen and paper before you hit play. Talia shares so many tidbits of advice and strategic gems, and we have a feeling that you’ll want to take notes. So, if you’ve ever wondered how to use Instagram to promote and sell your membership or subscription, this episode is for you!

Our guest on this episode of the podcast is Kyle Weiger. Kyle is an online entrepreneur, digital marketing, and international handstand coach (you heard us right!).Kyle spends a large chunk of his time traveling and teaching handstand workshops around the world. In fact, he just kicked off a 3-month teaching tour, making stops across the United States, Europe, and Australia.You might recognize Kyle because he joined us on the podcast almost exactly one year ago. In that episode, he shared the story of how he successfully created a new online business selling a handstand training course through Facebook advertising.Today, he returns to the show to talk about the ins and outs of promoting and running in-person events in conjunction with an online business.We have a great conversation about:-How to stay productive and get important work done while you’re on the road-Why having an online course can help you sell in-person events… and vice versa.-And the specific things you can do to successfully book your own workshops and teaching eventsIt’s always a joy to hear from Kyle and we’re grateful to have him back on the show. He shares a lot of experiential wisdom in this episode and we really think you’re going to enjoy it. So, if you’ve ever wondered how to successfully run both an online and in-person business, this episode is for you!

Our guest on this episode of the podcast is Teresa Heath-Wareing. Teresa is an expert social media marketer, blogger, and podcaster with over 15 years of experience. She runs her own marketing agency and has helped hundreds of clients create and launch online courses, membership sites, and other digital products.Earlier this year Teresa launched her own membership site and on the podcast today she shares the exact ways she promoted her launch, a specific webinar strategy she used that converted 25% of attendees into paying members, and an astounding new member engagement tip that most people would never think to do.There are a lot of other gems here in this episode. Teresa has such a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for digital marketing but even with all her experience she also shares stories of how daunting the process was and how she overcame that.Regardless of where you are in your own entrepreneurial journey, I hope you will walk away from our conversation with something valuable that will positively impact your business.

Wouldn't it be amazing if you could sell your membership site for a tidy profit?"Wait a second... did you say SELL my membership site?"Yes we did!But why would you want to sell the membership site or subscription business that you've spent years building and poured your blood, sweat, and tears into?Plain and simple, recurring revenue businesses like membership sites are highly attractive to potential buyers and often fetch premium prices compared to other online business models.Here's what we mean:According to subscription business expert John Warrillow ⁠— depending on the size and growth of your business ⁠— you can expect to sell a recurring revenue business for anywhere between 24 x MRR all the way up to 96 x MRR.(MRR stands for Monthly Recurring Revenue)Here's what that looks like in plain English:If you own and operate a recurring revenue business (like a membership or subscription site) that earns a consistent amount of money per month, you can reasonably expect to sell your business for 24 times the amount you earn on a monthly basis.Let's do some quick math...Imagine that your business earns $10,000 in monthly recurring revenue. When you multiply that number by 24, you could expect your business to be valued at around $240,000.Not bad, huh?But as John Warrillow explains in his book The Automatic Customer, a 24 x MRR valuation is actually on the low end of the spectrum.If you have a healthy, well designed, and smoothly running online business, you could realistically expect to sell an online membership site for 36-48 x MRR.For your $10,000 MRR business, that'd come out to be somewhere between $360,000 - $480,000.Now we're talking!But before you get those dollar signs in your eyes, know that building the type of online business that you can actually sell requires a significant amount of work and careful planning. Not only that, but there are things you might be doing right now that can make it impossible to sell your business in the future! Seriously.This is exactly why we invited Luke Ward onto the podcast today. Luke is an online entrepreneur and long-term MemberMouse customer who built a successful membership site called BassGorilla over the past 7 years. As of a few weeks ago, Luke successfully finalized a deal to sell his membership site.In this episode, Luke shares the story of his entire journey: from starting his online business all the way to selling it. And, he reveals to you some critically important details about selling an online business that he had to learn the hard way.For example, did you know that having a large percentage of your recurring payments on PayPal can be a red flag for prospective buyers and cause a deal to fall through?This episode is full of practical wisdom from Luke and we can't wait for you to listen to our conversation.

