How To Set The Right Membership Expectations When You’re Getting Started – Episode 17

Jackie: I'm at the beginning. So I'm just hashing out my idea, you know, the name, the content of the things. And it's probably just bumping up against that fear, I guess of not having anything in there when people start. So my idea and I'm also bumping up against that of really nation down. I'm a graphic designer. I've been doing that for 20 odd years. The last five I've got into designing digital and printable planners.

And so I kind of design stuff, but also help people design their day. And what I'm really want to specialize in is helping online business owners get their customers results with planners and workbooks,because I know when you can simplify, I know (inaudible) talks about this a lot, when you can simplify and help people take action.

Like it's that small, consistent stuff that makes the difference and moves you along. So I know we can do that in this product, like in this kind of way. And it will help people's, you know,like whether it's coaches, men, ship owners, course creators, all of that stuff, helping you, people get results.

Well then that's a win win, because it makes selling easier, make your life easier. And also it helps people simplify their strategy. So even though it's niche quite down, there's lots of pieces to it. And so as I'm planning my content and maybe this is just a normal thing,and I'm kind of looking for a bit of reassurance, but I'm sort of just kind of getting stuck on what order to do things with the content or is it just that when people join for that, you know, founding member thing but they really do understand that you're building from scratch and it's going to take a little while to get all the content in it. Is that normal?

Paul: Yeah. Well, I think a lot of people are at that stage. So give yourself some grace anybody have imposter syndrome or like, Oh crap. Like people might say, people might say yes, you know, what am I going to do? They say yes. So they actually buy, okay.

So does anybody have any advice, anybody want to chime in just so you can unmute yourself and give  any feedback 

Susan: I'll jump in for a minute. Hey, how are ya? So first of all, one of the things I did was I made sure I was very clear with . I'm in my founding member launch right now I closed the doors and I made it very clear to everybody that this is a work in progress and that that's the reason they're getting this once in a lifetime opportunity to come in at the price they are in everything.And then I'm also planning on Saturday, I'm having my launch party, my kickoff party.

So at that, I'm also going to make it abundantly clear that, you know, things are not sitting there just waiting for them, but they're going to be the recipient of a lot of extra stuff because I want to fill some stuff in before the public launch.So they're going to feel really happy because even though it's not sitting there for them, they're going to get extra stuff as I fill in the gaps.

So I think as long as you're very clear with them about it, and then when they sign up and you have your kickoff, you share that with them. I think you'll be fine. 

Jackie: Thanks. I need that reassurance. 

Melissa: That's great. That's great.  

Paul: Anybody else ? I see Tazeem.

Tazeem:  I think one of the things that we probably all are feeling is overwhelmed and just know Jackie that you do not have to do this by yourself.

One of the things that many of us have discovered is it's a great opportunity for you to perhaps partner with somebody who can give value to your community. And then you too can give value to their community.So you could do a masterclass or a series of master classes. And, and don't feel like you've got to give in.

I'm the first one to admit that I'm all about giving too much, but if you overwhelm your people, they won't consume the content. And then they'll have, I keep telling myself they're gonna leave. So don't overwhelm them,but don't feel like you've got to do it by yourself. Like reach out to other people that are not in conflict or competition with you, but really maybe you can, they could serve your community.

Right. What can they teach like, could you have a Facebook expert? Cause you have an Instagram expert and accounting expert. Could you have our general marketing expert?I mean, I don't know what your real niche market is or your audiences, but you know, find people like ask your community. What are the things do you struggle with other than, you know, the, the planners I can give you?

What other things do you guys need support in? Where could you use help? And this is where you can seek out and become,you know, the authority in bringing those people to the community. And that's going to give another reason for people to want to stay because they're like, "Oh my gosh, she's giving so much value and I'm learning all this new stuff"  and it's also a lead magnet or lead generation for that other person.

Right. So I think that's a really great way.I know I, that's something I've actually just embarked on recently and I'm excited, really excited about it. Right. So yeah. Find what their pain points are and find a solution for them outside of what you offer. 

Jackie: Thank you. That's good. Awesome. Yeah. I love that.

Melissa: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So Jackie you're,you're not alone. And just kow  that like there's no, even like, I mean, we always share with, with our “Inner Circle”, like literally I went to yoga and I came back and, and, and Paul was like, guess what? We, we were, we put a post out and then we have all,and we had our first 20 spots filled within, within that.

We had no membership site, we had no platform, it was all just a Facebook group and no sales page. But we let them know, this is what to expect. This is what to, and now, you know, we have, we have everything kind of set up as far as like the different content in there,but originally it was a Facebook group.

It was a, it was a zoom call. And that was it. That was it. 

Jackie: Wow. 

