How I Built My Membership Community To Be Overwhelm-Proof

When online memberships started gaining popularity, some business owners switched their business models from online courses to memberships. Or they had courses that were precursors to memberships.

As we get more excited about the flexibility and value that memberships offer, and every time a fun new one launches to fill a business or personal need, we jump in with both hands and fast clicks. 

I’m in a handful of membership communities. And I joined each of them for a different reason. So I completely understand how easy it is to get really excited about something when you hear about it, sign up with the best intentions, only to do none of the work, watch zero lessons, and miss all the live calls. 

And then when you get the weekly reminder about what's happening that week in the membership group, you're like, “Oh, I should get back into that,” or “Ugh, I’m so behind.” 

Before long, we’re signed up for dozen memberships and not using any of them.

There’s a way to avoid this — and I don't let memberships overwhelm me. That's also how I've intentionally created The Intuitive Writing School Community — so that members never feel behind or filled with a case of the ‘shoulds.’

I completely appreciate the shiny object syndrome and the instinct to jump on board — all with good intentions to better yourself or your business. 

Some memberships you might need for a short time — perhaps to learn a new skill or to meet you where you are at your current phase of business. 

Some are a great fit for extended periods or even for life.

The Intuitive Writing School Membership Community is intentionally light on content and heavy on integration and implementation.

Here’s why…

There’s no shortage of online courses teaching you copy and content writing skills or how to write a book.

From what I learned in change management consulting (our job was to make change and learning easier on people), people retain more information when they learn in bite-sized pieces. Even more, people learn by doing. There’s no shortcut to the work.

You know this from school. You could read about playing hockey and watch hockey games on TV, but until you lace up your skates and hit the ice, it’s all an idea. 

That’s why the pillar of The Intuitive Writing School Community is butt-in-chair co-writing.

You have built-in time to DO your writing work.

Plus, support when and where you need it:

• Monthly workshops to go deeper into topics as you need them. The replays are available forever — like a buffet.

• Templates for copywriting, sales emails, bios, pitches, content planning, and more.

• Group coaching calls and a community to get answers to your questions. (There’s also an opportunity for more hands-on coaching in the group coaching community for an additional investment).

• A private community to connect with other members, and celebrate (this is key to developing new habits)! and get answers to questions.

I wanted a community where members could learn, connect, and, most importantly, implement within, on average 2-3 hours a week. Even if they attend one co-writing session a week for 2 hours — that’s 2 whole hours that are completely dedicated to writing. 

Intuitive Writing Tip: Thinking about writing and learning about writing are NOT writing.

For me, if I can’t dedicate at least an hour to my personal and business development each week, something in my schedule needs to change.

Here’s how I do membership communities. I used this as a model for my writing community.

1. Review upcoming live sessions.
   I block time on my calendar each week dedicated to attending the live sessions I want to attend. To make sure this happens, I look at the calendar and block the time a week or two in advance. I never feel pressure to attend them all and prioritize some over others depending on the timing and my schedule. We use a Google Calendar, and members who attend regularly have integrated our calendar into theirs.
   

2. Block time each week for learning.
   We do workshops once a month. If a workshop sounds interesting and I can be there live, I block time in my calendar. If I’m catching the replay, I block another time on my calendar to watch a specific replay and note it on the calendar entry.
   

3. Look at memberships like buffets.
   But the healthy kind with nourishing whole foods — there when I need it and never feeling behind. I can take a bite and sample from a bunch of different topics as I’m ready. And it is not there to overwhelm me but rather to help fill me up and keep making progress toward my goals.
   

4. Authentically engaging and connecting
   I have a lot in common with other members (and you probably do too!). I love to connect with other members authentically. Whether it’s to grow my network or so that I might be able to make an introduction, authentic connection is the #1 way I’ve grown my business. You have the power to choose how to engage with every community you’re in.
   

I created this writing community to focus mainly on implementation. 

We have so much writing to do in online business — let’s do it together.

The Intuitive Writing School Community exists primarily to do the writing work specifically that slides off your plate and falls down your to-do list, only for it to happen another day, or perhaps never. The whole point is to give you time to write. The primary thing we do in our community is have co-writing sessions to write together for at least four hours each week, sometimes more. 

Seeing everything when logging into a new member site can sometimes feel overwhelming. And when you log in to my community, I want you to feel calm, centered, grounded, and excited. 

If the last time you logged into a membership community was to create your profile, make a plan today for how you’ll go back and use them. And if you’ve outgrown any memberships — that’s okay too; it could be time to ruthlessly prioritize. There will likely be many more fun spaces to join soon :)

The way I do membership communities is how I created my own. I'm also continually evolving, questioning, and restructuring it as needed to help provide a safe, brave space for writers and business owners, and creative business owners to create, to get the words out onto the page that otherwise would be bouncing around in their heads forever.