How to Build A Successful Membership Website In 30 Days (Day 30/30) #Bizathon2

Each month at FSO we build brand new businesses from Scratch in 30 days – The Bizathon Challenge!

This month we accomplished a lot together, successfully building a Membership Website from the ground up.

And you can become a founding member for just $1!

We setup your first sales funnel, solo ads and both targeted and retargeted Facebook Ads. You also learned advanced concepts like split testing, emerging markets and the art of story-selling. 

Yesterday, we covered the split tests you should be running to ensure the highest possible conversions for your new membership.

And today, we cover “How It All Came Together” and what to do next!

Enjoy the video below as Ritoban recaps specific steps & strategies from the past 30 days:

Often times in life we feel like giving up.

But it’s important to understand that when we have a goal, it’s unusual to accomplish it 100% as planned on the first attempt.

All business owners face trials, frustrations and hardships. It’s part of the game.

The trait that separates the successful from the other guys is perseverance. Successful businesses continue their effort to achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

Consistently moving toward your goals, regardless of circumstance will ensure you reach them.

That said, let’s recap exactly how you built your first membership website in 30 days…

How To Build A Successful Membership Site In 30 Days

Day 1 – Planning The Membership Business

Before you start building out your own membership site, it’s important to understand a few pertinent factors such as why membership sites are a brilliant business model.

• Community – Cultivate committed individuals all fighting towards the same goal. 
• Recurring Revenue – Monthly payments from members doesn’t hurt now, does it?
• Peace of Mind –  X amount of revenue via your membership site gives you peace of mind.
• List Building – We’re not just building a membership – but also an email list of hot leads.

We’ll borrow many of the concepts we covered in the first Bizathon and use them to build a responsive email list over the next 30 days.

Day 2 – Mapping The Membership Funnel

Plan your funnel before you plan your product. The funnel we’re building will combine list building, recurring revenue, and the potential to recover some costs at the end. Here’s how:

1. We’ll be driving all our traffic to an opt-in page where we get leads.
2. Opt-ins, will see a training video with pitch (VSL1) for a $1 trial of our membership site.
3. Then we’ll have the Clickbank checkout page with an ORDER BUMP of a $47 one-time payment. The order bump can be an additional mini-product that helps people get more out of their membership.
4. After checkout, we’ll have an upsell page (VSL2) with a $197 price point – where we’re not actually pitching any new product – but rather saving money for them by giving a 50-60%  annual discount.
5. After they click YES or NO – we take them to the final confirmation/thank you page.

Day 3 – Surveying Your Audience

After several to-and-fro interactions with various members of the LIVE AUDIENCE, I was able to finalize the core Membership Product. The product will include:

• #Bizathon Courses – Broken down inti modules, lessons, quizzes & assignments.
• Monthly Mastermind – A monthly webinar with Rito and his coaches
• Private FB Group – Network with peers working on businesses along with you.
• #AskRito – Q&A section inside the Membership Area.
• Nifty Tools & Software – All tools I create for myself – I hand them over.

Day 4 – Membership Funnel Optin Page

The first step of our Membership Site Funnel is the Optin Page. Since we’re going to be exclusively using WordPress for the entire membership site – all our landing pages for the funnel will be built using FunnelForMe. The core concepts behind our Optin Page are:

• Interesting
• Curiosity
• In Flow

Day 5 – Video Sales Letter Copy

VSL’s aren’t new, but they work great in certain situations. In our case, we needed to make an instant impression on new leads and get them to join a recurring billing system. Our VSL follows the same concepts Anik teaches in Copywriting Academy. The 5 Step System:

• Step 1 – Introduction
• Step 2 – Story
• Step 3 – Content 
• Step 4 – Transition
• Step 5 – Pitch

Day 6 – Shooting Your Sales Video

Video Sales Letters or VSL’s for short are a POWERFUL way of driving membership sales, even for selling low-ticket offers. Here are 5 steps to follow when shooting your VSL:

• Step 1 – Prepare The Script
• Step 2 – Prepare the Presentation
• Lay Down The Plan
• Arrange All Elements
• Enter ‘Zen’ Mode

Day 7 – Creating VSL Landing Page In WordPress

On this day we were able to build the complete landing page for our VSL inside WordPress using the absolutely amazing FunnelForMe plugin. There are few key elements on a VSL Landing page:

• Headline
• Video
• CTA
• Guarantee
• Footer (with, Privacy, Terms, & Social Proof)

Day 8 – Upsell Script + Video

Discover the ‘Entrepreneur Timeline’, and advanced ‘Upsell Concepts’ before writing your up-sell script, creating your up-sell Keynote, recording the up-sell video, and then editing and exporting it. The up-sell should complement the frontend and always make it BETTER:

• Better Deal
• Better Results
• Better Value
• Better Time-Saving Principles
• Better Automation

Day 9 – Landing Page Myths

Day 10 – Install WordPress Membership Site Plugin

There are several reasons why you should go for a professional membership site plugin for WordPress. The core functionality of a membership plugin is to:

• Manage Members – Including Login/Registration/Account/Forgot Password etc.
• Manage Membership Levels and assignment of members to different levels based on product purchased.
• Restricting Access to only paid and active members.
• Basic Reporting/Stats of how your site is performing.
• Automated Communication

Day 11 – Install WordPress LMS Plugin

An L.M.S. or Learning Management System Plugin is what you need to install on your WordPress site to offer an amazing learning experience to your customers. 

