2212 - Insights in Boosting Course Completion Rates and Member Engagement from The Membership Lab’s Nathalie Doremieux

0:05Hey there, thoughtful listener. Are you looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, influencers, influencers, and clients? Well, I've had private conversations with over 2 ,000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video you can watch with no opt-in required where I'll share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for over 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high ticket sales appointments.

0:51Also, don't forget, the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for great guests. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. I'd love to have you.

1:05With us right now, it's Natalie Doremo. Natalie, it's great to have you. You are the founder of the Membership Lab, which we'll talk about. And you're also the co-founder of Podcast Leadflow, which we're going to talk about. But before we do, Natalie, I always love to hear what amazing business leaders, you know, we're always so passionate about what we do. And I find that that passion leads into things like hobbies and shows and movies and games? What have you been geeking out on lately? So it's very funny that you're asking these questions because my husband is my business partner and we just came back from a retreat and we had dinner at the table and we played the game Traders.

1:52And everybody knew the TV show and I was like, we had no idea. So when we came back, we started to use that. And now we're like binging the show, you know, Traders. It's really about, you know, like relationship and communication and faithful and traders and things like that. So we're totally into that. I'm sorry, with the title, I missed that. What was the title? Trader. Trader. Oh, interesting. Yes. I'm looking it up right now. See who's in it. And is it not the traitors it could yeah it's oh the traitors i'm sorry it's my yeah no my gosh so this is on peacock oh and it's got it's hosted by uh what's his name alan coming yeah yeah yeah so oh fascinating yeah so it's it's kind of a you know a game show kind of reality exactly it's a reality tv but it's it's really more than just the the traitors and the faithful it's like how do different personalities, you know, get to communicate, you know, when, you know, like in different environments, you know, and feelings threatened and stuff like that.

3:05Oh my gosh. This is really, this is really, really cool. Well, I'm learning there. So, so there's, there's a Canada version. There's a New Zealand version. There's an Australian version. There is a, there's a French version. What's that? There is a French version. Oh, okay. Yeah. All right. So yeah. And for our American friends, it's streaming on Peacock. All right. So Natalie, let's talk about the work that you currently do. You want to start with Podcast Leadflow? This is a newer venture for you and I think quite relevant in that I happen to know a lot of podcasters. Yes, sure. So basically, the idea of Podcast Leadflow came from my husband, who's my business partner, and he's the tech geeky guy and AI expert, you know, in a company.

3:57And basically, he identified this gap for, you know, people that have podcasts, but they don't know their listeners. And sometimes you get a client and he would say, yes, I've been listening to your podcast. And you're like, Oh, really? What episode? So we created this tool so that we can bridge this gap and really help people help podcasters create and start a conversation with listeners that are ready to take some type of action based on what they learned on the episode. That's the very short. So can you explain like what it looks like and how it acts. And to our friend, you might just want to go to podcastleadflow.com and take a peek at that.

4:41But can you explain it? Sure, absolutely. So what it looks like is on a page, you have your episode. And below that page, you have a form that is powered by AI. And this form is going to ask your listener one, two or three questions. Those questions can be generated by AI by default. And basically AI is going to use the answer to these questions to start a conversation by email with this listener, giving them advice on how to take action on what was discussed on the podcast episode. Oh, so let me, let me test this out. Like, let's say that we're, we're talking about, you know, AI chatbots. I say, listen, you can go to my website right now and I have a chatbot specifically around this topic.

5:35So if you want, well, you know, and if I do, and so I don't know if this would be more appropriate for solo episodes or for guest interviews. I suppose each would be fine because on the back end, you know, what we're doing is we're just feeding it. We're instructing, well, no, is this a form interface or is it a chatbot interface? So it is a form interface. So you know how you can have a form where people give you their name and their email and you give them a lead magnet, like a freebie, a PDF, everybody gets the same thing, right? Well, here, your listener gets to give you context. It gives you information about them, where they're at, so you can give them a unique response.

6:17So every lead gets a unique message. It's like having your listener right next to you. You ask him a couple of questions, and based on what he says, you tell him, this is what you should do next. Only we do that in an automated way using the power of AI. And we start that conversation. And they also get on your list so that you can follow up. Oh, very cool. I mean, because at the end of the day, someone's like, wow, that was really cool. And it's like, hey, listen, answer a few questions. And I will, because we've been talking, like, for example, like in this conversation, we're going to talk very general.

6:52I mean, it's going to be pretty high level. And someone might be listening and they might be thinking, huh, I wonder if that would work for XYZ, right? And we say, hey, you might be wondering if this works for XYZ. Well, it's really simple. Wow, this could be really cool. You know what I would love to do is set one of these up for every single one of my guests, because we're kind of talking about a conversation. What a cool resource that would be. And then you're right. You're collecting information. Absolutely. And then honoring that relationship and making sure that you're delivering content that's going to be appropriate for what that person is interested in.

7:31I like it. You can really see it as a lead qualifier, right? Because the email, you get to choose the call to action you want in the email. It could be book a call. It could be watch this other episode, you know, but it's very targeted to them. So when they read the email, it really feels like a conversation. It talks about what they shared in the questions, you know, in their answer. So it's very personal. And that really accelerates that trust, right? Yeah. You know, so very, very cool. Thank you. The website for that podcast, leadflow.com. You know, Natalie, I really wanted to talk with you about the membership lab as well.

