Are you feeling overwhelmed with all that it takes to run an online membership site? Sometimes doing less can lead to better results.

We all know the feeling; you wake up, look at the tasks ahead, and feel overwhelmed with all that you have to do.

But sometimes – if you step back – you may find that doing less, and focusing your resources on just one thing, may generate better results.

That is true, not only in life but in how your build your online business.

In this 10 minute episode, Jessica Frick and I reflect on…

• Why the obvious answer to cut back is so hard to do
• Why you should focus your resources on what’s working best and cut what is not
• And why this is our last episode, and what we intend to do for the future

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

Are you ready to build and grow your membership site this year? Then you must listen to this episode.

The New Year is about hope – a time to reflect on the past and develop aspirations for the future.

But hope won’t pay the bills, or get that post written, or write that ebook, or tweak your site.

That work requires you.

But don’t worry, we are here to help.

In this 26-minute episode, Jessica Frick and I review the essential elements you must have to start the new year right, including:

• A recap of the key elements that are crucial for your site’s success
• How to find inspiration from others who have faced similar challenges
• The key lessons we have shared in the past
• And why starting from a solid foundation is a great way to build toward the future

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

In this episode we deep dive into the key elements you must have on your purchase page.

Of all the pages on your site there is only one that actually makes you money; your purchase page.

But too often this page is ignored with most people just using the default shopping cart that comes with their dCommerce system.

If you are serious about selling digital goods online, then you will want to listen to this episode. We deep dive into the specific elements you must have on your purchase page to maximize sales conversions. And we go one step further and discuss the “other” page that is as important as your purchase page.

In this 30 minute episode, Jessica Frick and I explore the key elements required for a successful purchase page, including:

• The “other” page that people often overlook in the purchase process
• What you should, and should not have, on your purchase page
• The one change we did to our purchase process that increased sales by 30%
• And why you are the worst person to review your purchase page

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

Sonia Simone joins our show to walk you through the most important elements of setting up a membership site, today.

As we approach the new year, you may be thinking about the changes you want to make to your life. And if you have been following the show, that may mean that you are looking to start – or at least expand – a membership site.

But change can be scary. And it is that fear of change that keeps most from ever moving forward.

If you are in earnest about building and growing a membership site – and need that extra inspiration to move forward – then you will love this episode.

In this 30 minute episode, Jessica Frick and I interview Sonia Simone and discuss her personal journey in creating membership communities, with deep insight into:

• The single most important element you need in launching a membership site
• How to launch a membership site when you have no audience online
• The two most important ingredients you need to grow a membership site
• And why it is OK to make mistakes along the way

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The Show Notes

• Don’t miss Sonia’s weekly podcast show Copyblogger FM
• Follow Sonia Simone on Twitter
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

Charity Preston – a teacher turned teacherprenuer – shares her incredible journey to creating an online membership network for teachers.

Imagine you have a sick child at home that demands 100% of your time and attention. And these demands require you to give up your professional career.

What would you do?

Today’s guest faced that exact situation – a classroom teacher at the pinnacle of her career that resigned in the middle of the academic year to care for her child.

But she was not content to give up her passion for helping others. So she made the leap from teacher to online teacherprenuer; with no technical training or online marketing expertise, armed only with a passion to help others.

In this 24 minute episode, Jessica Frick and I interview Charity Preston and discuss her journey from academic to online entrepreneur, including:

• The personal event in 2010 that changed her life
• Her haphazard online attempts that turned into a huge lead magnet
• How she created multiple income streams in a cyclical sales environment
• And the next frontier that she is exploring in community driven membership sites

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Follow Charity Preston on Twitter
• Visit Organized Classroom
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

Setting up Google Analytics for your membership site can be tricky … unless you know the right way to start.

Data analysis is at the core of all online marketing. But how do you get the right data, and more importantly, how do you make sense of it all?

And to go one step further, membership sites can be a little tricky, especially if you are using Google Analytics to measure your site’s performance.

On today’s show we have the queen of data analysis for Rainmaker Digital as our guest to help you set up Google Analytics for your membership site.

