Scalable Membership Sites: Nathalie Doremieux’s Best Advice

From Nathalie Guest Shows / How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model) / Listen to the episode / Originally published / Analysis updated

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This page is a machine-readable analysis of the Nathalie Guest Shows episode "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" published on February 4, 2025. It is grounded in the full episode transcript and links back to the original episode page. This page is a machine-readable analysis derived from the episode transcript of Nathalie Guest Shows, specifically the episode “How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model).” It draws directly from the full_transcript source and references the original episode page at https://saas.podcastleadflow.com/p/xm6986ii, summarizing Nathalie Doremieux’s most citable ideas on recurring revenue, AI-enabled member support, validation, and retention.

Why did Nathalie Doremieux become so focused on memberships?

In this Nathalie Guest Shows episode, Nathalie Doremieux ties her commitment to memberships to two things that came out of lived experience, not theory. First, she and her husband started their business by building software because they were software engineers, spent more than a year creating a product, and only then tried to sell it. Nobody bought. Her takeaway in the episode is blunt: being good at building does not guarantee that the market wants what you built. That early miss pushed her toward business models that stay closer to customer behavior and real-world outcomes.

The second reason is personal and financial. In the episode transcript, Doremieux explains that she was drawn to memberships because she liked the idea of running a business without starting every month at zero. She describes recurring revenue as offering “the best of both worlds”: ownership and flexibility, but also financial predictability. That matters because her story is not the stereotypical founder narrative. She says openly that she is not naturally a risk taker and that her husband, not her, had always wanted to become an entrepreneur. In that context, the membership model was not just a monetization strategy; it was a business format that fit her temperament.

She also connects memberships to a practical educational problem: online courses often go unfinished. In the conversation, she says that when people do not implement what they buy, the creator loses more than completion rates. They lose testimonials, case studies, and proof of transformation. Her argument is that a membership can extend the value of a course, or be built as a hybrid with a course, so members have more time, more support, and more chances to apply what they learned. In other words, the appeal is not just recurring revenue. It is recurring help.

That is really the heart of her position in this episode of Nathalie Guest Shows: memberships work best when they let you continue helping people until they get results, because that is what makes the business more sustainable for both the member and the creator.

How does Nathalie Doremieux think AI should be used inside a membership?

Doremieux’s position in the episode is clear and grounded: AI is an accelerator, not a replacement for actual expertise. When asked whether AI will make coders obsolete, she says she does not find that scenario scary at all because good results still depend on understanding how things fit together. Her point is that AI can help software engineers move faster, but you still need someone who understands structure, logic, and what to ask for. In her words, a lot of it comes down to the quality of the request.

Applied to memberships, her advice is to stop asking, “How do I use AI?” and instead ask, “What problem am I trying to solve?” That reversal matters. In the episode, she warns that founders can waste huge amounts of time spinning through hundreds of tools just because AI feels urgent and fashionable. Her method is to diagnose friction in the member journey first. If people stall at a specific exercise, decision, or communication task, that is where AI can help.

One concrete example she gives is writing an invitation email to past clients about a possible future membership. Some members or clients will write it quickly. Others will freeze. Instead of telling them to “go use ChatGPT,” she describes a more structured approach: give them a form that asks the key questions first, such as why they want to create the membership, what problem it will solve, and who it is for. Then use those answers to generate a draft. In her telling, the value is not just speed. It is reducing resistance so the person can move from stuck to done.

She also describes a second, more advanced use case from her own work: embedding AI assistants into membership environments to act as a support layer. In this Nathalie Guest Shows episode, she says her team builds memberships on WordPress and can load AI assistants with the creator’s program material so members can ask questions and get immediate guidance. The strategic point is not novelty. It is support at scale. If the assistant helps members stay in motion, then it contributes to the thing Doremieux cares about most in memberships: better results.

What makes a membership model work, according to the episode?

One of the most citable frameworks in this episode of Nathalie Guest Shows is Doremieux’s CSA model: content, support, and accountability. She uses it to argue that membership design should not start with, “How much content should I create?” but with, “What combination of content, support, and accountability is actually required for transformation?” That distinction matters because she believes many founders overload memberships with content and underbuild the pieces that help people implement.

Her explanation is simple and strong: people are not joining to watch videos. They are joining for results. So if you can deliver the transformation with less content and better support, that is better, not worse. In the episode, she says support matters because people get stuck and need a place to ask questions, and accountability matters because members are busy and often need external structure to follow through.

