107 | Memberships that Sell: Scaling Your Business with ReeJade Richmond
Scaling Your Business with a Membership
WITH REEJADE RICHMOND
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In this episode, we’re joined by ReeJade Richmond, a renowned Community Growth Strategist and the founder of Memberships that Sell. ReeJade shares her inspiring journey from overcoming life-threatening challenges to building a multi-million-dollar business that helps online coaches scale their memberships sustainably.
Tune in as she reveals the secrets to turning your ideas into a thriving membership business, simplifying complex systems, and creating lasting impact with her proven 90-day system.
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Episode Transcript
This transcript is AI generated. Please bare in mind that it may not be 100% accurate.
Tish
Welcome to the podcast, Rejade. I'm so excited to have you here and to dive into all things memberships. But before we get started, can you introduce yourself and just give us a brief overview of what you do within your business?
Reejade
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me to. I'm super excited. So my name is ReeJade Richmond, CEO of Memberships that Sell. This is we help online coach thought leaders, built on community so that they ca revenue and impact.
Over the last 18 months or so, we've transitioned actually into a membership boutique agency where we're really working with B2B SaaS agencies on really creating products so they can keep their user community, which means just really subscriptions. So I'm really excited about the transition that we're having now, but we really started 4 years ago and to concede that continuous growth in online community has just been really exciting.
Tish
Yeah, that transition sounds so exciting. Thank you for sharing that. So we're here today to talk about your journey from working solely with one-on-one clients to pivoting into more of a one-to-many business model.
And you did that by starting a membership. So can you maybe tell us about what inspired you to start your membership and what your goals were at the time?
Reejade
Oh yeah that is such a good question. I get this question a lot and it's not a traditional answer. So in 2020 we know that was COVID and in 2020 a life-changing thing happened to me in February 2020.
I actually got a kidney transplant. I had been waiting for about 6 and a half years for a kidney transplant. And then I got the call. At the time, I was working primarily with women and business owners, and I was consulting on business strategy and all the fun things with development.
I, at the time, was just so hands-on in the business. I love working with people. I love people having direct access to me. So I was the girly that was working 50 to 60 hours plus.
I grew up in the generation of Gary Vaynerchuk when it came to business. I literally started my first business in 2014 until I was the 1 taught that you always for that working, you're not making money until I was that person. But when I got my transplant, a pivotal moment happened. This was my second lease not want to compromise my in my business needed to I have a special needs da my time back with having I really wanted to help her with her developmental delays and getting her caught up to speed now that I was healthier.
And so it was kind of twofold. It was like number 1 priority was my health was a really big goal in my family. And so I had to figure out how to restructure my business. And so it was either, it was a couple of things, was either group coaching, it was courses or memberships.
I already knew about memberships. And so I felt like the membership model was more up my alley because I'm really big on transformation versus a course or group coaching program where people can kind of get lost in those programs. And so I started my journey into memberships.
Now, I will say that I paid initially. I didn't know what I was doing. I started my, I launched my first membership literally 2 weeks after my kidney transplant. I know, I know, crazy person. I literally had a pee bag on my hip.
I had pimple lulis, I actually have photos of it. And I launched a membership and it was so effortlessly. Like when I tell you that I launched this membership and I literally did nothing, like I had a Google Doc. I told all my clients, like, hey, I'm shutting down the business, but this is how you can work with me.
Some went other places and some people, you know, they stayed or they referred people to me and the membership sold out in the matter of just that soft launch period. And like I said, I didn't like market or anything like that. I just told my clients and they referred. So it was like this insider new thing to me, like referral marketing, right?
And then on top of that, so that was kind of like a built-in affiliate program that I didn't even know at the time what that was. And then people just enrolled and the fact that I didn't have to create a long sales page, I didn't have to run ads, I didn't have to have this 14 day launch sequence just to get people into my membership. It was like my mind was blown. And so I started this journey like, okay, how can I do more of this?
