Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

Hosted by Membership Geeks

Business EntrepreneurshipInterviews guestsExplicit

Website RSS feed X / Twitter Facebook

Episodes

489

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

About the show

Join Mike Morrison - founder of the Membership Geeks - for advice, tips and insight on planning, running and growing a successful membership website plus interviews with existing membership owners and industry experts.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 25, 202622 min

488 - Ethically Using Urgency and Scarcity to Market Your Membership

Fake countdown timers, staged waitlists, closed doors that mysteriously reopen the moment someone hesitates. These tactics work in the short term, and they quietly wreck your retention in the long term. In this episode, I dive into a bit of a hot-button topic for me: how to use urgency and scarcity in your membership marketing without crossing into these manipulative tactics that give this whole area a bad name. I break down why the closed-door model gives you the worst of both worlds, what real, ethical urgency actually looks like, and a simple test you can run on any deadline before you publish it. If you've ever wondered whether the "urgency" in your marketing is doing more harm than good, I'm here for you. In this episode: Why the closed-door model gives membership owners the worst of both worlds How fake scarcity and staged waitlists quietly destroy member trust Why positioning your membership as a painkiller, not a vitamin, is the real source of urgency Which legitimate urgency levers (launches, price increases, live events, capped bonuses) you're probably not using yet The simple "day-after test" for checking whether any deadline you're using is actually real Want a tool that tells you exactly which of those legitimate levers fits your situation right now? Grab the free Urgency Lever Decision Tree . And if you'd like a wider view of where the gaps in your growth and retention strategy are, our free Membership Healthcheck is built for exactly that. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Someone has a raging headache, they don't need a countdown timer to convince them to buy a painkiller." "The right kind of members, the members who are prone to sticking around long term, they don't need countdown timers and fake scarcity to panic them into joining." "If you have a deadline that actually exists, if the offer genuinely ends and goes away, if the bonus is genuinely limited, then there's nothing manipulative about leaning into it." "People who respond to pressure are more likely to crack under it once they actually get in there." You might also find useful: Using Urgency to Promote an Evergreen Membership Site Everything You Know About Scarcity Marketing is Wrong Avoid the Lie of Scarcity Marketing for Memberships Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

August 18, 202625 min

487 - My Proven Strategies for Consistent Audience Growth

If your membership signups have slowed down, your first instinct is probably to look at your sales page, your emails, or your pricing. Nine times out of ten, that's not where the problem actually lies. In this episode, I break down why stalled signups are almost always an audience growth problem in disguise, and I share seven proven strategies for keeping new people flowing into your world even after your membership is up and running. In this episode: Why stalled membership sales are almost always an audience growth problem, not a sales problem The three core levers for growing your audience, and why they work best combined How to build a brand and content strategy that reaches people at every stage of the buyer journey, not just one How to repurpose your content so more of your audience actually sees it A repeatable framework for landing guest spots, collaborations, and other borrowed-audience opportunities Want the CLEAR framework as a ready-to-use template? Grab the free Collaboration Outreach Swipes , which includes the fill-in-the-blank pitch email, a leverage currency worksheet, and a pre-outreach checklist. And if you want a wider view of where the gaps in your membership business actually are, our free Membership Healthcheck is built for exactly that. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "It is almost always the audience growth that is the main culprit." "Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." "Paid ads should amplify and accelerate what's already working organically. It's not a fix for a broken system." "Go in there and be a valuable member. Share useful tips, generously answer questions, contribute to discussions." You might also find useful: The 3 Pillars of Exponential Membership Growth Growing Your Membership with Joint Venture Promotions Understanding the Customer Journey with Kenda Macdonald 4 Tactics for Accelerating the Growth of Your Membership Audience Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

August 11, 202615 min

486 - Ask Mike: Should I Drip Content to Improve Retention?