8:12Do you mind giving just a quick overview of the work that you've been doing with the membership lab, which has been a long and storied past. You started more than 18 years ago. And let me tell you, I mean, I don't know if the business has evolved over the years and I don't know if you were doing memberships back then, but I was. I started a membership-based website back in 2007. And let me tell you, technology was way different than it is today. Yes, absolutely. I mean, we didn't start it exactly with memberships. We were doing websites, but very quickly we saw the opportunity of helping the e-learning space and helping people create better experiences for students because you see so many online programs where people buy and they don't do anything.

9:05And we got frustrated with that. Yeah. Do you mind, can you dig into, you know, I don't, I don't want to gloss over that topic because, and I think that there's probably some normalization that we could probably do for folks. Can you share just a little bit more data behind engagement statistics typically? Yeah. So basically when you're looking at somebody that basically purchases a course, you know, a program, typically they say that you would have between three and five percent of people that actually complete a program. Oh, just in case anyone didn't hear that number, three to 5%. Yeah. Now, if you if you built in, if you've built in support and accountability, it can go up a bit.

9:55But the reality is that most people and you start to see the problem that people know are not having the launch numbers that they used to have is that people don't want that anymore. People want results. They don't buy two, three thousand dollar courses anymore. they want results and that that's why the the recurring the membership model when it's built in with support and accountability is what gets people results and that's really how we should measure the success of a program is by the success of our clients not by our bank account right i mean at least that's me because if you can sell for millions of course sure you're going to find 50 people that give you a testimonial but what about the 90 percent of people that are struggling and will never do anything and then you you hear well put it you know you have it you have access forever it's okay access forever forever you know what that means right it's going to be shelved and you go on to the next thing so so so so that's the reality and right now we are seeing people shifting in the last two three years like it's really changed the model where people want more connection.

11:11They are done with buying programs that are just repository of content where there is no support, no accountability. And with the power of AI now, which we use AI as an accelerator of success, not as a replacement of people, as an add-on, we accelerate results inside program. And that's basically, people are starting to expect that now. Yeah. Could you maybe just share one or two very tactical things that someone who does have a course might want to implement so that they can increase that number from 3 % to 6 % to something a little bit more heartening? Because that is disheartening to hear. It is, right?

11:59So the first thing that sounds quite obvious, but it's to first know your numbers. because ask people that have a course, how many people have completed your course? They don't know because they are not even measuring. So start measuring, start analyzing the places where people fall off the wagon. Maybe there is a step where you need to break this down, where you need to provide extra support, extra tools to help people. Because this is what happens when you don't work with people one-on-one is that you don't have that hand holding. So they go through your course and then there is a bit of a hiccup or there is a hard decision to make and they don't make it.

12:44And then the next thing you know, they start to feel that they are falling behind because the other keep going, right? So if you can identify these places where maybe you can do a better job as providing, again, more support, more accountability, more tools to help them execute, right? take action do the homework do the thing then you'll get more successful people and it's a ripple effect right you get more successful people you get more testimonial you get more case studies you know it's it's a circle right and it's better for your marketing so i would say first thing is know your numbers know the people you know like the people that actually the number of people that actually complete your course in a you know reasonable amount of time Yeah.

13:33Know the places where people fall off. Where are they dropping up? Identify your drop-offs. That's the biggest clue. See if you can do something about it. Is it a lack of support? Is it too overwhelming? Like can this needs to be broken down and things like that? Because people need regular ongoing wins and endorphin hits, right? Like, especially today. I mean, it's just like, you know, at the rate we're just, you know, just farming social media for those quick endorphin hits. You know, you need that same thing in anything that, you know, any user experience. Exactly. You need those quick wins.

14:15Another thing is that you also need to show people they're making progress. Because when you're in the trenches and you're looking for the thing that you're aiming at, even though you're making progress you're still looking at what's next what's next you don't take the time to look back and say hey i've done this you know i've got this clarity so far and that will give them momentum that will give them uh you know like the the energy and the motivation to keep going it's like those quick wins now you don't want to go back to you don't want to go and completely the other way where your program becomes a gamification, right?

14:55Where you have confetti all the time and then points and then gifts and things like that, right? So you also have to know your audience and know how to motivate them. And it's different depending on markets, right? How do you, and we just have a couple minutes left here. So the membership lab.com, who are you a great solution for like how does someone know that they might be ready for you so people are ready to work with us if they are looking to build a membership program like they have a system a method that works and they are looking to create a community around that so it could be somebody like a coach that does one-on-one maybe they do some group it could be a course creator who realizes that maybe schools should be inside a membership so there is some recurring support so people have more time to complete the course right it could be somebody that has a membership but they've hit a plateau with what they can do with their portal and they get frustrated because they cannot create the experience that they want it could be that they want to integrate ai and they can't right now you know like in this cookie cutter platform that they are in so yeah Yeah, Natalie, your website is themembersiplab.com.

16:20So themembersiplab.com. Also, we talked about Podcast Leadflow. That website is podcastleadflow.com. Natalie Doremu, thank you so much. It's been a wonderful conversation. Sounds like you and I are probably going to need to chat afterwards. It looks like there's some areas that we could probably do some good stuff together. Natalie, it's been a great conversation. Thank you for joining us. Thank you so much for having me, Josh.

17:11Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2 ,000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video that you can watch right now with no opt-in or email required where I'm going to share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for more than 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies.

17:54Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments. Make sure to hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning, that's right, seven days a week, you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed. I promise to bring positivity and inspiration to you for around 15 minutes every single day. Thanks for listening and thank you for being a part of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Movement.