Terms
Ben L Collins, the Google Sheets expert behind the education website benlcollins.com Ben L Collins is extremely grateful for his membership business and the creator economy of digital media all over the world. "When you're creating something - whether you're an artist, or you're designing a technical course or an building membership - when a random person opens their wallets and offers your money, you'll realize the incredible privilege you have to be when you are able to do that kind of work and reach so many people.
"If someone's willing to first of all - just check out my products, and they like it enough that they're willing to pay for it, I want to do everything I can do to make it as perfect as it can be for them," he continues.
Ben loves the concept of membership as it's so much more than just a one-off fee: "We're not talking about an agreement for consulting where someone hires you to do something that's written and structured and everyone knows what they're getting. It's more like a relationship where that person is saying, 'I want to join your bandwagon for the next year or month or quarter. I love what you're up to I'd like to be a part of you and be part of the group."
He believes that membership gives you a really strong incentive to do the very best that you can, and strive to make great material. "People expect that I create high-quality content however, I really want to - in their interest and mine. "
Ben says that it is helpful in building a strong bond with the community "I feel like I'm doing something for them rather than just this random person purchasing the course but you do not have any idea if anyone even looks at it. The experience is more tangible with your membership or closer. It's about building a deeper relationship that goes beyond being an exchange."
From "always-on" to microdeliverables
The covid-19 epidemic hit, Ben had been delivering e-courses on data manipulation including Google Sheets for 10 years. "I was delivering more than 15 courses via Teachable, perhaps with 25 courses, since some of my courses were relaunched. While teaching the course is a must to commit as much, if not more effort - into marketing than the actual course. It's interesting, but I'm not a fan and it's not something I enjoy."
Ben L Collins Ben L Collins had been delivering e-courses for 10 years before covid struck
Ben realized that he liked to concentrate on spreadsheet technical content and helping people. "People would come to me and say "How do I get that done?', and the problem would be really interesting to solve.
"Membership was something I had thought about probably two, maybe even three, times in the past," says Ben. "I loved the idea since it's a recurring income. Membership isn't being forced to create something every single time for profit, where you get a huge spike, but then you're left with nothing after that." He explains that it's a stable platform, which allows the creator to concentrate on creating as well as the connection with the audience, more than having to manage marketing.
"For several years I'd considered the notion of membership however, I never did the process of research. I was afraid that it might feel as if I was always in the loop if I did this model where I had to be continuously doing tasks. I was always able to pull back and was able to keep going through the classes." But he had completed what he had set out to achieve.
"I'd pretty much done everything to cover with full courses. It was difficult to locate another course that wasn't just becoming more specialized, and the market gets smaller as you get to more advanced techniques," he continues. "There was no economical reason to take one of the classes I could consider."
Ben adds that he had a feeling of burnout. "I was thinking 'I have to record 100 Teachable videos that all need to be a single cohesive thing. It was difficult for me to find enough energy to sit down and create the entire thing in one go. It's impossible to know for sure if people are going to buy it. "
Ben explains that online courses require the creator to publish their creation before trying to sell it. With this, it's impossible to know for certain whether it will be an success. "It could take, say, three to six months to create a really good course. If it doesn't land in the market, you won't be able to sell the course tomorrow, " he adds. "I discovered that I required a more ongoing relationship with my readers where I would have Microdeliverables and microdeadlines."
Chess Playing a simulation of chess with Google Sheets
Membership was suddenly logical. "I'll commit to a weekly newsletter and we can have templates and tutorials however they don't need to be one gigantic topic and all connected to one another. The content could be smaller, and easier for me to digest - and more manageable for readers to digest."
Also, from a user perspective, not many people complete their online courses "It's difficult to purchase a course that has more than 10 hours worth of videos. It's hard for people to squeeze in the 10 hours of video content, and therefore you stop and don't get around to doing it. If you get one email a week, you could plan 30 minutes of your lunch break to gain a lot of value the week before you put it aside for the next week." Ben explains.
The spring of 2024, Ben started to think hard about membership. Over the summer, he sat down and sketched out what it would look like before launching in September.
Email is king
When he talks about his work, Ben is keen to be grateful to his co-worker. "I'm very fortunate that my wife has done everything I've mentioned prior to. She has had her own business; she's created a variety of products, and knew how to build an email database." Ben received a many tips and advice when he began his membership journey "that was extremely helpful" One of them was to build an email list.
Ben's wife was working in content marketing when he was starting to build his online community. "She was part of an agency which handled marketing for their clients, as well as writing blogs, SEO posts and social media. It was super-helpful, obviously for the work I was trying to accomplish at the time," Ben adds.
"Emails are the most important way to connect to your target audience," he continues. He admits that this might not be the case for younger people, but he says: "The problem with social media, especially modern platforms such as TikTok has to do with the disconnect between you and your followers.
You create a piece of content and the platform shows whatever is viral and trending. it doesn't matter if you've got 100,000 or 10,000 followers, if your article isn't a viral hit according to the algorithm, then not all of them are ever going to see it. There's a risk of a weak relation. It's a matter of the discretion of that platform. Should they alter their algorithms or fall out of fashion - there have been many social media networks disappear - therefore, having an email list is vital.
Tips for those who want to become membership managers
"If somebody was starting an account right now I'd advise them to "Just start!" Ben smiles. "With retrospectively, I'd rather I'd started this two years ago. The things that take time. The sooner you get started, the more time you'll have."
Ben in Zoom Ben hosting a Zoom session for his subscribers
He admits that it's always simple to conduct a bit further research "You can convince yourself that there's something you're missing or there's another way of doing it. I've made that mistake in the past. When you finally click "Go", and then put an item in the universe and start interacting with actual people the thing begins to take on new meaning. It becomes a matter of actually solving problems you must resolve, not just these hypothetical issues."
The author advises members to not think too much about it: "If you're addressing someone's pain point - if someone needs to solve a problem and you is able to do so, go out! You can improve it as time goes by."
More information
For more information and to subscribe to Ben's daily Google Sheets tips, go to benlcollins.com.