This episode kicks off a new regular feature on the show: Ask Mike, where I pull real questions straight from our monthly member Q&A archive inside Membership Academy and share the answers with you. First up is a question about drip feeding content. A membership owner running a diet and lifestyle site wanted to know if releasing their courses gradually, rather than giving members full access, would help improve retention. My answer might surprise you, because drip feeding as a retention tactic isn't actually the fix most people think it is. The real issue is almost always something else entirely. If you've ever wondered whether locking up your content on a schedule would keep people around longer, this episode is for you. In this episode: Why drip feeding content to force people to stay is the wrong way to think about retention What to check first before you even consider a drip feed strategy (onboarding and offboarding) How to build a step-by-step content pathway that gives members a reason to stick around Why too many live calls can actually make members feel like they're failing How milestones, rituals, and habits keep people engaged without artificial gates If you want a wider view of where the gaps in your membership strategy actually are, our free Membership Healthcheck will help you find them fast. And if you're looking to get your questions answered by me in our next Membership Academy Q&A, you can join Membership Academy here to be part of the conversation. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "I'm not a big fan of just arbitrarily drip feeding content as a means of prolonging someone's membership." "Nine times out of 10, people drop off because they never really get started the right way." "If you give them that path, you don't need to drip feed because you're telling them exactly what to do and when you are laying out the journey for them." "I think members should stay members and stay subscribed because they're getting something from it." You might also find useful: Is Your Member Onboarding Missing These 3 Vital Things? 21 Quick Tips For Improving Member Retention How to Identify Your Membership Drop-Off Points The 5 Key Stages of the Member Lifecycle Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

August 4, 202619 min

485 - Marketing to People Who Don't Realise They Need You

In this episode, I break down the buyer awareness journey, a five-stage framework from Eugene Schwartz's Breakthrough Advertising that maps how someone moves from having no idea they have a problem to being ready to buy. I focus on the very first stage, problem unaware, because it's the biggest, cheapest, and least competitive audience available to you right now (and it's also the one most membership owners have no idea how to market to!). We cover what symptom-first marketing actually sounds like, why diagnostic content and case studies build trust faster than any sales page, and the mistakes that will lose this audience the second you make them. If you're tired of marketing that only seems to work on people who were already going to buy, this episode is for you. In this episode: What the buyer awareness journey is and why every stage needs a different kind of marketing Why the problem unaware audience is the biggest and least competitive one you're not talking to How to reframe your messaging from problem aware to symptom aware, in your audience's own words Why diagnostic content, quizzes, and case studies build trust faster than sales copy The mistakes that make problem unaware people tune you out immediately Want the exact questions to help your audience name their own problem? Grab the free Symptom Discovery Question Bank , full of ready-to-use prompts for your email list, quizzes, and social posts. And if you'd like a wider view of where the gaps in your membership business actually are, our free Membership Healthcheck is built for exactly that. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Your job at this stage isn't to sell the solution, it's to give a name to the problem." "When you accurately diagnose and correctly name a problem that someone didn't even realize they had, you instantly become a trusted authority in their eyes." "This is someone who understands me better than I understand myself." "That market is saturated, it's expensive to acquire from, it's full of price-centered comparison shoppers." You might also find useful: Understanding the Customer Journey with Kenda Macdonald Busting The Most Common Membership Marketing Myths 9 Membership Marketing Tactics That'll Get You More Members Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

July 28, 202612 min

484 - Push vs Pull Marketing: Which Works Best For Memberships?

