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How to Build a Vibrant Community for Your Paid Membership

ByJillian Leslie

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Summer Hammons from the crafting blog, Hammons Nest. In our conversation, we delve into the heart of building a successful online community and the nuances of running a paid membership.

Building a Thriving Crafting Community

Summer’s journey from a brick-and-mortar store owner to an online community leader is nothing short of inspiring. She launched “The Creative Nest,” her crafting membership that quickly gained traction with its initial 170 members (and has now grown to 300). This remarkable start was a testament to the demand for a space where crafters could connect, learn, and grow together.

Show Notes:

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The Sisterhood of Crafters

One of the most striking aspects of Summer community is the warm vibe it exudes. Members refer to each other as “sisters” and “besties,” creating a warm and supportive environment. This sense of camaraderie has even extended beyond the digital realm, with members exchanging Christmas cards and engaging in other heartfelt activities. It’s a clear indication of the profound connections that can be fostered online.

Content Delivery and Member Engagement

Summer’s approach to content is both structured and engaging. She provides weekly live sessions, guest master classes, and themed craft tutorials that keep her members excited and involved. By offering a calendar of upcoming events and themes, she ensures that her members always have something to look forward to, which is crucial in maintaining engagement and preventing burnout.

The Luxury of Membership and the Value of Community

During our conversation, Summer shares her initial concerns about providing enough value and the feedback from those who left the group. She’s come to realize that her membership is considered a luxury, making the creation of a strong community even more important. The return of former members highlights the lasting impact of the connections made within her group.

Understanding Member Needs

Summer reflects on the revelation that some members feel overwhelmed by the content. It underscores the importance of recognizing the unique needs and expectations of her audience. Tailoring the experience to the members’ pace is a delicate balance that Summer navigates with care.

Fostering a Family-Like Atmosphere

Creating a community that genuinely cares about each other involves more than just shared interests; it requires a family-like atmosphere. Summer and I discuss the power of conversational interactions and the significance of making personal connections. From video calls to Christmas cards, these personal touches make members feel seen and heard, which is the cornerstone of a strong community.

Creating Urgency and Excitement

To keep the membership vibrant, Summer employs strategies like offering special bonuses and hosting virtual workshops. These tactics create a sense of urgency and excitement, drawing in new members and keeping the existing ones engaged. The role of VIP members as advocates for the community is also crucial, as they receive exclusive perks and help spread the word about the value of the membership.

Embracing Technology and Authenticity

A common misconception is that expensive online tools are necessary for success. Summer emphasizes the need to start simple and be adaptable. Our discussion highlights the value of authenticity and genuine connections over polished content. Embracing imperfection and being relatable resonates more with audiences and fosters a more authentic community.

Conclusion

My conversation with Summer Hammons was a deep dive into the essence of community building and content delivery in the online space. Her successful crafting membership serves as a shining example of how passion, creativity, and a structured approach can lead to a thriving community.

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, remember that connection, authenticity, and adaptability are your greatest assets. Join me on the Blogger Genius podcast for more insights and stories from the front lines of blogging and community creation.

Other Related Blogger Genius Podcast episodes You’ll Enjoy:

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How to Build a Vibrant Community for Your Paid Membership | The Blogger Genius Podcast with Jillian Leslie | MiloTreeCart

Transcript: #328 – How to Build a Vibrant Community for Your Paid Membership

Jillian Leslie (00:00:00) – Hi, I’m Jillian, welcome to a brand new episode of the Blogger Genius podcast. This has been a very interesting time. Google has been rolling out updates and many bloggers, niche bloggers who monetize via ads and affiliates have gotten hit. I’ve been on calls this week with many of you and one blogger said, Jillian, you have been right. It is time that we have multiple income streams and I’m now ready to sell digital products. If this is you, get on a free 20 minute call with me where I will help you come up with your digital product strategy and share best practices on how others are finding success. To book your call, just go to MiloTree.com, our homepage. Scroll down and you’ll see a link to my calendar. And please remember, the one constant in building online businesses is change. So book your free call now! I’m excited to show you a whole new way to monetize.

Speaker UU (00:01:06) – Welcome to the Blogger Genius podcast, brought to you by MiloTree. Here’s your host, Gillian Leslie.

Jillian Leslie (00:01:13) – Hello. Welcome to the show. I have a very inspiring episode for you this week. I am interviewing my friend Summer Hammons from Hammond’s Nest. This is her second appearance on the show. Summer has launched a very successful crafting membership, and we are doing the one year check in to see how it’s going. Just so you know, it currently has about 300 members. I talk with Summer about the importance of building her community. I find it touching. We also talk about how she actually runs it, what it looks like week in and week out. We talk about what it’s like when people leave her membership. And also I ask her that question, which I get a lot from people when they’re thinking about starting memberships. What if I get burnout? So Summer has some interesting thoughts about that. Remember, there is a lot of money in memberships because of the recurring revenue you sell at once, and then you make money from that member month after month. So if you’ve ever thought about a membership, or maybe that thought hasn’t even crossed your mind yet, I think this is an important episode to listen to.

Jillian Leslie (00:02:32) – Hopefully it will light a little fire under your butt. So without further delay, here is my interview with Summer Hammons. Summer. Welcome back to the Blogger Genius podcast.

Summer Hammons (00:02:48) – I am so excited to have this conversation with you today. Thanks for having me.

Jillian Leslie (00:02:51) – It’s so neat watching you grow your business. And we were just talking before I pressed record about when you first started, how you got on a call with me, how you had a vision for your business, and how I said, okay, let’s pare it down, though, just so that you can get started and what that journey has been like for you since then. So would you just kind of get everybody? Will you first share who you are and what you do and how this membership journey has been for you as you’ve now been? Gosh, how many months has have you been doing this with?

