Building a membership, $97 at a time with Rachel Bearbower
“We have this headwind of constantly trying to remind the nonprofit sector that we are people too, and we deserve to be compensated for our time.” - Rachel Bearbower
Everyone keeps talking about the need for consultants to move from 1:1 work to 1:many, but what does it really take to get there? In this episode of the Confessions podcast, Rachel Bearbower, the founder and CEO of Small Shop Strategies, shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of her experience creating a membership program in her business. It’s not all sunshine and roses, but there is definitely a payoff to patience.
Highlights:
Going from 1:1 work to 1:many doesn’t happen overnight
A membership is a great way to build a community (and recurring revenue) but is a huge commitment and requires you to show up for that community consistently.
What has worked and what hasn’t when it comes to growing an audience
Not apologizing for wanting to earn a good living
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
Connect with Rachel:
Website: https://www.smallshopstrategies.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachelbearbower
Find Us Online: https://www.confessionswithjessandcindy.com/
Connect with Cindy:
Cindy Wagman Coaching https://cindywagman.com/
The Good Partnership https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/
Connect with Jess:
Out In the Boons: https://www.outintheboons.me/
Transcript
[00:00:00] Cindy: Welcome to the Confessions podcast. I'm Cindy Wagman,
[00:00:05] Jess: and I'm Jess Campbell. We're two former in-house nonprofit pros, turned coaches and consultants to purpose driven organizations.
[00:00:13] Cindy: After years of building up our separate six figure businesses from scratch. We've thrown a lot of spaghetti at the wall and have lived to see what sticks.
[00:00:22] Jess: We're on a mission to help other nonprofit coaches and consultants looking to start or scale their own businesses past the six figure mark, by pulling back the curtain.
[00:00:32] Cindy: Whether you're still working inside a nonprofit and thinking of one day going out on your own, or you've been running your consulting business for years, you understand that working with nonprofits is just different. We're giving you access to the business leaders who serve nonprofits as their clients. You know, the people who truly get it.
[00:00:53] Jess: No more gatekeeping, no more secrets. This podcast is going to give you an inside look at what running a successful nonprofit coaching and consulting business looks like. Basically we're asking people how much money they make, how they get paid and what has, and hasn't worked in their businesses.
[00:01:13] Cindy: Listen in as these leaders share their insights, their numbers and the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to building a nonprofit coaching or consulting business, we're gonna empower you to make the power moves that give you the income and freedom you set out to create from day one.
[00:01:29] Jess: You ready? Let's go. Woohoo. We're so pumped, you've tuned into the confessions podcast where we're pulling back the curtain on all things, nonprofit coaching and consulting to keep things super fun, we're doing a giveaway to celebrate our launch.
[00:01:47] Cindy: Woohoo. We've rounded up our four favorite business goodies to help you build your business to enter. All you have to do is share your favorite episode on social media, tagging @outintheboons_ and cindywagman.com_coaching.
[00:02:04] Jess: Or DM us a screenshot of your subscription rating or review.
[00:02:09] Cindy: The giveaway ends on September 30th.
[00:02:13] Cindy & Jess: Good, good luck.
[00:02:14] Cindy: I can't wait to share with our audience today's guest, Rachel Bearbower, who I would say is like another one of our business besties.
[00:02:23] Jess: I mean, she's kinda everyone's business besty. I feel like Rachel has that ability to just befriend and welcome in everyone.
[00:02:30] Cindy: Yes. And Rach has been sort. Mm. I don't, I wanna say quietly, but it's not quietly, but diligently
[00:02:38] Jess: Mm-hmm
[00:02:38] Cindy: working on building her program, her membership, um, over the last number of years, I think probably started a little earlier than a lot of people.
[00:02:47] Jess: Mm-hmm
[00:02:48] Cindy: And you know, this is such a great conversation to start thinking about how to scale, how to go from one-to-one to one-to-many
[00:02:57] Jess: Mm-hmm
[00:02:57] Cindy: and what you need to think about in the [00:03:00] process.
[00:03:00] Jess: Totally. She really lets us in, um, on her business and holds nothing back. The good, the bad, the ugly, the really super-duper hard. What was really, um, what really came out for me in the conversation is how her membership, um, might be surprising to some listeners in terms of why she keeps doing it. Um, cuz it's not necessarily like maybe what people expect and I'll just like, keep it vague, like that.
