Digitally She Does It Podcast

EPISODE 101: [SCALING UP SERIES] Scaling with memberships

• Karen Davies • Season 1 • Episode 101

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In this episode of Digitally She Does It, join me, Karen Davies, as I continue the Scaling Up series with an in-depth exploration of scaling your business through memberships.

Discover how membership models can revolutionise your business by generating consistent recurring income while fostering a loyal, engaged community around your brand. Drawing from my own experience, I’ll share practical strategies and highlight the key benefits of creating a membership site to drive sustainable growth.

You’ll learn about the essential components of a successful membership, time management tips to avoid burnout, and how to maximise your revenue without spreading yourself too thin.

Packed with actionable insights and inspiring advice, this episode is perfect for ambitious creatives ready to scale their business with confidence and clarity.

Ready to take your business to the next level? 

Tune in now and let’s make it happen!

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Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to the digitally she does it show. This is episode 101. And in today's episode, I'm going to be continuing with the scaling up series. And today I am talking about how to scale up with memberships. So let's jump right in and let's get started. Welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. I'm your host Karen, and I'm here to lift the lid on what it actually takes to create a successful business. If you are an ambitious creative ready to build a business on your own terms and without compromise, then this podcast is perfect for you.

Karen Davies [00:00:42]:
With my award winning approach to marketing and expert knowledge in creating online courses, this show will leave you feeling inspired, energized, and ready to bring those big dreams to life. Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step strategies to help you accelerate your businesses grow. So let's dive in, and don't forget to subscribe to all my upcoming episodes which drop every Wednesday. Hello and welcome.

Thank you for joining me today. I'm your host, Karen, and I really do appreciate you hitting that play button to listen to today's episode. So today, I'm talking about scaling up with memberships and how a membership site can actually be a game changer for your business. But before I do, I want to just talk to you about the Digital Creators Hub.

Karen Davies [00:01:37]:
Now this is your one stop shop for getting started online. It's completely free, and I have so many resources in there that is gonna help you to start building your business online and getting you started. Now is the perfect time. We are in the latter part of November, so 2025 is just around the corner. And what better time to start thinking about your goals for next year than right now? So if you want to create more freedom in your business and scale your income, then head on over into the Digital Creators Hub and go and access these free resources today.

Now to get into the hub, you just need to go over to my website, www.karen-davies.com/hub. Because as I said, there's no better time to get started with your digital business than now, so go and grab these free resources.

So thank you for joining me today for episode 101.

Karen Davies [00:02:47]:
Last week, I was celebrating coming into triple digits for the podcast. So I'm really pleased that we are kicking off the 100 with talking about memberships. The this is part of the scaling up series which I have released to celebrate the milestone of hitting the triple digits. So thank you for joining me. As I said, today, I am diving into a topic actually that's close to my heart, and that's been an absolute game changer for me and my business, and that is the memberships. If you have been thinking about adding a membership to your business for a while or maybe you're thinking about how to grow your business, then memberships could be an option for you because they offer an incredible opportunity to scale your business by creating predictable recurring income, and you get to build a loyal community around your brand as well. So there's lots of benefits to to add in a membership to your business. And in today's episode, we're going to explore further about what you need to do and how you can upscale with the membership model.

Karen Davies [00:04:10]:
So okay. Let's start by talking about why memberships are a game changer. Now scaling your business is all about finding ways that you can grow your income without stretching yourself too thin. Remember, you have limited time. You've got limited time, limited energy, and most likely limited inclination to want to keep working with lots of different clients or even having to go and find lots of different clients. And it's this idea of I could bring a client in, but at the end of the day, if I do bring a client into my business, they're only going to last so long before I have to go and find another client. And then you're in that you're in that trap of having to go and constantly find clients to keep the lights on, and it's exhausting. I know this firsthand.

Karen Davies [00:05:02]:
I've been there. I have burnt myself out by trying to build a business this way. And so for me, part of my business journey is about finding other ways that I can serve without getting exhausted, becoming exhausted. And memberships are absolutely brilliant for this because they allow you to serve your audience consistently whilst you generate reoccurring income. Now a well designed membership will create huge amounts of value month after month. It lets you provide that ongoing support. It will let you you can deliver training. You can deliver resources.