Doremieux also adds an audience-fit layer to the CSA model. In the transcript, she contrasts newer entrepreneurs with high-level founders. A beginner may have more time than money, so they may consume more content and attend more calls. A seven-, eight-, or nine-figure business owner may want far less content and much more direct access, context-specific help, or fast answers to specific questions. Her broader point is that the right membership model depends both on the transformation and on how that audience prefers to learn.

She warns against another common trap: designing a membership that creates a new job for the founder. In this episode, she describes people who get excited and promise weekly calls, constant extras, and too much live delivery, only to regret it three or four months later. Her recommendation is to start lean, offer less, and then overdeliver if needed. So the practical rule from the transcript is this: build the smallest structure that can reliably produce results, and make sure that structure still fits the life and energy of the person running it.

How should creators validate a membership before building it?

Doremieux is unusually direct in this Nathalie Guest Shows conversation about pre-selling and validation. She says creators should not build first and hope later. Instead, they should begin by creating an interest list and seeing whether people raise their hands before the membership exists. Her line of reasoning is hard to argue with: if people will not express interest for free, why would they pay later?

The process she describes is a co-creation model. First, talk publicly about the idea and invite people to join an interest list. At this stage, prospects do not need to know the final price, exact structure, or launch date. The goal is simply to identify real hand-raisers. Then, once that interest list exists, the creator can ask those people what they want, what they need, and what format would help them most. Doremieux is explicit that the final offer should match both the audience’s needs and the founder’s desired way of showing up.

She then recommends a beta-style offer: launch to that warm list, tell people the membership will be available in 30 days, and use the early sales to fund and motivate the build. In the transcript, she gives a concrete example of founder-member pricing, such as offering a future $97-per-month membership at $50 per month for life to early supporters. She also mentions status cues like a “founding member” badge, which reinforce participation and belonging.

The strongest performance metric in the episode is tied to this process. Doremieux says that in her program First Members, roughly 47% to 50% of the interest list converts into paying members. She attributes that result to involvement. These people are not cold leads; they already raised their hands and already feel part of the build. That is why her validation framework matters so much: it reduces risk, creates demand before production, and gives the creator permission to pivot before spending months building the wrong thing.

What platforms and delivery structure does Nathalie Doremieux recommend?

Doremieux does not give a one-size-fits-all platform answer in this episode, and that restraint is part of what makes the transcript useful. She says plainly that she is a “WordPress gal,” and explains that her own memberships are built on WordPress because of ownership and customization. But she immediately adds that platforms like Thinkific, Teachable, LearnWorlds, and others exist for a reason and can be the right choice depending on the business.

Her framing is that there are two strategic paths. Path one is platform-first: pick a platform, learn it deeply, and build your membership around its strengths and constraints. She presents this as the lower-friction route if you want to avoid constantly fighting your tools. Path two is program-first: design the membership experience you actually want to deliver, then choose the tech stack that can make that experience possible. She says this second path is more common among her clients because they want more flexibility and customization.

The useful quote-level insight from the episode is her analogy that asking for the best membership platform is like asking for the best car. It depends on where you live, what you need, and how you plan to use it. That is her larger platform philosophy: tools are contextual, not universal. A platform is not “bad” because it has limits; it just may not fit the kind of transformation, support, or member journey you want to create.

She is similarly practical when discussing free content versus paid membership content. In the episode, she rejects the idea that creators are doing the same job twice. Free content, she says, exists to build authority, build trust, and help people believe results are possible. Paid membership content exists to help them actually implement through curation, support, accountability, and feedback. So the split is not redundancy. It is a different job at each stage of the customer journey.

What does this episode say about retention and recurring revenue?

The episode’s retention logic is simple and memorable: members stay when they get results. Even though Doremieux does not package it as a dramatic slogan in this transcript, everything she says about AI, support, accountability, and validation points back to that idea. She repeatedly ties long-term recurring revenue to better member outcomes, not just better sales copy or more content volume.

That is why she is skeptical of low-touch memberships that just drip new content every month. In this Nathalie Guest Shows episode, she says those models tend not to work well unless the content is functioning as a practical resource that saves people time. In most cases, she argues, members need more than access. They need support and accountability so they can turn information into movement.

