The quantity question – part 1

You may have noticed that, so far, my blogs have focused very much on thinking about your members. That isn’t going to change. Online membership isn’t just about getting your ‘stuff’ out there, it is about creating an experience. That means that being in the head of your potential customer is crucial (frankly, it’s crucial in any business but that’s a different conversation).

There are some key considerations about other matters, however, and the ‘how much?’ question is the one that frequently comes up.

Quantity of content has two strands:

• How much do I provide in any one ‘session’?
• How far ahead do I need to be in terms of developing the content?

This is a lot to cover in one short article so, in true ‘online membership’ fashion, I’ve split this blog up into two parts. This week we’ll focus on session size.

How much in a session?

There are no hard and fast rules here. You see, to some degree it depends on what your service is for and the journey your members are on.

If, for example, you are publishing your animated cartoons to your fans (purpose of ‘entertainment’ and members consuming all the content on their phone) then one animation per week may be a good place to start. If, however, you are creating an online degree-level course in ancient history (a purpose of ‘skills building’ and a member journey which includes a lot of self-study and reading) then one delivery of everything needed for a month will be more suitable.

Whatever the type and purpose of content, one aspect to be really aware of is the risk of ‘overwhelm.’ You are passionate about your subject and completely immersed in it – of course you are – but others may have more of a passing interest. So, while spending 10 hours a day on your topic may be wonderful for you, it will turn many of your members off. Too much is as much of a problem as too little so think about what you are asking in terms of a time commitment and cut your cloth accordingly.

The other aspect of ‘overwhelm’ is how it relates to you. If your service is delivering regular content then remember that you are the one who has to deliver it – month in and month out. I am sure that you will start out feeling really enthusiastic and ready to invest all your waking hours to creating the content – but will you still want to give up your evenings and weekends to this in three or six months time? The key word is sustainability.

Get the balance right and you will engage, entertain and serve your members, keep them in the long term and, just as importantly, make sure you can keep delivering great content, month after month.