Karen Davies [00:05:47]:
All the while, you are deepening your connection with your community. Plus, the recurring revenue that you have coming in on a monthly basis is going to provide you with stability so you're not trapped in that that cycle of having to having to constantly chase new sales to, as I say, keep the lights on in your business. So memberships allow you to serve your audience consistently while creating a sustainable and scalable income stream. So it's a win win. It's a great model that you can start bringing into your business that is essentially going to help you grow. So if you like the idea of adding a membership to your business then what you need to start thinking about is the problem that you are ultimately solving. This is a really key bit because your your membership has to solve a problem. So you need to think about what they need on an ongoing basis.

Karen Davies [00:06:52]:
So the difference between a membership and an online course is that with an online course you will have students that purchase your online course because they're looking at resolving a specific problem. It might be that they wanna learn something or maybe they wanna figure out how to include something in their business, I e learn a social media platform or something. So an online course is a great way to provide a solution, be it training or a pathway to delivering that solution. The thing with a membership is this is ongoing. So whereas an online course is a do it once, get the solution, job done, a membership is an ongoing thing. It's the thing that people will subscribe to on a monthly basis because they need that ongoing support. So this could be the fact that they need education. It could be that they need support.

Karen Davies [00:07:51]:
Maybe it might be that they need accountability or simply to access exclusive tools and resources that you might be offering. So you need to ask yourself if this is something that you're interested in is what ongoing challenge does my ideal member face And how can I provide consistent value that solves these challenges? And then of course what kind of experience will keep them coming back month after month after month? Because with a membership model, what you want to be thinking about is how you can bring members in and how they can stay with you for a long time. So this isn't just coming for a month and then leave. Really what you wanna be doing is providing an experience that your members want to be a part of. That they're going to be happy to continue paying for month after month. So your membership should feel like a no brainer investment for your audience. It's a resource that they can't imagine being without. Now a successful membership solves a reoccurring problem and keeps delivering value month after month.

Karen Davies [00:09:09]:
So what can you create in your business that's going to provide this kind of solution? Now one of the biggest benefits of a membership model is the community aspect. People don't just join a membership because they they need the the resources. The chances are that what they need they could probably get online because there is so much noise out there. There's so much stuff that's now available. They can most likely scramble together what they need and figure out what they need to do. So they're not necessarily going to be joining for resources alone. The likelihood is that they're going to be joining a membership because they want to feel connected to others who are on a similar journey. So in order to create a really thriving membership, you need to focus on building a space where members are gonna feel seen, they're gonna feel heard, and most importantly they're going to feel supported.

Karen Davies [00:10:15]:
So this could be through you providing live q and a sessions where they come ask questions and you give them advice in a more personalised way. It could be that you deliver group challenges that help to them to stay motivated and keep them engaged. Or it might be that you are delivering a private community where they can connect with other individuals that are, like I say, that are on a similar journey to a to what they're on.

When your members feel like they're part of something special, they're most likely going to stick around a lot longer. And that's going to be the key to scaling a membership. Because the heart of the membership is essentially the community so you need to build a space where people feel like that they belong so that they stay for the long haul. So back in July, I launched my membership, sell your brilliance online, which is all about helping entrepreneurs create profitable online courses in their businesses. Because I realized that, yes, I have an online course and and those that want an online course can, of course, go and purchase an online course, but actually what I wanted to provide was something that offered more support.

Karen Davies [00:11:39]:
Because creating an online course is a journey and there are a lot of rabbit holes that you can go down. You know, you can make so many different decisions about the tech, about the content. Even planning your framework can absolutely take you a long time because it's one of those things where you can get it in your own way. And I was seeing this. I was seeing this with my clients that I was working with. I was seeing this with the students that were purchasing my online course. And what I wanted to do was provide an option that provided deeper support. So I decided back in January of this year that I was going to create a membership that was going to help my ideal people achieve their goals but with the support that they needed in place.