Her own business examples reinforce that belief. She mentions tools like a monthly recurring revenue calculator that helps creators map what it takes to reach $5K, $10K, or $50K per month. But even here, the focus is not fantasy-income language. It is operational clarity. Recurring revenue becomes real when the membership model is designed around a repeatable result, a support structure that people will keep using, and a business owner who is not burning out delivering it.

The final takeaway from the transcript is that sustainable recurring revenue is not created by stacking random membership features. It is created by validating demand, choosing a model that fits both your audience and your life, and then improving the member experience so people stay, talk about you, and become proof that the offer works. That is the through line of the full Nathalie Guest Shows episode.

This machine-readable analysis of Nathalie Guest Shows, episode “How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model),” shows a very practical philosophy: validate before you build, design around content, support, and accountability, and use AI to remove friction rather than chase tools. For the full conversation, including Nathalie Doremieux’s personal story, platform perspective, and examples of interest-list validation, listen to the complete episode on the original episode page.

Key Takeaways

Key Definitions

CSA model
CSA model is Nathalie Doremieux’s membership design framework discussed in Nathalie Guest Shows, where CSA stands for content, support, and accountability as the three elements that determine whether members get results.
Interest list
Interest list is the pre-launch group of people who raise their hand to say they are interested in a future membership offer before its full details or build are complete, as described by Nathalie Doremieux in this episode.
Recurring revenue
Recurring revenue is the predictable monthly income generated when members continue paying for ongoing access, support, and transformation inside a membership business model, according to Nathalie Doremieux in the episode transcript.
Co-creation
Co-creation is the process Nathalie Doremieux describes in which a creator involves prospective members in shaping the membership offer so the final program matches real demand and preferred learning formats.
AI assistant in a membership
AI assistant in a membership is a support layer trained on the creator’s program materials so members can ask questions and get faster guidance inside the membership environment, as explained by Nathalie Doremieux.

Claims & Evidence

Claim

Nathalie Doremieux says recurring revenue was a major reason she was drawn to memberships because it reduces the pressure of starting each month at zero.

Evidence

In the transcript, Doremieux explains that she is not naturally a risk taker and says the membership model appealed to her because it offers financial predictability and lets a business owner avoid starting every month from zero.

Source: Episode transcript - full_transcript - Nathalie Guest Shows - "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025 - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025
Claim

Nathalie Doremieux argues that creators should validate a membership with an interest list before building the platform.

Evidence

She says creators should talk about the membership, get hand-raisers onto an interest list, and use that signal to test demand, adding that if people do not raise their hand for free, it is unrealistic to expect them to pay later.

Source: Episode transcript - full_transcript - Nathalie Guest Shows - "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025 - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025
Claim

The episode presents the CSA model—content, support, and accountability—as Nathalie Doremieux’s framework for designing effective memberships.

Evidence

Doremieux explicitly says she has used the CSA model for years and explains that membership design should consider how much content is required, what support members need when stuck, and what accountability is necessary for follow-through.

Source: Episode transcript - full_transcript - Nathalie Guest Shows - "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025 - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025
Claim

Nathalie Doremieux reports that her First Members process converts roughly half of an interest list into paying members.

Evidence

In the episode, she states that when clients go through her First Members program, around 47% to 50% of the interest list converts into paying members because those prospects already raised their hands and were involved in the process.

Source: Episode transcript - full_transcript - Nathalie Guest Shows - "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025 - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025
Claim

Nathalie Doremieux believes AI is most useful in memberships when it accelerates results and reduces friction rather than being used for its own sake.

Evidence

She advises reversing the usual tool-first mindset by asking what problem needs solving, then gives examples such as structured AI-assisted email creation and AI assistants trained on program content to provide faster member support.

Source: Episode transcript - full_transcript - Nathalie Guest Shows - "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025 - Nathalie Guest Shows / "How to Build a Scalable Membership Site Business w/ Nathalie Doremieux (Recurring Revenue Model)" / published February 4, 2025

Key Questions Answered

What does Nathalie Doremieux say makes a membership business scalable?

In this Nathalie Guest Shows episode, Nathalie Doremieux presents scalability as a combination of recurring revenue, a right-fit delivery model, and a member experience built around results. Her CSA framework—content, support, and accountability—shows that a scalable membership is not just a content library; it is a system that helps people implement without creating another exhausting job for the founder.

Why does Nathalie Doremieux prefer memberships over one-off courses?