What if you could spend your time, energy, and effort doing what you love most in life AND earn a living at the same time.Can you imagine that?For many people, it seems that work and play are at odds with each other.But not for Adam Sommer, our guest on this episode of the podcast.You see, Adam is a blogger, podcaster, and professional astrologer. Over the past ten years, he’s built up an engaged following and a business around his primary passions in life.Now, he has a robust website where you can buy his products, book an astrological reading, and even join his apprenticeship program.But things weren’t always this way.In fact, after 7 solid years of creating content, growing his audience, and putting a lot of time, energy, and effort into his podcast, Adam found himself feeling like there was an imbalance in his work. He was fulfilling the needs of so many people, but wasn’t being reciprocated in a meaningful way.And that’s when Patreon came out.From there, Adam successfully launched his Patreon account and provided an easy way for his audience to support him and his work. Over the past three years, he’s grown and developed his offerings on Patreon to the point where he’s just about able to support himself completely from this community.What is really special about this conversation is that Adam isn’t your typical entrepreneur. He doesn’t think in terms of “branding,” “metrics,” or even follow a traditional business plan. Instead, he has more of an artist’s approach to operating his business and it was really refreshing to hear his perspective.If you’ve ever wondered what actually goes into creating a legitimate business around your passion, you won’t want to miss this episode. Adam shares with you how to know if you’re starting the right business for you and whether or not to continue down the path you’re already on. We hope you enjoy and benefit from our conversation!

“What are some ways that can I reduce my churn rate?”“Is there such a thing as an average churn rate?”“How do I know if my members are quitting or if their credit cards are simply expired?”If you’ve ever asked yourself any of these questions about your membership or subscription business, this episode of our podcast is for you!Why?Well, our special guest on today’s episode is Carl Gold – the Chief Data Scientist at Zuora. If you’re not familiar with Zuora, they’re a software platform that helps subscription businesses manage nearly every aspect of their operations.In many ways, Zuora is similar to MemberMouse except instead of supporting businesses with one, ten, or one-hundred thousand members… they’re supporting huge Fortune 500 companies with millions of customers around the world.As the chief data scientist at Zuora, Carl has the unique opportunity to see the membership and subscription industry as a whole from a very high vantage point.Over the years, he’s come to identify and understand major trends across the industry. But of all the things that can impact a recurring revenue business, he’s zeroed in on the one major problem that plagues all membership and subscription businesses: CHURN.In fact, Carl has become such an expert on churn that he’s decided to write an entire book on the topic. In this episode, we dive deep into the topic of churn:-What it is-Why it’s such a problem for recurring revenue businesses-And how you can strategically combat the churn in your businessCarl truly has a wealth of knowledge and experience around this topic and we’re grateful to have him on the show today. If you’re ready to finally understand how you can decrease churn, improve member retention, and ultimately boost the profitability of your business, we highly recommend you listen to this entire episode.

“I think I’m going to create and sell an online course…”That’s what Mark’s friend casually mentioned to him when they recently got together.Mark smiled and couldn’t help but chuckle to himself a bit…“If only it were that easy.”You see, Mark Webster is the co-founder of Authority Hacker and has planned, created, and successfully launched numerous online courses since 2015. In fact, many of Authority Hacker’s launches have earned them multiple six-figures.What Mark has learned over the years is that successfully creating and selling a profitable online course is a bit more complicated than in might seem on the surface. To quote Mark: “It’s like the swan on the lake. It looks majestic and calm above the surface and awesome. Everyone wants to be that swan, but beneath the surface, it’s paddling like crazy and all hell is breaking loose. That’s kind of what it’s like to launch a course.”But here’s the thing: creating and selling a highly profitable online course is achievable. Even with all of the different moving pieces involved, Mark swears by the online course business model and thinks it is by far one of the best models for online businesses.And he should know.Over the past decade, he’s mastered the core disciplines of digital marketing and built a portfolio of websites that get millions of visits per year and make serious money through affiliate marketing, advertising, and product sales.And that’s what he and the team teach through online courses over at Authority Hacker. They’re an amazing online resource that teaches entrepreneurs how to build and grow online businesses organically through SEO, effective market research, and strategic content creation. They first help people create what they call “job replacing income” and then teach them how to scale up their authority sites.Mark joins us on the show today to share what he’s learned about pulling off a successful six-figure product launch online. If this is something you’re interested in, then you’re in the right place. He’s both incredibly knowledgeable and a fantastic teacher. We’re grateful to have him on the show.

