How to Start a Paid Membership Group – Membership Groups 101

Hey Friend!

Curious about how to start a paid membership group?

Ever considered expanding your business to include paid membership groups, but are unsure if they are the right fit for you? Join me and Julie Davey as we dig into her transition from full-time network marketer to membership group maven. How you can add more income streams, a membership group, and what might work best for you.

I pray this blesses you!

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00)
Hey girl. Hey, I hope you are sipping on some iced coffee or a good, nice solid bubbly drink right now. I know I have my LaCroix. I’m excited to dig into today’s episode with you. You are going to really, really enjoy this. This is episode number 106, and we’re going to be talking about how the heck to expand your brand outside of network marketing. When you are a solo network marketer. Right now, I have an episode of membership groups way back when, but it is such a cool concept to me and something that I don’t do out of all of these different strategies between coaching and private coaching and courses and products and Etsy stores.

(00:41)
The one thing I’ve never done is a membership group. So maybe it’s time for that, huh? No, but we’re going to be digging into that. Our special guest today is Julie Davey. She’s awesome. Her Southern drawl will have you drooling because it is adorable. So you’re going to absolutely love her. Can’t wait. What’s up. Mama boss. Okay. So who is our very special guest? Julie Davey. Julie is a Christian. She is a wife. She is a mom of twins, and she’s also a nurse practitioner and a natural health educator with over 20 years experience in healthcare.

(01:59)
She received her undergrad degree from the medical college of Georgia and graduate degree from Emory university. Julie has been caring for patients in the area of cardiovascular medicine for over 16 years and Julie in 2013, she became more interested in the holistic side of wellness. And so she got into network marketing and she began educating others on the power of food and natural medicine to heal the body. Now today, Julie is the founder and co-owner of A Natural Shift, which is a lifestyle brand, helping women upgrade their habits. She is also the co-host of the podcast Take the Upgrade, which allows her to share this message with the masses.

(02:40)
Julie believes that true health starts in the kitchen with what we put into our bodies and her program In the Kitchen with Julie helps busy women prepare healthy food while spending less time in the kitchen. Julie is passionate about empowering women with the necessary tools to live a healthy and vibrant life. And she believes that with the right support and daily habits, you will experience real progress and lasting change. So Julia is just incredible.

(03:03)
The reason that she is going to dig into this for us, you guys is because as a passionate network marketer with a background in health and wellness, Julie didn’t stay there. She didn’t get pigeonholed into just network marketing as an affiliate. She expanded her brand in a big way, all the way from podcasting to her now, very successful membership community. And I want to talk through that with her because I think this is so important, whatever it is you do today, that one income stream should not be the only income stream. And so I want you to hear from somebody that’s been in your shoes, that’s expanded the brand successfully, and I’m going to teach you all the things.

(03:44)
Thank you so much for being on the show. Welcome. Thank you, Stefanie. I’m so excited to be here. Thank you for having me. Of course. So I wanted to kind of start by, you know, of course the ladies heard your amazing intro at the beginning of the show, but I think it’s always so fun to hear in your own words. Just your story. Tell us about who you are and your journey to what you’re doing today. Sure. So I started my career about over 20 years ago in the medical field, I became a nurse and then moved on and got my nurse practitioner degree. And I love that. I mean, I love helping people.

(04:24)
Medicine was always very interesting to me and that was great for a while. And then I kind of wanted to do something different. I was like, I had this kind of desire and passion that I felt inside me. And honestly it was, I distinctly remember when it kind of all began to come together and become clear. We had moved into the house that we live in now. We built a house which was a process in and of itself, but we moved in and I remember just being so grateful for just everything in my life, you know, from family to the beautiful home that I lived in to even the jobs that I had.

(05:03)
I remember laying on my floor, just looking up at the ceiling and I was praying and I was talking to God and I was like, God, I’m just so grateful for everything that you’ve given me, but what do you want me to do with it? Like, what do you want me to do with it? And that’s really where everything kind of started falling into place. He just started kind of showing me and giving me signs. And that’s when holistic health and holistic medicine kind of came into my life.