Every piece of marketing you write is making a choice, whether you realize it or not. You're either talking about the pain your members are running from, or the future they're running towards. Most membership owners never actually decide which one they're doing. They just default to whatever feels natural and end up leaning hard on one side without realizing it. In this episode I break down push positioning and pull positioning: what each one does, why push converts faster but pull retains better, and why the type of member you attract, and what they'll pay, depends on which one dominates your marketing. This isn't about picking a side. It's about using both deliberately, in the right order, so your marketing gets attention without filling your membership with the wrong kind of members. If you've never actually audited whether your sales page, your emails, and your social content are leaning push or pull, this episode is for you. In this episode: What's the difference between push positioning and pull positioning, and why does most marketing lean on one without meaning to? Why does push positioning convert faster, and why does it also carry a higher risk of refunds and churn? What makes pull positioning better for retention and community health, even though it's harder to write? How should you combine both, and in what order, to get attention without attracting the wrong members? Why does the type of positioning you use affect who joins and how much they're willing to pay? Want to work through your own push and pull positioning? Grab the free Membership Messaging Workbook at membershipgeeks.com/484 . It walks you through mapping the pain your members are running from and the destination they're running to, then shows you how to blend both into positioning you can actually use. And if you'd like a wider view of where the gaps in your membership business actually are, our free Membership Healthcheck is built for exactly that. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Push positioning focuses on the things that people are running away from. Pull positioning focuses on what people are running to." "I quite often talk about the notion of being a painkiller rather than a vitamin. Needling on those pain points can really work." "Pull positioning is generally better for long-term retention and community health. Push positioning is typically better for short-term conversions." "Lead with what they're escaping to get their attention and to kind of light a fire under them to propel them into action, but anchor your offering firmly around what they're moving towards." You might also find useful: 9 Reasons Why People Aren't Joining Your Membership Site Do's and Don'ts of Marketing a Membership Website 9 Membership Marketing Tactics That'll Get You More Members Competing With Established Memberships In Your Market Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

July 21, 202619 min

483 - Help! Members Are Leaving Because They're Overwhelmed

In this episode, I'm tackling one of the most misread signals in your cancellation data - people leaving saying that they "didn't have time" Most membership owners write that off. Busy people, can't be helped. But in a lot of cases, that's not what's going on at all. When a member says they didn't have time or weren't using the membership enough, what they're often really saying is that it felt too big, too hard to navigate, or too overwhelming to start. They froze. And members who freeze, fade - and eventually cancel. What looks like a time problem is almost always an overwhelm problem. And unlike time, overwhelm is something you can do something about. If members are leaving and you're not sure why - or if "I didn't have time" keeps showing up in your cancellation surveys - this episode is for you. In this episode: The five distinct sources of overwhelm hitting your members - and why most owners only spot one of them Why "value overwhelm" (subscriber remorse) is the sneakiest retention killer of all How NBA (Next Best Action) works and why it's the most powerful single change you can make to your membership experience Why your annual content audit is often worth more than any new content you could create How to shift from "here's everything you could do" to "here's what I'd recommend" - and why that shift matters If you want to score your membership against all five sources of overwhelm - and get a clear picture of where to focus first - grab the free Member Experience Review at membershipgeeks.com/483 . It's a self-audit that walks you through each source with scoring and built-in action guidance. And if you'd like a wider view of where the gaps in your membership are across growth and retention, the free Membership Healthcheck is built for exactly that. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "In a lot of cases, what your members are saying is they were just overwhelmed. Your membership felt too big, too busy, too hard to navigate, too much for them to consume. They didn't know where to start, they didn't know what to do next. So they didn't make any progress at all. And when that happens, they just fade away and then they cancel." "Too often we equate volume with value. But your members didn't join because you have the largest content library. They joined to make progress, to move forward. But if the path to progress feels unclear, you've got a big problem." "By reminding them that they're only using 5%, 10%, they start to feel a little bit ripped off and they end up canceling." "Everything in your membership that doesn't serve a clear and current purpose is just noise. And noise is one of the biggest drivers of overwhelm that there is." You might also find useful: How To Reduce Overwhelm In Your Membership What Most Membership Owners Get Wrong About Content How to Ensure You're Delivering Results for Your Members 21 Quick Tips For Improving Member Retention Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