Our special guests on this episode of our podcast may come as a bit of a surprise to you.Why?Well, Karl Thoennessen and Leslie Yeung are the founders of Rogue Territory – a global brand that focuses on creating high-quality, handcrafted denim goods and apparel.If you’ve been tuning in to our podcast for awhile now, you know that we typically learn from entrepreneurs who have built digital businesses, membership site experts, and online course creators.Here’s the thing: Rogue Territory sells physical products like denim jeans, shirts, and bags, both online and in stores around the world.If you’re starting or growing an online business, you might be wondering what could you possibly learn from entrepreneurs who make and sell high-quality, handcrafted denim goods.Well, Karl & Leslie started Rogue Territory back in 2008 and have since significantly grown their business and following. Through authenticity, a commitment to absolute quality, and a knack for innovation they’ve successfully built a brand with a near cult following.If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to grow an incredibly loyal fanbase in your market, this episode is for you!We go behind the scenes with Karl & Leslie and hear how they first started Rogue Territory, attracted their first customers, and then implemented smart systems to triple sales and grow their business.But there’s also another reason this episode is so special. But you’ll have to press play and hear for yourself. We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise for you…😉

Neely’s back!If you’ve been following our podcast for awhile now, you might remember one of the very first episodes we recorded: How to Build a Thriving Community That Converts. In that episode, Neely revealed how she first started her membership business, the steps she took to build an engaged community, and how she ultimately made the business profitable. If you haven’t already listened to her first episode, be sure to go back and listen to it.Neely is an amazing entrepreneur and the brains behind TrainingBeta.com – a membership site and community that provides its members with everything they need related to rock climbing and bouldering. Neely has been a MemberMouse customer for many years and it has been a privilege to watch her grow and evolve her business over time.Today, she comes back on the show to share what she has been up to since we last spoke with her. Neely’s online membership business gives her the freedom and flexibility to travel around the world and pursue her passion for rock climbing. But, things weren’t always that way.In fact, in the early days of the business Neely had was she calls an “extreme focus” on her business. This ultimately led her to lose sight of the initial reason she started her business: to have the time and freedom to climb.It was so great to have Neely back on the show. We have a refreshing and real conversation about…-The challenges we face at different stages of business growth-Finding and claiming the freedom we first set out to achieve-Understanding the difference between product and membership sales-Getting comfortable with promoting yourself-And so much moreSomething we really appreciate about Neely is her realness and willingness to share the good and the bad about entrepreneurship. You won’t find any “rah, rah” hype in this episode, just a conversation between two travelers along the entrepreneurial path. We hope you enjoy and benefit from our conversation.

Welcome back to another episode of the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast. You were just listening to our guest on today’s show: Jordan Layman.Now before I introduce you to Jordan, I just want to take a moment and say that you’re about to hear one of our most unique and creative episodes to date.You see, Jordan is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Idea Fab Labs. They’re a creative maker space community with two physical locations in Chico and Santa Cruz, California. Over the past 6 years, they’ve built a creative community centered around high-tech art and craftsmanship. They give their members access to tools like laser cutters, 3d printing, and more.What’s so unique about Jordan and Idea Fab Labs is that they’re using MemberMouse to run and manage their business which is an in-person, physical community.Almost everyone we talk to here on the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast runs an online, digital business. So, it was fascinating to get to know Jordan and hear about how he’s using MemberMouse for his business.In this episode we talk about:-How Idea Fab Labs got started and created their membership levels-The immense value of an engaged community-Going from a physical to digital business (and vice versa)-And Jordan even gets me to open up and share about the surprises and challenges in my own journey building MemberMouse over the last 10 years.It was an absolute pleasure speaking with Jordan. I know you’ll find this episode to be inspiring and educational. Also, be sure to check out the post for this page at SubscriptionEntrepreneur.com/125 where we’ll show you some of the incredible projects Jordan and the Idea Fab Labs community have created.