[00:03:34] Cindy: Surprising, surprising to listeners, and I think surprising to us, like we, you know, we often talk to Rachel, the three of us have like our own little mastermind and we talk about our business decisions and I think that, um, even with that, we've never really peeled back.
[00:03:52] Jess: Mm-hmm
[00:03:53] Cindy: Why she has continues to, to work on the membership. Not that she wouldn't, but just like what goes into those decisions?
[00:04:01] Cindy: Mm-hmm and there, it's so important to remember that, like, we all have our own checklist of things that are important,
[00:04:12] Jess: Mm-hmm
[00:04:12] Cindy: and that, that is so critical to building a business that you love.
[00:04:16] Jess: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:17] Jess: So if you are a nonprofit coach or consultant listening in, I'm just curious about starting from ground zero to what it looks like running a business several years later, to someone who wants to make the transition from one-on-one work to one-to-many, specifically through membership to what it takes to get visible. She went deep into all of those kinds of, um, tactics she's been using to grow her audience. This is gonna be such an interesting listen for you.
[00:04:47] Cindy: All right. Here's our interview with Rachel.
[00:04:50] Cindy: Hey Rach.
[00:04:51] Rachel: Hello. It's good to see you too.
[00:04:55] Cindy: Yay! Jess and I are so excited for this conversation. Um, so thank you for] joining us. The best.
[00:05:02] Rachel: Obviously.
[00:05:04] Cindy: So we're gonna dive right in and, you know, get to the, the juice of the conversation, because that is what this podcast is all about. So as we like tell our listeners, who are you, and what is your business? What do you do?
[00:05:22] Rachel: Yeah. Well, who am I? Gosh, you know, don't we all wear a ton of hats as many, as much as we try not to maybe, but, uh, I am, I'm a small shop. Uh, I am a founder and CEO. Um, I'm a previous founder and executive director, uh, and I'm a trail runner turned farmer and living in the Midwest and living my best life with my, my three pups and BF M, Boyfriend Mike, and yeah. So that's, that is me.
[00:05:57] Jess: And tell us specifically, what is your business and what is the main program you run?
[00:06:02] Rachel: Yeah, so I, my business is small shop strategies, which really was designed out of an idea after being an executive director, feeling like I didn't have the resources I need that were tailored to me as like a one-to-one, two-person shop.
[00:06:18] Rachel: Uh, and so I created a community of executive directors of small shops, it's called The Productive Executive Director. And I focus, I focus a lot on systems. So I'm a, I, I stick out a little bit in the, the nonprofit consultant realm.
[00:06:36] Cindy: And I love that because you have one of the only communities I've seen online specifically for that demographic, which as you know, is someone that sat in that seat.
[00:06:47] Cindy: It's a unique position where you really wanna be around people who get it. So if we can just dive into the next part, like what's your business model and specifically, how do you get paid?
[00:07:00] Rachel: Yeah. So this is a great question because it changed recently. So when I started my business, I was like, I'm, I'm going to, I mean, we all have iterations of our business as we get into it and learn more. But I started out really thinking I was gonna design a course. And so, I guess I designed a course and realized, okay, the content is good, but it's actually like the, the conversations that we're having around the content and learning from each other that was incredible.
[00:07:31] Rachel: And so I quickly pivoted and created a membership model, uh, which has, has been, I mean, I know we will get into the specifics of it, but like just lights my soul on fire, the incredible conversations, and community that has been built around this. And while there still is the, the curriculum, there's, there's also this community aspect.
[00:07:56] Rachel: And then, um, I also do some other pieces because it'll also probably get into, but the, uh, the membership model is really, really fascinating, really interesting. And, uh, so I have created the membership model that also added additional pieces, as I have gotten to know the executive directors and learned the different additional services that they need.
[00:08:19] Jess: Before we jump into all the nitty gritty on your membership, can we just go back to what you said just a second about, go about creating a course. I wanna know, like, why did you wanna create a course? I think a lot of nonprofit coaches and consultants get to a place in their business where they're, frankly, burnt out of trading, time for money, and so courses seem like the next great thing, but there's a lot of challenges and hardship with that too.