July 13, 202622 min

482 - Breaking Down the Membership Marketing Flywheel

Most membership owners treat their marketing like a straight line with a finish line at the end. Get the traffic. Build the list. Make the sale. Done. But that model is fundamentally broken for subscription businesses, because the sale isn't the end - it's the beginning. The membership marketing flywheel flips that thinking completely. Instead of treating new members as the end product, it treats your existing members as the fuel that powers your growth. It's a cycle - not a funnel - and once you understand how it works, it changes how you think about every decision you make in your membership business. In this episode, I break down the three stages of the membership marketing flywheel: attract, engage, and delight. More importantly, I get specific about what's happening inside each stage, why most memberships stall at the same point, and what you can actually do to keep the flywheel spinning. If you've been pouring effort into traffic and lead generation but struggling to get real momentum, this episode is for you. In this episode: Why treating the sale as a finish line creates a leaky bucket - and what to focus on instead How to build an attract stage that brings in the right people, not just more people What the engage stage actually requires beyond just having an email list Why the delight stage is where most memberships fall down, and what fixing it unlocks How happy members become your most powerful marketing asset and fuel every other stage Want a practical framework for mapping your own flywheel and identifying exactly where it's breaking down? Grab the free Membership Marketing Flywheel Tracker at membershipgeeks.com/482 . And if you want a broader view of where the gaps are across your entire membership business, the free Membership Healthcheck gives you a clear picture in about two minutes. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Marketing your membership successfully is not about getting sales at any cost. That's where so many people go wrong. They chase big numbers, they're constantly chasing more traffic, more signups, more leads, and they end up with the wrong kind of people." "I would gladly take 1,000 highly active, highly aligned people on my email list over 100,000 who only subscribed because we were giving away an iPad. The size of your list is irrelevant." "Member advocacy is the secret weapon to the membership marketing flywheel because when a stranger sees a member talking about your membership, that's worth a hundred times more than anything you could say yourself." "Content fuels traffic, traffic fuels leads, leads fuel sales, sales fuel your member experience, member experience fuels retention, retention fuels social proof, and then social proof fuels everything else at the top of the funnel. It's one big cycle." You might also find useful: Discover the 12 Universal Truths of Membership Marketing How To Use Content Marketing To Sell Your Online Membership Avoid These 6 Common Member Retention Mistakes 9 Membership Marketing Tactics That'll Get You More Members Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

July 6, 202623 min

481 - The Trust Recession Is Hurting Your Membership, Here's How to Adapt…

The online business world is in the middle of a trust recession. Influencer fatigue, polished-to-the-point-of-fake marketing, and one too many bad purchases have left your potential members cynical, guarded, and slower to commit than ever before. Your membership is feeling the effects - whether you've noticed it yet or not. And the frustrating irony is that it's the honest operators, the ethical businesses, the people who actually do good work, who are being forced to do more to prove it. The good news is that this is also an opportunity. If you're willing to show up differently, the bar is lower than you think - because most people aren't doing what I'm about to share. If you're wondering why growth has got harder or why conversion feels off, this episode is for you. In this episode: Why the trust recession is directly affecting your membership's growth and conversion How to upgrade your social proof so it actually builds trust rather than raising eyebrows Why your affiliate program might be doing more harm than good - and how to fix it The case for taking people behind the scenes of your membership before they buy Which common marketing tactics are actively damaging your credibility - and what to do instead If you want to put this into practice straight away, grab the free Social Proof Upgrade Pack at membershipgeeks.com/481 - it includes a self-assessment to score your current testimonials against the trust recession standard, plus ready-to-send scripts and question frameworks for collecting stronger social proof from your members. And for a broader look at where the gaps in your membership are, the free Membership Healthcheck will give you a clear picture in about two minutes. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Trust is in scarce supply. And your membership is probably feeling the effect of that, whether you've noticed it or whether you've connected the dots or not." "If there's any part of your marketing that you're needing to say quietly, that is unethical." "That vulnerability builds so much trust. Hey, just be more human. That's the part that AI can't fake, it can't replicate. Nobody can fake you." "When it comes to a membership, that trust is probably more important than with any other type of business model. People aren't just buying a one-and-done product. They're making a decision about who they want to stick around with and who they want to invest with for months and years to come." You might also find useful: 7 Ways to Add Social Proof to Your Membership Sales Page How to Sell Your Membership Without Sleazy Marketing The Way You Market Might Be Killing Retention 9 Membership Marketing Tactics That'll Get You More Members Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

