How to Create Scalable Live Experiences – Episode 96

Melissa: So this is from Marlin wondering how to create a weekly live experience for members that is scalable down the line. All right. So tell us about this. 

Marlin: I'm doing small classes at the moment online. And, you know, obviously the goal is to transition into a membership and I liked the live interaction like this on zoom, but it's great when you have 10, 12 people in the class, but with a hundred or 200, 300, I don't know if that's necessarily scalable.

So if it's not, then I guess maybe not having people get used to that two way communication. And then if I take it away, then it, creates that tension down the line. So I'm wondering if it is possible to have some live component that is, you know, like thinking down the line that, you know, if I wanted to have so many members that is scalable

Paul: So does anybody have any input live events as far as doing a live function of your members?

This is for your membership or is this a free ?

Marlin: For the membership. Because I mean, because it's dance and so in that it's not just information. So

Melissa: Michelle, go ahead. 

Michelle: I mean, this, this may, maybe somebody else can contribute something else, but I have a dog training membership, so it's kind of similar to dance, I guess, and that they have to participate and I do live classes on Saturdays and I have to say, I hate them. And so now I'm trying to get out of that and maybe turn that into like a small group that gets those classes.

But just that being open to the membership, I think is just going to be too much. I don't know. It might be different for dance, that's just been my experience. So maybe somebody else has some better advice because it has really not worked for me. 

Melissa: I'm just curious, Michelle, what would have been the challenges for that you, that you don't like about it?

Michelle: It might be me. It might be me and not so much the doing the thing, but I find it really difficult to give people feedback and provide value in the live setting in a way that I feel like just providing them the recordings, honestly of the classes that they can pause and fast forward and rewind. And all of that stuff has been more valuable to them where the live classes, I find, like giving feedback to the students.

If you have more than eight in the class, it's just not feasible. And then at that point, can you, how many classes can you really do on a weekend? And then people feel left out because there's not enough room in the classes. And then they feel like they're paying for the membership, but they're not getting access.

So I don't know. It's, it's been, it's been interesting. 

Paul: Are you actually getting that verbal feedback or are you just, you just assuming that's probably what they feel. 

Michelle: I'm just assuming that's how they feel, but yeah. 

Paul: So Heather, you had your hand raised. 

Heather: Yeah. So I was just wondering why not, instead of trying to do something like that, like I get that you won't like that community and the, I would want something like that too.

Like if I was in that kind of membership, but what if you made it like a premium kind of thing and you just did like an actual, like live dancing event,

Melissa: Alive dancing event? Yeah. 

Paul: So I can just give some thoughts. 

Melissa: It was funny that you said that Heather, because I was actually thinking that too, instead of at me more of a teachable make it like a social event where you're not sitting there and like, and that might be too just thinking like Michelle was some of the challenges that you were talking about more of like just social them in action, doing their thing without you having to give feedback.

So that way, if you do have like masses and masses, you're not stuck, you know, not being able to get around to everyone. And that could be really fun and create that community element to it. 

So that was, that was interesting that you said that because that's where my mind is. Yeah. I figured that sometimes the class is tailored and shaped by the questions that come in.

Marlin: But as you said with so many people that might be a little more challenging. So I don't know if maybe webinars style where it's like just a one way video and people just can type in questions and fielding some of that way, you know, maybe that's kind of the happy medium. I'm not sure. 

Paul: So what I would say though, is that zoom is like, I think it's been reinforced this year with what's going on in the world.

Like everybody's on zoom. And like, this is like the new way of communicating in a lot of ways for people and everybody's seeing everybody else do their thing. 

If you notice, there's probably maybe 10% of the people that were on the call actually said question, which means that the intention of the rest of the people that came on the call was actually to listen, to absorb, to learn through everybody else going through this process.

So I think a lot of us make an assumption that everybody that comes onto our calls actually wants to engage in the direct conversation where this is like a different form of looking. There's a lot of people that have their cameras off and they're just have this in the background and they're consuming at their own pace.

So just be careful because sometimes this is a better user experience that might keep people they get involved. And how many of us indirectly learn something through somebody else's conversation? So you're immediately eliminating that, which then changes the experience where you could just reframe it where you say, Hey, we do these calls every week and I always take the first 10 questions.