And then of course I hired other coaches and consultants as well known in the membership space. And I just realized their method wasn't right for me because for me a membership is not about numbers, it's not about getting butts and teaps, it's really about building a community, it's about transformation and so those are 2 big things for me that I didn't want to lose that I had in my one-on-one consulting business.
Tish
Wow, yeah, you literally had no choice but to pivot and I'm so glad you were able to transform your business in a way that supported what was going on in your life and now you have, well then you were able to launch a membership that's bringing in that recurring monthly revenue for you while I guess you're doing a fraction of the work you were doing before. So that's a huge win to come out of that experience and since then I'm sure you've had a lot of growth.
Reejade
Yeah, so there was definitely a lot of results. So I did the first year, the first iteration of it. We had 30, no, we had 20, we had 32 members, but completion, you know, because also 1 of the things I want to note about memberships, there's something we call churn, where people, you know, they drop off, they don't, you know, stay the long time, and that's okay, and so it's really 24 that we had that first iteration.
We did 4 different iterations of our first membership, because I'm a data nerd and I like refinement. And so, and I learned in that, that I didn't want memberships that had a hundred some people in it. Cause again, it was important for me to know who was in there. So I learned, I created something called the rule of 25, where I literally just focus on enrolling 25 people in my memberships at a time, because it is important for people to get results.
And so it was kind of like in that period of moving to the 1 too many model was also like, it was a mindset. So I was saying number 1, the noticeable thing was a mindset shift. Like I had to learn to rest. I had to learn that I didn't have to work hard to see high income in my business.
And so that was 1 noticeable thing that I saw immediately was like my, I had a huge mindset shift on how to get money and that I did money should be easy. Making money should be fun. Money is a tool. And before I made it so hard with how I had it structured and just really just bad business practices on how I learned it.
And so to get money so effortlessly and still help people at the same time. It just blew my mind. So number 1 was really mindset. And then 2 was really the income stream.
It freed up so much of my time where I can focus on the things of the business that I love, right? So I didn't have to be in the business all the time. I can just show up and interact with my members. Because what it did was it put me in position to delegate more efficiently.
Something else that I noticed was that with moving to this one-to-many model, it helped me really hone on to what we call business legacy assets or content assets that can work for you for a lifetime, you know, and so it allowed me to build this membership framework, which is like I like to call your secret sauce on how you get people transformation where I can repurpose it into different things, such as a podcast or a book. So it really like laser focused me into what I was doing. And I wasn't like throwing spaghetti at the wall. I think as coaches and consultants, sometimes we create products and services to kind of see what sticks and works.
And I feel like even though I did well in business prior in 101, I was still doing a lot of spaghetti sticking. And so, and that was stressful. That was causing me to be drained in my business. Honestly, it was causing me to fall out of love with my business because it was kind of like the business was doing well, but it was like, if I wasn't working, the business was not working.
And so a membership model allowed me that free time for the business to work, the business to actually scale, to actually really finally be a CEO and to really just focus on people. That's 1 of my love languages is working with people. And so it gave me my time back. And then of course the revenue and then the impact just to see literally the transformations and to know that and really know people in my community and their families and the results that they were getting.
That was huge. So time revenue impact was the 3 noticeable themes that I saw in addition to mindset shift, how I viewed business, how I view ease and flow. So I got to do, I got to travel more. I got to restore my health.
Like I got more, I got, I literally was no longer a teen, no sleep. So I started getting sleep. I was able to prioritize working out. Cortisol in my body started to drop because I was not so stressed in the business and I think sometimes as business owners We're told that we have to keep working working working hard into something works And that's just not a healthy way long term to do business in a membership Literally moving to this one-to-many model for a membership Literally helped me like really keep my kidney and just really have a renewed sense of health.
And I just wasn't this cranky person anymore because I could focus on my health and prioritize what was important to me, which also may boil down to now what we do is we really help people create more time, revenue and impact because at that season, that's really what I was focused on. And now it's still time revenue and impact, but now we have expanded to creating a membership that's profitable, engaging, in that it still aligns with your core values of more time, revenue, and impact for your lifestyle.