(05:32)
I was always really into what we put into our body and how we fuel our body, because I think that’s so important and also exercise, but I discovered essential oils at that time and realized that that was kind of like the missing piece to the puzzle. For me, I wanted natural tools for not only to stay healthy, but for when I needed them when we were sick. So I started using essential oils and natural supplements and people began to just come to me and ask, well, how can I get some of those? Well, tell me about those. How do they work? And naturally I’m in education.

(06:12)
I didn’t mention this, but I hold a faculty position at Emory university in Atlanta. So I teach future nurse practitioners. So teaching to me was really just kind of natural and I love it. And so I began to educate people and hold classes. And at first it was just fun. It was just sharing. Didn’t have any idea that I wanted to do this as a business, which I think for a lot of network marketers, it starts that way. So what were you doing in the classes? Hold on, pause there. Cause you’re like you were doing like in-person classes on what the oil side of it, or like, was it holistic nutrition or a combination of both?

(06:49)
It started out with just the oils because there wasn’t a lot of education at that time and people were really just hungry for the education and, you know, to know how they worked in the body, how could they maybe be utilized instead of some traditional medications? And so we started there and then as time went on and has moved forward, I do incorporate sort of a holistic rounded approach, really. So I talk about nutrition in the classes. I talk about exercise, I talk about oils, so it’s kind of just transitioned over time. Cool. Okay. Keep going.

(07:24)
So from there, you know, that I’d started to recognize, Oh gosh, I can actually get paid to do something that I love. You know, it’s kind of, I know I’ve heard this from other people before. That’s kind of an epiphany. It’s like, wow, this is so much fun. I would do it. Whether I got paid or not, I’d be using these products. I’d be sharing them with people. So that’s when the, you know, the business part kind of came in and I started to look more into that and thought, okay, so I could really do this. And really kind of the rest is history.

(07:57)
That’s what I’ve been doing for full on I would say for the last four years. The first two years, it was really just, you know, learning the product, using the product and then sharing it with other people, you know, just having fun with it. Not that I don’t still have fun with it, but now I’m very intentional about what I do and intentional about building the business. And so, yeah. So while, you know, network marketing is a big, huge part of my story and really what started my entrepreneurship. I have moved into kind of more of coaching in the kitchen, if I could put it that way.

(08:35)
So I have a lot of people who ask me, you know, how do you prepare healthy meals for your family? And you know, it not take you all day long and not take you tons of time. And people want, moms especially, we’re so busy. I know that that is the majority of your listeners. And I mean I know you’re busy and I’m all, yeah, give us the tea, give us all the secrets. Right. Cause it’s like, we just have so many things all at once and like, Oh yeah, everyone needs to eat too. Like, Oh, I forgot that part. Like, Oh, we have to, I have to make dinner. Or we have to, you know, go through a drive through, which is like a bad word sometimes.

(09:14)
But Hey, you know what, sometimes you got to survive. I get it. I know my husband’s like what’s for dinner. And like, you know, that day that you’re just like, are you really asking me? And I’m like, I don’t know, what are you bringing for dinner? What are you making? So what are you making me and which he totally would, but we would end up with Ritz crackers and cheese, which he’s like, here’s dinner. Have a nice day. Oh man. Exactly. I know. I totally get it.

(09:38)
Well, you know, I started because that’s been very important to me. I used to spend hours and hours in the kitchen because again, that was, you know, top on my priority list. But I realized that I would get aggravated and frustrated, even though I wanted us all to have this, you know, healthy food and fuel our bodies with nutrients. It’s like, geez, I don’t want to spend all day doing this. I want to have fun too. And you know, I remember my husband saying to me one day, but you like to cook. And I’m like, no, I just really like to eat good food.

(10:11)
Like the process, I feel like isn’t as enjoyable as having the stuff readily made so that I’m successful when it comes to healthy eating and nutrition. So I feel you, so you were this full-time network marketer, and then you started to become this like kitchen coach, so to speak. What sparked inside of you to create a second stream of revenue like that. And what was it that made you decide to kind of pivot a little? Yeah, that’s a great question. So I should back up just a minute.

