Terms
Ben L Collins, the Google Sheets expert behind the education site benlcollins.com He is very grateful for his membership company and the digital creator economy in general. "When you're creating something, whether it's creative or creating the technical content of another building-related membership, and some random stranger opens their wallet and gives you money, you realize that you're extremely fortunate to be at a time when you're able to do that kind of work and connect with so many people.
"If you're taking the time to - firstly - look at my stuff, and they like it enough that they're willing to spend the money I'd like to do absolutely everything that I can to make it as perfect as it can be for the person," he continues.
Ben is a fan of membership because it's not just a one-time cost: "We're not talking about a consulting agreement where people hire you to perform a piece of work that's structured and written out and everyone knows the terms of service they're receiving. More of a relation with the individual who says"I'd like to be part of your bandwagon for the next calendar year, or for a month, or a quarter. I appreciate what you're doing I'd like to be a part of you and be part of the group."
He believes that membership provides you with a powerful incentive to be the very best that you can, and strive to make amazing content. "People will naturally expect that I create high-quality content, but I also really would like to do it for them and for me. "
Ben explains that it helps to establish a great relationship you have with the group "I believe that I'm doing something for them rather than just this anonymous person buying a course and you never have any idea if anyone even looks at it. The experience is more tangible with the membership or closer. It's about building a deeper relationship that goes beyond being transient."
From "always on" to microdeliverables
The covid-19 epidemic hit, Ben had been delivering classes on manipulation of data using Google Sheets for 10 years. "I had delivered around 15 different courses on Teachable possibly with up to 25 launch dates, as certain courses were relaunched. While teaching the course, you have to honestly put as much effort - if not more effort - into marketing than the actual course. Although it's fascinating, I'm not a fan and it's not something I enjoy."
Ben L Collins Ben L Collins had delivered e-courses for ten years before covid struck
Ben knew he preferred to work on the technical spreadsheet information and also helping others. "People came to me with questions like "How can I accomplish that?' and it would be a fascinating problem to work on.
"Membership is a concept I was thinking about probably two, maybe even three years ago,"" says Ben. "I really liked that model due to the fact that it's a regular revenue. Membership isn't having to constantly launch something to make money where you have a big spike but then you're left with nothing after that." He says it's a much more secure platform, which allows the creator to concentrate on the creation as well as the connection with the users, not having to handle the marketing.
"For several years, I'd flirted with the idea of membership, but I'd never gotten past the research. I was afraid that it would feel like I was 'always on' if I did this model in which I was always doing something. I would always pull back, but continued to follow the courses." But he had accomplished what he was trying to accomplish.
"I'd basically completed all of the things that I could have covered with my full-courses. It was difficult to locate another course that wasn't just getting increasingly specialized and therefore it becomes less popular with higher-end things," he continues. "There was not a viable economic case to do some of the courses that I would consider."
Ben is also adamant that he had a feeling of burnout. "I thought 'I have to record 100 Teachable videos, which have to be one big cohesive thing. It was difficult for me to find the motivation to sit down and create that in one big block. It's impossible to know for sure how many people will purchase it. "
Ben explains that e-courses require the author to release the work prior to trying to sell it, and there is no way to tell whether it will be an success. "It could take about three to six months to design an excellent course. If the course doesn't work in the market, you won't be able to sell the course in the future, " he adds. "I recognized that I wanted a more ongoing relationship with my readers that would include microdeadlines as well as microdeliverables."
Chess Playing a simulation of chess using Google Sheets
Membership was suddenly logical. "I'll be committing to a weekly newsletter and we can have templates and tutorials however they don't require to be part of one gigantic topic and all linked to each other. The content could be smaller, and more manageable for me as well as easier for people to consume."
Also, from a user viewpoint, a lot of people don't finish their online courses "It's daunting when you buy the course which has 10-hours of content. It's hard for people to squeeze in the 10 hours of video content, and so you give up and don't get around to doing it. However, if you get one email a week, you can plan 30 minutes of the course of a lunch break, and gain plenty of value during the week before you put it aside until the following week," Ben explains.
In the spring of 2024 Ben began to consider about membership. In the course of summer, he laid down and mapped out exactly what the membership would be when he launched the club in the month of September.
Email is still king
In his interview about his professional life, Ben is keen to be grateful to his co-worker. "I'm extremely fortunate to have a wife has accomplished all of this before. She's had an own business, she's launched a number of products and was able to create an email database." Ben received a number of tips early during his career in membership "that was extremely helpful" - and one of the lessons was the need to establish an email list.
His wife, Ben's, was employed as a content marketer when the time came to begin building his network. "She was part of an agency that did marketing for their clients, as well as writing blog posts and SEO and social media. It was extremely useful, clearly for what I was trying to do at the time," Ben adds.
"Emails are the primary channel to interact or connect with your audience," he continues. However, he admits that it might not be the case for younger people, but he says: "The problem with social media, and especially the modern platforms such as TikTok are that they create this detachment between you and your followers.
When you create content and the platform shows whatever is viral and trending. it doesn't matter if you have 10,000 or 100,000 fans, if the piece of content doesn't rank according to the algorithm, then not many of those followers are ever going to see the content. There's a risk of a weak connection. Your existence is governed by the rules of the platform. If they change their algorithm or they fall out of fashion - we've seen lots of social media platforms disappear, therefore, having an email list is crucial.
Advice for aspiring membership operators
"If anyone were starting an account right now I'd advise them to "You should just get started!" Ben smiles. "With retrospectively, I'd rather I'd started this two years ago. The things that take time. As soon as you begin and get going, the longer time you'll can enjoy."
Ben on Zoom Ben hosting the Zoom session of his clients
It's simple to conduct a bit further research "You might convince yourself there's something missing, or that there's a better way of doing it. I've made that mistake before. When you finally click "Go" and release an item in the universe and interact with actual people, it begins to take on new meaning. Then you begin to solve issues you have to solve and not these abstract questions."
The author advises members to not overthink it: "If you're addressing someone's problem - or requires help to resolve a situation and you can do that, just start talking to them! The ability to improve will come in time."
Additional information
To find out more and subscribe to Ben's weekly Google Sheets tips, go to benlcollins.com.