Do you ever wish that you could pick the brain of an expert recurring revenue strategist? Someone who's been in the trenches of the membership, subscription, and online course world for over 10 years?How great would it feel to have the ear of someone with a proven track record of helping membership site entrepreneurs and business owners get from where they are now to where they want to be.Wouldn't that be amazing? Is that something you might be interested in?We get it, and would definitely answer "yes" to all of those questions as well.At times, entrepreneurship can feel like such a lonely journey. You show up every day and pour your heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into your business. Sometimes you're rewarded for your efforts. And yet, there are times where what you're doing just doesn't seem to be working. Times when you can't see the forest for the trees, where you might feel ready to just throw in the towel.But have no fear! Remember that "hypothetical" recurring revenue strategist we talked about earlier? Well, she's very much a real person and was gracious enough to come onto our podcast today.So without further ado, allow us to introduce you to Amanda Northcutt.Amanda is one half of the membership consultancy MemberUp. They work with membership sites of all shapes and sizes and have a proven track record of success in helping people plan, grow, optimize, and scale their memberships.Before joining MemberUp in 2015, Amanda was the Director of Sales for a multi-million dollar membership site for 10 years. She played a key role in increasing their revenue by more than 40x — helping them go from earning less than six-figure per year to a multiple seven-figure business.Amanda is a self-proclaimed strategy geek and specializes in helping entrepreneurs take a bird's eye view of their businesses and goals and then bringing them down to a practical and actionable level.If you've ever wondered what it actually takes to plan, start, build, and grow a successful membership or subscription business, this episode is for you.In our conversation, we explore some of the most critical topics to entrepreneurs in the recurring revenue space like:-Member onboarding, engagement tracking, and retention tips-How to replicate your 1-to-1 sales processes for your online business-Specific ways to decrease churn, increase lifetime customer value, and get more members-And so much moreIf you're someone who's ever thought about starting an online membership or subscription business or if you already have one up and running, you are absolutely going to love this episode.

Let’s get real for a second…Raise your hand if you’ve ever read and been inspired by a book like Rich Dad, Poor Dad or The 4-Hour Workweek.Have you ever heard the sirens’ song and fallen under the tantalizing spell of passive income?“Make money while you sleep…”“Do the work once, get paid forever…”Maybe you’ve had an idea for an esoteric wart cure eBook that’d make you a millionaire, a vegan pet food affiliate marketing blog, or even thought of buying a laundromat or set of ATM machines.It’s OK, we’ve all been there.The idea of passive income seems great (at first). Who wouldn’t want to create an income stream that required little to no work?But once you get to work on your project, the reality of achieving truly passive income begins to set in. What once seemed like an easy and lucrative idea shows you it’s true colors.Now don’t get us wrong. It’s not that passive income is a myth or a lie. It certainly can be achieved. It’s just that the reality of passive income looks much different than how it’s sold to us in books, blogs, and courses. As Gillian (our guest on this episode of the podcast) would say it’s not all “sundrops and rainbows” or even “rainbows and ponies.” That’s why we are so excited to welcome Gillian Perkins onto the podcast today. Gillian is an author, entrepreneur, and marketing strategist who helps online business owners start and scale their businesses. She’s a prolific content creator and has gained over 200,000 subscribers on YouTube. Over the past few years, Gillian has tried just about everything under the sun in her quest to earn passive income.She’s written and sold a paperback book, invested in rental properties, created online courses, and most recently built a membership site.Gillian joins us on the show today to share the lessons she’s learned in her quest to build a successful online business and give you a realistic look into what it actually takes to earn passive income.Our conversation culminates in an in-depth discussion of membership sites: why she started hers, how she got her first 300 members, the joys and challenges of running one, and her advice to you to get yours up and running.This is a really special episode and we hope you enjoy and benefit from our conversation.

What comes to mind for you when you hear the words, “your competition“?Do the names of other businesses, experts, or entrepreneurs pop into your head?Unless you’re truly the only person in your business category, I’m sure at least a few names come to mind for you.But consider this for a second…As much as you’re competing with others for the business of your customers, you’re also competing for their attention. When you take this into consideration, now anything that’s captured the attention of your audience starts to look like a competitor. Now, instead of competing with just a few other entrepreneurs or businesses, you’re competing with everything from Instagram, Facebook, and Netflix.With more people, devices, and apps competing for our attention on a second-by-second basis than ever before, truly earning and keeping the attention of your audience or marketplace is no easy feat. Just think about the amount of time you spend researching the products and services you buy, compared to the amount of time you spend scrolling through social media feeds or catching up on all those new Netflix shows.So this of course begs the question: How can you compete with a juggernaut like Netflix for the attention of your customers?Is it even possible?Well, our special guest on today’s episode responds to this question with an emphatic “yes.” What’s more, he and his company have actually pulled it off. They’ve cracked the code of creating business content for their audience that people actually choose to watch on nights and weekends, times when they’d otherwise be plowing through Seinfeld reruns.So without further ado, let me introduce our guest on today’s episode of the podcast: Chris Savage, the co-founder and CEO of Wistia. In this episode, we dive deep into the nuances of a thought-provoking article Chris wrote last February and explore the impact their recent “One, Ten, One-Hundred” documentary series has had on their business.If you want to learn how to truly earn and keep the attention of your audience, this episode is for you!