So if you want to come on, come on early, ask your question. We're going to go through, keep in mind though that as I help correct other people, I want you to see how that could impact what you're doing, you know, because a lot of people learn through watching things happen through others. And not everybody wants to raise their hand and put themselves on the spot.

Cause it feels like a hot seat. So I just want you to keep that in mind for each of us. Like I'd say we're right out of the gate, no matter what, just make sure what you do is sustainable. Like it's something that you are into and you love and you enjoy doing it. 

And also understand that as you grow, it does create different tension.

You might just need to reframe what the deliverable is so that people will naturally come in line. Cause that's really what we promise. 

If you promise one thing and you can't deliver it, then that's what creates a negative tension. But if you just reframe what the offer is and what it's about, because I think the community element, like everybody coming in, like in these types of things, I think this is.

We're all at home. We're all alone. We're all isolated. This is for some of us as is probably the only external conversation outside of our world today. You know? And I want you also to keep in mind is that conversation allows relationships. Even though they're virtual, it allows relationships to form and people look forward to coming in because they can cross conversation back and forth each other.

And that might be one of the things is really why they come is the social element of it. And the moment that you restrict it to like texting in, it changes the conversation because now they might as well just be on a Facebook live. You know, they don't need this anymore because it's, they don't need to see a bunch of heads doing this or this it's like they, they want to actually communicate back and forth.

And the last thing I'll say on this is that this gives all of us, no matter what our thing is, an opportunity to have a community element that's like as close to like in person, as we can to talk about something that we all have in common that nobody else in our life gets like all of us coming on this members or mastermind call, like when, when we get off the line and we're trying to talk to a spouse or a family member, we're trying to talk to our neighbor.

They're like, what you doing? Something illegal? You make money online. What are you doing? I don't get it. I go to a nine to five every day, you're doing something illegal. Like that's how we get, like, people just think we're doing something illegal. Cause like they don't see us physically selling a product or service.

So they're just like something shady, shady going on in their house. So you have the ability to have people have a conversation, to be able to have a common interest, to be able to talk. And some of these members are going to stay just for this part. You know, just keep that in mind. So even on our “Inner Circle” we have those calls.

We have more than half that'll do exactly what's going on in this call. They just, they, they, they type in hashtag listening and they they'll pop up sometimes and be like, Ooh, can I say something? 

You know, oh, I have the same problem, but they just have in the background and they're happy. Like that's what they want out of it.

So that's, that's my, I'm sorry. I'm always going on tangents 

Marlin: Yeah. I love teaching people and dance and the joy of dance. And I love that this, as you said, that common connection, I just wasn't sure if it was saleable, per se, when you have a hundred people in who un-muted yourself, can you unmute yourself?

The dog is barking and you know, all of that type of thing. 

Paul: So you could, you could If you're going in that direction and you want to test a couple of things out, you could in a way, like do a stream yard where you could have one there. Like if you want to come one, the call, here's the secondary link to come on as an attendee, you'll be put in a waiting room. 

And if we have time for you, we'll bring you in on the call because you can have nine people on stream yard. So you could technically like broadcast that into the Facebook group.

 But those that do want to be part of the conversation. If they can get into the waiting room, then you, you can actually talk to them.

So, I mean, there are hybrid type type of ways, or you can get webinars version of this and just promote people to panelists and bring them up. But if you're not, if you don't, if you want everybody to be more in that purposeful looking state, it just, what happens. All of our faces become invisible when, when you do that.

It's easier with two of us because like, as you guys are talking. Or if Melissa's talking and somebody I can tell, I just, I'm very quick to go, okay. Who's not muted, click. like I'm going into, or the last thing I'll say is when you I'm kidding, you know, the last thing I would say though, is like, cause I know Deb has done this them, that's the one here.

And she's Deb is incredible. She, she helps people with member retention on creating like wow experiences with memberships and stuff that she has helped us out in some cases like, as we're talking, she's just helped because she does this professionally.

 But what she, what she's done is sometimes she'll like put in the URL for us as we're talking or she'll, she'll help with elements.

You get to that point. Where you have 200 members, you could probably pay somebody 50 bucks to come on that call with you and their job is the mute people and the type things for you. You know what I mean? And for that hour, they're like 50 bucks, dude. I'm in like, give me that 50, you know? So I just wanted you to think of that, that when you were up to that problem, you also have other solutions at your fingertips also, it doesn't have to just be, you know, 

Marlin: great point. Thank you so much.