[00:08:45] Jess: So I'm just curious, like, why did you consider a course before pivoting to your membership?
[00:08:52] Rachel: You know, I think I, I thought it was, I thought it was gonna be the best way to get information out there. And I knew that one-on-one services was not necessarily my, my jam. Like I do, I do still do one-on-one services, but I could not make that my entire business model.
[00:09:09] Rachel: And I also knew that there were very specific pieces of my, my lived experience as an executive director that I knew I needed to provide. I also realized I was having that same conversation over and over and over again. And so I was like, okay, let me get this into, you know, some sort of platform. And my idea was actually to do it live with masterminds and then the pandemic hit.
[00:09:36] Rachel: And I, I mean, the ball was rolling. I was, I was bringing people in and pandemic hit and so it all went online and, yeah, so I, I have thoughts on, on courses because I think that they are, are beneficial. But there's a lot of boundaries that you need to put around them for them to actually be successful.
[00:09:57] Cindy: And you mentioned sort of the membership lights you up, which I love and a conversation that the three of us have been having sort of IRL is, you know, how do we figure what that one-to-many looks like, uh, as we do grow and, and figure out that we don't wanna trade time for a service anymore? So tell us a little bit about beyond, you know, you love, it sounds like you love showing up live and you love creating community, but are there other considerations that made a membership model really stick out to you? And what does that look like financially? Like I think financial considerations are really important. How has that shown up for you in building membership and keeping? Like Jess and I would probably agree. It's a lot of work. You're, you're there always for your community, and, um, it can't be easy. So tell us about that.
[00:10:56] Rachel: Yeah. Well, I think the, the question I skipped over is how do I pay myself? And I had a very interesting last couple of years because I have spent
[00:11:07] Rachel: all of my time, energy, money, all of it into building a community. So more like, and when I say like spent all of my time, money and energy, it's marketing this membership. And what I realize at the end of last year, like I have not been making enough to survive. Like, based just on the membership was a which, which was devastating.
[00:11:35] Rachel: It was devastating. I knew at the very beginning of this membership that it was working and it was incredible. And it was just amazing, special thing that had berneen created, but I wasn't making money, which at the end of the day, I have to able to pay rent, pay groceries. Like you have to pay yourself. And I, I wasn't, I actually lost money last year, which you can't do that.
[00:12:04] Rachel: And you know, for as hard as I worked and as much time and effort I put into it, like, I, you couldn't, I couldn't do that. So I really had to take a look at what I was doing and I had to completely shift my business model. And so what I did is I looked at the, like, looked at kinda everything else that I was doing and decided that a workshop I was doing, I would send people into the membership, you know, kind of have, have a funnel or have open, open the membership up and allow people to join. But I wasn't making the membership, my sole, my sole income, I really had to diversify. And what I did with that is did some one-on-one coach or I'm doing one-on-one coaching.
[00:12:55] Rachel: I am doing done review services, um, strategy calls different things like that, that allow for, uh, more income to be made, but then the, really where I am getting most of that business or that those coaching clients, or for those, um, strategy calls are with the members in the community, uh, which was, I was like, oh right.
[00:13:27] Rachel: Like I have built this huge, you know, this relationship, this trust with them. And so of course, like that's a natural, like warm lead and the, the opportunities that have happened because of that have been great. So, um, I dunno if I actually answer the question, but the, uh, really, I, I just shifted, like I, I'm not spending a ton of time marketing the membership.
[00:13:57] Rachel: I am spending more of my time actively, you know, trying to get coaching clients and things like that, um, which come in a lot of different ways, but that also comes from nurturing and storing the community.
[00:14:12] Cindy: Hmm. And it's something, what I love about that, it's almost like a product stack, right? We think of tech stack and like, I know, you know, that's right.
[00:14:21] Cindy: Cuz you're, you know, tech well, but it's all integrated, right? And each piece has its own part, but it's all stacked up together. And I think what you've been building and I wanted just mostly to emphasize this, cuz I know that so many of us look, um, at, and this is why we created this podcast. We look at all these other business owners and like they have a course, they must be making so much from their course, or this is their signature thing.
[00:14:48] Cindy: And they must be like making all this money from their one- to-many. And some of it is quite profitable, but usually it's not the only thing they're selling.