Our dynamic guest on today’s episode of the podcast is Matt Giovanisci.If you’re not familiar with Matt, he’s an online entrepreneur and the founder of Money Lab, a site that’s dedicated to documenting his experiments and challenges in making money online.Matt is well-known for what he calls “impossible experiments with unrealistic deadlines” — like building a membership site from scratch in 14-days, creating and selling an online video course in 3 days, and even producing and selling a rap album in 30-days.Matt documents all of the processes he goes through with each one of these experiments. And at the end, he reports on whether or not the project was successful. Over the years, he’s learned a lot about what it takes to make money online and shares the strategies he’s found useful in creating what he calls a “mildly successful six-figure business.”Matt joins us on the podcast today to talk about his unique approach to content creation, project management, the effect of setting unrealistic deadlines for yourself, and so much more. We had a fun and lively conversation, I hope you enjoy.As always, I’m your host, Eric Turnnessen. And this is Episode 121 of the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever suffered from “analysis paralysis” or worse… the notorious “shiny object syndrome.” No shame, we’ve all been there! In fact, in this day and age, it seems almost impossible to not experience those things at some point. We have more people, businesses, devices, and things competing for our attention than at any other time in human history. At times, it can feel like our minds are being pulled in at least a thousand different directions.The problem with all of this is that being frozen by too much information or distracted by the latest “shiny object” prevents us from truly moving forward. If not remedied, these issues can ultimately rob us of our success. Do you remember The Fox and the Cat from Aesop’s Fables? The moral of that story is that it’s better to have one surefire way to succeed than one hundred different tricks or techniques.That brings us to this podcast episode. You see, a little over a month ago, we sponsored a digital marketing conference called ATOMICON that two of our long-term customers (Andrew & Pete) put on in the UK. Our Founder & CEO, Eric Turnnessen attended the event and so did a marketer and entrepreneur named Stuart Goulden.After ATOMICON wrapped up, Stuart reached out to us to do a writeup about Eric & MemberMouse for his company’s “Meet the Maker” series. We thought this would be a great opportunity to pull the curtain back a bit and share some of the story of why Eric first started MemberMouse, the way it evolved as a plugin, and how it helps our customers build successful online businesses.Eric shares insights from his journey as an entrepreneur, the importance of simplicity when it comes to getting started, and how to overcome the biggest challenges, hurdles, and obstacles facing online entrepreneurs today. Eric shares practical advice from his 10+ years as an entrepreneur about how to get out of your own way and makes positive steps towards success.We hope you enjoy and benefit from this episode!

“How much should I be charging for my membership site?”“Are my prices too high? Are they too low?”“Should I offer a free membership level or give people a taste with a trial?”“What’s better… annual or monthly pricing?”If you’ve ever heard these thoughts running through your mind, welcome to the club!As entrepreneurs who are building recurring revenue businesses though membership and subscription sites, pricing is one of those touchy subjects that just seems hard to get a grasp on.On the one hand, if you’re business is growing and lots of members are joining your community each day, you might be thinking to yourself, “Is it time to raise my prices?” But on the other hand, if you aren’t gaining new members and subscribers as fast as you’d like, it’s tempting to think, “Are my prices too high? Are they scaring people away?”In a world that is so full of noise and contradictory advice, it can be hard to even figure out which way is up.“Is an open or closed membership model better?”“Should I offer a free or paid trial?”The list of questions like these goes on and on and is enough to keep just about anyone up at night. Getting answers to these questions, however, is the exact reason why we invited the best-selling author of The Membership Economy, Robbie Kellman Baxter onto our podcast.Robbie is a membership business expert, world-renowned keynote speaker, and an advisor to some of the world’s leading subscription-based companies. Over the past 17 years, she’s consulted for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies. Her clients include a few businesses you may have heard of: Netflix, SurveyMonkey, and eBay, to name a few.In this episode, we take a look at these critically important questions and tackle the topic of pricing head on. Pricing plays such a critical role in the success of membership and subscription businesses and Robbie generously shares her priceless perspective on the subject.We start with the 30,000-foot view of pricing for membership sites and then drill down into some of the most pressing concerns for all entrepreneurs. We look at the essential areas surrounding the topic of pricing, such as:-How to set and test the price of your membership-Assigning a dollar amount to content and information products-When to use a “freemium model” membership vs. a free trial-The psychology of pricing-And so much moreIf you’ve ever felt unsure of the pricing strategy for your membership site, this episode is for you! Robbie shares enlightening insights, tips, and stories from her nearly 20-year career working with membership and subscription businesses.