Summer Hammons (00:03:31) – With my business in general? I’ll, I’m coming up on my four year anniversary as a business, Hammond’s Nest, which is my business.

Summer Hammons (00:03:37) – But as the membership just hit a year anniversary. Wow. One year.

Jillian Leslie (00:03:41) – All right, so will you just talk about how you thought of this membership idea, how you got started, and how it has grown over this last year?

Summer Hammons (00:03:50) – Yeah, well, I pivoted my unique story, which I did share a little bit in the last episode where where Gillian had me on. Where you had me on. I shared that I’m a brick and mortar store owner. I made the transition into the online space back in 2020, about mid 20 20th June, I say it was and I was in the DIY creative world, handmade decor world, and I really just kind of took that love and passion and moved it into a virtual space. So now I’m known as Hammond’s Nest Online. And so if people know that and have heard of me, they would associate it with DIY tutorials, craft styling with all like a little bit of a vintage and southern vibe. And that’s really, that’s my, my messaging that I put out there because it’s my true love and I love to thrift and all the good things.

Summer Hammons (00:04:33) – So I have a lot of people connected with me in the online space for that very reason. Well, fast forward a few years that I’ve been in the online space, you know, given lots of free content through my blog and through my video tutorials on social media. Facebook’s where I stay the most, but I’m in all the places. And so I have this community of really passionate people with me. And, after a little nudging, you know, they said they really wanted a more intimate experience with me. And to me and all the business coaching and things I had done in the past, I knew that there were these different things that I could do. But one thing about having a creative brain is you really have to reel yourself in and all the different, you know, you’ve got your tree that is your business and all these different branches and all these different ways you could go and you have to make sure that, you know, quality over quantity. So I was very hesitant for a while to start a membership group where, where this certain group of if you want to call them superfans or whatever you want to call them, they’re called all kinds of different things in the online space.

Summer Hammons (00:05:29) – Just my VIPs, my people that feel very connected to me. They wanted that experience. And so after a little nudging, I did launch that with the help of MiloTreeCart to help me manage that membership, because I knew no matter if I had ten people or if I had 50 people or whatever, that I needed some kind of management tool. So that was, what I did last year. And so I got these people. So the idea is it’s called the creativeness. And the idea is that these people are in a private membership Facebook group, and so they pay a monthly fee to access like exclusive trainings and also have some printable designs and things that they get with their membership. And that has just.

Jillian Leslie (00:06:10) – Been how much do you charge? What is your.

Summer Hammons (00:06:12) – So when I first launched last year, I was a introductory kind of membership thing, like a, you know, I don’t know what you call it. I had a word for it back then. I lost it, but it was $18 a month.

Summer Hammons (00:06:24) – And then recently, the last few months before I hit my one year anniversary, I did Muppet up to 22 per month.

Jillian Leslie (00:06:31) – Okay, so. And when you launched it, it’s like you turned this on and it shocked me. I don’t know if it shocked you two people you got. I remember actually sitting here with David going summers doing something and I go, yeah, she just launched her membership. And he was like refreshing and watching the number of signups. And we were both like, oh my gosh. Like, I don’t know if she even thought that this many people would raise their hand and say, yes, I’m joining. Were you surprised at the beginning? And do you remember how many initial members you got?

Summer Hammons (00:07:08) – I do. I do remember, it was 170 people signed up the very first launch. And at first, you know, of course, I had created a little bit of buzz about it just a couple of weeks prior saying, you know, I finally done it, y’all.

Summer Hammons (00:07:23) – I have finally decided to offer this. it’s an opportunity. It’s an option for my people. It was not something they were going to be forced to do. And they knew that. And they just, you know, I told them what I was going to offer. I explained what they would get with their membership, but more or less, I think, especially looking back on that now, I didn’t realize, that I was selling and experience more than I was an experience in a community, more than I was. This is what you get every week since you paid this fee. I will be with you in here. And they didn’t. That’s not why I have, you know, now, today, 300 members one year later. So I know that it’s a community of just that. You’ve got these people in one room. You just imagine a bunch of women who have some kind of passion in common, and you get them all in one room. And that’s kind of how I visualize my private Facebook group.

Summer Hammons (00:08:18) – It’s like a big, giant living room where I can fit them all in, and we’re all just gabbing and talking and just, you know, kind of, for lack of a better phrase, I guess, nerding out on the fact that we love DIY and crafting and thrifting and it’s just it’s a really beautiful community. Of course, it’s all virtual, so but there’s other things you can do. I don’t know if you want to discuss that. There’s things you can do to make that feel a little less virtual.

Jillian Leslie (00:08:42) – Totally. But do you feel like there’s this adage that says people come for the content and stay for the community?

Summer Hammons (00:08:51) – Absolutely. I 100% believe that.

Jillian Leslie (00:08:53) – And what is.

Summer Hammons (00:08:54) – The part now? I think that I think that at first I thought I had it a little backwards, but then now that we’re a year down the road, I can I can say confidently that that is why.

Jillian Leslie (00:09:03) – And what is the vibe of your community? Like you’re saying, it’s like your living room, but why do you think people show up to be there? Like, what are they getting in terms of vibes?

Summer Hammons (00:09:15) – they, it’s like a sisterhood.

