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Ben L Collins, the Google Sheets expert behind the educational website benlcollins.com Ben L Collins is immensely grateful for the membership he has received from his to the business as well as the prosperity of creatives across the world. "When you've made something, whether it's a creative idea, an instructional course in coding or creating membership, when a random person opens their wallets and offers you money, you realize the immense privilege that exists in this particular moment in time where you can do that kind of work and interact with a lot of individuals.
"If you are spending the time to firstly - take a look at my work and is impressed enough to pay for it and I'm going to be doing all I can to make it as perfect as it can be for them," he continues.
Ben likes the concept that membership is much more than a single fee: "We're not talking about a consulting agreement where the person hires you to complete the task, which is then written down and everyone is conscious of the conditions of service they're receiving. It's more of a relationship in which the person says "I'd like to be a part of your bandwagon for the next year, month or quarter. I love what you're up with and would like to contribute and be a part of this."
The membership program will provide you with a powerful incentive to be the very best that you can do, and to strive to produce wonderful quality content. "People are naturally expecting me to make high-quality stuff and I do desire to create the content for them as and for me. "
Ben states that it can aid in establishing a solid relationship with your community "I consider myself contributing to the community rather than just a uninitiated person buying the course, but you will not know whether they even look at it. It's more tangible as a member or more intimate. It's about creating a deeper bond that's more than the exchange."
Beginning with "always-on" to microdeliverables
When the covid-19 pandemic struck, Ben had been delivering courses on the manipulation of data using Google Sheets for 10 years. "I taught over fifteen courses on Teachable, perhaps with 25 launches, because the classes I taught had been renewed. If you are teaching the course, it is essential to put at least more energy - to marketing, than actually delivering the course. Although it's fascinating however, I'm not keen since it's not my thing. do well at."
Ben L Collins Ben L Collins had taught e-courses for 10 years prior to the time that covid struck
Ben knew he preferred to be focused on spreadsheet contents that were technical and helping people. "People would come to me with questions like 'How can I accomplish that?' It would be interesting to figure out.
"Membership is something I've thought of up to three at times," Ben says. Ben. "I liked the idea because it's a recurring source of income. With joining, you're no longer having to constantly launch something in order to earn income. You can have a big increase in revenue, but you'll be left with nothing after that." He explains that this is a safer platform that allows the author to focus on creating and the connection with the users, rather than to manage marketing.
"For a few years I'd considered the concept of joining a club but never got past the research process. I was afraid about having the feeling that I was constantly on the go with this method of thinking that I would be constantly performing some thing. I was always able to pull back and kept on continuing to learn from the experiences." He had accomplished what he set out to accomplish.
"I'd pretty much completed all the subjects I wanted to cover with full courses. It was difficult to find other courses that weren't becoming more special as well as the market becomes smaller with more advanced things," he continues. "There was not a viable economical reason to take one of the courses I could consider."
Ben says he was feeling a feeling of burnout. "I was thinking "I've had to develop 100 Teachable video tutorials that must be one piece.' I wasn't in a position to do this in a single block. There's no way to tell if people will purchase the product. "
Ben explains that online courses demand authors to make public their creation before trying to sell it, and it isn't always clear if the course will succeed. "It might take you between 3 and 6 months to develop a top-quality course. If the course doesn't work on the market then you'll be unable to market this course again in the near future, " he adds. "I discovered that I required an ongoing connection with my readers with Microdeliverables and microdeadlines."
Chess Simulating the game of Chess. Google Sheets
Membership was suddenly logical. "I'll sign up for a daily newsletter. There are examples and guides, but they do not have to be part of an entire subject, nor connected to one another. Information could be little smaller, which makes it more accessible to me as well as easier for people to understand."
Additionally, from a student perspective, lots people fail to finish their online classes "It's difficult to purchase the course which has 10-hours of content. It's difficult for students to squeeze in 10 hours of material, so they stop and never finish it. If you receive only one email per week, you could plan 30 minutes on a lunch break and get lots of value from the week, before ignoring it for the next week." Ben explains.
At the beginning of spring 2024 Ben started to think about joining. In the summer months, he took the time to sketch out exactly what he would want to see as he began to launch the club at the beginning of September.
Email is the new king
Talking about his career, Ben is keen to acknowledge his wife. "I'm very fortunate that my wife has achieved what I've described before. She's run her own business; she's launched a number of products and was able to establish the database of email addresses." Ben was given a variety of advice early on in his time as a member "that proved extremely beneficial" and among these lessons was to set up an email list.
Ben's wife was working as an expert in content marketing when Ben began to build his social media network. "She was part of an agency who did marketing for their clients, as well as writing blogs, SEO articles and social media posts. This was extremely helpful clearly for what I was trying to do in the moment." Ben adds.
"Emails are the most important way to connect to your target audience," he adds. The author admits that this may not be as relevant to the younger generation, however, he states: "The problem with social media, especially newer platforms like TikTok is that they cause the illusion of separation between your audience and you.
It's your job to make content but the platform just displays what's viral as well as what's trending. No matter if you've got 100,000 or 10,000 followers, if your piece isn't ranked according to the algorithm, then none of your followers likely to be able to view the content. The risk is an insecure connection. Your existence is governed by the regulations of this site. If they modify their algorithms or cease to be popular - we've seen lots of social media websites disappear, so having an email list is crucial.
Some tips for people who are looking to take on the role of membership manager
"If one were to begin the process of joining a new organization, I'd recommend the person to "Just start!" Ben smiles. "With hindsight, I wish I had done this two years earlier. Things that require the longest. When you start sooner in the process and finish, you'll have more time to be able to."
Ben on Zoom Ben hosting an online session with his members
It's straightforward to do further research "You might convince yourself that there's something missing, or there's a better approach. I've been there. But, once you click "Go" and release things to the outside world and start interacting with people in real life It takes to a whole new form. This becomes about realizing the problems you need to resolve, and not the imaginary problems."
The author recommends that members not overthink it: "If you're addressing someone's difficulty or need of solving a issue, and your membership might be able to help, begin with them! This can be enhanced in time."
More details
To find out more and sign up to Ben's daily Google Sheets tips, go to benlcollins.com.
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