Does it ever feel impossible to stand out in a world that seems to be getting noisier each day?Have you ever wondered how you can find your voice and communicate in a way that resonates with your audience and builds a community?These are tough questions and their answers don’t come easy.The online marketing world is full of teachers, “experts,” and “gurus,” who are ready to sell you the latest tactics and strategies to hack your way to success.But the reality of things oftentimes looks much different.Tactics and “growth hacks” don’t work the way you think they will.So, what can you do? How can you identify the right areas of your business to work on? How do you know what the best next step to take is?For the answers to these questions, we turn to our very special guest on today’s podcast episode: David Sherry.David is the founder of Death to the Stock Photo. Even if you’ve never heard of his company before, chances are high that you’ve seen their creative photos. Traces of their work can be found on websites on all corners of the internet.David created “Death to Stock” 6 years ago and successfully grew the company to over 500,000 subscribers and $1.5 million dollars in revenue without the use of advertising. He’s a huge-advocate of word of mouth marketing and shares advice from his experience on how you can best implement it in your business.After building and growing “Death to Stock”, David now focuses his time and efforts on helping companies and brands succeed with effective, personal, and most of all human marketing. If you’ve ever felt like your marketplace is too noisy for you to stand out in or ever wondered if you can create a business and be yourself at the same time, this episode is for you.David shares how you can find your voice, create content that resonates with your audience, build momentum, and take the right next step in your business and marketing efforts. If you’re tired of hearing regurgitated “tactics” and “techniques” from so-called experts, this episode will be a breath of fresh air for you. We hope you enjoy and benefit from this episode!

What’s your first reaction when you hear terms like SEO or PHP Development?How about API’s, Managed Hosting, or Webhooks?If all these terms and abbreviations are the reason you get up in the morning, chances are you’re a web developer!But if you just glaze over – or even shudder a bit – when you see these terms… chances are you’re like most online entrepreneurs. You know enough about each to get by, but leave these “black boxes” to the pros.The fact of the matter is that the online business world is full of esoteric jargon that oftentimes seems needlessly complex. But, things are actually much simpler than they may seem on the surface.That’s why we are so excited about today’s podcast episode featuring Ryan Murray of 3200 Creative. Ryan is a veteran web-developer with over 20 years of experience building powerful and profitable websites for online business owners. We’re lucky to have him on the show today.You see, Ryan rarely appears on podcasts because he’s usually too busy helping his clients achieve incredible results online. What sort of results? Well, many of Ryan’s clients have obtained the highly coveted top search rankings in Google for incredibly competitive search terms. We’ve seen the fruits of Ryan’s labors and can confirm that he knows his stuff!In this episode, Ryan shares his best practices for building an online business in 2019. He goes far beyond the regular “tips and tricks” you may be used to seeing and dives deep into an important topic that is rarely talked about: How to create an online business that you can, and more importantly want to run. We look at important topics like how to pick a WordPress web host, SEO best-practices and overlooked strategies, website design and optimization, and more. We hope you enjoy and benefit from Ryan’s valuable advice.

Do you have a strong content marketing strategy that’s working for your membership site?If not, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, frazzled, and fried (like those two above) as you’re creating one. You can wade through blog after blog, podcasts, video trainings, case studies, ebooks, whitepapers and more, just trying to put the pieces together.The truth of the matter is that we’re swimming in a sea of content that grows bigger, more chaotic and overwhelming each year. There are more people, businesses, and causes competing for our attention on a minute-by-minute basis than probably ever before in human history.And yet, as entrepreneurs and online business owners, we’re told that we need to have a content marketing strategy.We’ve all heard it: start a blog, create videos, record a webinar, yadda yadda yadda.So that begs the question:How on earth do you create content that breaks through the noise, grabs, and more importantly keeps the attention of your audience, prospective customers, and members?Finding an answer to that question is the exact reason why we invited Andrew & Pete on to our podcast.If you’ve not yet heard of them, they’re an award-winning marketing duo who specialize in helping solopreneurs and small business owners succeed through effective content marketing.Whether you’d like to generate more leads for your business, acquire new customers and members, or build your business and brand, Andrew & Pete can help. They’ve been featured on many of the leading blogs, podcasts, and publications in the digital entrepreneurship and marketing space such as Entrepreneur on Fire, Social Media Examiner, and The Huffington Post.Andrew & Pete also run their own membership site and share their perspective on content marketing as entrepreneurs who run a member-based business. If you’ve ever felt like you just aren’t getting the traction you want with your content marketing efforts or are simply overwhelmed by the thought of beginning a content marketing strategy, this is a must-listen episode for you.