[00:14:58] Rachel: Yeah.
[00:14:58] Cindy: But what I think it is so great about what you just spoke about is that you're not off there selling all these different things that your products are in alignment.
[00:15:11] Rachel: Yeah.
[00:15:11] Cindy: And that they're serving people the same people at different parts of their journey. And I think that is so important for, for us as business owners and our own, like mental health and wellbeing. Can you talk a little bit about how you found that alignment and like that moment that aha.
[00:15:34] Rachel: Well, I, I think what's also important to kinda stick out is that what works in maybe one quarter doesn't work in the next quarter, and what works for one organization doesn't work for another organization.
[00:15:46] Rachel: So, like from where I was three years ago to where I am now is very different and I have had to continually evolve, and change and get clearer and clearer on the message. And I think a couple of things I did that really, really helped, got very, very specific about who I support because then the exact people do how to find my program and it wasn't super vague in general.
[00:16:17] Rachel: And, um, you know, and as I continue to focus more on the system side, and while there's still aspects of leadership and fundraising everything that I am doing within the, within the membership and within that, I teach live or, um, kinda in a more general space is all about the ways to be more efficient and effective with your time and getting back to like, are you doing too much?
[00:16:48] Rachel: Do you have your goal set? Do you have a plan? So I'm just reiterating the same over and over and over again or different topic, but it core pillars that I'm teaching.
[00:17:04] Jess: Can we do some context setting. So for the listeners tuning in, what is the price point of your membership? What has that evolution been like? Where did you start versus what is it priced up today? Um, how many members do you have? You know, what is your retention rate? Like if we could just do some contact setting because I think that will then spur into some other questions.
[00:17:30] Jess: I'm sure people and us are.
[00:17:33] Rachel: Yeah, totally. Uh, well, I started out at $39 amount for my membership. Uh, quickly increased that. Um, it is current. There's been several iterations all with nines. Um, and so we're, we're nines and sevens. So I think we're at, uh, $97 a month, uh, for the membership. And I think something that's important is I, I got very clear on how long people should plan to stay in there.
[00:18:02] Rachel: So that's, that's another piece of the, the membership puzzle. Um, but yeah, the, the membership I suggest people are, are in the program for 12 months, uh, at $97 a month. I also only open it up a couple times a year and we actually just wrapped up, uh, the big, the big opening, uh, that I do, uh, each year. But, uh, let's see, there are.
[00:18:32] Rachel: It really as it flows. How many people are in the program? I actually didn't open, Productive ED up until July. So it kind of started to dip a little bit more, but we're usually around 80 to, or I would say between 70 and 80. So we're sitting right about 80, 85 right now. I think, um, my goal is to get to a hundred.
[00:18:57] Rachel: That's my goal. Uh, we'll get there, but I guess you'll I, but you know, I'm, I, I see, you know, some of these other programs that have hundreds and thousands of members, and I think what's different about this program and what I love about keeping it small is that there's, there's this really intimate feeling and people are really getting to know each other and I never, um, You know, I, I didn't, I didn't know what to expect.
[00:19:25] Rachel: And, uh, it's been really cool to see how the, the relationships and the community that has formed without me and with, with other people within this community and how they lean on each other and support each other. And it's, it's beautiful, really beautiful.
[00:19:42] Cindy: Awesome.
[00:19:43] Cindy: I wanna ask about two things. One is enrolling is like launching, but I wanna come back to that because first I wanna ask about the experience of increasing your pricing.
[00:19:54] Cindy: That is something that I think is terrifying for. So many people, especially because in the [00:20:00] nonprofit sector we've been taught that price sensitivity is like the biggest decision making factor. Um, how was that? Tell us about what that experience was like and like break it down. I'm guessing you can go from 39 to 97 overnight or in one decision or one increase.
[00:20:20] Cindy: So what was that
[00:20:21] Cindy: like?
[00:20:22] Rachel: Yeah. So I think I went from. 39 to 59, like immediately. Uh, and then, cause you know, you start doing the math and you're like, oh, I'm making like $4. Cool. Yeah, I should probably increase that. Um, and then it was, it was $79 for about a year. I actually don't have a problem increasing my, my prices that doesn't bother me.