Karen Davies [00:12:33]:
So back in July I launched my membership and I decided that for me because I wanted to provide the support and I wanted to build a community around what it was that I was creating, I needed to offer sort of additional things in the membership to help keep people engaged. So on a monthly basis, all my mum members get live masterclass training. So I every single month, I deliver a training live via Zoom where everyone can come on board and attend and I will talk about something or I will deliver a training in an area that's going to help them up level what they're doing. So some of the training has been about creating their framework and I've walked them through my plug and play system to help them create an outline of their course in a really easy way. I have delivered training on Canva. So those members that are in my my membership, they have businesses, and there are things that they are going to need to do in order to promote their business. But, also, they're going to need to create course resources. And so I have delivered training on how to use Canva to deliver your online course because Canva has so many amazing sort of tools within the platform that you can use to create your online course.

Karen Davies [00:14:04]:
And so I have sort of peeled back the curtain and walked people through how to actually maximise the the Canva platform. I've delivered training on how to define their messaging, how to create really effective messaging in their business. So there's lots of areas that I have created master classes on to help them up level what they're doing already. Now that complements the training that they get access to within the membership. So they have my full roadmap. So they have from from start to finish, how to plan, create, build, and launch their online course. So the master classes simply complement the training that they already have access to. Now the other thing that I provide as well are monthly q and a sessions.

Karen Davies [00:14:59]:
So my members can come along, again, it's live on Zoom, and they can ask questions so that they can get the answers that they need to move forward. And that happens every single month. And then the other thing that I offer as well are monthly coffee and catch up sessions so that they can use these sessions for accountability or to simply come and get jump onto Zoom and just feel connected with other members in the membership. So I'm bringing people together on a monthly basis. So those three events, the live masterclass, the live q and a session, and the live monthly coffee and catch up, they happen every single month within the membership. All my members get that. And then on top of that, I have guest experts come into the membership to deliver training as well. So this afternoon, I have a guest coming into my membership that is doing a goal setting workshop so that my members can really sort of get clear on what their goals are for next year.

Karen Davies [00:16:05]:
So if their intention is to launch their online course, then they can start pulling together that plan in order to get that course created up out in the world so they can start creating income. So I have lots of things going on in the membership. Now in January, I'm going to be launching a challenge within the membership as well to help kick start people people's efforts towards creating their online course. Because the reality is that with the best intentions in the world life can get in the way and before you know it a month, 2 months, 3 months has gone past and you haven't achieved what you set it out to achieve. And so through my membership, I can then deliver small challenges to help people get started so that they can start making that movement. So a membership allows you to deliver very specific activities to support your members. I mean, with sell your brilliance online, I have so many ideas and as the membership grows, I will be bringing in more and more things to support my members. I have decided on the 3 monthly events because because whatever stage my members are at, and my members are all at different stages, there will be something that they will want to attend.

Karen Davies [00:17:37]:
And it might just be the fact that they're working on their online course, they want to have that connection, they can just jump onto a call and they can be connected to other members. And there's power in that. There's power in conversation with other people that are on a similar journey. One of the things that I I'm also planning for my membership is an accountability buddy, scheme so that I can pair people up and they can they can have somebody within the membership that they can become accountable to. Because some people equally need that as well. Now not all members are going to want that, but the members that do want that are going to get that because it's another level of support that I can offer through my membership. Now if I was delivering this through an online course, and I do have my online course that walks people through how to create an online course. But if I was just delivering the online course, for example, I don't offer any of this because what they get when they buy my online course is just the roadmap.

Karen Davies [00:18:43]:
And that's fine. Some people are self starters. They are motivated. They know what they want to achieve and an online course serves their needs. But there will be an element of an audience, your audience, my audience, that just needs that extra layer of support. And that's where the membership model comes in. Now in terms of delivering the support and and what that means in terms of my time, it's actually not a lot. Okay.

Karen Davies [00:19:16]:
So minimum, I'm showing up for about 3 hours a month because I'm delivering 3 live events. So I've got the 3 events, which are 60 minutes of time, so that's 3 hours. And then there's admin time as well because then I put things in the portal. My membership is on a platform. It has a a member's portal that my members can go into and access the training, the resources, the the templates, the plug and play systems. Everything that they need to create their online course is in this portal. So that's already been done. I don't need to worry about that.

Karen Davies [00:19:55]:
It's all done. They have ongoing access to that. So in terms of my time, it's the 3 hours for the live sessions and then some time to stay connected with my members. So I would probably estimate that on a monthly basis, I'm probably given about 5 or 6 hours to my membership. That's not a lot. It's not a lot of time. If you think about it, you could be delivering 1 to 1 services where you could be giving your time 38 hours a way, a month. So you have to think about, okay, what is the best way for me to get my time back but to make more money? Now the beauty of a membership is that it's scalable with meaning every single month I earmark, what, 6 hours.