Clayton Olson grew his YouTube audience from zero to over 100,000 subscribers in just over two years’ time. This is a huge accomplishment and I’m happy to welcome him on to the Subscription Entrepreneur podcast. Clayton is a relationship coach whose mission it is to empower individuals and couples from around the world to find harmony and authenticity in their relationships.In addition to growing a substantial, engaged audience on YouTube, Clayton has built a profitable business selling digital products and coaching services. In this episode, he shares the exact strategies he used to grow his YouTube channel and his approach to using YouTube as a way to drive prospective customers to his website.If you’ve ever wondered how someone can make money through YouTube or convert video subscribers into customers, this episode is for you.

In episode 114 of the Subscription Entrepreneur podcast, we're joined by online entrepreneur and digital marketing expert, Miles Beckler. Miles is 100% self-taught in online business and has earned his stripes of success. In 2009, he started a website in the spirituality niche with his wife. Today, that same site earns over 8 million page views per year and generates a full-time income for both of them. Miles has found success online through systematic trial and error and comes on the show to share his insights. Specifically, he details the exact techniques, tactics, and strategies he is using in 2019 to build profitable marketing funnels and "self-liquidating" Facebook Ad campaigns. If you’re interested in generating profit online in 2019… this episode is for YOU! We’re lucky to have him on and are grateful for the opportunity to share his insights with you.

And we're back! Happy New Year from all of us here at MemberMouse. We hope you've had a fun, restorative, and relaxing time with your family and friends. To help you get back into the swing of things and get a leg up on your goals for this year, we're kicking off our first podcast of 2019 with a bang! Our dynamic guest in today's exciting episode is Abdo Riani — the founder of StartupCircle.coStartupCircle is a resource designed to provide rising entrepreneurs with high-level advice and guidance from successful founders. Incredibly, Abdo conducts nearly 100 interviews per month and is connected to some of the most influential people in the membership, technology and marketing space. Recent guests include James Schramko, Robbie Baxter, Rand Fishkin, Ben Settle, and many more! After starting many other ventures, Abdo realized his true passion for startups and helping other founders build successful businesses. Abdo goes into great detail about this approach to building an audience in this episode of the podcast. If you’re interested in bootstrapping a business, growing an audience and doing it fast… you will not want to miss this episode!

A preview of our special roundup episode!

Can you believe we’ve already reached the last episode of the Subscription Entrepreneur Podcast for 2018? Having the opportunity to interview many people from the MemberMouse community and share their tips, tricks, lessons and insights with you has been a really fun and engaging journey so far.So to celebrate, we put together a special episode for you. We rounded up some of our favorite moments from our podcast in 2018 and compiled them into one episode. If this is your first time listening to our podcast, this episode will give you a great preview of our guests, their expertise, and the helpful topics we cover. We hope you enjoy this episode. Happy Holidays from the team here at MemberMouse!

Have you ever typed something like “How to make…” or “How to build…” into a search engine? If you have, you’ve probably come across a video, blog post, or tutorial from Make.co. Make is and has been at the center of the DIY ‘Maker Movement‘ since 2005. On this episode of the podcast, we’re joined by Clair Whitmer. She’s the head of Digital & Product Strategy for Make. In 2018, she helped Make launch their very first online membership program. Clair shares with us very transparently some of the challenges they faced and lessons learned a year after launching their online membership program. She also reveals some of the illuminating insights the Maker Media team gained over the last year getting their membership site up and running. If you’re working on your own membership site or are thinking about starting one, this episode of the podcast is for you.

If you are interested in learning how to start and promote a membership site, build high-converting marketing funnels and leverage powerful platforms such as Facebook or Instagram to grow your business, then this episode of the podcast is for you!Our guest in this episode is Kyle Weiger — the founder of two successful membership sites ReflexionYoga.com & Kyle Weiger.com. Kyle has truly been through the wringer as an entrepreneur and shares from his experience what it actually takes to build a successful business online. Kyle starts off by telling the story of what happened after he quit his job in 2012 to start an online yoga business. We go on to explore many of the personal and professional lessons he's learned along the way in his journey to entrepreneurial success. This episode is packed full of practical tips and strategies that you can use to grow your business. We hope you enjoy!