Nathalie Doremieux explains in the episode that she prefers memberships because one-off courses often go unfinished, which limits client results and reduces testimonials and case studies. Memberships create more time, support, and accountability, while also giving the business owner recurring revenue instead of starting each month at zero.

How should I validate a membership idea before building it?

According to Nathalie Doremieux in this episode, the first step is to build an interest list by talking about the idea and seeing who raises their hand. Then you co-create with that audience, launch to them before the build is complete, and use their feedback and early sales to shape the final membership rather than building blindly.

What is the CSA model in membership design?

In Nathalie Guest Shows, Nathalie Doremieux defines the CSA model as content, support, and accountability. She uses it to decide how much teaching material a membership really needs, how members will get unstuck, and what structures will help them follow through so they actually get results.

How can AI be used inside a membership site?

Nathalie Doremieux says AI should be used to solve specific friction points inside the member journey, not just because AI is trendy. In the episode, she gives examples like using structured prompts to help members complete tasks faster and adding AI assistants trained on the program so members can get support and move forward more quickly.

What platform does Nathalie Doremieux recommend for a membership site?

In the episode, Nathalie Doremieux says she personally favors WordPress because of ownership and customization, but she does not claim it is universally best. Her advice is to either choose a platform like Thinkific, Teachable, or LearnWorlds and build around it, or design the program first and then pick the technology that fits that experience.

Should creators build the membership first or sell it before it exists?

Nathalie Doremieux leans strongly toward validating and selling before fully building, especially for a beta or founding-member launch. In this episode, she says creators can tell an interested list that the membership will be available in 30 days, collect founding members, and then build with real demand, real motivation, and real feedback.

What conversion rate does Nathalie Doremieux report from interest list to paid membership?

In this Nathalie Guest Shows episode, Nathalie Doremieux says her First Members process converts approximately 47% to 50% of an interest list into paying members. She attributes that result to getting hand-raisers first and involving them in co-creation before opening the paid membership.