The core features of an LMS is:

• Diving the content into courses, modules, and lessons
• Ability for members to enroll, track, and complete courses
• Certification (we may use this feature in the future)
• Quizzes and Grading (an excellent way to stay accountable and learn better)
• Badges (when certain modules/quizzes/courses are completed)

Day 12 – 6 Ways To Create A Minimum Viable Product

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) allows for testing in real-time market conditions. The minimum viable product usually includes only necessary features allowing your company to market it. 

• Step #1 Create Your Welcome Page
• Step #2 Remind Them Why They Paid You With An About Page
• Step#3 Have A Community Members Area So Private Members Can Mingle + Build
• Step #4 Encourage & Enhance Mingling With A Mastermind
• Step#5 Offer A Quick, Convenient, and Exclusive Toolkit
• Step #6 Integrate (closed) FB Group for Members Only

**Bonus**Step #7 Don’t Forget the Bonus!

Day 13 – Integrate ClickBank With MemberMouse

Now that ClickBank is setup, we’re going to integrate our WordPress Membership Plugin, MemberMouse. If you do it right, you stand to make a fortune. And we’re going to remove the guesswork! Here’s how:

• Configure Clerk & Developer Api Keys
• Submit All Products For Clickbank Approval
• Configure Instant Notification URL

Day 14 – 4 Tests To Run With ClickBank

Aside from consistency, testing is the only other secret when it comes to success – not just online, but in many aspects of life. Proper split testing is a critical piece in optimizing a sales funnel. Run these 4 tests with ClickBank:

• Create Thank You Page & Test Download Links
• SetUp MemberMouse & Integrate With ClickBank
• Establish Proper PitchPlus Flow
• Make A Trial Purchase

Day 15 – Clickbank Product Approval: 3 Step Checklist

Make sure the following items are checked off your to-do list prior to submitting your products to ClickBank for final approval:

• Structure & Map Everything
• 15 Minute VSL Scripted And Created
• Test Your Funnel From VSL To Thank You Page

Day 16 – Write A Converting Email Autoresponder

Autoresponders are emails. In most instances they’re a series of emails designed to do one thing – get the subscriber to take an action. This is accomplished via clever linguistics and by offering actual value. Here are the 5-steps to create converting autoresponders:

• Clearly Identify Your Promotion
• Consistently Implement Smooth Flow
• Strong Introduction Sets The Tone
• Build An Honest & Transparent Relationship
• Speak To A Specific Customer With An Empathy Map

Day 17 – 6 Converting Autoresponder Emails

The vital component of successful email marketing is consistency. Consistent email marketing is important to your business because it educates your subscribers, boosts sales, and forms a relationship with your readers.

There are 5 guidelines to follow when writing your autoresponder emails, they are:

• Clearly Identify Your Promotion or Intent
• Consistently Implements Smooth Flow
• Open with a strong introduction
• Build Relationships With Honesty & Transparency
• Speak to a Specific Customer – Use an Empathy Map

Here are 6 Email Autoresponders That Convert:

• Give An Unexpected Gift
• Display Your Own Prowess
• Day Off Between
• Offer Private Consulting
• Once Again Offer Your Personal Attention
• Show Some Proof

Day 18 – Integrate SendLane With Membermouse

SendLane really is one of the ultimate digital marketing platforms. And It’s due to its ability to completely automate email list management and segmentation without a huge learning curve. SendLane’s Workflows allow you to trigger follow up emails based on specific subscriber actions. Here’s how:

• Create A Webform
• Click “Integration” to open the module.
• Copy and Paste The Embed Code
• Click the “Integrate with your site” button.

Start tracking visitors’ page views and content downloads and use the information to trigger specific email campaigns targeted to those particular topics.

Create these 2 workflows first:

• Lead to Conversion Unsubscribe
• Targeted Interest Segment

Day 19 – 5 Surefire Targeted Traffic Methods

There are few certainties in life. But the following five traffic generation methods are what we call evergreen. They’ll help generate substantial income for you and your business when correctly utilized:

• Run Solo Ads
• Leverage Existing Assets
• Implement Facebook Targeting
• Implement Facebook Retargeting
• Consistently Create Useful Content

Day 20 – Setup Your First Facebook Ads – Step By Step

Many entrepreneurs think Facebook Ads are too complicated – they’re not. We remove the guesswork and help you launch your very first creatives. Each ad and each video will be associated with specific subscriber actions.

We are going to have two categories of ads designed to get prospects into our funnel which has 3 intial stages;

Optin -> VSL -> Live Coaching Call.