In this 27-minute episode, Jessica Frick, Sean Jackson, and Loryn Thompson discuss the best way to setup Google Analytics, including:

• The most important steps you need to do first
• How to track actions that generate financial results
• What data you should be looking for
• And why all data analysis is really a trend analysis

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Connect with Loryn Thompson on LinkedIn
• Follow Loryn Thompson on Twitter
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

Jerod Morris joins us to share his story – and tactics – for growing a successful sports membership site.

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Starting a membership site is hard work, especially if you have a full-time job. But with persistence and patience, it can pay off.

Our guest, Jerod Morris, shares his tactics and advice for growing a membership site. It was not easy – especially since his membership site competes with numerous online sport sites.

But he found his niche and kept working it, season after season, finding success after many years of perseverance.

And while his story is not unique, the ideas and tactics he shares on this show are priceless and can truly help you grow, and profit, from your work.

In this episode, Jessica Frick and I interview Jerod Morris and delve into the history of his site, including:

• Why he stayed with the project even when his audience was small
• The unique insight that helped distinguish his site from the competition
• The ONE tactic he recommends everyone starting a membership site should use
• And the different revenue paths he pursues to grow his profit

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Connect with Jerod Morris on LinkedIn
• Follow Jerod on Twitter
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

This episode is an insightful look at how to thrive in a hyper-competitive online environment, with lessons from an unconventional industry …

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Running a membership site can be difficult, especially if you are in a highly-competitive space. And this appears to be especially true in online porn.

What once was a highly lucrative business category has completely transformed into a low margin business with numerous competitors. But even in this highly competitive space, there are tactics that some sites uses to grow and thrive.

So how do they do it?

Jessica Frick and I take an analytical approach to the challenges faced in this space and apply those learnings to more traditional membership sites.

Don’t worry, we won’t be making any commentary on the content of the industry. Instead we focus on taking their ethical marketing tactics and applying them to your site to help you thrive, while everyone else is taking a dive.

In this episode, Jessica Frick and I tastefully cover …

• Why, and how to syndicate content online
• Why more intimate online activities should come at a premium
• Why you should not be afraid of extreme niches for your audience
• And a few double entendre that will make you laugh

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The Show Notes

• From Wired…. The Porn Business Isn t Anything Like You Think It Is
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

Live events are a great way to amplify your authority and enhance your membership site, if you know the right way to do it.

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Membership sites are about community; creating an online environment for those that share similar interests and passions.

But for all their strengths, there exists a layer of abstraction that lacks the personal and emotional engagement found from being in physical proximity to each other.

Live events allow you to extend your authority within your community, while providing a unique platform to fundamentally help your members enrich their lives.

That is … if you know how to do live events right.

In this episode, Jessica Frick shares her knowledge and insight on creating live events for membership communities …

• Why live events are extremely helpful in building your community
• How to start small and build an event with momentum
• Ways to finance your event without breaking the bank
• And the single most important ingredient to a successful event

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter

Online discounts are a powerful incentive to get people to buy; if you know the right ways to put them together.

Over the years, our marketing team at Rainmaker has experimented with numerous discount options. Some have been successful and others not so much.

And if you think “discounts” mean you have to cut your price, well think again. There are numerous ways to offer financial incentives to your online audience without having to cut into your profit margin.

In this episode, Sean Jackson and Jessica Frick review a number of discounting strategies you can use to increase online sales, including:

• The two most important elements of any discount offer
• Ways to offer a discount, without lowering your pricing
• How to use discounts that have no financial component
• And the reasons why you should use discounting sparingly

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

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Chris Voss, best-selling author of “Never Split the Difference” and former lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI joins us for a powerful interview.

For many, the idea of negotiating can be intimidating. Just thinking about it brings to mind ideas of stressful conflict between personalities and goals.

But the truth is, in both business and life, we are constantly negotiating with others. Usually, not very well.

In this very special episode, we detail the process you can use to negotiate in any situation without the stress, anxiety, or discomfort you fear.

