Terms

"For us, membership is central to everything we do. You can't just moonlight as an organization with a membership. It has been a primary focus" says Dan Carson, our Head of Product. "If there's a serious intention to pursue joining it is our opinion that we have the best combination of options. Although we initially used WordPress as our primary way to access these features, that's no longer the situation."

Dan explains we're not removing the original features of the software including integrating into WordPress: "If that's how someone wants to build their member-only site, it's as possible as it was before - we're just providing a simpler on-ramp."

Streamlining navigation

"There are many individuals using third-party tools However, it's not always simply because they'd like. This is because it was the only option," Dan adds. "People maybe already have WordPress, but they've just made a fairly basic website, or they have MailChimp and don't utilize 50% of its functions."

These people simply need a method to make people sign up and then be able to email them with no nonsense cloud enterprise version. "Maybe that they signed up with Mailchimp in 2014 and they are still using it as it's what they use. But are they still the primary market to which Mailchimp will be going?"

"We believe there are some out there who, if it was easy enough, they would simplify all these different instruments into one place and make it more well-integrated - so in the sense that it could still do all the things they needed it to accomplish," Dan says.

Our email tools will have all of the features you require. In addition, he says: "We're not trying to serve enterprise marketing teams. We're trying to help those who are looking for a low-cost and easy way to reach out and distribute content to their target audience."

For us, it's less about the products you're selling, and much more about what you're trying to do. If you want customers to join the newsletter of your choice, we'll make that easier and cheaper as you do not require the expense of additional tools.

The decision is based on each individual's application, obviously. Some people want the ability to connect multiple integrations but others worry that it's expensive and more difficult to control, particularly as an individual user. "Previously we were kind of just building for one of those groups. Today, we're building both groups," Dan says.

Managing member access on Posts and Pages

For certain types of user that you are, the version 2014 of MailChimp will be what you want; that's the version you fell in love with. "If I'm looking for a basic web page, I'll probably not want to use WordPress. It's true that Squarespace could be too much for a subscription-based website. The site isn't tightly linked to membership in the basis," Dan adds. So we thought, 'What would happen if there was an entire product created around it?'.

We're the same way about podcasting and online communities as well. "We're not going to be building a new version of Libsyn. We're going to be building the first version, which is simple to use and does 80% of what you need, along with your other tools all in one location for similar prices," Dan believes.

It seems to be an innate law that the longer software is in existence for, the more eager it is to grow. It is always looking to get increasingly complex and complicated.

Adding new features is not necessarily bad, but it becomes an issue for the customers when the person the company is building it to isn't you anymore. "People are hungry for applications that can do what they need and isn't seeking to do other than that. In jazz, often it's not the notes you have to play!" Dan laughs.

Simple things can be extremely difficult. Dan says: "It's about paring down to the essence of something. The easy thing for us would be to add everything to the site and then make it a setting and customers can locate it on the settings section somewhere." However, we don't think that's what our customers are looking for. We want to bring together all of our knowledge gained over the past decade of building the tools for membership, including feedback we've learned from customers, and distill that down into simple tools.

"It's easy to overlook the importance of tools that are simple. Easy to use tools are an underserved need. Many things are more complex than they ought to be." Dan adds.

The brand new dashboard

The biggest change we've made this quarter is the way we've organized the dashboard. Instead of having all options visible at the top level, with the capabilities separated by feature, we went back and asked, "Why not arrange everything around the things you're working on in the moment or moment?'.

The brand new dashboard

Based on our experiences, and speaking with those who manage membership-based businesses, you're usually doing something that falls into the four categories: building and designing your website or publishing exclusive content as well as managing your members or growing the revenue. Dan explains: "Everything you're doing as an operator of membership is likely be categorized into the four categories. Therefore, we decided that this was the most sensible method of organizing the functions of ."

Website

is for people who want to develop a membership-based website. Historically you may have needed to utilize WordPress or some other custom. Now you can use our native website builder. The first part is about designing the site from scratch and then modifying the look. And setting up your publicly-facing information. "You're creating the place for people to go to," adds Dan.

Content

The second task is publishing content. Modern-day membership businesses typically involves publishing exclusive content for members such as emails or posts, downloads, and podcasts. "The next step is to develop content or sharing exclusive advantages - it's about generating value that your customers get out of your membership," Dan explains.

Members

The last task involves managing your members. "Part of managing a profitable membership is having a really close connection to your members which is a major reason why they're supporting your business," says Dan.

Members management - download invoices

"You have to be able provide excellent customer service to these people by understanding their background along with troubleshooting if things aren't working in a way that is correct," he adds.

Revenue

"If you're building a membership website, you're hoping to create revenue and there's a million things involved in this: setting up your plans knowing what charges to make, and monitoring the health of your business to see the things that are working," says Dan. The section on discounting is in order to increase retention, and running acquisition campaigns, plus referral programs.

"We've added a lot of new features throughout the years. In the absence of a system for organizing them, it was making it too hard to find things, especially for people who are new to the site. We wanted to cut down on the time to learn," concludes Dan. It provides a more logical framework that we can build upon as we add more new features, as we'll be able to more easily put things - this allows users to locate and explore this new feature, and you'll be able to gain value from them immediately.

Builder for websites

Another major development in this quarter focused on the web builder. "We'd began to create the new tools in 2011 and wanted to thread the needle of introducing this new capability, but not disrupt the previous methods of use ," says Dan. "We placed ourselves in the position of someone who was wanting to develop the membership-based website."

The process of signing up and getting into the service is much quicker We offer you with a more sophisticated starting position, with basic configurations, membership plans that have been created and the structure of your website designed. All you have to do is set up your Stripe account, and then you can launch your website in minutes.

IFtWQKYe3Vls3PTpn6KK The creator of the website

Now, the editing process is like a modern WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Receive) web-based builder that is connecting directly to your membership website. "You can type directly on the screen, drag objects around, conceal and reveal elements, and then you are able to see the layout as soon as you open it," says Dan.

Dan explains that this is merely the beginning of future website builder improvements: "We had to redo the base of everything this way; now we can step on the accelerator in terms of adding the new features."

We've introduced the concept of blocks. They are basically content modules. Right now we have the basic block of content as well as a banner title block that can be text or an image that has a button. This framework is in use, and we're working on a new blocks, and creating various types of content on the page. The user will be able to place them within the pages and will be able to customize who is able to view the content based on which membership plan people are paying for.

J4UXZCXXXVRVFxqRpCLFE Building with blocks

Dan states: "It's everything you need to build a full-featured website for membership. It's also integrated with subscriptions. Membership is at the core of the whole." What you get is a site-building experience that's simpler to begin with easier to navigate, a lot more intuitive and more in-line with what the modern consumer expects.

Conclusion: A brand new method to use

"We previously described the past that glue that holds your group together," recalls Dan. "But when a machine is integral to your company, having parts glued together doesn't always sound like a positive. Sometimes you want that they are welded just like steel. But you need that it be one part, not two parts joined," Dan says. Dan. Two pieces were built at the same time: membership was integral since the very beginning.

If you're someone with a thriving WordPress website, or even a million members in your MailChimp list and you want to increase subscriptions instead of starting again, that's still perfectly feasible. The tool is still available to drop in, to connect it. But we don't think that's the only method people would like to build anymore.

" is a place for those looking for a space for their people to come together, and a place to their customers and users. In the present, all you like, from making it look like your company and putting all your information together and accessible to all, is what you could create with ," Dan concludes.