Paul: So  the iPhone X S I think is what we have. And it's like, got this really cool feature that you can do portrait mode and like all these other, and the sound sounds really incredible and everything,you know, but what's interesting is I didn't buy the iPhone 10 right out the gate.

I, I bought the iPhone one, like years ago and I bought it because what they promised at the time. Yeah. Not what it is, right. This second, this is version 10. Right. And they've since gone since then. Right.And the price has definitely increased since then. So yeah. So that they know what you keep in mind is like, you know, your version one, just be very careful on what you promise, because a lot of us, we have these high, high expectations.

Cause we know our thing really well. We're positioned in the market, like we're this thing or whatever.And we get over anxious sometimes and we over promise. We're like, Oh, it's going to be all this stuff. Right. How many of us bought a product or service where it was hyped? Like it was really hyped and then you bought it and then you were disappointed when you got into it.

And you're like, really? Yeah. So you guys aren't learning.Right. But isn't it cool when it's the reverse, when it's like, the expectations were set properly, it wasn't hyped up and we bought into it. And then we were pleasantly surprised that there was a couple extra things there that weren't even promised.

You know? So what I recommend is just have content, like a couple things that you can put in as resources that you don't even promise the gate. And then you get surprised that those that come in, you're like, Oh, by the way, welcome on board. I know I didn't tell you about this, but I have a couple of things in here that I want to give you.

Like, here's some templates or here's a checklist that I was going to make a bonus,but I didn't tell anybody. So now they feel special when they came in like, Oh, they got something more than they planned on, even though you already factored it in. But then it's all about setting expectations because we always want the version 10.

We want the cool three D camera, all the whizzbang and the, and the unbreakable glass from six feet.Did you guys hear that? That's like the new glass that I-phones looking at now from (inaudible), 

Just give yourself grace, that your version one, you're going to most likely have people that love what you're about. And they're going to buy into you. Not necessarily the thing they're going to buy into you. And they're following you while you are the version you are right now,because of all the things you've experienced up until now

Jackie:  It took me five years to get to that place. So yeah, they're not going to do that in the first month. Gotcha. Thank you. That's really helpful. And you answered a question. I was going to ask already said, it's all about saving things as bonuses. Like, even though,You know, you see all the added things that will help them. That's not to talk about that and have them as surprises down the track.

Yeah. I love that. That's cool. Thank you. That's really helpful. 

Jackie: I'm at the beginning. So I'm just hashing out my idea, you know, the name, the content of the things. And it's probably just bumping up against that fear, I guess of not having anything in there when people start. So my idea and I'm also bumping up against that of really nation down. I'm a graphic designer. I've been doing that for 20 odd years. The last five I've got into designing digital and printable planners.

And so I kind of design stuff, but also help people design their day. And what I'm really want to specialize in is helping online business owners get their customers results with planners and workbooks,because I know when you can simplify, I know (inaudible) talks about this a lot, when you can simplify and help people take action.

Like it's that small, consistent stuff that makes the difference and moves you along. So I know we can do that in this product, like in this kind of way. And it will help people's, you know,like whether it's coaches, men, ship owners, course creators, all of that stuff, helping you, people get results.

Well then that's a win win, because it makes selling easier, make your life easier. And also it helps people simplify their strategy. So even though it's niche quite down, there's lots of pieces to it. And so as I'm planning my content and maybe this is just a normal thing,and I'm kind of looking for a bit of reassurance, but I'm sort of just kind of getting stuck on what order to do things with the content or is it just that when people join for that, you know, founding member thing but they really do understand that you're building from scratch and it's going to take a little while to get all the content in it. Is that normal?

Paul: Yeah. Well, I think a lot of people are at that stage. So give yourself some grace anybody have imposter syndrome or like, Oh crap. Like people might say, people might say yes, you know, what am I going to do? They say yes. So they actually buy, okay.

So does anybody have any advice, anybody want to chime in just so you can unmute yourself and give  any feedback 

Susan: I'll jump in for a minute. Hey, how are ya? So first of all, one of the things I did was I made sure I was very clear with . I'm in my founding member launch right now I closed the doors and I made it very clear to everybody that this is a work in progress and that that's the reason they're getting this once in a lifetime opportunity to come in at the price they are in everything.And then I'm also planning on Saturday, I'm having my launch party, my kickoff party.

So at that, I'm also going to make it abundantly clear that, you know, things are not sitting there just waiting for them, but they're going to be the recipient of a lot of extra stuff because I want to fill some stuff in before the public launch.So they're going to feel really happy because even though it's not sitting there for them, they're going to get extra stuff as I fill in the gaps.

So I think as long as you're very clear with them about it, and then when they sign up and you have your kickoff, you share that with them. I think you'll be fine. 

Jackie: Thanks. I need that reassurance. 

Melissa: That's great. That's great.  