(10:42)
My sister and I are partners, business partners. She’s also in the same network marketing company, but we formed our brand about three years ago. It’s called a Natural Shift. And it’s really just about, you know, holistic, healthy living in general. So we talk about nutrition. We talk about exercise. We talk about natural tools like oils. So all of that kind of falls under our brand. And I’ve known for years because of, you know, people coming to me asking me questions about getting in and out of the kitchen and you know, how to cook certain things. It’s something that I absolutely love.

(11:19)
And so I’ve known for years that I wanted to do something with it and that I wanted to do something more. But to be honest with you, Stef, I had it all in my mind, but it wasn’t laid out clear for me. So I think that, you know, it just really wasn’t the right time, you know, until God said it was the right time. And it kind of probably within the last, you know, six, eight months, it really started to become very clear to me. I’ve created this system to get in and out of the kitchen quick, but how I really teach that to other people.

(11:55)
So I kind of had to put it all down, you know, on paper, so to speak and really lay out the process and get it kind of straight in my mind so that I knew how I wanted to easily and effectively teach people. So it’s something that I’ve known that I was meant to do for a long time. It just recently became really clear. And you know, what’s really cool about that. You know, I’m constantly preaching to my community that you need a brand that’s who you are at the root instead of being, Oh, I’m a network marketer and that’s what I do. And that’s my brand.

(12:29)
It’s all, no, I’m a Natural Shift and this is the umbrella. And then you guys were smart about creating passive income streams that can fuel these moms, having natural shifts in their life, which includes the oils. And it includes this meal prep and this meal planning. You guys have a podcast that you’re pouring into your market as well. So I think I just really want to highlight that you saw that vision of creating this overarching brand and I’m sure that that brand still feeds your network marketing, right? Yes, absolutely. Yeah. So talk to us about this.

(13:03)
How are you guys monetizing this meal portion of your business? Talk to me about that. Okay. Yeah. So we started with, well, first we started with just some free information, eBooks that can be downloaded on our website. Of course I do a lot of live videos where I’m giving tips and things like that, you know, because you want to add so much value to your audience, and to your community. I think that that’s so important and you, you know, you want them to see you as an expert in that area. Sorry to interrupt you, but who wouldn’t listen to you because your accent is so cute.

(13:43)
Well, I’m glad you think it’s cute. Oh my gosh, I do. I love it. I’m like, yes. Just keep talking because you’re so cute. Someone told me recently that I have an accent. I’m like, I’m born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, outside of the city right here. I’m like, I have no idea what accent I have, but okay. I’ve heard it a few times. It’s so funny. That is too funny. I love it. Yeah. Okay. Sorry, go back to your story. No, that’s totally fine. So we started with, you know, some free information eBooks and then I have had countless people ask me for meal plans and although I do meal plan, I don’t necessarily sit down and do it in a formal way.

(14:25)
I write out, you know, what we’re having for dinner each night. And I have a rough idea in my head and I make sure that I have the ingredients on hand. But if I stray from that, because I’ve been doing this for so long, if I stray from that, it’s okay, but you always have that to fall back on. So I started thinking, okay. I mean, my community is really asking me for these meal plans. So I began to develop meal plans that are the website that are just printable. They’re $3 each. So they’re not expensive.

(14:56)
I polled my audience and what they wanted was meal plan with a grocery list and tips. And so that’s what kind of all comes together. So it started there and then moved into our membership site. And so now I have a membership site it’s called in the kitchen with Julie and what we do in the membership site, I kind of lay out the process of anybody coming in, whether you are a complete novice or you have experience in the kitchen, you just maybe need help organizing. You need help getting in and out quicker. Anybody can come in at any level.

(15:36)
We start with the basics with kind of like, what are some of the basic tools that you need to be successful? And then where do we start with the process of getting in and out quick, fixing these healthy meals. And really, it goes back to like what we do in business stuff. It’s like planning, just a little bit of forethought is key. Just like, you know, I’m sure you talk to your community about planning your day, the next day. I mean, we have to, you know, have a little bit of thought upfront, have a plan for the next day. Otherwise we wake up scrambling to know what we need to do, how to move our business forward.

(16:11)
Then when it gets to dinner time, it’s like, Holy cow, what are we going to eat? And then you end up in the drive-through and then, you know, you don’t feel so good when you’re fueling your body with not so good stuff, for sure. Well, I love this concept of this membership group, because I think for people that are in fitness and nutrition, the success story isn’t in here is your meal plan, because we can get that on the internet. The success is here’s the community, here are the other people doing it with you and the accountability, and then having this sisterhood, so to speak where you’re still at home, and it’s still really convenient.

