Who am I and what kind of content do I create? I create faith-based Books, Podcasts, Blogs, and Videos that communicate the message I care about most.  In addition to serving a faith-based audience, this is also enabling me to earn a healthy online income.

How did I make the jump from creating faith-based content to building a membership community that helps people develop online platforms? I listened to what people were asking me for help with and that helped me discover the central message of my membership community.  My membership community is called Platform Launchers.

Central Message of Platform Launchers: "I will show you how to build, grow, and monetize your online platform."

How did I turn that message into a profitable membership community?

Here's what I would recommend doing, what I would recommend charging, and the streams of income you can build from a healthy membership community. There are 15 steps in the workflow.

15 Steps

1. Figure out where your audience is coming from. Where are people hearing your message and becoming part of your tribe or ecosystem?

2. Determine if there's a form of help they're willing to pay for by listening to their questions and requests.

3. Prepare to offer a combination of information, inspiration, and accountability. People often join for the information, enjoy the inspiration, and remain members because of the accountability that forms through genuine friendships. I host my membership on Kajabi. Here's my affiliate link to try it free for 30 days: https://app.kajabi.com/r/n672VGv3/t/lkoknd82

4. Let your first group of members (who will likely be people you know personally) join for free for 60 days because you won't have a vault of recorded content yet. NOTE: Don't expect them to remain as long-term paying members. Most of the founding members probably won't stay long-term, but they'll give the group "critical mass" while you're trying to build up a base of subscribers.

5. Record 7-8 weekly sessions that can be repurposed into your Signature/Success Path course. Record this content live with your initial group members. It will serve as teaching content when it's first presented, and it can be repurposed into a separate evergreen course later.

6. When it's finished, offer the course as a standalone product for $229. Also include it as a free membership benefit.

7. Write a blog post each week that can be used in six ways; Blog, Newsletter, Teaching Notes, Podcast, Training Vault, and YouTube. Release this content weekly. NOTE: The Blog, Newsletter, Podcast, and YouTube videos will also help you with marketing your membership.

8. Pick one night a week to meet via Zoom. I meet on Tuesdays at 8:00pm (EST) because that works well for most American time zones.

9. Interview a Guest Expert once a month. Teach practical content the other weeks. NOTE: Contacts you make at Podfest can be a great source for Guest Experts.

10. Charge $49/month or $490/year. Give new members a 14 day free trial. How many paying members would it take to replace your current salary?

11. Pay existing members a 20% recurring monthly commission for referrals. (Kajabi makes keeping track of affiliates and paying them very easy.)

12. Structure your meetings like this:

• 7:45 - Early bird casual conversation
• 8:00 - Wins, Goals, and Welcomes
• 8:20 - Teaching or Interview ( Repurpose this part for Podcast / Video)
• 8:50 - Members' Only Q&A
• 9:30 - End meeting

13. Host a monthly office hour for general Q&A. I do this on the first Thursday of the month in the afternoon.

14. Offer a monthly challenge related to helping your members make progress or learn a new skill. Celebrate their completion of the challenge.

15. Host two in-person events per year.

Income sources:

• 1. Monthly memberships (How many members to replace your income?)
• 2. Yearly memberships
• 3. Coaching (The average rate is $200/hour)
• 4. Course sales
• 5. Live event profit

If you have a good idea that you execute well, here's what you might see...

• Year 1: Profitable, but breaking even is still great
• Year 2: Strong income supplement
• Year 3: Complete income replacement