[00:20:46] Rachel: I think I'm trying to be really sensitive to the small shops that I am serving and trying to find a price point. That makes sense for them that allows, allows them to feel good about what, like what they are receiving, uh, as well as, um, being able to fit it into their, either into their professional development budget.
[00:21:10] Rachel: Or I know a lot of my clients are paying for it themselves. So I'm trying to find that like happy medium of like what, what is working. The value of what they are getting versus what they are, uh, paying is tremendous. And it, it is like a, probably a 297 a month program, but I, I do want make sure that it is, it is affordable, uh, for, for these organizations.
[00:21:43] Rachel: One thing that I was doing, I, I was doing scholarship. I was like, oh nonprofit and what I found is there's a real need for paying the people who receive. I gave, I've given 20 scholarships over the course of small shop, uh, or, um, Productive ED. And I've only had two, three members, three members truly take advantage of the, um, the opportunity and yeah.
[00:22:17] Rachel: Being able to provide scholarships was something I was really important to me, but what I found out is there still needs to be buy-in. And if there isn't buy-in then it's really easy to just not, which is, I spent a lot of time and I put a lot of heart and soul and work into this and you're not gonna show up then. Okay.
[00:22:43] Jess: All right, Rach, we're here to do our rapid-fire questions. Are you ready?
[00:22:48] Rachel: Yes, I am ready.
[00:22:49] Jess: Okay. Question number one. What is your favorite tech tool?
[00:22:53] Jess: Oh, I have two, no doubt, Convert Kit. Obsessed with my email marketing and loom, best invention ever.
[00:23:00] Jess: I agree. What do you like to drink first thing in the morning?
[00:23:04] Rachel: Oh. If we're being honest, it's a protein shake cuz I'm starving. And the first, first thing I have, but I also love my coffee.
[00:23:13] Jess: What flavors? Your protein drink?
[00:23:16] Rachel: Chocolate. The easiest to get down.
[00:23:20] Jess: And I know like me, you're a fan of all things. Enneagram personality tests. What are you?
[00:23:28] Rachel: I am a three-wing two in the Enneagram.
[00:23:32] Rachel: No idea in Myers Briggs, uh, yes, three weeks, two, pretty on, on the way. And I'm a Leo.
[00:23:41] Jess: The lion. Okay, cool. Thanks for playing.
[00:23:47] jessCindy: I'm so glad you said that, because that was the question swirling around in my head around if you've noticed a difference in part participation for folks at that $39 level compared to the $97 level, and you just hit it. And I think there's so many nonprofit coaches and consultants who come from the nonprofit sector who have a scarcity mindset around money and, you know, say things like, well, I'm not in it for the money and then are over
[00:24:16] Rachel: Here -
[00:24:16] Rachel: Oh I'm in it for the money.
[00:24:20] Rachel: Do I need, need to make billions? And you know, like, no.
[00:24:27] Jess: You need to cover your expenses? Yes.
[00:24:30] Rachel: And I need to cover my expenses. I need to put money in my 401k. I need to have insurance. I need to have a comfortable life. I'm in it for the money.
[00:24:40] Jess: Yeah. And so I just think that that's really, um, important what you said around the scholarships because I think that that there's a real tendency to undercharge for nonprofit coaches and consultants, especially when we're just getting started.
[00:24:54] Jess: And so this is a perfect example around not doing [00:25:00] that or leading at a price think it's scary and seeing how people bite at that, because here you are with more members than ever at your higher price point, you just had one of your most successful launches ever at your highest price point. Um, which is I think where we wanna go next.
[00:25:16] Jess: So one of the things,
[00:25:18] Jess: Oh, go ahead.
[00:25:19] Rachel: Real quick. I think it’s also important for all of us as-
[00:25:25] Jess: a collective
[00:25:25] Rachel: as a collective, as all nonprofit consultants. If somebody is charging. $39 and somebody is charging a thousand dollars. Well, like that discrepancy is so hard and I think we are we're, we have this headwind of constantly trying to remind the, the nonprofit sector that we are people too, and we deserve to be compensated for our time.
[00:25:55] Rachel: And that is. That's something that we have to do together.
[00:26:00] Jess: Totally high tides,
[00:26:02] Jess: baby.
[00:26:03] Rachel: Yep. Absolutely.