(16:49)
So I really want to dig into this membership group thing, because I think my community, they hear me talk about online courses, incessantly. They know that I’m really big on that podcasting as a platform or live video, but I don’t have a membership group. So I want to pick your brain on this, because I think for a lot of people, this could be the answer for them that they’ve been searching for on how to monetize if they’re looking for more of a community aspect. Right. So do you feel like your membership group has been successful and how long has it been going?

(17:19)
Well, it’s new. It’s only been going for not even two full months. Okay. So it is new and yes, I’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback on it. So I’m really thankful for that. And, you know, I do want to say this, Stef, because it is so easy for us to get caught up in, you know, I need more people. I want more people to join. I want, and so, you know, I really had to tell myself initially, I’m going to be super grateful and thankful for every single person that trusts me enough to guide them in this journey.

(17:56)
I think that that just helps so much when you shift your mindset a little bit and you really just pour into the community that you have, knowing that when others are ready, they’re going to come too. And the people that you have that you’re pouring into. And actually, so several of the people in the group are referrals from other people. So totally to me is that means more to me than anything I would say. That’s awesome. And you’re right. It’s not about the number of people that we are “selling to,” or that are joining your thing.

(18:32)
It’s about, can you serve the audience that is willing to show up for you at your highest capacity? So I love that vision. And so where are you hosting this group? Is it Facebook or is it on like a website platform? So right now it’s on Facebook. We’re working on getting everything set up, like in a portal on our website, so that they’ll have both options. I only have one person in the group right now that is not super active on Facebook. She mentioned that when she reached out to me and I told her we were working on getting everything up, but she is on Facebook. So she was like, Oh, it’s totally fine. I’ll get in there.

(19:09)
Then once you have it on your website, then I’ll access it that way. So, um, what I like to do is I basically am creating information, like posting it in there. It’s all divided into units. That’s one of the things that I like about Facebook. Yes. It is a totally free platform. And you know, people are in there every day anyway. So like to go into your website portal, they have to intentionally remember, but they’re already in Facebook seeing Julie’s alerts and the new videos and Mary, their new BFF and the group just posted, Oh, what’s she like, it’s almost like it’s driving the community for you because they’re already there.

(19:49)
That’s the one piece I love about hosting a group in Facebook. I could not agree more. And I’ve been a part of other membership groups where they have, you know, there is a Facebook group attached to it, but all of the videos and things are in the portal and I’m a hundred percent. So do you forget? I’m like, Oh, I need to go and watch this video. I said, this one today, you know, but if it’s right there, you get a notification. If it’s on Facebook, just like, you know, I went live earlier today. I do at least one live educational type class.

(20:24)
Like we’re learning to read nutrition, labels, how to get in and out of the grocery store quick, how to buy healthy food for your family. And so we’re, I’m doing a lot of education around things like that. And so they see when I go live or they get a notification and they can obviously watch the video later. So yeah, I really do love Facebook for that. And how are you billing these people? Because is that the one constraint is there an billing solution that you have found?

(20:49)
So right now we are using WooCommerce through our website. That’s what we’re using right now. We may switch to something else later, but it’s working fine. Right? Does it automatically add them to the group for you? It does not automatically add them. I get alerted. And then, now they do get an email where they are asked to request to join the group, but I keep an eye on it. And if, you know, obviously they’re not, I make sure that they’re added. Sure.

(21:16)
Then how much do you charge per month and are you doing only a monthly membership or do you allow them to purchase a big amount of time for less money? Yes. So they can purchase a year and they get three months free if they do the year and the monthly is $34.99. Okay, cool. I love that price point, except that it doesn’t end in seven. My community knows I’m like obsessed with buyer psychology with seven they’re like Stefanie is going to freak out because it’s not a seven, but other than that.