Tish
I can totally relate with everything you just said. The time freedom, the repurposing, the recurring income, there's just so many benefits to memberships and they allow you to just experiment and have more fun in both your business and life as well. So thank you for sharing that.
Now in the online space, I feel like we're often taught not to launch membership until we've hit a certain milestone, you know? Like we have to have 5K months or served X number of one-on-one clients. And that's what a lot of these big mentors or quote unquote gurus say anyway. What are your thoughts on this?
Do you think that anyone can launch a membership or do you think that there's a specific point in business that you should wait to reach before you think about creating a membership offer?
Reejade
Yeah, that's so good. So I think number 1, we need to think about what are your goals? Are you trying to create a membership community as a complimentary component to like a coaching service or quarters or, you know, just regular one-on-one services, or are you literally trying to build a membership community as a business model, which is what I literally have.
And so I think number 1, evaluating goals, but to your point, and it's so funny because like I said, I started off learning memberships from some of the most popular coaches out there and they do say your email list needs to be X amount of people, or you need to have X amount of recurring income coming in. Here's my thoughts on it. I feel the way I teach memberships in the way I've coached people in the past is, you know, you at least need to have a solidified framework, meaning you know how to get people transformation. Now, most people are teaching memberships from a standpoint of it that is literally a course and you pop in and you coach people, which is not a membership, by the way.
I don't believe that is a membership model. And so I think when it comes to membership and how I teach it is it's not about the numbers, it's about does your framework work? Can it stand the test of time? Because as I mentioned previously, I learned that a membership can be repurposed in so many different ways, what's it solidified, that transformation.
So number 1, you know, if you're an online coach, consultant, or thought leader listening is does your framework work? Can you really walk people through the process? And here's a trick that I, when I qualify people that wants to work with us in our agency, I mean, their coaches or consultants or thought leaders, I ask them what's their phone interview process. Like when they are like consulting to determine and qualify, is someone who's ready to work with them?
I literally ask them, what's your process? Because the questions that you ask will determine your framework and believe it or not a lot of coaches and consults is when I ask them what's your framework what's your blueprint they don't have 1 so if you don't have 1 and you really don't know how you get people transformation which is results You should not start a membership because a membership is about transformation. So if you don't know how you get people results, you should not start that because then you're not really helping people in your community. They'll just sit there, they'll disappear, They won't comment because they're like, well, what am I here?
You have a membership. You're giving people direction to take them through point A to point Z. So it's literally a journey while building community. So if you don't have that framework, you can't take anyone through a journey.
So if you don't have a framework, you should not start a membership. And typically most coaches and consultants, our framework is not really refined until we're 2 years into your business. And so I think that that's the test that I really use when I'm qualifying people to work with us is do you have a framework? Do you have proven tangible results on how you get your one-on-one clients results because then we use that to build out your framework.
So let me just give you an example. So let's just say I'm still a one-on-one consultant. I'm a coach And people want me to work with them on teaching them how to create a membership. And I'm like, okay, well, I'm trying to qualify myself.
So then the first question is, okay, what's step 1 on how I'm going to help people get to this transformation of building a community. Number 1, we go over your messaging audience. Number 2, we talk about what offers have you done so we can figure out what is your niche to focus on the number 1 transformation. Then we're talking about platforms and then we're talking about marketing.
And so there's a process that you're walking people through. And so when I am talking to people, you cannot walk people through the process of how you do what you do, then you're not ready for a membership just yet. And that's why people can subscribe for memberships because they're like, okay, I'm in here, I'm excited initially, and then the honeymoon phase is over and they don't know what they're supposed to do because there is no journey for them. So if there's no journey, you should not be starting a membership.
So it doesn't really matter how many people are in your membership or your email list, the test is, do you have a literal framework or blueprint? And then when it comes to the numbers, honestly, the trick that we do to get people there, as I talked about the rule of 25, we really focus on the first 25 members. And when those 25 members are getting enrolled, we literally tell you to go back to people who wanted to work with you before and they weren't like it would maybe not have been the right time. They go smart via financial issue could have been a number of things.
