Hey, hey, Erin Kelly, CEO and co founder of Meursault here. So today's topic is definitely a palm sweater one is that kind of that's kind of gross, isn't it? But seriously, it is. It's a mindset topic, it's an emotional topic. And it's one that if you are selling at some point you are going to encounter, and that is the discussion around making uncomfortable decisions.

So, these can be decisions that are uncomfortable in your business, because it's stretchy,

it can be decisions that are uncomfortable, because

you have realized that you are not happy with what you're offering anymore, and that you have to let clients go.

Or you need to change your prices.

It there's so many different variations of this, right, but I have two different uncomfortable decisions that

that have gone live this week. And so I'm gonna unpack them a little bit, just to be fully transparent, and you know, share this is like, this is the dirty work. I, I don't want to say it's dirty, like it's bad, because it's, it's, I don't like to look at it as something that's bad. It's just, it's uncomfortable, it's, it's something that is gonna make you make your palms sweat a little bit and, and really challenge you to, to grow and to trust yourself and to be okay with conflict. And potentially having people not be happy with you. But that knowing that you are making the right decision. So trusting your gut and all that stuff. So it's like

it's the deep work, maybe instead of dirt dirty work, we should say it's the deep work. So uncomfortable conversations and uncomfortable decisions. So the first one is that our free plan is definitely I think the most generous plan for any course or content platform out there, it's at least it's the most generous plan that I have seen. It's not a trial, there's no limit, because we do usage based pricing instead of feature based pricing, which is like, pretty much all of the SAS tools that you see online, although that is shifting, just as a little side note for the SAS industry is that

more and more companies are considering switching to usage based pricing. But feature based pricing is when you go to the sales page of a tool that you're considering considering signing up for. And their pricing is broken down by features that you get access to. So you have to upgrade to a higher price. If you want more features. We decided very early on that we wanted to be usage based, so that you only pay for,

you know the things that you're using, like the things that are costing us money to have you on the platform, right. So users, that's why we we look at how many users you have. And our plans are based on how many users are in your account. But really, as we have, as we've evolved as business owners, and as we had more users using MemberVault very heavily.

And just learning, learning more and you know, evolving, and all that good stuff, we've realized that the biggest costs are really, you know, storage and bandwidth.

So one of the things that we decided that we needed to do is that we needed to start looking at our storage costs, and maybe potentially having a storage cap. So we're going to be doing that at the end of this year, which we have let people know,

kind of very passively. It's in our roadmap article that we just

that we published this week, letting people know like what features are, what big features, I should say what big features are coming for through the rest of the year. So you can see that by going to a member vault.co forward slash roadmap.

And so we said at the bottom, like heads up like this fall, probably November is when the storage limits will go into effect for each of the plans.

And anyone that is on an upgrade to a paid plan before that date. And obviously we're going to give like a ton of notice and be like very given give an exact date and everything as we go little bit closer.

But anyone that upgrades to a pay plan before then we'll get unlimited storage. So you'll get grandfathered into that

which feels good to us. So that's, you know, that's one thing that we realized. And then the other one is when you have more products, you have more stuff, and you're memorable. And so you have, even if you don't have a ton of users, we have really active users, if they're accessing a bunch of stuff in your account. It does cost us more money, and we're talking small amounts. But when you're running a SaaS company, which is a software as a service,

it kind of like with a membership in this innocence. You have to look at your scalable, like, sure if you're doing it for five people, it's not that big of a deal. But what if, what if you're serving 500 people? And so we have we that's something that we've kind of had to evolve over time. It's like, okay, like, this worked really well when we only had 100 people using MemberVault really actively, but now we have a lot more 1000s of people using MemberVault really actively as like the primary hub for their business and so

One of the things that we saw is on our free plan, people were, you know, having like 20 or 30 products.

And so what we we really, this is something that we had been really like considering for probably six months is do we want to reduce the users? Do we want? Like how do we want to kind of streamline our free plan a little bit more

to really to protect ourselves. And a little bit also to help conversions because we have had quite a few people are we in our turn rate is actually lower than the industry standard. In turn, if you're a membership person, you know, what that is, churn is when you have people paying you a recurring amount every month, and they cancel. So they, quote unquote, turned.