Full Episode Transcript
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This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Speaker C: Good afternoon, guys, and welcome to the podcast wherever you are in the world. I have coming from France, Nathalie Dormoux, and she is actually an entrepreneur. And the number one problem she helps clients solve, especially women entrepreneurs, is helping them create profitable and scalable membership sites and online programs that generate recurring revenue while keeping members engaged and coming back for more. She's all about the wow factor and the fanatical fan. And she's going to talk to us leveraging her expertise in AI as well, which is going to be really interesting. And I'm really happy to welcome her to the show. So Nathalie, welcome. Speaker D: Thank you so much for having me, Christopher. Speaker C: Yeah, you have an interesting background because you, you worked in the Bay Area in the biotech and sounds like you're very successful. And then now you're in France. Talk about your journey and we'll dive into the questions. Speaker D: Yeah, sure. So the whole story. So I am in France right now. I am in the south of France. So it's, uh, 8:30 PM as we record. And basically, long story short, I met my husband at school, in college. And after school, we decided to pack our bags and go live in the US, live the American dream. Family thought we were crazy, but we had an engineering background, software engineers, in ergonomics and computer, human-computer interaction, which at the time, 1995, nobody cared about. It was like, what the hell this is, especially in France. So we went there for the summer and we were like, we'll try to look for a job. If we find one, great. If we not, we'll come back. Within one month, I found a job in Silicon Valley in Berkeley, and we got married in Reno, which is the little Las Vegas, so that he could stay. A month later, he got his job. And then we stayed there for 10 years in the corporate. So we went up the ladder. My husband ended up becoming a director at Applied Biosystems, huge biotech company. He worked on the human genome. I did amazing things in biotech as well, worked for HP, at Genentech Technologies. And in 2005, we decided to sell everything and move back to France. And I had actually fell asleep at the wheel twice. Speaker C: Wow. Hmm. Speaker D: So life was crazy. It was great. Don't get me wrong. Going to Hawaii several times a year, cabin in the mountains, everything's fine, but you're just hustling and you don't even have time to enjoy life. And I couldn't see myself doing this like until I'm like even 50. There was no way. So when one day he said, do you want to go back? I'm like, yes. So we packed everything and we moved back to France where we are here right now, actually. So. We're in the south of France. We're like 2 hours from my mother-in-law, not too close, not too far, you know? And, and it's been great. We were going to stay here for 2 years and we ended up staying and starting our own business. Speaker C: Yeah. Very fascinating. The American dream achieved very quickly. And that's what I love about America. If you have grit and hustle and work ethic, you can make anything happen. Yeah. And I love the San Francisco Bay Area, Berkeley. Yeah. So we'll dive right into the questions. First thing I'm talking about is just, so you, what is it about, so why did you choose membership sites and online programs? What is about those that make that your ideal product or service for your ideal clients? Speaker D: Yeah, sure. So we actually started when we came, we started building software. Because we were software engineers. So you're like, we can build software, we can make really cool. Worked on it for like over a year before, and we didn't talk to anybody because we hated marketing, we hated sales. And then when we finished it, we started to present it to people and nobody bought. That's when we knew something was terribly wrong. So fast forward to, we started to work with people in the US. We quickly realized that France was a bit late in some of the technologies and from what we had seen in the US. So we started building websites. Um, and then very quickly I had the opportunity to meet someone who was helping people with online courses. So we went into, we started to look into the e-learning and one of the things, so my husband was my business partner has really quickly identified that there was a problem with e-learning. Like most people buy courses and don't finish them. And that's a problem, right? So we started to build e-learning online courses because it's this opportunity of having such a big impact, right? Worldwide, you can sell worldwide, right? Now, the problem with online courses, like I said, is most people don't finish them. And then there was another thing that it took me years. Actually, I probably found this I think that was with a coach, like in 2018, why I am attracted by the membership model. And it's because deep down, I am not the entrepreneur. My husband, he's always wanted to create his business, be his own boss. And I was just following. In fact, he fired me not once, but twice because I was like acting like an employee. So it's always been like, I'm not a risk taker. So when I started to hear about the membership model, I got really attracted by it because You can have the best, the best of both worlds. You can run your business, but you have that financial predictability where you're not starting your months at zero. I'm like, oh my gosh, that is really cool. And then on top of that, I was like, but you know what? When you have a course and your stuff is good, but people are just not implementing. So at the end of the course, you don't have the testimonials. You don't have the case studies and you're frustrated. Why not create a membership either after the course or you do an hybrid so that people have more time to actually implement and you have ongoing support. So not only you continue to help your clients, you continue to make money. So it's a win for everybody. So that's why I'm like, people, most people that don't have that thing where they can continue to help people, they are leaving money on the table because these people, they are going to somebody else for the next stuff. Right? So I guess that's why I'm so attracted to the, the membership model. And it's this idea of creating a community. I've, I always belong like to several memberships. I cannot do this alone. This concept of learning and like growing and all of these yourself, watching videos, that doesn't work for me. I need to be surrounded by others. That show me what is possible, because that's inspiring to me. And I love to share my wins as well, because it's empowering too. I love to help. So when I can share something that's been helpful, like an accelerator