June 29, 202616 min

480 - Try This Weird Tactic For Your Next Membership Promo…

In this episode, I share a strange little tactic for your next membership promo - one that goes against pretty much everything you've been told about sales offers. Instead of giving people the lowest possible barrier to entry with a free trial or a discounted first month, I make the case for going in the complete opposite direction: incentivising new members to commit to a longer initial period of 90 days. I explain why this counterintuitive approach attracts better-fit members, protects you against the riskiest retention window, and makes it far easier to frame your offer around a real outcome people can actually picture. If your usual trials, discounts and bonuses have stopped hitting the mark, this episode is for you. In this episode: Why does asking new members for a longer initial commitment so often outperform free trials and discounted first months? What makes the 90-day window the "Goldilocks zone" - long enough to demand real commitment, short enough that people believe they can achieve something? How does locking members in past the risky first 30 days improve both your retention and the quality of the people you attract? How can you build an onboarding and engagement plan around a single 90-day outcome so the offer genuinely delivers? How could you turn this into a series of 90-day sprints that carry members through every stage of your wider roadmap? Want help turning this tactic into an offer you can actually run? Grab the free 90-Day Offer Planner at membershipgeeks.com/480 - a fill-in-the-blank workbook that takes you from outcome to pricing to the full 90-day pathway. And if you'd like a wider view of where the gaps in your membership business actually are, our free Membership Healthcheck is built for exactly that. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "The biggest retention risk window in most memberships is the first 30 days." "90 days, I think, hits the sweet spot between requiring people to actually make a commitment to do it properly, but also to realistically believe that they can make meaningful change." "The people who will say yes to a 90-day commitment are the ones who are more likely to be taking things seriously." "Most meaningful change in a membership doesn't happen in month one, it doesn't happen in 30 days." You might also find useful: Should I Charge Monthly Or Annually For My Membership Site? Is Your Member Onboarding Missing These 3 Vital Things? Should I Offer a Trial for My Membership Website? How To Improve Member Retention And Reduce Churn Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.

June 22, 202616 min

479 - What Most Membership Owners Get Wrong About Content

In this episode, I'm tackling one of the biggest mistakes I see membership owners make: treating content as the be-all and end-all of what their membership offers. So many people set out to build the Netflix of their niche, chasing the biggest, most comprehensive library they possibly can. But your members don't join for the volume of content. They join for what that content makes possible. I share why volume and value are not the same thing, the trap of the content treadmill, and the four things every membership owner needs to do to reframe the role content plays in their membership. If your value proposition currently rests on how much content you've got, this episode is for you. In this episode: Why do so many membership owners fall into the trap of trying to build the Netflix of their niche? What's the real difference between volume and value, and why does more content so often mean less? How does the content treadmill quietly erode your member experience? What four shifts will help you reframe the role content plays in your membership? Why can pruning your library add more value than constantly expanding it? Ready to stop confusing volume with value in your own membership? Download the free resource for this episode to audit your content library and reposition your membership around the things that actually keep members subscribed: grab it here . And if you want a quick read on where your membership stands right now, take the free Membership Healthcheck to spot the gaps that are limiting your growth and retention. Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Content is the vehicle, not the destination. Members are buying the transformation, the outcome, the result, not the biggest lesson count, not the most hours of videos." "You cannot, as a membership owner, confuse volume with value. More courses, more events, more features, more sections in your community doesn't just instantly equate to more member value. Usually it's the opposite." "Your role is to narrow down the choices, not expand them. To provide clarity, not further confusion." You might also find useful: How Much Content Do You Need to Launch Your Membership? How to Decide Which Content Should Be Free vs Paid 12 Types Of Content To Include In Your Membership Site 4 Unusual (But Effective) Membership Content Strategies Thank You For Listening We really appreciate you choosing to listen to us and for supporting the podcast. We would be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show . They're extremely helpful when it comes to reaching our audience and we read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure that you never miss an episode.