(21:46)
I love the 34 because I feel like what you have to really think about almost as if like what’s a no-brainer price point when it comes to membership groups, because people are thinking, what do I pay for Netflix? What are they willing to pay that they’re not even gonna look at it versus like, in my opinion, I think if you can touch more people at $37 a month versus $97 a month, because your retention is going to be a lot lower at that higher price point, especially when you’re looking at who you’re serving, which is the mom and, you know, so she’s got to validate that expense and all of these things.

(22:22)
So I love that price point. I love your method of doing the three months free as a buy-in for them to do the whole year. Awesome. Yes. So Stef, let me ask you this. I have to know, I don’t know that the seven, the buyers tell me that. So when you guys are pricing, if you ended in seven, there’s just a higher purchase rate. If you end in 99, it’s typically like a sale thing and that’s like a sales psychology. But to me that also devalues it a little bit like $99. I’m like, I don’t know. It just feels like it’s devaluing it for me, but it’s, what’s funny is you say $97 and there’s 30% higher buy-in, it’s really interesting.

(23:05)
So every single one of my prices, courses, even my hourly coaching rate all end in seven. So you guys might play with that. You could do like a test run and see if it affects your conversion rate. Wow. That is really good to know. So my next question then is when somebody joins your group, Julie, do they immediately get free access, not free, but access to all of the previous content? Or how are you guys handling that? Yes, that’s a great question. So the answer to that question is yes.

(23:44)
When they join the group, the first thing that they’ll see is an intro video, showing them how to navigate the group. And basically that’s because if you haven’t been in a group before that uses the units option, then you know, people may not know how to navigate that. So I have an informational video there that I did showing them how to do that. And then I have it laid out in order that they need to walk through. So like in unit one, there’s how to set your kitchen up for success. Must have kitchen tools. So it kind of all of the bank of information that they need to get set up.

(24:21)
Then we move into goal setting because like anything, a lot of people are coming into this group. Not only do they want to spend less time in the kitchen and feed their family healthy food, but they might have, you know, weight loss goals. And so any, you know, whatever your goal is, if we don’t write it down and we don’t identify it, then we’re never going to achieve it. So having them kind of see, this is new for, you know, probably not new necessarily for your community, unless they’re a new entrepreneur, but for me, it’s a lot of moms who aren’t entrepreneurs.

(24:56)
This whole goal setting thing is a little bit new. Yeah. Also the planning piece is really new for some people. I have so many people that just come to me and say, well, you know, I just, I’m not a planner. I don’t know how to do this. And I’m like, it is so simple and so easy. So there’s actually a downloadable calendar that they can, you know, print just everything that I could think of to make it super easy, to set them up for success. So then how do you, I love all of that. That’s amazing. I’m really into the units now.

(25:30)
I’m toying with that as well for like my own group and things I think for a membership group, it makes perfect sense. How are you then keeping someone from getting in the group and they obsess over all of your units and then they get out because it’s all free. Like what is their carrot so to speak, to stay in the group every month. What have you guys come up with for that? And just curious to see different strategies on this, with what different membership groups are doing.

(25:55)
That was definitely something that I thought about before I started the membership. So one of the things that I’ve done is each week on Friday, I post a brand new menu meal plan, so they don’t have to. If they’re in the group, they get all of the meal plans that we have that you can purchase on the site. So that’s one of the things that they get for free for being in the group. And then I do new educational videos. So there’s gosh, I was thinking about it today, Stef, there is so much that I want to pour into the grid. Just take it one step at a time. Yes.

(26:33)
So the week before I’m posting, you know what next week’s live class is going to be about? So I think that, that those two things right now, you know, are keeping people interested. I hope, and from the feedback that I’ve gotten, they see the value in what they’re learning and they want to continue the process and continue to learn. They’ll also have access to, we have some programs that we’ve run a couple of times of year cleanse programs. So they’ll have access to that and get discounts on that. I’m also working on a cookbook, so they’ll get discounts on anything of that nature.

(27:13)
That’s the big thing I think that keeps people in is that community sense? They’re like, Oh, I’m a Natural Shift insider. So I’m getting these discounts and I’m getting these things and I’m sure you guys have like the interactive stuff. Like you said, the goal setting is really key. Keeping them in the community aspect check-ins and all of that stuff. So that’s really cool now, you know, my brain I’m like, Julie, you do realize all of that content you’re creating, you need to be saving and creating a course. Right.