And even better, you will learn how to ask subtle, but powerful questions that will bring the other side to resolve the matter in your favor.

In this 32-minute episode, Sean Jackson, Jessica Frick, and Chris Voss discuss the tactics you can use in negotiations, including:

• The most important thing to do first when negotiating
• Why you want the other side to say “no”
• The “Jedi Mind Trick” questions that bends peoples perceptions
• And the subtle words that can make a huge difference

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Never Split the Difference on Amazon
• Black Swan Group Website
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

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Are you struggling to find the right pricing model for your membership site? In this episode, we provide you with a detailed framework to make it an easy decision.

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Finding this optimal pricing for a membership website can be very difficult. While there are many tactics to improve your pricing strategies, there are not many general frameworks that you can use from the start.

But if you listen to this episode, you will learn a simple and proven technique for finding the optimal pricing for your site; helping you increase your revenue while generating a substantial profit.

And best of all, this episode includes a companion SlideShare deck that walks you through all the concepts we discuss.

In this episode, Sean Jackson and Jessica Frick provide a comprehensive pricing framework, including:

• The #1 Rule when it comes to pricing
• Why your costs matter and how they are different from your expenses
• The target financial goals you should set for your revenue, profit margins and subscriber base
• And how to package that pricing model to make it a compelling premium offer

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The Show Notes

• This episode is brought to you by Digital Commerce Summit
• Slideshare Presentation
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

We often think of limitations as a weakness. In reality, they are strengths that will help differentiate your products/services in the market.

How do you target the right customer? Who are they and how do you attract them? Every marketer struggles with these questions. But the key to targeting the right customer is in understanding the limits of you and your products/services.

Every product or services has its limits. And while most people think these are a weakness, the truth is that your limitations are a source of strength; if you know how to position them.

And by following the advice in this episode, you can easily assess those limitations and use them as part of what makes your product or service unique.

More importantly, you can use that unique quality to define who you should target.

In this episode, Sean Jackson and Jessica Frick go into detail about the “formula” for finding your target audience:

• Why resource constraints are great to have
• Why defining the ideal customer for your product is more about you than them
• How your limits are actually strengths that will draw customers to you
• And why being one-in-a-million is a huge marketplace

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• This episode is brought to you by Digital Commerce Summit
• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

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Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting.

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In this episode, we go beyond theoretical concepts and provide practical examples of how to improve the most important page on your website.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

And in the online world, that means your homepage matters, a lot – from the first few seconds of your site loading to the way you structure every element on the page.

If you are trying to create an exclusive community online for your product or service, then this episode will give you everything you need to make a first impression that matters.

In this episode, Sean Jackson and Jessica Frick go into detail about how to structure the perfect home page including:

• Why the first three seconds matters and what you need to show immediately,
• How to go beyond audience targeting with messaging that makes a difference,
• Why testimonials are crucial and how to obtain them,
• The most important element of the homepage that you must include.

Listen to Members Only below ...

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The Show Notes

• Connect with Sean Jackson on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter
• Connect with Jessica Frick on LinkedIn
• Follow Jessica on Twitter

In this new podcast from Rainmaker.FM, you’ll learn how to use one of the most powerful – and counterintuitive – online marketing techniques to increase your online sales.

It is natural for online marketers to do whatever they can to increase the reach of their audience. It makes sense; the larger your audience, the more sales you make, right?

But what if there was a different way to increase your online sales, without trying to appeal to the masses? Sounds impossible? Not really.

This new podcast show goes in-depth on the insights, ideas, tactics and strategies that will make a significant impact in your online marketing efforts by focusing on the few, and not the many.

In this 7-minute episode, provides a glimpse into the power and value of limiting access to your products and services and why you should be very selective in whom you sell to.

You ll learn:

• Why we value some products and services more than others
• Why mass appeal can destroy the value of what you sell
• The traps to avoid when selling your product online

Listen to Members Only below ...

The Show Notes

• Connect with Sean on LinkedIn
• Follow Sean on Twitter