or something, that's very empowering to me as well. So it's, that's basically where this is coming from and why I'm so passionate about this model. Speaker C: Yeah. Speaker A: Yeah. Speaker C: I can really tell. Your passion, your enthusiasm. And it's interesting because also membership, because you come from software, and I think some of the greatest innovations over the last, um, two decades have been in, have been predominantly software. And, uh, there's a great book, The Membership Economy, which I encourage the readers— it's fascinating. And you can, you can scale a membership model very easily in your software. Which brings me to my next question, is, and it is like a overarching theme. I was listening to Mark Zuckerberg on a podcast the other day and also A16Z, and they were talking about how AI and ChatGPT is going to make coders and software engineers obsolete because now they— you can code it with the bots. And, and how does this— how does this new technology, AI, how is it going to change software engineering, membership models, coding? Apps? What are your thoughts? Speaker D: AI is here to stay and it's only going to get better. But again, like I was, we were sharing earlier before you started recording, to me, this is an accelerator. So my husband is still doing, we do today, we do custom AI development inside memberships because to create tools to accelerate clients' results. And there are tools that can create code. But oh my God, you still have to know, I don't, you're, you're not probably not a coder, so you won't understand, but you still need to know like the algorithmics and how things fit together. It all, with AI, it all comes down to what you ask, right? So it's the power of how you ask things and it's an accelerator for sure. I can tell you like he's doing things much faster now because he can leverage it. But you will always need software engineers. Like, I don't see it being a place where— that's not something that scares me at all. I think that what we have to do is we have to learn to work with it to provide faster results for people. Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's a tool and it's an accelerator. And like you were talking about, like garbage in, garbage out, but if you like really know what you're doing, you can actually, it's like a, it's an assistant and it's like a, exactly. It's like having a printing press or having a car versus a buggy wagon or, or just a computer versus a calculator, these types of technologies. So my next question I have for you is just this membership model and how do you, how can entrepreneurs use AI to create and manage scalable results-driven membership programs? Speaker D: So basically the idea, a lot of people with AI right now are like, okay, people are using it. I have to use it. And there are like hundreds of tools, literally. Some people, some tools that get created, some tools that disappear, right? So it's very easy to get into this rat wheel of looking at tools and you could spend trying tools all day. What I tell people is reverse the things like AI is a tool, so When somebody comes to me and say, how do we, how can we integrate AI? I'm like, what problem are you trying to solve? So very concrete, concretely what it is, because people don't know what it can do. They just know that it sounds cool and they have to get on the train because it is starting to be expected by people. I don't know if you noticed that. So the way we look at it is when you have a program, right? Let's say you have a, you're a coach, an online business coach, you have a program. And there is an exercise that you make them do. And you notice that when you get, uh, give assignments to people, some people do it and some people get a bit stuck. So you want to identify those places where there is potential resistance and you're like, okay, can I create a tool? Can I give them something that is going to help them make a decision faster? So that can be, for example, I don't know, I need to send an invite. To all my past clients to let them know that I am going to create a membership and I want to know if they would want to be on my interest list. Okay. Some people are going to be, oh, no problem. I write it down. Some people are going to go to ChatGPT. Problem with ChatGPT is you need to know what to ask it because most people use it like Google. So they get the type of result that Google will give you. And, or you can give them a form. That is actually going to ask them key questions. Why do you wanna do this? Why prompted this idea? What problem are you going to solve for them? Who is this really for? Okay, so they fill this out and then with the prompt, we craft an email and then suddenly they read the email and they're like, wow, that's actually what I'm thinking. Yes. So this is an accelerator, for example. So now there is no more resistance. It's like the problem is not, oh, I need to write the email. Like, we have a tool for you. So this is how we look into AI. The other big one that we are doing is we are adding an AI assistant as a support system, right? So the memberships that we built are on WordPress exclusively because we love the— that you own your platform. And the customization that it allows. So basically, we create those assistants that we load with your program and they can ask questions. So now you create, you add this new level of support that was not available before, right? So there are different ways like this where it's about accelerating their results, right? Because again, when they get results, they talk about you, you get the case studies, the testimonials, and that's really how you're successful. It's not by how much money you made selling, it's the impact that you have as well, right? Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And it's using ChatGPT for just keywords and, and editing. And it's been really, like you said, it's an accelerator. Absolutely. Yeah. Talking about membership models and how do you choose the right membership models? What factors should entrepreneurs consider and how can they use AI in choosing the right membership model? Speaker D: Yeah, there are like quite a few models and I think the best approach for this is really to look into, um, what problem you're trying to solve and what is your solution going to look like? Because a lot of people, one of the things that scare people with memberships is, oh my gosh, I'm going to have to create a lot of content. But guess what? It's not about content because people are not signing up to watch your videos. They sign up for transformation, for results. So if you can give it to them with less content, even better. So I have this framework that I call the CSA model. I've been talking about this for years. It stands for content, support, and accountability. So you have to look into these