There are so many variables at play when you are trying to build a business. You have your product or service, your team, your customers, your market, and your marketing… the list goes on and on. The question is however, what do you focus on? Where are your best opportunities for growth? While we may not have answers to all of these questions, our guest on today’s podcast episode certainly has a few. Introducing: Dan Caron.In this episode, Dan shares from his extensive knowledge about the critical intersection of customer acquisition channels and landing page design. Dan draws upon the classic wisdom of old-school direct response marketers & copywriters and blends them with the ideas, strategies, and techniques that work today. We are thrilled to have the opportunity for you to learn from Dan’s experience and hope you enjoy this episode.

In this episode we’re joined by Ali Jafarian — the Founder & CEO of MemberDev. They’re a design and development agency that specializes in building custom membership sites. Not only has Ali built powerful subscription sites for his clients, he co-founded and ran a subscription site of his own in 2013. Ali is truly an expert in planning, designing, developing, and growing membership sites.Our conversation in this episode focuses on the main items you should consider before starting a membership site. Ali shares from his wealth of experience about topics like who should and shouldn’t start a subscription site, the amount of time, energy, and effort required to get started, what tools he recommend for membership sites, how to grow a subscription site once it’s built, and much more…We are really excited to be able to share all of the information and wisdom Ali has acquired throughout his adventures in entrepreneurship and building membership sites. We hope you enjoy!

In this episode of the podcast we feature an entrepreneur named Chris Palmer. Chris is the founder of not one, but TWO membership sites: Angle of Attack — which specializes in Flight Simulator Training — and Aviator Training — an online flight school that provides pilot certification training. Over the years he's served more than 15,000 members through his businesses. In our discussion, Chris shares many of the hard-won lessons he's learned after building two membership businesses. We dive deep into topics ranging from the importance of authenticity in today's economy, customer acquisition through social media, and knowing when to pivot your business. We hope you enjoy.

Mitch Bowler is the founder of pencilkings.com - a membership site that helps artists take their art and careers to the next level. Pencil Kings provides over 100 courses and trainings from world-class artists on a wide variety of topics ranging from composition and shading to portraiture and animation.Mitch started Pencil Kings back in 2010 based on his own experience as an artist trying to master his craft and earn a living. Since then, he’s grown Pencil Kings into a thriving community with over 8,000 members. But, it wasn’t easy getting to that point. Mitch underwent massive personal growth and transformation through his entrepreneurial journey. In this episode, Mitch shares what worked, and what didn’t, the highs and the lows based on his experience building Pencil Kings.

Neely Quinn is the founder of TrainingBeta, a membership site dedicated to providing training programs, nutrition consulting, and education resources for rock climbers. She joins us on the podcast today and shares the story of how she started TrainingBeta, built an audience, got her business off the ground and made it profitable. We cover topics like content strategy, community building, strategic outsourcing, and more.

Martin Wilson has a 20-year career spanning technology-to-consumer products. He’s worked across the full spectrum of business: from small and medium sized organizations to Fortune 100 companies. After leading two start-ups and becoming an angel investor, Martin now focuses on his passion: helping small businesses radically grow their revenue. Martin recently wrapped up a consulting project where he helped double his client’s revenue within 6-months. In this episode, he shares the strategies, mindsets, and frameworks he uses to to consistently transform stagnation into growth.

Eric & Matt talk with entrepreneur Seth Rosen of CustomMade, Ganoksin Project and the International Gem Society. Seth is an expert in turning underperforming websites into profitable businesses and generously shares gems from his experiences.

In the spirit of inquiry and discovery, we’re starting a series of conversations centered around the idea of success. The question we’ll be asking everyone is: What is the one thing you’ve learned through the journey of starting a business that you’ve found to be most valuable?To kick things off, we begin close to home with the Founder & CEO of MemberMouse, Eric Turnnessen.

Eric & Ben – the CEO & CTO of MemberMouse – got together to talk about the Forget Member feature. This new tool is designed specifically to aid in GDPR compliance. A lot of thought and consideration goes into the creation of new features, and we were curious to pull back the curtain a bit on that process.