Summer Hammons (00:09:16) – We actually refer to each other in my group as sisters, and they even call each other and besties like, besties. And there’s just a sense of, encouragement. And a lot of these women, my clientele, my demographic, tend to be a little bit older. A lot of retired, retired people, as well. That’s not everyone, but that is a majority of my clientele. And there’s just a sense of, there’s a sense of family in there, and it’s really sweet that we all are encouraging each other also along their creative journey. So the content I do share comes into play. It’s to encourage people to try new techniques, new products. and we just kind of clap for each other and say, wow, you know, and there’s just a lot of love. If you think about your circle of people, you might have a passion that nobody really around you in person has all the time. And so you don’t get the opportunity to truly feel embraced with your passion. So I think what’s so beautiful about the online space is that you can find those rooms, those virtual rooms to be in, those virtual tables to sit around and you’ve got your people that really, really, you know, build you up and the things that you love and passion.

Summer Hammons (00:10:27) – So we’re just connected through our creativity, passion.

Jillian Leslie (00:10:29) – I, I completely agree. And I feel like for anybody listening to this, think about how since Covid, we’ve all kind of atomized even more so we don’t go, I don’t know, I don’t go out as much or just in not that I’m scared, but more just like you get cozy at home or who knows. But I’ve been hearing from people like, wow, I tend to be a homebody, but when you’ve got something like a membership like yours, we can show up with each other. And there is something incredibly nourishing about that, especially as we’re moving into this world of AI where things are going to get even weirder and we’re going, you’re not even going to know if there’s a human behind that. I think the superpower you have is that people see you and get to connect with you, and then get to connect with other humans, and you’re all talking about something that is lovely, that makes your space more beautiful.

Summer Hammons (00:11:29) – Right. Exactly.

Summer Hammons (00:11:30) – And then, you know, then through that there’s these other connections, like, for instance, during the Christmas holiday season, we did a Christmas card exchange, an actual Christmas card exchange where we were all, receiving Christmas cards from one another. I had a Christmas tree solely dedicated to the to the Christmas cards from my nest community. that I clipped. I clipped all the cards and it filled up an entire tree. And it was just so beautiful. So everybody would get a card. Then they would turn around and send a card. And right now they’re exchanging napkins because napkins are big in the craft world, and they’re all giving each other napkins. And so they’re actually receiving physical connections, like pen pals, like, there’s it’s something that goes on. I’m just the the start. I’m just the, the seed that got planted while there’s this whole tree going on. And it’s it’s really beautiful.

Jillian Leslie (00:12:18) – So. So how much how does it work? How often are you showing up live? How much content are you creating for them? Because before I press record, we talked about this as a membership leader.

Jillian Leslie (00:12:32) – I think there’s this feeling whenever I say to people, hey, if you have a community of people, start a membership and they go, oh no, I have to deliver so much, it will burn me out and I, I can’t show up for that. How do you manage that? So that you don’t burn yourself out and you don’t burn out your members?

Summer Hammons (00:12:55) – Well, anything that feels like a natural pool, such as a business leader like me or business rooms I’ve sat in and had conversations. We want to deliver. We want to overdeliver. Whether it be a physical product or this is a virtual product. We just think that we got to give them their money’s worth. We got to give them more than what’s expected. but what it comes down to and I’ll share this with you, I will share my structure and what I’ve learned a year or a year down the road and how I’ve structured everything. And I always am willing and open to to tweaking those things. But my number one, feedback from anyone who’s canceled in this past year is that they cannot get called up and they don’t have time to consume the.

Summer Hammons (00:13:34) – Com content that I’m providing in the group. All that to say, that still shocks me because I feel like I don’t give enough. This this is just natural for me because, I think I think I’m not the only one that feels this way, you know, like, oh, you know, I just want to give them everything that that I owe them because, but really, we just make that up anyway. I mean, so weekly, I’ll tell you what I do. I show up weekly for them. there are. So let’s just say on average, let me break it down this way. There’s 4 to 5 weeks that come into a month. Let’s just say that. So I have one week where it’s not me. I have a guest master class teacher every month that comes in and trains. Trains, you know, really just presents, a training on something very specific, very niche down that I am not an expert in. So they have really enjoyed that, once a month, every month, and then the other weeks, whether that be 3 or 4 weeks, I am doing an exclusive craft tutorial or we’re really technique techniques driven in the group.

Summer Hammons (00:14:39) – So each lab would be themed like these techniques are for layered paint finishes or these techniques are for like the last one that we just did was for sustainable crafting. So actually using things that would literally go in the trash, can we theme it to, you know, be fun and and engaging and something different. But then we might have master class come in to teach on, clays and molds or, just something specific candle making watercolor are these month and so.

Jillian Leslie (00:15:08) – Monthly themes like this month we’re going to look at painting, you know, layered painting or this month we’re going to do sustainable crafting, that kind of thing.

Summer Hammons (00:15:17) – Well, monthly the master classes are themed monthly. So there’s one master class and the other weeks are just developed. I give them a variety of things, but one of those weeks that I’m speaking of, they get a list of supplies and they they know what the craft is going to be on the end. This is just one of the things that I offer, and that is where we zoom together.

Summer Hammons (00:15:36) – So we actually get on camera. We actually make the thing that they’ve gotten the list for and they, you know, they’ve gathered their supplies and we do it together. I usually keep that craft pretty, pretty low skill level just because, so that we can actually spend most of our time chatting and catching up and laughing and praying for each other, sometimes crying, sometimes it’s just it’s it’s a roller coaster of emotion. Sometimes because these people have been connected, they say they look forward to the zooms more than anything, and so do I. I really love it. So, that is what they get. So they get a variety. They get a couple exclusive lives that are themed by me. They get a master class and they get a zoom craft along with what we call.