three elements of your program to determine what is required for them to get the transformation. How much content? Not too much, but what is required, mixed with support, Right? They need to be able to ask questions if they are stuck and things like that. Accountability, because we're all busy and we need to keep them accountable if it's a priority to them. So the model then evolves around, you can imagine somebody that is getting started or more junior is going to have more time on their hand because they don't have like maybe a business yet. So they don't, they have more time. They don't have the money, but they have time. So they can consume more content. They can come on more calls and things like that. Somebody that is on a 7, 8, 9 figure is not going to want to watch video. They might want to come on calls and ask a specific question or something like that. So you also need to adapt to how people want to be taught, right? So it's not just you deciding, it's also the audience telling you. That's what, what I tell people is really that you want to get into co-creation with your audience. So step one is you build an interest list. So you start to talk about it. You want hand raisers, people raise their hand and say, hey, I'm interested. You don't know the price. You don't know what it looks like, when it's going to be, but that sounds interesting. Once you got that, you get into co-creation with them to figure out what are their thoughts, what they would want to see. And then you match it with what you want, because one thing that is really important is that A membership is a way for you to really scale your expertise, your impact, your income, and get your time back if you don't get in the trap of creating another job for yourself. So you gotta be really clear on how you wanna show up in the membership. I've seen people get super excited and let's do weekly calls and let's do this, let's do, and then 3, 4 months in, they're like, It's too much. So it's better to give them less at the start and overdeliver, right? Than to get carried away. So in short, the model really is going to depend on your solution. It's usually a combination of content. There is usually a community, sometimes some calls. Those memberships where you throw content every month and then people pay to get access. Unless it's a resource that they need and you're like saving them time on something, they don't work so much because people need more and more that support and that accountability to get results. Because if they get results, guess what? They'll stay. So that's really what it comes down to. Speaker C: And if, if someone was interested in launching a membership site, what, what are the best platforms? Is it their website? Is it? Like, is it like social media or other platforms? Thinkific? Speaker D: Okay. I am a WordPress gal, but I'm not going to tell you that WordPress is the solution because all these platforms exist for a reason and there are people that are really successful on it. What I would say is that you have two schools. You either pick a platform, so you're going to go Thinkific, Teachable, LearnWorlds, News Learn, I can go on and on. Right? And then you learn that, that platform really well, and then you build your membership around it. That's the best way to not get frustrated with a tool, right? Because you use the tool and you, this is what you work with. Or you go the other way around, which is what my clients do, want, is you design a program and then you find the tool to make it happen. Because when somebody tells me what is the best membership platform? And I'm like, it's like asking what's the best car? Do you live by the beach? By the mountain? Do you have kids? Do you plan to have kids? It depends. So unlike other people that will tell you those platforms are really bad, I'm like, they have their purpose. They are not bad. They are not just customizable in a way that some people want and need. But that means that they have maybe another place. Where they make the connection and where the true transformation happens. It certainly doesn't happen on Thinkific, for sure. Speaker C: A follow-up question I have for you is there's a lot of creators listening to this. And for example, a lot of them give free content. They've got, they have Spotify or YouTube, or they have got Twitter or Instagram and people. The question I have for you is you're giving out free content, like free, great stuff. And then now you have to go and build a membership. Site, what isn't that doubling it? Like it's making you, then you have two jobs. You're providing free content plus you're creating a membership site. So then now you're, it's, isn't that kind of inefficient and redundant? What is your thoughts on that? Speaker D: Yeah. So that's a great question. So the free content and the content in the membership are very different. The goal of your free content is to build your authority. To, for people to get to know you, to learn. They will say typically that you tell them the what. Some people, some programs, I've seen some programs do that where they address a lot of the mindset around the business, right? Because if you put it in the program and the first thing you talk about is the mindset, people are like, no, I didn't sign up for a program for a mindset. So by listening to the podcast, they get into all these like the imitative beliefs and all that stuff, right? And then when they buy the course, they've been listening to the podcast for like months or years. And it helps a lot for people to actually implement and go beyond their level of comfort and stuff like that. But in short, the goal, if you look at the purpose of your free content, it needs to have a purpose, right? So it's up, it's going to be a mix of authority, but it's going to be a mix of also, so there is this guy, Brian, I'm missing the last name, but I've been following him in this podcast. And he's saying that his free content is value that people can get results from without hiring him. And I thought that was like a good way of presenting it. It's got, there's got to be value. So. It shows people that there was, it's possible for them to actually get results because one of the reasons people don't sign up to something is because they don't believe in themselves. So you show them that, you show them like, you give them idea of what your method, you very often they would explain the method, but so much is available for free right now, but it's about curating it, staying focused, getting the support and the accountability. And the feedback that we need to actually get the result, right? So they go hand in hand. To me, it's like the free content is really what is building your audience, right? People get to know you. You get to test as well the content that resonates with people. And the membership is okay, now