This is the inspiration piece for my contribution to the upcoming member content at Get It Scrapped, my crafty teaching biz since 2007.
There is MUCH I could tell you about creating and running a profitable online membership.
But I'll share just two things here.
1. Expect to spend as much time on marketing as you do on content creation. It is essential to be marketing to the people already in the membership. It is also essential to be building your audience and mailing list–and putting them through a well-crafted marketing funnel.
2. Since you're going to spend a lot of time on marketing, you need to streamline your content creation work. The goal is to create FABULOUS content CONSISTENTLY.
The way we have done that at Get It Scrapped (while also running a second business at Teach What You Do) is to use repeating frameworks and plan out a year's content in great detail.
Each 12 to 18 months we change our framework and create a series of related courses within it, hiring guest contributors to create much of the content.
The thing that's key to this working well, is to anticipate exactly how we'll present their work and to give them very specific parameters for what their creation must enable them to share with our members.
Our current series is called “Translating Inspiration,” and each month three contributors join Amy Kingsford and myself in hunting down inspiration and using it to inspire scrapbook page design. This month's inspo is coming from “crafts.” In previous months it came from nature, home decor, book covers, and even “curb appeal.”
Months earlier, we lined up contributors and sent them their assignments — which makes it possible for us to create an eBook, video, sketches and marketing materials well in advance.
Have you thought about starting a membership? What would the topic be?
Click here to get regular tips and looks at the online teaching process via Instagram.