Paul: Anybody else ? I see Tazeem.

Tazeem:  I think one of the things that we probably all are feeling is overwhelmed and just know Jackie that you do not have to do this by yourself.

One of the things that many of us have discovered is it's a great opportunity for you to perhaps partner with somebody who can give value to your community. And then you too can give value to their community.So you could do a masterclass or a series of master classes. And, and don't feel like you've got to give in.

I'm the first one to admit that I'm all about giving too much, but if you overwhelm your people, they won't consume the content. And then they'll have, I keep telling myself they're gonna leave. So don't overwhelm them,but don't feel like you've got to do it by yourself. Like reach out to other people that are not in conflict or competition with you, but really maybe you can, they could serve your community.

Right. What can they teach like, could you have a Facebook expert? Cause you have an Instagram expert and accounting expert. Could you have our general marketing expert?I mean, I don't know what your real niche market is or your audiences, but you know, find people like ask your community. What are the things do you struggle with other than, you know, the, the planners I can give you?

What other things do you guys need support in? Where could you use help? And this is where you can seek out and become,you know, the authority in bringing those people to the community. And that's going to give another reason for people to want to stay because they're like, "Oh my gosh, she's giving so much value and I'm learning all this new stuff"  and it's also a lead magnet or lead generation for that other person.

Right. So I think that's a really great way.I know I, that's something I've actually just embarked on recently and I'm excited, really excited about it. Right. So yeah. Find what their pain points are and find a solution for them outside of what you offer. 

Jackie: Thank you. That's good. Awesome. Yeah. I love that.

Melissa: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So Jackie you're,you're not alone. And just kow  that like there's no, even like, I mean, we always share with, with our “Inner Circle”, like literally I went to yoga and I came back and, and, and Paul was like, guess what? We, we were, we put a post out and then we have all,and we had our first 20 spots filled within, within that.

We had no membership site, we had no platform, it was all just a Facebook group and no sales page. But we let them know, this is what to expect. This is what to, and now, you know, we have, we have everything kind of set up as far as like the different content in there,but originally it was a Facebook group.

It was a, it was a zoom call. And that was it. That was it. 

Jackie: Wow. 

Paul: So  the iPhone X S I think is what we have. And it's like, got this really cool feature that you can do portrait mode and like all these other, and the sound sounds really incredible and everything,you know, but what's interesting is I didn't buy the iPhone 10 right out the gate.

I, I bought the iPhone one, like years ago and I bought it because what they promised at the time. Yeah. Not what it is, right. This second, this is version 10. Right. And they've since gone since then. Right.And the price has definitely increased since then. So yeah. So that they know what you keep in mind is like, you know, your version one, just be very careful on what you promise, because a lot of us, we have these high, high expectations.

Cause we know our thing really well. We're positioned in the market, like we're this thing or whatever.And we get over anxious sometimes and we over promise. We're like, Oh, it's going to be all this stuff. Right. How many of us bought a product or service where it was hyped? Like it was really hyped and then you bought it and then you were disappointed when you got into it.

And you're like, really? Yeah. So you guys aren't learning.Right. But isn't it cool when it's the reverse, when it's like, the expectations were set properly, it wasn't hyped up and we bought into it. And then we were pleasantly surprised that there was a couple extra things there that weren't even promised.

You know? So what I recommend is just have content, like a couple things that you can put in as resources that you don't even promise the gate. And then you get surprised that those that come in, you're like, Oh, by the way, welcome on board. I know I didn't tell you about this, but I have a couple of things in here that I want to give you.

Like, here's some templates or here's a checklist that I was going to make a bonus,but I didn't tell anybody. So now they feel special when they came in like, Oh, they got something more than they planned on, even though you already factored it in. But then it's all about setting expectations because we always want the version 10.

We want the cool three D camera, all the whizzbang and the, and the unbreakable glass from six feet.Did you guys hear that? That's like the new glass that I-phones looking at now from (inaudible), 

Just give yourself grace, that your version one, you're going to most likely have people that love what you're about. And they're going to buy into you. Not necessarily the thing they're going to buy into you. And they're following you while you are the version you are right now,because of all the things you've experienced up until now

Jackie:  It took me five years to get to that place. So yeah, they're not going to do that in the first month. Gotcha. Thank you. That's really helpful. And you answered a question. I was going to ask already said, it's all about saving things as bonuses. Like, even though,You know, you see all the added things that will help them. That's not to talk about that and have them as surprises down the track.

Yeah. I love that. That's cool. Thank you. That's really helpful. 

Melissa:  

Keep us posted on how things are going with everything.

Jackie:  I will.Thank you. 

You're so welcome. All right.

Melissa:  

Keep us posted on how things are going with everything.

Jackie:  I will.Thank you. 

You're so welcome. All right.