(27:46)
You know, it’s so funny that you say that because yes I do. I save all the content. You’re absolutely right. I haven’t created a course yet, but honestly I was just thinking about this the other day, because that was the way initially that I thought I was going to go before I started the membership group. And for whatever reason, it just kind of started to become clear to me with the membership, how I wanted things to be laid out and how I wanted to teach them. But you know what this is doing, this is great because now that I’ve organized everything into units, I’m laying it out as I’m going. So it’s beautiful. It’s perfect.

(28:23)
Now it will be such an easy transition into a course. My first thing I ever did was a group coaching on Facebook. I just went live, and I literally looked like this and did a video. I didn’t even have fancy PowerPoints or anything. For those of you listening to us, Julie is like amazing and gorgeous with her adorable office. And I’m sitting on my bedroom floor in my workout clothes because we ran in last minute. My husband had to put the kiddos to bed for me. And I’m like, here we go. I’m going to hide in my floor because you know, I don’t want to hear them in the background. So this is the beauty of like real life.

(29:01)
You guys it’s like, just work your business. However, whenever you can and know that people are showing up to hear from you, they don’t care what you look like. Right. So anyway, sidebar on that. But, um, where was I going? Okay. So my first group coaching, it was just me online and I did it and it was really great, but I’m like, I’m tired of this. I don’t want to do this every single week. So I packaged up all those videos, Julie and I created my Facebook and brand new bootcamp. It’s the first course I ever put out into the world. And it still does really well. And it’s just me online.

(29:34)
So think about that because there may come a day where you’re like, I don’t want to show up every single week in this membership. If it keeps scaling, of course, you’re going to want to show up because that’s an amazing revenue every month, but you could create a secondary passive income stream for yourself, for people that don’t want the membership. They’re like, I just want to buy the course and I don’t want the community side of things. Right. So yeah, Yeah. Yes, for sure. And that was my thought process.

(30:00)
I thought, you know what, maybe there are people and I’m sure that there are people out there that just want to get the information and be able to just go in and not have to worry about Facebook because honestly I’ve had more and more people tell me because they get distracted. I mean, we all do, right. Yes. Hello. That’s what I just talked to you about on my podcast that came out today. I can’t believe that by the way, there was that coincidence.

(30:29)
My podcast came out. My interview with Julie on her show came out today. The day that I’m interviewing her, I didn’t know if that was coincidental or not. Totally coincidentally. I realized it earlier that week. And I was like, Oh wow, that’s so cool. But you know, you gave some amazing tips on technology and how to kind of keep our kids occupied away from technology. But we talked a lot about adults too. And, you know, as I was saying, we can all just kind of get in that rabbit hole or go in that rabbit hole. Let me just scroll Facebook. So some people want a course so that they don’t even have to fool with that and deal with that. And I totally get it. Yeah.

(31:08)
What was the hardest part of launching a membership group? The hardest part was the fear of, gosh, is anybody going to want this information? I mean, that’s just, if I’m being perfectly honest, it wasn’t the content I could do that all day long. That’s not what it was. It wasn’t setting it up or any of that. It was the complete fear of is this the right time? Is anybody going to want to hear what I have to say? Is anybody going to join? What’s going to happen? You know?

(31:36)
And so, as you know, and I’m sure you talk about a lot with your community. You’ve just got to step out into that fear. And if you’re not feeling that a lot, like every day, every week, then you need to step up your game. Really? Exactly. That you’re never going to grow unless you try. And even if you had decided, okay, I’m going to do this membership group, doing it for six months, I’m going to love the however many people come in. And if you decided you didn’t want to do it, you still would learn so much from that experience. You’d be able to now have all the content for a course. Like it’s still, in my opinion, such a huge win to try things and see.

(32:12)
So how did you guys market this group and how are you marketing it on an ongoing basis? Yeah, so I really, I’m not doing any kind of Facebook ads or anything like that yet. We were actually just discussing that. My sister, she is kind of the tech person. So I depend on her to do a lot of that, which is amazing that she has that skill. We talked a little bit about that. So really right now it’s posting on social media, emails. I mean, we have a great email list of people and sharing, you know, having people share with their friends. I think two, or maybe only two or three holidays or special occasions, I’ll offer a discount, you know, to get people started like the first month, they’ll get, say 20% off, something like that.