Jillian Leslie (00:16:15) – So the ones that aren’t the master class or the zoom, you’re just showing up live in the Facebook group so they can comment, but and they can watch you, but they can’t see each other.

Summer Hammons (00:16:26) – Correct? Correct.

Summer Hammons (00:16:27) – So if let’s just say let’s use the word five times a month, they, they are going to see some type of content. One’s going to be a master class, one’s going to be a zoom craft along. And the other three would be just themed fun lives where they can interact in the comments, but they can’t see me. I mean that can’t see them. They can see me. Now.

Jillian Leslie (00:16:43) – How much work is this for you to set up?

Summer Hammons (00:16:49) – Well, I really thought the reason I was so hesitant about it, if I’m just being honest in the in the first couple of years of my business, when I knew that, you know, having a membership group would not only be a great way to build that super community, in a private setting, but also be a really great recurring revenue stream for me to be able to focus on my creativity and not have to worry about, you know, monetizing. I do monetize on my platforms, but, you know, it’s one of the revenue streams.

Summer Hammons (00:17:14) – I was really hesitant to commit to people because in all the other ways in my business, I’m just let’s just say one of my main things is to show up Facebook Live for my public community. Well, I could just do that whenever I wanted, but these people, I felt that I owed them some type of structure. So I actually do give them a calendar about a week before the new month hits, and they know what day, they know what time, and they know what the theme of the live is going to be. So they have this put out and so that helps me too. So I just go ahead and plan that out. But one of my hesitations of doing that was because I had I knew that I needed to do it this way to be to be detail oriented, because that is my personality as well, and to deliver on my promises. But I will tell you, it has not been. I think it’s just the passion and the community that drives me to because they’re they’re like a sisterhood to me as well.

Summer Hammons (00:18:00) – I just happen to be the ones leading the group is all.

Jillian Leslie (00:18:03) – Do you ever feel burnt out like, oh, I have to go live today for the group? And like, there’s no way if you have a cold or something like you’re going to show up.

Summer Hammons (00:18:13) – Right? So, in the past year, I have only ever rescheduled with them twice out of all the, and one was because I had, like, a stomach virus or something. I was bad, and they knew they were like, okay. And then was just a schedule change, something that come up with my family. So those two things were the only thing. But no, I have never I think it’s this special community, this private setting that doesn’t make it feel like that to me. I can’t speak for any other person who might have a membership group, but just for some reason, it just feels, I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like much work. I have to say, I was nervous it would be, but it doesn’t.

Jillian Leslie (00:18:57) – If you are inspired by Summer story and you’re thinking seriously about starting a membership, but you don’t know how all the pieces fit together, I have everything you need. I have an entire framework. In fact, I call it the low key membership framework and it is simple to set up. I’ve got checklists, I’ve got emails for you to send. I’ve got everything. Currently I sell it as a digital product for $29, but I’m offering it for free to anyone who books a call with me. So just go to MiloTree.com, scroll down, you’ll find my calendar book a time, and we’ll talk about your membership again. MiloTree.com eBook, your free 20 minute call. And now back to the show. In this year, have you experienced bumps along the way? For example, like, oh no, this month five people canceled or ten people canceled or I’m getting feedback that doesn’t feel good or who knows, like where what has been shocking or unsettling for you?

Summer Hammons (00:20:05) – I can’t really remember a time when I had this exact thought, but I will say it was kind of one of those things where I was like, am I giving them enough? So I just explained to you what I give them.

Summer Hammons (00:20:13) – I came to a point. It might have been a few months down the road where I was like, am I giving them enough? Am I giving them enough? Because I did have cancellations? And you can’t take not take those personally, but you also look at them like data and you say, okay, well, if these people canceled and sometimes I would get feedback and sometimes I wouldn’t, I normally left, you know, I would reach out and be like, you know, oh, you know, I hope everything’s okay. We’re sure going to miss you. I definitely, genuinely that’s my personality of. You know, letting someone leave and then reaching out to them and just keeping that bridge open, you know, because I don’t know how we might be connected again in the future anyway. I just want and also genuinely wanted to check on them. Well, then the feedback I got after I’m having that thought of I need to give more was I cannot consume all the content. I would say that probably is the most and I already shared that earlier, but that is the most shocking revelation I had during.

Summer Hammons (00:21:10) – The whole thing is here. I am thinking I’m not giving them enough, but the people that are leaving are saying I just can’t get caught up on the content. And so I feel like I’m not utilizing my membership and I just feel like it’s to them. Also, you have to understand, membership groups are all very different. Mine is considered a luxury. So it’s I put it in that category simply because I know if I had a business type group where people were using the skills and everything they got in the group and the information to make money, that would be different. There’s a different value there. Now, not to say that I do have a lot of crafters in my group that do have booths and sell at arts and craft shows and, and remake and things like that, but that’s not what the group was built for or intended for necessarily. So I’ll look at it as it’s in the luxury category. If you go and you do your bills for the month and you’re thinking of things to cut, I could be on that list very easily.

Summer Hammons (00:22:01) – So that sense of community that I create is what I hope makes them go, I can’t live without it. And I will tell you something. Let me share this with you. I’ve had a couple of ladies come back after just a couple of months. When they left and I reached out to them and said, we’re sure going to miss you. I hope you can join us again in the future. And they did. Oh, they they said that their life wasn’t the same without the group and that they needed to come back. So that’s a special.

Jillian Leslie (00:22:27) – I’m just going to ask you what surprises. So, you know, I said, okay, what have been the difficulties or the bumps along the road? And then I was just going to say, tell me a surprise or tell me something that you didn’t expect. And I would say that is. The super sweet story. Yeah.