[00:26:05] Cindy: Okay. So-
[00:26:05] Cindy: launching, I think, as we alluded to at the beginning, memberships courses, all these one-to-many ideas sounds super sexy and perhaps quote, unquote, easy on paper, and then you go and execute them. And,
[00:26:19] Cindy: the launching part, the visibility part, which is something you're also really excellent at is the marketing part is a lot more challenging than I think people realize. It's a lot more work than people realize.
[00:26:31] Rachel: Yeah.
[00:26:32] Cindy: Can you speak a little bit to the evolution of your launch strategies or schedules? I think you've really honed in on a rhythm that works.
[00:26:42] Cindy: Um, and I think we would all really appreciate diving into that a little bit more.
[00:26:47] Rachel: Yeah. Okay. I'll get real nerdy on this. So I, uh, at systems automation, my GM. So not only is that something I like to teach with nonprofits, but I also like teaching it or I like, like I walk the walk, I do what I teach. Um, I always test things that I, I do before I teach them.
[00:27:08] Rachel: So the rhythm that I have gotten in is I have, I have several feet, three days or lead magnets and those lead magnets. Lead to something else. There's a, I'm sure there's a technical, but like a, another thing, uh, that is whether that's a course or that, or not a course, but a workshop or a presentation, something that people can see me live and kinda interact with me.
[00:27:35] Rachel: Um, I have a five day, uh, productivity challenge, which is also free. Uh, but. Gives you a chance to kind of see how I work, what my style is. Um, and, and the way that I, well, time out last year, I decided that I was going to invest in Facebook ads so that I could reach a broader audience. And the method that I learned is that you have, you know, a, a lead magnet that lead magnet then has on the back end.
[00:28:06] Rachel: Um, What is it called? Um,
[00:28:11] Cindy: A tripped wire.
[00:28:12] Rachel: Tripped wire. Thank you. I was thinking barbed wire and I was like, that's not, it different.
[00:28:18] Rachel: Different.
[00:28:19] Cindy: So to be clear, let's. We all don't know that term ourselves. Yeah. The idea is it's like a small price point, easy. Yes. Uh, getting people to start spending money with you and getting to know you better.
[00:28:34] Cindy: Is that a fair description of what you're talking about? That
[00:28:37] Rachel: That is totally fair. And what I was actually doing is I was charging for, um, the, this so little workshop, but the workshop was what I was sending, uh, the ads to and so I was trying the method of getting people to buy something small, then they would buy something larger.
[00:28:58] Rachel: And what I found is nonprofits were not, not doing that. So I was getting, you know, I was spending thousands of dollars on, uh, Facebook ads and. Getting 20 people on a workshop. So I was not making the money back. I will be full disclosure. I spent over $10,000 on Facebook ads last year, and I did not make that back.
[00:29:24] Rachel: So, um, scrap that real quick. Uh, and so what I do now is I spend a lot of time just. Just like we teach our, our non-profit folks to have conversations, nurture show up. So that's a lot of my marketing is just showing up, being me, um, teaching whether it's on social media or inside my emails. Um, and then also I have a couple of reads that are just out there.
[00:29:47] Rachel: So whether they're, um, at the end of my blogs or podcasts or, you know, whatever, they're just out there. And so I do have quite a people coming through and then. Maybe once a quarter, I do a big webinar, uh, and I speak on, well, this last one that I did was delegating. It's free. I do a ton of promotion around it.
[00:30:10] Rachel: And then I, uh, from there I sell productive executive directors. So I would say like the entire launch schedule is six or seven weeks. If you really think about like from start to finish. All the promotion, all the, like the warm up the ramp up and then actually selling and having conversations. Um, but I'm selling and having conversations all the time.
[00:30:38] Rachel: All the time I send out weekly emails, I do biweekly podcasts. I'm constantly providing free information, but it's, I really try to have a conversation with my audience.
[00:30:54] Jess: So you mentioned the funnel and the process of how you're getting people on your list in your audience, in your world, right? And I know because we're friends and we just talked through a lot of your launch, it was super successful, but you also mentioned that some people had been lurking around for quite some time. Do you have any insights into the length of time it can take to convert a nonprofit organization from introduction to you to actually joining your program or making a purchase?