(33:04)
So right now I’m not doing any kind of paid advertising. That’s great though. I think that’s a great place to start is starting organically. And you know, you guys have a podcast, so hopefully you’re talking about your membership group, like all the time on your show. And then yeah, like Instagram stories is a great way to drive business. Another gal that I had interviewed back in the very beginning, she had done some type of promotion for those of you thinking of doing membership groups, where if one person referred somebody else into the group, their next month was free.

(33:42)
Whe was getting a lot of traction on that because, Hey, I want my best friend Mary in here with me. Cause they’re you know, doing their weight loss together. It’s so fun or it’s health together, it’s wellness and mindset together. And so she did that. And then the other cool thing she did, because she also does oils. She would have these masterclasses in the membership group. And of course after they learn, they can purchase all those specific oils that she showcased right from her directly. So she was kind of like playing off of different income streams within that membership group.

(34:14)
That’s so smart. I want to say something too, you know, moms out there who are listening, who are thinking maybe this would be a good fit for passive income for them. You know, I was talking the other day with a friend who has a membership site as well. And, you know, I was saying like, what’s a good balance. I don’t want to feel like I’m always talking about this, but I know that you have to, you know, and so she said to me, and it was just a good reminder. I mean, I already knew it, but I was thankful that, you know, she said, first of all, you have to talk about it more than you ever, ever thought that you would or could number one.

(34:53)
Number two, you have to know that not everybody is seeing your stories that you’re putting out every day and it’s only for 24 hours. So don’t feel like you are bombarding people because it’s so hit or miss the way people see stories. So you have to just really be out there talking about it all the time. And I have definitely found, you know, I’ll see numbers will go up when I talk about it more. I mean, it’s true. You can see it, you know, so it’s just really, you know, making a point and making sure that I’m doing that and weaving it into, if I’m showing something, since mine is a site on how to get in and out of the kitchen, then when I’m cooking dinner, that’s what I’m doing in my stories.

(35:34)
Then I’m pointing them to the membership to check out more. So, you know, trying to really weave it in that way and not just be, you know, where you’re always like check out my membership, you know, you have to be giving those tips so that they can kind of see, Oh, these are the kind of things she’s teaching in there. These are the kinds of things I need to know. And one other thing that you mentioned that I think is so important Stef. So I’ve been talking with another friend of mine who has a really successful membership site, and she has an affiliate program, which I’m working on the details of that right now.

(36:06)
She has gotten so much business from that. I think she had told me that one of her members had referred like 70 people to her group, you know? And so, and she’s, you know, obviously has her own affiliate links. So I’m working on that as well. But those are really good ways. I think other than, you know, the ads and you can look at, I mean, different people tell you different things on how successful those are. You know, I love that advice. Your friend gave you so much because any time you have something that you know, will benefit your community, you have to talk about it until you are sick of it.

(36:45)
Like if you’re not sick of talking about it yet, you haven’t talked about it enough. And I love that advice of people are only going to see it if they’re literally in social at that moment when you’re posting it, and then it’s not, people get weird. But, then I’m selling every single thing every day. You know, every story, no, you’re not selling, you’re storytelling. Give a behind the scenes look at the membership group. Talk about Nancy. Nancy just said that she lost five pounds simply from cutting out, you know, grains and sugar. And then you’re showing this, and then you’re talking about your new promotion.

(37:17)
So you’re just talking about it and people can take it or leave it. And I love that advice so much. And I do have to say on the affiliate thing I would prefer, and I think people are gonna have way more success, setting up an affiliate program and investing in getting that set up than they ever will setting up Facebook advertising. Initially, I think that affiliate marketing is the way to go because it’s word of mouth. People are going to trust another human being saying, I’m obsessed with this group. I want you in here with me. They go refer their mom. They make 30% commission. It’s a seamless process for you.

(37:50)
Once you get the affiliate stuff set up because I have an affiliate program through Thrive Cart and I’m an affiliate for Thrive Cart cause I’m so obsessed with them. It’s so easy. People go sign up themselves. They receive their link. I set the commission structure whenever they sell something with their link, Thrive Cart automatically pays them out. I never touch it. It’s all completely automated. And I think that would be the better investment, especially for those of you doing membership groups because of the community aspect. So that’s my 2 cents on that. Hmm. I love that.