Summer Hammons (00:22:50) – Yeah, I didn’t expect that. Probably because just like anything else. if someone says, you know, they’re done or they’re it’s, you know, over or I’m not using you anymore or whatever it comes.

Summer Hammons (00:23:00) – Any kind of services we get from any businesses, you assume maybe you’ve lost them as a customer or lost them as a, you know, professional connection like that, but not not this particular service that I’m offering. It’s just a little different. So it was a sweet, full circle moment.

Jillian Leslie (00:23:15) – What do you think it is about you? That has helped build this community. So let’s say I’m thinking I’m listening to this and I’m thinking, I want to I want to try what summer’s trying, but I don’t know how to build a community. Maybe I’m good at something like Instagram, and I’m going to teach it to small businesses or to bloggers or something. But what do you think the ingredients are to building this community that cares about each other? It’s like as if initially they care about you, but then they start caring about each other. And what kinds of seeds do you think you planted to grow this?

Summer Hammons (00:23:56) – Oh, that’s a big question. well, I think a lot of it would come down to an individual’s personality.

Summer Hammons (00:24:03) – So I just have a sense of that family feel and said it being so transactional with people, it’s more, you know, what are you doing today while you’re watching me craft? I want to know what you’re doing at your house. And so then they’re like, I’m gardening. And then I’m like, what are you planting? And then someone else in the comments is like, oh my God, those are my favorite in my cut garden. Or and then they there’s it’s about being conversational as well. Whenever you’re delivering the products, these being virtual products that I’m delivering them and taking those opportunities within that, you know, like me going live multiple times in there a month, I don’t just get on there and be like, watch me do this, and this is what you do. That’s super transactional to me there. You have to form a community. It’s no different than being live on your public page anywhere else or, having call to actions in your post on Facebook and Instagram and call to actions or that engagement aspect.

Summer Hammons (00:25:05) – otherwise you’re being super transactional and there’s just no feelings there. There’s no sense of community there.

Jillian Leslie (00:25:10) – Do you think it’s the idea of I see you? Like you’re one of these 300 members, but some are. You’re saying to whomever I see you, I want to know what your gardening like. It’s not just the summer show, but it’s like it’s everybody and everybody gets celebrated. But the idea that you’re up there, you’re the leader, but that you are noticing these small details about people. I just feel like in the world that we’re living in again, I keep seeing I coming, you know, into all of our lives that what you know, what is the best antidote to this world where we’re so alone, it’s somebody seeing us?

Summer Hammons (00:25:52) – Yeah, absolutely. I mean, who doesn’t want to be felt and seen and heard? And, I believe that the power of connecting, even virtually, is super underrated. Like, there is so much power in that now, of course, zooms. And like you and I, having a conversation now feels much more personal because we can see each other’s faces.

Summer Hammons (00:26:15) – so there’s that aspect to that. I believe if anyone does want to do any type of membership group, I say at least add in one aspect where you’re getting the opportunity to see their faces too, not just their profile picture and their name. To hear their voices, to hear their accents, to talk about where they’re from all over the country, in the world. because you can hear them to, you know, talk about their families and they’re just more comfortable whenever you can see their surroundings and their home. And it’s like you’re you’re getting to connect that way. So my one biggest piece of advice, if people do want to do something like that, is to add in some personal aspects, such as a zoom, where you can see each other and talk to each other and interact that way face to face.

Jillian Leslie (00:26:55) – And by the way, these are such small things, even even the Christmas cards or the napkins, like, these aren’t like expensive, tech driven. Like you’re literally sending Christmas cards in the mail.

Summer Hammons (00:27:07) – Yes. And it was the most fun, I think, I’ve ever had any Christmas mailing out that many Christmas cards. And as soon as I got one, I would just send one right back out. So that was the deal. It was a Christmas card exchange, you know, and and they’re already like, what else can we exchange? So we did the napkins in the springtime. And you know I think they’ll be anxious to know what the next thing is. They just thoroughly enjoyed it so much.

Jillian Leslie (00:27:28) – That is so inspiring. So talk to me about how often you open your cart closure cart. How do you create that sense of urgency? Like, I’ve got to join now because I think that’s very important to get people who might not take the leap, to take the leap. So what do you do to do that?

Summer Hammons (00:27:49) – Well, so if my main community that I’m going to pitch this to anytime I want to heavily talk about it, it’s going to be my public Facebook page, Hangman’s Nest.

Summer Hammons (00:27:59) – So I will get on there. and I will decide. Actually, my cart is always open, so I have an open cart. But I will say this when I first started, I did the open closed a couple times and I probably my personality, but I would have people, you know, watching a public Facebook Live. I’m just sharing my experience. They’d be watching a public Facebook Live, and one of my sisters from the group would say something like, oh, I’m catching you live. And two times in a day, because I had been live in the group earlier, and then and then, then a other person would say, what do you mean? I didn’t see she was live earlier today. And and then I have to bring it up and I have to say, well, I have a private Facebook group membership called the Creative Nest. And, and then they would message me and say, how do I get in? And well, I didn’t like, tell them that it was closed.

Summer Hammons (00:28:48) – I wanted them to be able to get in it. So then I kind of just said, how can I move to an open cart model, but then also create excitement about it every now and again? So I just picked certain times like this past time that I did it was because it was the one year anniversary and I just said, this week, you’re going to hear a lot about my group and how special it is just this week on my public page. So during my lives I would, I would, you know, drizzle it in and I would talk about it and I would make reference to it. And then even like, I don’t know that everyone, everyone is for this. But like I had a coupon code that was to try your first month in the nest for half price, and I’ve done that twice, and I had a really wonderful, wonderful response. Now this time was just a coupon code just because it was our year anniversary. But also back in the during the holiday seasons, I did an online virtual workshop where we learned how to make different kinds of bows and do creative gift packaging.