It wasn't their focus. It was on the radar at the moment. And that's where we literally organically just make phone calls and reconnect and follow ups because again the money is in the follow-up to just swing back around and asking people so we really start there organically so we don't have to have a large email list like I mentioned before when I started my first membership it was literally just past clients and referrals. There was no email marketing, there was no campaign, and even at the time I didn't even have a large email list either.
So you definitely don't have to have a large email list. You definitely don't have to have 5k months, 10k months, or even 100k months, but what you do have to have is a proven framework that's literally getting people results.
Tish
That makes complete sense. As long as you have a solid framework and you know how to get people results, you can start a membership. And yeah, you don't necessarily need a large email list.
I recently launched my membership with the rule of 25. I wanted 25 founding members and that's what I got and I love that I did that because it's allowed me to really get to know my members and support them as best as I possibly can. And I feel like that is going to help the chair and Ray as we go deeper into the membership because I'm getting to know them, what they want, I'm personally connecting with them. And it's not, I feel like if you dive into a membership and you immediately have 100 members, that's going to be way too much to deal with.
But having that small number, which is great if you have a small email list, if you have a small number of people in there, then you can really make a big impact. And you kind of train yourself so that you're ready for when you do get the higher number of members inside.
Reejade
Yeah, that's a good point. And that's exactly why we do the rules 25 is something that I kind of learned and developed over the years is that, you know, what happens is those first 25 from 2020, they still are in the membership community. They still refer, you know, and so it's kind of like a built-in affiliate.
And 1 of the things you can do is like, when we talk about repurposing with that framework is, now that we are creating a certification program where those particular community members that have essentially just been VIP alumni now, they will start leading part of the components of our membership communities in their respective industries. So if they're a life coach trying to create a membership, they'll be the go-to referral person. And then we're starting to now certify people through our online communities. So that when someone asks us from our agency, like, hey, do you have an online community manager?
We can start referring people out. So it's kind of like a sickle cool ecosystem we've developed over here. And so yeah, it's not about 100 people in because here's the reality, especially after COVID, people want to feel seen, heard, and valued. And number 1 way you can do that is through a membership.
But when people don't feel valued, they'll unsubscribe. You'll have a high term rate and then that kills business reputation, right? And so it's really important to cultivate the end. Those first 25 people, they're your best base, basically your beta test members.
They'll tell you what they like, what they don't like. They'll tell you what they're looking for. They'll, you know, and so that helps you create a better membership without losing a lot of time and money. So now you don't have to figure it out.
You don't have to ask chat DTP. You don't have to do a poll online. You can just ask the people in your community.
Tish
That's incredible. You've created like super members and I'm sure the relationship you have with those members is incredible and you know that they're going to be going out and you know they're not going to say a bad word about you. They're going to shout about you from the rooftops.
So I love that you have that. So what steps would you recommend that someone takes if they want to start a membership within their own business and start bringing in that monthly recurring revenue?
Reejade
Well I think number 1 I'm of the belief that not everyone should start a membership. So I think it really is you need to really evaluate what season are you in the business. So I think the first step is like we said before is do you have a framework that gets people results?
And then number 2 is you really need to evaluate. Do you really, do you personally have the capacity to launch at least the first 2 iterations of your membership community? Because number 1, like I teach the rule of 25, intimacy is so important with building a good foundation for a membership community. I know there's a lot of gurus out there like the $7 memberships, $47 memberships, and they're talking about, you know, run this ad, do this to get a bunch of people in, but then you have a high turn rate.
So I think understanding your goals. And so if you don't have the capacity right now in this season to like really interact with people, really built genuine offensive relationships with people, at least 25 people, then you should not start that membership just now. And this can be someone, this can be something that you delegate to your assistant, not the interaction piece, you know, setting up, you know, the basic foundations back in, etc. Yeah, you can have someone do that for you.