[00:31:29] Rachel: Yeah, I think I had somebody join who came onto my list in February of 2020 which holy mo, that was so long ago. I was like, ‘Hey, I've been looking at your email for a long time.’ You know, and then I had a couple of people to join just like right away and I have nonprofit be like, ‘Hey, I really do wanna do this right now, but it's just not in the budget. I'm gonna save up for next year.’
[00:32:02] Rachel: Or the next launch, or keep me posted and you know, it can take some organizations. I think the scarcity mindset plays into this. Some will make a decision just like, yep, this seems like the right thing that I need. And some really need to hear, you know, how I teach or see, you know, what I have to offer, or sometimes I probably just give them all the information they need.
[00:32:30] Rachel: ‘Cause I offer so many free resources. Another thing that I do on the back side of my business is I have a lot of automation that is happening in the background. So if somebody comes, if an organization comes in on like a stewardship side or a stewardship theme, then I have a general welcome series that goes out, which I know is a welcome series or kind of like they work.
[00:32:58] Rachel: Do they not work? They were great for me. And then I have a couple of like mini sales theories, which are like three emails over 10 days where I have a scale year stewardship workshop that has been great. And so I will sell that if I'm not like given that I only open up the membership for productive ED a couple of times a year, I try to offer other products during that time, but I'm not creating those, they're just kind of on autopilot. I don't know. Hopefully, you're gonna talk about some evergreen models. They don't work for me and I appreciate but like there is, I do get a little attraction with just some of these random things that I do have on the back end of my business, but all of that, then just again, I just think about it about different touch points, conversations that I'm having, but I have set up this automated email network in the back end to just have that because I can't do it one-on-one. Yeah.
[00:34:16] Cindy: One of the things I wanna sort of bring us back, maybe a little full circle which is we talked earlier about, your alignment or your offer stack. And I want you to deep, like give us a little more details into, you've tried launching with different content.
[00:34:40] Rachel: Yeah.
[00:34:41] Cindy: Some, I think because Jess and I know you said, well, we would say some are more aligned with your offer and some might be more what you think organizations wanna hear about, but that doesn't necessarily lead them to say yes. So can you talk about the different ways that, or the different offers that you've had in terms of your launch and how that has affected your results?
[00:35:06] Rachel: Yeah, I mean to be perfectly honest, I have a lot of spaghetti on the wall. I am very grateful for the community that I have because you know, to be like, ‘Hey, don't do that.’ Yeah. Don't, but just Cindy, your point to figuring out what does work for my audience as much as I try to go to the shiny you know, a shiny odd deck which I do think there's merit and there are things that work. And I think I've built in, you know if I taught a lot of social media at the beginning and I never wanted to know being known about social media, but I did have a pretty great framework that could help nonprofits quickly get content out.
[00:35:55] Rachel: So that's what I was teaching, but that's not where my heart was and soon, it just kind of wasn't really working and so I just started doing. I guess what I didn't realize is I thought what I had to teach had to be really complex and you know, have all this strategy and really, I could just teach the very simple method that I'd literally received a message from an organization that was like, you changed my life.
[00:36:27] Rachel: And it was time management. I was like, what and that's one of my superpowers. It was like something that was so needed. That's something I've learned over and over again, teach these complex strategies, but really what's needed is things that are very, very simple and very basic and bringing them back to you know, really aligning with what's in my zone of genius.
[00:36:56] Rachel: And it's these. You know, I talk about systems and processes and you know, it all starts with figuring out like you, how do you work? How do you do your best work? How do you function? How, you know, how can we get more off your plate? Because I think we can all agree that every nonprofit does not have enough time, so that's what I focus on everything. It's if you think of you know as a bike spoke or whatever like it's all its time is at the center.
[00:37:35] Cindy: I love it. I love it. J, I was gonna say Jess. Rach, any sort of final thoughts as we wrap up the conversation that, you know, anything that words of advice. I would say for anyone you, five years ago, three years ago, what would you want them to know listening to this and embarking on their journey?
[00:38:01] Rachel: Yeah, I mean, so we didn't speak a ton about the membership and the specific pieces about having a membership. But I think I've been successful because I have created systems around it. Just identifying exactly what I'm gonna do when the calls are gonna be like my exact offerings and then things like the reminders before the meeting is happening.