Summer Hammons (00:29:42) – And all the people that signed up for that virtual workshop. I pitched to them that they could have their first month in the nest for half off if they wanted to say, hey, did you enjoy this three day workshop? If you enjoyed this, you might enjoy being one of my sisters where we get to do this every week. And that was a really, really successful launch as well. So I do think that there are a couple different ways you can do it, but I think having a a baby workshop or something small that you can then, sell them, for lack of a better word, basically pitch to them. Hey, if you enjoyed this, if you enjoyed my teaching style, if you’re looking for more, you know, creative techniques and things, maybe you would like my nest. So and that worked out really well.

Jillian Leslie (00:30:22) – Those are super smart ideas. And I like the idea that you’re keeping your cart open all the time, but you’re kind of drizzling out some little special bonuses to get people excited.

Jillian Leslie (00:30:33) – I think that’s very smart, and I’m going to put that in the back of my mind when I’m talking to people about memberships, how to create that sense of urgency, that sense of excitement. I think that’s.

Summer Hammons (00:30:44) – Yeah. And and a plug for you inside the MiloTreeCart. It’s really easy to put out a quick little coupon or something and you know, and and let them apply that. That’s a very easy low low on your end, low work. You know, like you just said, this is special. It’s expiring this day. And that creates a sense of urgency. So when it comes to the sense of urgency a coupon is expiring.

Jillian Leslie (00:31:09) – Are you thinking about have you tried selling specific maybe higher priced? products, digital products, whatever to your VIPs like, will they actively buy your other offerings?

Summer Hammons (00:31:27) – well, the way that my group is structured now and the things that I have compared to the things I have offered, part of the perks of being in that VIP, VIP group is they get access to everything.

Summer Hammons (00:31:37) – So, you know, if they are a VIP creative sister and I do a virtual workshop, they just get in for free like it’s and they I mean, of course that that’s just one way I can make them feel special, you know, back. So if you think I have 300 members in my group, I don’t know how many I had back at Christmas time, maybe 250, something like that. When I did that virtual workshop, I still sold 400 tickets to newbie newbie people to an online workshop. So that was why I was able to convert, you know, more of a good chunk of them into my membership group after that was over.

Speaker 4 (00:32:13) – So that’s so smart.

Summer Hammons (00:32:15) – Yeah. And all it does is this is the way I choose. They’re my true VIP, so they just feel so special that they get all of this, you know? And some of it is not stuff they have to consume necessarily. But they just feel what they do. They do feel that sense of specialness there.

Summer Hammons (00:32:32) – And I want them to feel that way. And they’re my biggest cheerleader. So anytime I put anything out on my public pages or anything, there they are in the comments. They are saying, you will love this workshop, you will love this. You will love that. You’re you know, they’re just they’re my people.

Speaker 4 (00:32:47) – You are.

Jillian Leslie (00:32:47) – So the what I’m talking about these days is this idea that we need to create these communities of our tribes, our VIPs, the people who champion us, who feel connected to us and we feel connected to them. And I say, if you think about it, if you could have a thousand fans and each one spends $100 a year purchasing whatever it is you’re selling, you’ve made $100,000. It doesn’t necessarily mean you need an audience of millions. You just need to connect one on one or make it have that intimate connection with people where it’s doable. And especially Google is rolling out some crazy updates right now. And in all the blogging groups that I’m in, I’m seeing people crying, talking about how their traffic died overnight or and and I’m all about you’ve got to have multiple income streams, multiple ways where people can find you.

Jillian Leslie (00:33:51) – But at the end of the day, it doesn’t need to be millions. Right. It just needs to be a couple hundred. Let’s say who found you. And hopefully your membership just continues to grow and grow. But you’ve built this like this is just one of your income streams, and it might be one of the most satisfying, but like, you were able to think about it from that perspective rather than I need to just SEO the hell out of everything and hope that random people are stumbling upon my content. But they’re not necessarily getting to know me or me getting to know them.

Summer Hammons (00:34:30) – Right? So I mean, everybody’s business has been built and structured differently. Mine happen to really be birthed in the social media world. And so I just happen to have that opportunity to pull those people in that way. But yeah, I have multiple revenue streams myself because I know that any, any day, I mean, there’s other places I could house my membership that do not concern Facebook. But still, I mean, we as business entrepreneurs, we have to kind of think, how smart can we be with spreading out our revenue sources?

Jillian Leslie (00:35:03) – I just think that if you’ve been at this as long as we have, you see that things change and things.

Jillian Leslie (00:35:10) – But your customers who know you, who love you, they’re not leaving. And that is a really valuable realization now in terms of technology, because when you came to me and you had this vision of your business and you had all these bells and whistles of what you wanted to build, and I kept saying, okay, simplify it, simplify it, like, just get started. I feel like people come to me and they’ll say, okay, here’s my vision. And it’s got all of these funnels and tech solutions. I want it to be where somebody comes in over here and then spits out over here. And because I paid for all this expensive technology, somehow customers are just showing up for me and I want to say, hey, that’s not true, because it doesn’t matter how expensive your that, the more usually expensive your technology is, the more complicated it is. And if you think it’s going to be effortless for you, I promise you you’re in for a big surprise. So when I said to you simplify, simplify, just get started.

