Drew will be joining us for the Building a Membership Site session, which you can watch LIVE on March 29. Drew will be joining Chris and Shawn in a panel discussion, answering your questions about the ins and outs of running a membership site. Drew has a particularly unique vantage point because he has run his own successful sites AND also runs an incredible membership platform called Memberful. Don’t miss this opportunity to ask him questions!
Where can we find you on the internet?
The Theme Foundry: https://thethemefoundry.com
Memberful: https://memberful.com
Twitter: @drewstrojny
Github: dstrojny
When and how did you get started with WordPress?
Back in 2008 most of our small business clients needed a website they could manage themselves. They certainly didn’t want to be paying us every time a change needed to be made. I had been using WordPress for our own site and I figured it would be easy enough to teach them how to use it too.
What resources do you turn to when you want to learn something new?
I’m very much a do it yourself learner, and I’m lucky there is so much great information available on the internet for do it yourself learners. I usually dig into the subject matter at hand and try to find some experts in the field to research and look up to.
What is your favorite WordPress feature/aspect?
I can’t name a specific feature (lots of great features to choose from), but I love the extensibility and flexibility of WordPress. It gives you the power to do so many things quickly and easily with your website. It’s also very reassuring to know the software is continuously being improved by the WordPress.org developer community.
What is one piece of advice you have for someone building a membership site?
Don’t wait! Planning a complex strategy isn’t a good use of your time. Your most avid supporters and readers are going to sign up anyway, even if you offer them nothing in return. They’ll pay you because they want to support your work. Nothing more. If you already have an audience, every day you wait to start your membership site is costing you money.
The first step is to get some simple membership software like Memberful set up with your website, and announce that option to your loyal supporters. Use the announcement post to plan out what you’ll offer and solicit some feedback from your community. Most importantly, this will get you selling right away. It will also lay the groundwork for offering some paid content in the future.
What advice do you have for others looking to become WordPress experts?
Learn by doing and watching others in the community. Contribute to WordPress is some way and start attending WordPress events. The WordPress community is accepting and friendly, so find a mentor to help you get more involved.
What is one interesting non-WordPress-related fact about yourself?
I played football at Duke University and was a 2 time captain of the football team. I was then picked in the 2004 NFL draft and spent 3 years bouncing around the NFL as a journeyman lineman with a handful of teams. It didn’t end up working out as a career choice, but it was an amazing life experience. I got to watch Super Bowl XXXIX from the sidelines in 2004 and have an NFC Championship ring to show for it.