[00:38:31] Rachel: And the onboarding process for a membership, that is something that I worked really hard on. I would definitely like people would join the membership, but it was like a fire hose. And so trying to really kind of drip the content out for the first couple of months so that they don't feel overwhelmed.
[00:38:49] Rachel: They're already coming into this overwhelmed. So you know, my advice, well, be careful before you build a community. I'm going to be like, it is a ton of work, a ton of work. Because I am so system-oriented, I think I've been able to make it work, but I'm not at home right now. I'm on the kind of having my out-of-office on but I'm still checking in with the community like the community doesn't stop. One thing I'm trying to do this year, by the time this airs, I will be bringing in guest coaches, I don't want this to continue to be the Rachel show. I want it to, and that's something that is important for consultants.
[00:39:46] Rachel: Like a lot of times clients will want to work with you because they like your personality. They like your vibe. But for me, building a community, I don't want it to all be all about me. Like that's a lot of pressure to hold. And so bringing in additional people to support that and be able to provide additional voices and experience and all of these coaches have been through the program and they've been with me for years, you know, some hit their two-year mark. So, you know, with memberships, be ready to come. It's like getting a dog. Like you don't just get a dog for five minutes. You get a dog for life. So these nonprofits are in this and you're building trust with them. And that means you have to show up consistently.
[00:40:42] Rachel: You have to be there, be with them. And so, it's not a lighthearted thing. And honestly, many people have come to me and they're like, how do you build a community? I'm like, don't. Don't. Somebody who like, I love my, I love it. But if you are not like, really getting into, like, how am I going to do this and how am I going to sustain it and how am I not going to burn myself out?
[00:41:18] Rachel: Don't start it because all of those things will happen. And as I mentioned at the very beginning, this community, I do this community because it makes my heart so happy. It is not what pays my bills and that is a really like, this is not a money maker. Maybe if I have 20 thousand people in there, yeah, that would pay my bills, but that's not where I'm at, and it takes a long time. I mean, I'm at 85 members and it's taken me three years to get there.
[00:41:55] Jess: Yet. Not making your money yet. You are on your way.
[00:42:01] Rachel: And there's little profit margin, it's not enough to pay a salary. I should be clear.
[00:42:06] Jess: Totally, totally. Well, Rachel, we are so honored for you to share the nitty gritty inside-out confessions of running, starting, and operating a membership for nonprofits. We're so grateful to have you as a guest on our show. Thank you for being here. Where can people who wanna follow small stop strategies, learn more about productive ED, or even just, if you're open to it, ask questions about starting a membership, where can they find you?
[00:42:37] Rachel: Yeah. Send me a message on Instagram or on LinkedIn. I'm @smallshopstrategies on Instagram and Rachel, just my personal profile on LinkedIn and yeah, I'm an open book. I mean, I think that's something that I really, and I know something that you are. I'm so grateful that you are doing this podcast because I think it is so important. There are so many misconceptions about being a nonprofit consultant and that it's easy or that there are ways to make, you know, just millions of dollars, just, you know, this income that just happens.
[00:43:18] Rachel: And it's not, it's not that. And it's a lot of work and we gotta need to build each other up and I'm just grateful for what you are putting out into the world, both of you thank you so much. And for being mentors to me, you know, we all need our people. We all need our community. And so find your business bestie and lean on them.
[00:43:52] Jess: Mwaaaa!
[00:43:55] Cindy: Thank you again for listening to the Confessions podcast. For nonprofit coaches and consultants, if you enjoyed today's episode, which I sure hope you did you can show your support in one of three ways.
[00:44:06] Jess: Number one, post the screenshot of this episode to your Instagram stories or LinkedIn profile and tag Cindy and I so we can repost you.
[00:44:14] Cindy: Number two, share this podcast with a fellow nonprofit culture consultant.
[00:44:19] Jess: And number three, leave a positive review on Apple Podcast so we can continue to grow and reach new listeners.
[00:44:25] Cindy: And of course, make sure you subscribe so you can get the latest and greatest interviews as they drop every Thursday.
[00:44:32] Jess: And to our fellow nonprofit coaching and consulting friends, remember, we're an open book and here to answer your burning biz questions.
[00:44:39] Cindy: See you next time.