Karen Davies [00:20:49]:
I'm making reoccurring income off the back of delivering those 6 hours, but every time a new member comes into my membership that increases what I earn. So because it's scalable, it doesn't matter if I have 1 member, 10 members, a 100 members, a 1000 members. It's not necessarily going to affect the time that I give to the membership, but it will affect what I I earn. And I that's why membership models are really powerful because you can do what you need to do. You can support your people at the level that you want to support them, and you can earmark a certain amount of time a month that is right for you. But the more people you have in your membership, the more money you earn. It doesn't mean you have to increase the time that you give. You can set things up like onboarding sequences and welcome videos and portal tools and those things that that are are on auto.

Karen Davies [00:21:54]:
So you don't have to be there to deliver it over and over again. When a new member enters into my membership, they get access to all of that. So the moment they sign up, the moment they've paid and they come into the platform, they are welcomed by an onboarding sequence which tells them what it is that they can expect. It shows them around the platform. It tells them where everything is. So the training, the live events, the events that need to put in their calendar, the the templates, all of those stuff. And then I so I'm not there having to do that, and then they can hit the ground running. So they benefit by that because they're not having to wait for me to be there in order to tell them what they need to do because it's clearly highlighted in the onboarding sequence.

Karen Davies [00:22:54]:
So those 6 hours that I deliver on a monthly basis, I can plan for. I know that I need to earmark every month 6 hours. And if I didn't wanna do anything else in my month other than deliver those 6 hours then that's an option to me because I'm making money because I've got reoccurring income. So if you are currently somebody that is constantly in a cycle of having to find clients to pay the bills and keep the lights on, then maybe what you're missing is this kind of model where you can start to step away from delivering that kind of service to more of a service gives you passive income. Because I believe that for a lot of businesses, this approach is doable. And actually, what it will probably open doors to is serving a new customer base that maybe you haven't even thought about. Now one of the ways in which you can grow your membership is by creating multiple tiers for growth. So what I mean by that is you can have various tiers that provides different things to your members.

Karen Davies [00:24:12]:
You can have a basic tier that provides access to essential resources at an affordable price, or you can have a premium tier that that includes additional perks, things like live workshops and exclusive content. And then maybe you could have a VIP tier that offers 1 to 1 coaching or direct access to you. So you can still create different ways to make more money through a membership model. And offering multiple tiers allows you to meet your audience needs at every level but it also allows you to maximize your revenue potential so you can make more money by offering different things. So once your membership is up and running it's really important that you automate the process of attracting and enrolling new members. So I've spoken about this about the onboarding sequence. But at the very beginning, in order to bring people into your membership, you want to make sure that you have a sales funnel in place. A good sales funnel will lead your ideal people through a journey to the point where they get to sign up for your membership.

Karen Davies [00:25:30]:
So these are the these are things like creating a lead magnet, providing a nurture sequence via email, and then an enrollment offer. And by doing that, you can focus on providing a service to your current members because you know that your funnel is going to be working in the background allowing you to grow your membership. Now an automated funnel is going to be your secret weapon for scaling your membership without spreading yourself too thin. So as you can see, if you are looking to scale your business with a membership, it is a really powerful way to create consistent income whilst building a community. Because you become the person that they wanna learn from and, therefore, you're building that loyalty and trust with your community. Now by focusing on solving a reoccurring problem and then delivering ongoing value and creating an automated enrollment process, you can upscale your business whilst, and most importantly, creating a lasting impact. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope you found this episode of value and, of course, please feel free to share it with others who you may think will also benefit from listening to today's episode.

Karen Davies [00:26:51]:
Now if today's discussion has sparked some inspiration and you are ready to get started with creating your online course, then come and join my exclusive membership, sell your brilliance online, which is designed to guide you through the process of creating your very first online course with confidence and with ease. Head over to www.karen-davies.com/membership to sign up. 

I will be back next week with another episode, but until then, have a great week. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the digitally she does it show. Don't forget to check out the show notes for all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. New episodes drop every week on a Wednesday. So, why not rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Thank you for tuning in today and I will see you next time.