So our turn is actually really good. But we do have the people that do turn typically go down because

of the way that they are able to use them overall, on the free plan. It's like, Okay, well, we really want to and again, I'm being brutally honest, and sharing full transparency here, it's like, we want to make sure that we are taking care of her for users, we really do feel very, very passionate about people being able to use member vault to grow their business, and to really validate their offers and to be able to use it, which was one of the reasons why we didn't want to do

feature limits on our free plan, because we didn't want people to have to jump through all these hoops to be able to use MemberVault, effectively on the free plan, we wanted them to really be able to test it out, make some money, get some engagement. And then and then upgrade. I mean, that's our goal there. And so I was like, okay, like, do we want to do

one product that Well, that doesn't really let them get to fully explore the Benjen by where you get people in on a free product, and then they check out your other stuff? Do we want to do to, you know, do we want to

allow people to have inactive products that they can still edit, but nobody, nobody on the outside can access.

So that they can actually, you know, be building up a whole like suite of products, and then upgrade to a paid plan and then have like everything ready? So that they're basically optimizing their ROI, right? So we had all of these discussions, and you know, every single one of them was a gut check. It's like, okay, like, why are we making this decision? Does it feel good? And sometimes I think on paper, like, things do feel good, and then you actually sit on it a little bit, or you release it onto the wild, you're like, actually, No, that doesn't feel good. So that's something that I want to, I want to make sure and say like it's not,

it's not always an exact science of what feels good. But it is important to make your decisions based on the things that your gut is okay with, right? Because you're going to be,

I want you to be like imagining yourself on a Facebook Live or something, or a podcast interview talking about it and not create internally cringing, right? When you're explaining whatever decision that you made, might be uncomfortable, but I want you to feel confident that it's the right decision for you in your business. And that you're taking, and that you're still taking care of your people as much as you can, I mean, there's still gonna be people that are going to be upset

with uncomfortable decisions, right with, with conflict, the decisions.

It's not your job to make everyone happy, like it's impossible. But you do need to feel confident that you have considered all of the the elements, both your business and your customers, and your people, and that you're doing the best thing for everyone, you know, you're you're finding the best potential answer for everyone. And so what we came up with for the free plan is that as of June 30, the free plan, and this is for people that are on already on a free plan and new free plan, people that have signed up. So everyone across the board on a free plan is going to be limited to three active products. And so that includes visible and invisible and bonus products. So the only thing that is not included in that is the inactive and that's again, products that people the admins can access and tweak and build and create. But they can't actually share it or have anyone sign up or access that content until they turn it active. So that felt really good to us. And we also want to make sure that we gave, you know as much time as possible for people to be able to plan accordingly. And so not only did we do a month and a half notice, because we announced this week. But we also created a limited time.

Free 30 day coupon. So it's like it's more time to sign up for a paid membership plan with that coupon. I think it's like July 13, I think is when that coupon expires. But we wanted people to have as much time as possible to, you know, adjust our budget and get comfortable or let other people know that they're not going to have access to something, give them an opportunity to upgrade to a paid product. Like maybe you have

a whole bunch of free resources that you were giving lifetime access to. And you need to like bundle them into one product and let people know. So we wanted to give people as much time as possible to both make the decision and adjust their budget and let their people know how they were going to be handling things. So that but that's really like stretching it out.

Comfortable changing your prices, or changing elements of your pricing is definitely one of those like nail biters like how, how are people going to respond to this? And so we announced earlier this week, and overall, the response has been really, really positive. We've had a ton of people just be like, that's still really, really generous like Chabad, like, unlimited products on free plan was pretty amazing. But we get it.

And, you know, there was a few people that were like, I guess I'm going to have to look elsewhere. And the cool thing is that in our community on Facebook, which is just truly like one of the most positive places I've ever seen on the, on the internet.