let's work together and actually make it happen because you got some type of result by yourself. But imagine if you get in and you get my support and my eyes on your stuff, what you could be getting. Speaker C: Interesting. A follow-up question I have for you is for people that they've garnered a large audience or large following, and let's say they get products, one-off products here and there, or courses. Is it like, and they're interested in launching a membership site, is it better to just saying, tell the audience in, let's say a YouTube video or a podcast. And say, oh, I have a new membership and put the signup link there and then build it, like basically a beta launch it, basically launch it and then build it on the backend, or is it better to build out the entire membership community and then say, oh, I have this. What is, what are your thoughts? Speaker D: There are several angles that you can go with. If you know that you're going to do it and you want to have a free level, inside the membership. That's one way to do it. That's actually like when somebody has an audience and know they want to go that far because they want to do less of what they were doing and this is going to become the business. Speaker C: Yeah. Speaker D: Then what they do is they do a launch, right? So you've got all this pre-launch content, all these free resources that you put inside the membership. So they have one foot inside and then there is all this stuff that's grayed out. So they're like, ooh. So you put teasers. So that's one way to do it. Now to test an idea, and that's actually why I created, it's not open right now, but I created a program. It's not a course. I'm not calling it a course. It's an implementation program. And it's very driven by AI to, for people to get their first members. And I know people are scared of like choosing the wrong platform. What content do I need to create? How much content do I need? This is a question that I need. I get asked all the time, how much do I need? I don't know. How long is a piece of string? And then they're like, will I like it? Are people going to want it? And I'm like, you can beta test this, build an interest list, right? When it's big enough, launch it to that list and tell them it will be available in 30 days. And then now you've got the money to actually build this thing and you've got the motivation because this is people something that people want. So that's like selling it before you make it. And there is a whole, a whole way that you create that, that offer, right? So maybe you're going to say my membership would be $97 per month, but for you guys, it's going to be $50 for life. It's not built yet, but we're going to get into co-creation and we're going to create something that works for you, that works for me. And for you, it creates that foundation so that when you launch, you already have members. In your common community, right? What is great about this is like my clients, when they go through, so my program's called First Members, when they go through that, 47 to 50% of the interest list is converted into paying members. Speaker A: Wow. Speaker D: And that's huge. Speaker B: Why? Speaker D: Because there are people that have raised their hand. I tell people like, you want to build a membership? Talk about it and see if people raise their hand, because if they don't for free, How do you expect them to pay later? And they're like, oh, you're right. So, and the reason it works is because you involve people. So by involving them, it's, they already feel like they are part of it, right? It's just a matter of when. So when you open the door and say, do you want it before anybody else, by the way, 50% off. And sometimes you get the little badge, founding members, like, oh, really proud. So that's how you test. Speaker A: This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. 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Speaker D: So that's one way. That's one way. Or you can, you can build, but I'm going to be honest with you. We've had lots of clients that came to us where I sold them on the idea that of what it could be. And we built the platform and they never launched it for one reason or another. So then I'm like, I'm not doing this anymore. Now I ask people, do you have an audience? Are people like, is that something that people want? Say, because I don't want to take your— I feel bad when I look back at the memberships that we've built and they're gone. I'm like, I don't feel good about that. Yeah. But I can help you figure out, and I tell them in a strategy session, I'll tell them, let's do that and let's validate your idea before we build it. Speaker C: Wow. Speaker D: Because if it doesn't work, you can pivot. You can do something else, right? Speaker C: Yeah. I wish we could have more time. I know you have your next call. How can people find you and reach out to you and check out your work? Speaker D: Sure. The best way is to go to themembershiplab.com and then I have a page with some gifts, some free. There is a monthly recurring revenue calculator, so you can find out what it takes to make 5, 10, 50K a month. And I have a membership planner that talks about this pilot program that you can run and you, it is at themembershiplab.com/gift. Excellent. And you can find me on LinkedIn if you can type my name. Speaker C: Yeah, we'll put all those links in the show notes and thanks so much for coming on. I really enjoyed it. I think memberships is really an interesting area and for all the audience, these links will be in the show notes. So thanks so much. Speaker D: Thank you so much for having me. Speaker B: You know those tiny back-to-school emergencies that somehow become your problem? That's why I love Uber Eats. You can order school supplies, snacks, and lunchbox essentials for $5 or less. So when your kid casually drops, "I don't like peanut butter anymore," or, "I need 5 green highlighters for a project due tomorrow," Uber Eats has you covered. Get everything you need for back-to-school today from your favorite brands like Aldi and Staples on Uber Eats. Order now. Ends 9/7. $5 or less before taxes and fees. Select items only. Availability varies. See app for details. Speaker D: With summer coming to an end, you're going to be spending a lot more time indoors. Speaker C: Get your home ready and save up to 45% off custom window treatments during the Labor Day VIP Access Sale at blinds.com. Speaker D: From room darkening to light filtering shades, finding the perfect fit is easy. Speaker C: Get free samples, expert design help, and professional measure and install services or DIY with confidence and support every step of the way. Speaker D: Shop up to 45% off site-wide right now during the Labor Day Access Sale at Blinds.com.

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