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Ben L Collins, the Google Sheets expert behind the educational site benlcollins.com, is incredibly thankful for his company's membership as well as the digital creator economics all around the globe. "When you've made something - whether you're an artist, making a course in technical design or a building member - and a stranger walks up to you with their wallet and hands you cash, you realize how incredibly blessed you are to be in this time when you're able to create that type of product and be able to reach a lot of individuals.
"If someone is taking their time, begin with, just go through my items and find it appealing enough to the point that they're willing to spend for it, I'd be happy to try everything I can achieve to make it as perfect as I can for that person," he continues.
Ben is a fan of joining a club because it's many more things than a one-off cost "We're not discussing about"consulting agreements" wherein the person hires you to complete a piece of work which is recorded and everyone knows precisely what they're paying for. It's more of an agreement where the person is saying, 'I want to join your orbit in the coming year, month or quarter. I'm grateful for what you're doing. I'd like to become a part of you in the group."
He is of the opinion that joining gives you a strong motivation to do the very highest quality you could as well as to produce high quality content. "People believe that I will create top-quality material however, I really want to both for them and me. "
Ben says that it is beneficial to create a strong relationship with your local community "I think I'm helping them rather than just the unidentified individual who purchases an online course, and you don't be sure if they will even glance at the course. Experiences are more concrete with the membership or closer. It's about creating an personal connection, which is far more than a temporary."
Beginning with "always ever" to microdeliverables
When the outbreak of covid-19, Ben had been delivering online courses on manipulating data, including Google Sheets for 10 years. "I gave about 15 courses via Teachable and possibly the launch date of 25 as certain courses were renewed. Doing the courses requires the instructor to devote all of your effort as much effort, if not more - to marketing the course. This is fascinating, however I'm not passionate about it, as it's not something I enjoy."
Ben L Collins Ben L Collins had been delivering e-courses for 10 years when the covid strike was struck
Ben was aware that he would rather focus on technical spreadsheet contents and assisting people. "People would approach me and ask 'How can I accomplish that? The problem would be a fascinating problem to work on.
"Membership was something that I'd considered maybe two or even three times in the time," Ben says. Ben. "I enjoyed the model since it's a recurring revenue stream. With membership, you're not being forced to create things every single time in order to earn money, where you witness a significant increase in income, only to be left with nothing." He says it's a stable platform that allows the creator to focus on their creation, and developing an association with their customers and not having to handle marketing.
"For some time, I'd flirted with the idea of membership, however, I never did any research. I was worried that it would feel like being constantly in the go if I practiced this method that demanded me to be constantly doing things. I would always pull back, but continued to follow the instruction." However, he was finished his goal of what he wanted to accomplish.
"I'd almost done everything to be taught in a full course. It was hard to locate classes that weren't getting more specialized, and it becomes less popular in the case of more sophisticated techniques," he continues. "There was not a economically viable reason to go after some of the classes I could consider."
Ben adds that he felt burned out. "I thought "I've had to develop 100 Teachable videos. They have to comprise one piece. It was a challenge for me to determine an incentive to make that in one big block. There's no way to tell which people will buy it. "
Ben clarifies that e-courses require the creator to publish the course before attempting to market it. But, there's no method to determine if it is a success. "It may take 3 to 6 months to develop the best program. If your course doesn't sell well in the marketplace then you will not be able to promote this course again in the near future, " he adds. "I realized that I needed a more ongoing relationship with my customers that included microdeliverables and microdeadlines."
Chess Game simulation of Chess game played with Google Sheets
Membership was suddenly logical. "I'll commit to a regular Newsletter. You can include guidelines and examples, however it doesn't have to be a complete topic, and tied into each other. The information could be a bite-sized format that can be more easily digestible for me and also easy for other people to follow."
Also, from a user perspective, only a few students complete their online courses "It's hard to buy a course that has over 10 hours worth of video. It's difficult for anyone to handle 10 hours of material, so you end your course and don't come back getting it done. If you only receive one email per week, it is possible to arrange 30 minutes during your lunch break and get lots of value from that week. You can then set it aside until next week." Ben explains.
In the spring of 2024, Ben began to contemplate about becoming a member. Over the summer, he sat down and mapped out the exact type of membership he was looking for as he set out to launch the club on September 1.
Email remains the supreme form of all email
When he talks about his job, Ben is keen to pay tribute to his wife. "I'm extremely fortunate to have my wife has accomplished everything I've mentioned prior to. She has had her own business; she's launched various products and learned how to construct an email list." Ben was given a variety of tips and suggestions throughout his membership career "that were extremely useful" and one of them was how to create an email list.
His wife was employed in marketing content when Ben began to build his online community. "She ran an agency which managed marketing for their clients. They also created blog posts and SEO and social media. This was extremely helpful, evidently in relation to the goals I was trying to do at the time." Ben adds.
"Emails are by far the most effective way to interact or connect to your followers," he continues. But he acknowledges there could be a different situation for younger generations however he says: "The problem with social media, and especially the modern platforms like TikTok are the fact that they can create the impression that you are not connected to your fans.
It's your responsibility to create material, however, this platform shows what's trending and what is trending - regardless of whether you have thousands to 100,000 or more followers. If your content isn't ranked according to the algorithm, then none of your followers likely to see it. It's a precarious relation. Your actions are governed by the guidelines of this platform. If they modify their algorithm or they lose popularity We've witnessed many social media sites go under - therefore, having an email address is vital.
A few tips for members who are interested in becoming membership operators
"If someone were to start an online membership right now, I'd advise "You ought to just start!" Ben smiles. "With retrospect, I'd like to have made this decision within the last two years. The things that take some time. The sooner you get started in the beginning to get started, the more time you'll have."
Ben in Zoom Ben Hosting the Zoom sessions of his members
It's easy to do some additional investigation "You could convince yourself there's something wrong or there's an alternative way to do it. I've done it in the past. If you decide to click "Go in the direction of an object into space and begin interacting with real people It becomes a different person. You start to actually solve issues you have to overcome, and not just abstract questions."
It's important to keep in mind not to be too focused about it "If you're addressing someone's pain point - if someone needs to solve a problem that you can aid them in solving and your team is capable of doing so, get out there! The process can be refined over the years."
More details
For more details and sign up to Ben's daily Google Sheets tips, go to benlcollins.com.
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