Day 21 – Create Your First 3 Facebook Retargeted Ads

Retargeting is incredibly powerful. Facebook allows us to recapture lost leads and visitors. Engaging and re-engaging them with your products, services and ultimately your brand. We’re targeting the exact people we should be targeting at very specific points in there journey with us:

• Begin by logging into business.facebook.com
• Click the “Audiences” drop down menu in the upper left corner of the page.
• Click “Create Audience” -> “Custom” -> select “Website Traffic”
• On the following page select “Lead” from dropdown menu -> select “In the Past 3 Days”
• We’ll name ours “FSO Leads” <- name yours accordingly
• Click “Create Audience”

Day 22 – Create Your First Targeted Facebook Ads 

You may notice Retargeting traffic is small. This is because of the very specific parameters set. Which is why today, we are going to build larger audiences with broader targeting techniques.

• From within Facebook advertising, click “Create Ad”
• Underneath “Marketing Objective” select “Conversions.
• Name your page
• On the next page, underneath “conversion” select “Lead.” 
• Set countries to US
• Set the specific age parameter to “25 to 60”
• Now Choose “English” -> Digital Marketing
• Uncheck “Expand Interests When It Increases Conversions At A Low Cost.”
• Continue on to where it says “Placements” and click “Edit Placements.”
• Remove /uncheck Instagram, Audience Network & Messenger.
• Click the Facebook Dropdown Arrow to then remove / uncheck “Instant Articles.”

At this point “Feed” + “Right Column” are the only placements that should be active.

• Scroll to budget – Set yours accordingly.
• Click “Continue”
• Now under Pages, associate your FB page. 
• Click “single video” and upload the video we used earlier for retargeting ads.
• Now copy your optin page and paste the website URL to the spot under “Links.”
• Under this we’re going to need to paste our Headline and Text body.Simply copy one of your autoresponder emails attempting to achieve the same goal as the ad

Boom! Your first Facebook Targeting Ad is created.

Day 23 – 5 Steps To Create Compelling Story Ads

Every brand carries a story hidden inside of it. Just draw it out and tell it to your audience, in your own words, allowing them empathize with you. These are the 5 basic aspects of story-selling:

• Begins with a hook
• Minimalist in composition
• Identifies The Common Struggle
• Clearly outlines “before” and “after” scenario
• Happy ending

Day 24 – 7 Way This Will Supercharge Your Business!

With these DOer Club success principles, you can instantly supercharge your business:

• We fail for you
• Scale your business with peer networking
• Utilize our tools to overcome any obstacle
• Our Masterminds create great businesses
• The greatest minds ask questions & you get the answers

Day 25 – 4 Ways To Exponentially Scale Facebook Ads

The following 4 tactics will help you to exponentially scale your Facebook Advertising Campaigns:

• Trust the numbers
• Keep your ads fresh
• Remove all emotional attachment
• Delete what’s failing & utilize what’s working

Day 26 – Write Converting Emails! 7 Proven Strategies

It’s incredibly difficult to set yourself apart from all the inbox noise you’re competing with as a marketer these days. Email can and should used strategically to build loyalty and trust in your brand.

Speak directly with your subscriber by employing the following tactics to build a stronger relationship with prospects, leads and current customers:

• Captivate with compelling subject lines
• Write shorter sentences
• Focus on pain points
• Always tell as story
• Use trigger words
• Offer your time
• Utilize scarcity 

Day 27 – Why People Buy: 5 Sneaky Selling Points

Attract people to your product or services by guiding them through a sales journey, rather than shoving offers down their throats.

• Focus on people who spend
• Show them they need it
• Customers need to trust you
• Everybody wants a deal
• Scarcity Trigger Impulsions To Buy

Day 28 – Create A Tripwire Funnel With 4 Strategies

Tripwire means converting leads into customers by presenting a low-cost, painless offer; then up-selling them once in your sales funnel. 

These 4 Relationship Building Strategies get people into your marketing funnel:

• Free High Quality Content
• Free High Quality Content
• Segment Email Lists For Hyper Targeting
• Build Some Hype

In order to fully grasp tripwire marketing, we’ll look at our current funnel:

• Optin Page
• VSL + WSL Hybrid
• Checkout Page
• Upsell (VSL)
• Thank You Page

The tripwire funnel involves an additional two steps:

• Advertorial Blog Post
• Sales Page for a new low-price product.

Day 29 – 3 Funnel Split Tests That Drive More Sales

The following Membership Funnel Split Tests ensure sales: 

• Headline Copy, Text & Font
• Button Text, Shape & Color
• Creatives – Images & Videos

Change specific page elements 1 by 1 to maximize revenue. 

You did it!

That’s it for Day 30 – Great work!

As always, questions, comments or just want to say hi, please do so in the comments section below.

Stay tuned, In Bizathon3 we Build A Shopify Store From Scratch In 30 Days!

Success by choice, not by chance,

-David Aston

P.S.

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