But the literal interaction, the literal day to day engagement that needs to be you the first 2 iterations of your membership community. And then 3, you really need to understand what do you want people to accomplish when you're in that, when they're in that membership community. I think oftentimes we launch these membership communities and there's really no goal at the end. What are they supposed to walk away with?
You know, and if they're not supposed to walk away, if they're supposed to constantly be in there and there's always a next step journey for them to take inside the committee, what is that? And so I was really thinking about the journey. And So those are the 3 main components for steps in terms of getting started, what to consider before starting. I think what often happens, honestly, people don't come to me first before they start their membership.
A lot of people come to me after they start their membership and it blocked, right? And when we're evaluating the process, what I find is that they didn't have a framework. They weren't clear on the transformation that they wanted people to get in the membership community, right? And then when people aren't clear on what to do, guess what, that results in lack of engagement.
That's when people go ghost. That's when people don't respond to emails. That's when people don't show up if you do calls or whatever, events or retreats because they don't feel valued seen or heard. And so that really requires you to, cultivate some relationship with the people that's in the community.
So those are some of the biggest things I see when people do come to me. And so we try to tackle that in the beginning before even you wasted money on a platform. And then I want to say the platform is the last thing to even focus about with the membership community. So many people are like focused on the platform.
And as I mentioned before, the first time I launched, I didn't have a fancy platform or anything. And so the platform is not important, but the experience in transformation. So considering what the journey is, what is gonna be their experience on a day to day in that membership community? And is this something short term?
Is this a short term transformation? Is this a long term transformation? And so really hitting on the focal point of impacted transformation for the people that's in there. And it's not a new concept if you're a culture consultant.
We talk about client journey all the time. Just reframe that to membership journey and what's their transformation.
Tish
They are some really good things to consider. Thank you for sharing that. So my final question is 1 that I ask every guest who comes on the show.
As you know from the name, we are very focused on keeping all things business and marketing simple. So I would love to know other than the obvious 1 to many model, what are you doing in your business to keep things simple?
Reejade
Oh, that's so good. We just talked about this before we started. And 1 of the things is I'm getting, I've gotten rid of like a lot of social media platforms, and just focusing on the number 1 way I love to engage people right now, which is my email list.
So keeping things simple in my business, and it's 1 of the things I love to talk about all things community and what's happening. And it's kind of like my personal diary too. And so that's what I've done. I just pretty much got rid of all the social media tools, all the stress.
It goes perfectly with the name of the podcast, Super Marketing, which is really, I just focus on my email list. And that's really how people get to know more about what we do in community and it's just been a beautiful thing and also guess what? Hint, hint, hint everyone. An email list can be your community too.
You don't have to have a big platform. A podcast can be a community too. You don't have to have a course platform to build community. So those are you thinking about the different types of communities you want to build.
That's another way to keep it simple and stress free. And so for me, email is 1 of the perfect ways I talk about communities for free to get people started on their journey.
Tish
Yeah, we speak about this before recording, but email really is the most sustainable way to grow and it tends to deliver the best results as well. So yeah, email is my absolute favorite. Now, before we wrap up, where can everyone go to connect and learn more from you?
Reejade
Yeah, you can connect with me on Instagram at Rajade Richmond, and on threads at Rajade Richmond, or even LinkedIn at Rajade Richmond. On LinkedIn, my stories, I love personally. So it's never on my social media profiles.
I know nowadays we have these bots, we have assistants now, but all my social media profiles, they're always me and I'm pretty quick to respond and I love connecting with people so don't be afraid to slide in my DMs. I know people say that and then they get mad when people slide in the DMs. No, literally slide in my DMs. I'm happy to connect and answer any questions from this podcast.
Tish
Yeah, and you will find everything linked in the show notes if you want to go and learn more about creating a membership in your own business. But it has been so great to chat with you, Rajade. Thank you so much for sharing your story and for inspiring other business owners to take back control of their time.
Reejade
Yeah, thank you and thank you again for having me and allowing me to share with your has community about memberships.
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hey, I'm Tish!
I'm a multi-passionate business owner, digital marketing strategist, business mentor & part-time digital nomad ✈️
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