(38:23)
That’s honestly why I have not done Facebook ads to this point because there’s, I mean, there’s just a lot of different information there and I wasn’t convinced that it was really the way to go and they’re so hit or miss. Like if we’re being really honest Facebook ads, I run them. I spend probably $50 a day on Facebook ads now with the tax write off. So you can, you know, validate it that way in your own mind if you want. But the thing is with ads is that you have to have enough money in it for it to do anything for you. And the only way Facebook ads for me return in a really big way. And I know that you got to tweak it. You got to test it.

(39:04)
You’re going to put a lot of money into testing, even in the beginning as you retarget. So if you guys, most of my listeners are beginner or intermediate entrepreneurs just do a $3 or $5 a day start and make it a retarget. So for Julie’s example, it would basically be all the people that listened to her podcast or go to her website. She would retarget them about the membership group because they already know her. It’s a warm touch. I wouldn’t use it to cold market right now, Julie, that’s what your podcast is for, you know, so because ads can be super expensive and the return, unless you get a stellar ad that goes viral, which you can, but they’re far and few between organic is going to be better to invest in initially. Great.

(39:50)
I’m glad that you said that because that’s the way that I’ve been feeling and yeah you just validated that for me. Oh man. Well, thanks for pouring into us today and teaching all about this membership platform. I’m always so curious about that because it’s the one thing I have not done and don’t get excited people. I don’t see it in my future anytime soon, but I’ll never say never. So you never know, but I think for a lot of people, it’s a wonderful fit. So thanks for shedding light on how they run, how it’s structured, all of the things membership group.

(40:23)
Tell us Julie about your podcast, tell us where people can find you. And if they’re like, I need to be part of that membership group where they can get more information. Yeah, for sure. So my podcast is called Take the Upgrade and we’re on all the platforms, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify. And we’re just really all about what can you do every single day? What small upgrade can you make every single day to move you towards the big goal? So kind of reverse engineer and just take it step by step. Where can you take the upgrade today? So we talk all things, health wellness, some things business, because we have a lot of network marketers that listen in.

(41:06)
So I’d love for you to check that out and Stef’s episode. Yeah, come listen. I’ll send you all of my, you can find me on Instagram. I’m on Facebook and Instagram. It’s just Julie Davey on Instagram and on Facebook. A Natural Shift with Julie. And for those of you who are interested in the membership, my website is anaturalshift.com. The information is there. I’d love to have you guys join or reach out with any questions. I’m always happy to answer. Amazing. Well, thank you, Julie. And we’ll talk soon. Bye. How much did you love Julie? She’s the cutest thing ever?

(42:05)
I had so much fun when I was a guest on her interview and I had just as much fun today when she was on my show. I hoped you learned a lot about expanding your brand, how you might potentially pair your product line with an additional income stream, like a membership group or something like that. And how Julie uses her podcast to funnel organic leads in to the process. And by the way, Sis, if you have never considered podcasting as a way to grow your following, to scale your community, to show up without having to do your makeup, can I get an amen? You totally need to think about it. I have a very, very all encompassing course, taking you from idea creation of your show all the way through recording, editing all of that tech stuff.

(42:52)
But most importantly, how to explode your podcast, how to grow scale, monetize, how to get incredible guests on how to promote your show for free all across literally the world and use it as an organic funnel to your business and your products. If you want to learn more about that, you can head over to podcastprouniversity.com. I have a free quiz. I have a free webinar, or you can just simply go straight over to the course, which is at stefaniegass.com and join us.

(43:25)
I want to pray over you, Sis, that you find courage today. I pray for your happiness, your peace of mind, your heart. And, I pray that God gives you the big hug that you need. The provision that you might be yearning for, that He gives you the love that you’ve been desiring in your heart, whatever that’s been missing. I pray that God provides that for you in a big way. And, I pray for your success and that favor just falls down around you in anything that you’re needing, you will have it through him so that you can further your mission here on earth. I pray over you. I’m sending you so much light as always. Until next time, love and light, Stef.