Jillian Leslie (00:36:12) – What was your response to that and what would you say to people who go, okay, well, what I gotta do is I gotta fight, find the right tool, because if I just pay for this tool, boom, I have a business.

Summer Hammons (00:36:26) – Yeah. well, I do think naturally it’s great to have that road map, to feel like that’s where you want things to, to be in the end. But realistically, you need to understand that you have to get started somewhere along that journey in order to start working it out. my group, I do think it still has, a strong percentage of my vision from the very beginning and how everything works together and how I’m able to efficiently run it behind the scenes. And but then there’s still a lot of things I didn’t know and that I’ve had to work out as far as, you know, managing it and making sure that everybody’s communicated with and there’s all these things and you start working through and depending on which revenue sources you have going on behind the scenes, there are a lot of connecting pieces, but you have to get started to understand.

Summer Hammons (00:37:19) – You just have to and you got to work through the middle messy. And and it usually is always a work in progress. That is something that you almost kind of have to let go, because it is our businesses, as ever, changing as social media is. And and in particular with what we’re doing for a living, creative entrepreneurs, things are changing. You have to be willing to just roll with it and work in where you can and make it just, I don’t know, sometimes it feels like it’s dragging a leg behind it, but then other times, you know, it’s standing upright, you know, and it’s doing great. And but you always gotta be willing to, to pivot and move. And so I think there’s this personality trait that a business owner needs to have to be flexible for that kind of stuff and to understand it’s not all mapped out perfectly.

Speaker 4 (00:38:06) – Right.

Summer Hammons (00:38:06) – You can’t hand that plan to someone else and they understand it exactly.

Jillian Leslie (00:38:10) – And that if you are a perfectionist, I say work on yourself and get good at the messy middle and being okay with that and being okay with putting out a more authentic, less polished version.

Jillian Leslie (00:38:23) – Because that’s what I think people are drawn to.

Summer Hammons (00:38:27) – yes, I’m a recovering perfectionist still every day. So.

Speaker 4 (00:38:32) – Me too.

Summer Hammons (00:38:33) – yeah. And you know, it’s I don’t know, there’s a beautiful thing about people just embracing your imperfections, too. And I talk a little bit about that with my messaging and my business a lot when it comes to either what we’re creating or just us as people. And, and I have a very, faith driven business as well. So I talk about how we’re created and how we’re wired. We’re all wired special, you know, for what? For our purposes of what we’re going to do here on this earth. And so, just kind of embracing that part of you, but knowing, like you said, you need to work on yourself a little bit if if you are being your biggest roadblock with making a big move in your business.

Speaker 4 (00:39:10) – And how.

Jillian Leslie (00:39:11) – Would you how does somebody know that it’s them and not the fact that they haven’t put everything like that. They’ve got all their ducks in a row, you know what I mean? Like, how does somebody how do you understand that you’re holding yourself back.

Summer Hammons (00:39:30) – Well, I would say it takes conversations with other people, such as you or anyone else you know, that has this impartial view of what you’re doing. So you explain what you’re doing. and I believe being self-reflective and being open to that criticism, that constructive criticism because human nature, we self-sabotage. And so usually there’s an even deeper reason that you are not pressing the gas pedal and you are not doing something because we are our greatest roadblock. We really do. We self-sabotage left and right and our businesses and our lives and getting someone’s opinion. Someone that is not connected to you, someone that does not know you. So my advice, and in a roundabout way, is to say get some type of consultation, get some type of consult so you can see and be open minded to hearing that, hey, you’re the one stopping yourself right now. You need to take this step first and let’s go.

Jillian Leslie (00:40:24) – So I offer as people who potentially who listen to this know you can get on a free 20 minute call with me.

Jillian Leslie (00:40:31) – And sure, I’m going to show you my little regard, but we can see if it’s a good fit for you or not. The feedback I get all the time is, having that, like, I see stuff that’s right there in front of them that they can’t see because I’m impartial. I don’t have I don’t know the history of your business. I’m just looking at it with fresh eyes. And it’s so refreshing for many people, and I’m honest. So I’m going to be honest when I say, ooh, I think you’re holding yourself back here. Or maybe you could, you know, push forward here. And people tend to look at me and it’s funny, they look at me like, how do I know this? And I say, believe me, I have a hard time doing it for my own businesses because I’m so caught in the history and the this and this is how it works. And so it is so valuable getting somebody to hopefully with a loving touch but an honest touch to go, oh, I see where you could build this or I wouldn’t go that way.

Jillian Leslie (00:41:33) – Like I said to you at the beginning, like whoa, whoa whoa, let’s come back. Let’s just go piece by piece. And then the analogy.

Speaker 4 (00:41:41) – You know, go ahead. It worked.

Summer Hammons (00:41:44) – Yeah, absolutely. The analogy, the couple analogies come to mind when you’re too close to your business. This is we all know this. We are super, super attached to what we’re doing, what our mission is, what we are, what our visions are. And so if I hire a professional organizer to come over and help me clean out my pantry, and I’m trying to hold on to all these ridiculous things that I have lots of feelings towards, and it makes me really emotional when you pick it up, when you talk, when you mess with it, and the professional organizers say, no, you don’t understand how much better your life is going to be if you just let me purge and you let me get rid of this, and you let me do it this way and map it out this way.

Summer Hammons (00:42:23) – and then, you know, you let it go. And then the other analogy that comes to mind is like, our business is a water bottle, and you’re inside the water bottle and you really need to see the label, but you can’t see it because you’re because you’re inside the water bottle. And the person out there that you’re getting help from can see the label. They can see the whole picture. And you were just terribly close to it, just to me. Too much personal connection to how the business itself should run. And I look at my business and there’s a structure to it, but I get to put the feeling in it. So if, if, if I get someone to help me structure things and how things eventually end up staying connected and working efficiently, and my systems of operations and all of that that I have going on in the background. In the end, I still get to put the feeling in it, you know, in the end, in my pantry, I still get to go in there and utilize all that stuff every day and see how pretty it is and, and all the things.

Summer Hammons (00:43:11) – So, you know, just using that as just to give you a visual of how we do see our businesses. that’s just a little perspective on there.

Jillian Leslie (00:43:20) – And just to end, how has it been working using MiloTreeCart and working with David and me, because you reached out to me and said, I need these features. And we’re like, great. And David emailed you, I think with like a check, like, okay, we’re going to do this and this and this, and it’s so fun because you have one of the biggest memberships. So you’re showing us the direction of, oh, people will want this or people will want this. And like one of the things that you said was I need a search bar. And we hadn’t even thought of that. And David’s like, I can build her a search bar, you know, tomorrow. And then you just said to me, oh my God, that search bar has like made such a difference in my business. So just briefly, like, what has that experience been like because you took a big risk by working with us.

Summer Hammons (00:44:08) – Yeah. No, I think it’s been great. And, the, the the way I was attracted to it, the price is very attractive. You know, for a business owner trying something out as a new revenue stream in their business that they don’t know how successful it might be. Not that you’re rooting against yourself, but you just don’t know how much investment you want to put up financially. And also the simplicity of it is very attractive. And even through this year that we have been kind of working together to develop some extra tools behind the scene, they’re still very simple tools. This is not making anything more complicated. it’s simply like, oh, with that, many members, like you said, there’s things that you run into where if I had 20 members on the page, I wouldn’t need a search bar, because that’s an easy scroll. But with 300, that is very difficult. Or arranging them by, you know, the the date they joined or little things like that, little tweaks along the way.

Summer Hammons (00:44:58) – Yes, y’all have been amazing to work with and very receptive and open minded to those, functions and why I might need them and not just me. Like this was this was something I remember when we would have those conversations, I would say, I can’t, I won’t be the only one that that thinks of man. It would be nice to have this function. And y’all have just been it’s been really fun to be part of y’all’s project as you continue to develop.

Jillian Leslie (00:45:20) – We look we like I said to David, I’m going to do record this podcast with Summer. Like, is there any any questions you have for summer? And he’s like, no, but let her like see if she has any questions for us. So I love that we get to work with you and notice. So we are selling a tech product and yet it’s our relationship, you and me and David, that helps us all grow our businesses. Like you would think, oh, because it’s a tech product, I don’t know, it’s kind of cold and there are no people involved.

Jillian Leslie (00:45:52) – And I’m going to say it’s the opposite of that. So your business is like you were saying, you do crafting, but at the end of the day, it’s the people. It’s really the connections. And I would say we build these kind of cold tech products that we hope help people like you, but at the end of the day, for us, it’s the people connection. And as I said, I get on calls with people and I look forward to it so much. And when I can see the thing that that person in their business can’t see, and they look at me and they go, oh, this has been so valuable, there’s nothing better for me. And because it’s easy for me to see it again because I’m like, I like your analogy of there in the water bottle. It’s like, it’s like such a win win. And so for me, even though I’m building a tech product, it’s the people.

Summer Hammons (00:46:41) – Right. Absolutely. Yeah. It’s and I mean, that has been a blessing to me as I’ve been able to focus on my members and my creativity because I happen to choose a solution, a tech solution that had such feeling behind it and had people behind it that were helping me along the way.

Summer Hammons (00:46:58) – So of course, I’ll always feel truly blessed to have been connected with you all a year ago.

Jillian Leslie (00:47:03) – We feel that way too. So okay, so Summer, if people want to follow you, reach out to you, find out, go see you crafting. Join your membership. Where do you send them?

Summer Hammons (00:47:16) – Typically because it’s just where the largest piece of my heart is, is my public Facebook community at Hammons Nest. I do also have a blog at Hammons Nest. Com that backs up a lot of the projects that you’ll see that I do tutorials on and share, but I’m everywhere you can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, all those places.

Jillian Leslie (00:47:35) – Well, could we can I have you back in a year where we do another update on how it’s going and how your membership is evolving?

Summer Hammons (00:47:43) – I would love that.

Speaker 4 (00:47:45) – Absolutely.

Jillian Leslie (00:47:46) – Well, thank you so much, Summer, for coming back on the show.

Summer Hammons (00:47:50) – I can only hope that everything that we talked about today inspire someone.

Summer Hammons (00:47:53) – Thanks for having me.

Jillian Leslie (00:47:54) – I hope you guys like this episode. I loved having Summer back on the show and seeing her success. I think the biggest takeaway for me is that it’s all about the community, that connection, if you can provide that, that’s what people are looking for. They’re not looking for your library of content. And I do believe with MiloTreeCart and Summer’s Help, our membership dashboard is awesome. It is so easy to use. So if you’re thinking about selling digital products, anything from digital downloads that we deliver to your people, to memberships, subscriptions, mini courses, coaching, MiloTreeCart is for you. Go check it out at MiloTree.com. We are right now selling it for a lifetime deal of $349. We have a three month payment plan and a 30 day, no questions asked money back guarantee. Plus, people typically make back their 349 after they launch their first product. Again. Go to milotree.com and I will see you here again next week.

How to Build a Vibrant Community for Your Paid Membership | The Blogger Genius Podcast with Jillian Leslie | MiloTreeCart