Our customers were like, good, good luck finding a platform that is, even with this change that is more budget friendly. And so it was really cool, because it's like, okay, our customers and our audience are supporting us, like, not only are they supporting us, but they are helping other people in a positive, friendly, not accusatory, like,

trolling way, like they're helping them educate themselves and, and make decisions. So that has been a really good thing. And I, I feel really good about it, we've spent a lot of time as a team talking about it. And I think that it's something that

is going to grow really well, like as we continue to scale. So that feels really good. But was uncomfortable, it was uncomfortable to talk about it was uncomfortable to dig through all of the different

kind of like parameters of like, what the scope was like? Do people get grandfathered into a free account? If they already have one? Like, why are we doing this? Like? What's the important thing to kind of keep in mind there? And can people have

enacted products, you know, unlimited and active products? That was a big one, because I think a lot of SaaS companies, from a conversion standpoint would have gone with, you can only have three products period.

But we just decided from that customer centric standpoint, like, that just didn't feel good. So

yeah, so that was the that's the first uncomfortable

decision and conversation that we have had to have this week. But obviously has been in the works for a while.

And then the second one is the toolkit. So the maker MV shine toolkit, which I've been talking about. And, you know, it's something that I followed all the, I followed all the strategies that I talked about. And this is specifically for people, especially that are doing the main momentum or that are pre selling something or considering pre selling.

And this is the uncomfortable thing about pre sell this is a whole point, like when you pre sell, you hope that things are going to convert really, really well. And it's going to be super motivating. And you're basically getting paid up front to create the this thing and you have validation that people are gonna buy it because they are buying the presale. But there are times when you do a pre solid, it does kind of flops or just doesn't perform as well as you want it to. And this is the uncomfortable thing. It's like, Well, what do you do? And I see this conversation and

then in other like business strategy groups where they're like, well, I don't want to sell something before I create it. Because what if like, nobody buys like, What do I do? And so you obviously you have the, you have the opportunity to still create it right? Like, you don't have to kill the product or the offer. Just because nobody buys like, there's a lot of reasons why people don't buy, maybe you didn't publicize it enough. Maybe you need to give some more like payment options.

And this is something you know, these are kind of like checklist items that I have on the main momentum checklist, which you can get by going to membervault.co forward slash supercharge. And, you know, I talked about how like giving people options and stay in front of mind and following up, right. So these are all things that we could have done with the toolkit. So that so we had two different products, we had the toolkit and then we had the lite version. And the lite version was for people that weren't ready to spend $500. And we also had a payment plan but like $500

and that they would be able to apply that $50 that they paid for the lite version towards the toolkit, the bigger toolkit once they were ready.

And I still I think that that was a really fun strategy. And I was really great. And if situation was different, I probably would be making a different decision. But this is the decision that we came up with as a team. So one of the team members that is currently on our team euro, who does amazing graphic design work. You know, we had talked about it, like, do we want to do this toolkit like do we want to do this all the stuff that we've listed out as bullet points of things that will create like, or can we do it by June 15. We really we slept on it, you know, we did all of that stuff. And

we were like yeah, we can do it. Because our hearts were like yes, this is going to be so awesome. Like let's do it.

But then when it wasn't selling as well as I wanted it to immediately

And other things are converting really well, it was like, Okay, let's check in. I also, if you've been listening, you know that I am pregnant I'm, I'm seven months pregnant I'm well, it's like almost eight months at this point. And I am starting to really feel both my energy decline, but also my brain cells to be completely honest. Definitely pregnancy brain for real. And so I just was really having to check in with like all the other CEO stuff that I'm doing, like we're bringing on two team members that are trialing this month. And so working with them, the free plan changes, we have to update our website. I mean, like there's, as you know, as, as a business owner, like,

there are so many little things that add up that you have to do in your day to day that you may not consider when you're thinking about creating these products. And that's why a lot of people have a hard time creating digital products, because there's just not enough time in the day. And so for me, it's not only the time thing, but it's also just the energy and bandwidth. And so I checked in with her and I was like, how are you feeling about this? Like, it's not converting the way that we wanted it to? I'm sure that we could I think that my my opinion is that

if we added an even more extended payment plan, and also, if we created the offer, if we created the content,

that on June 15, when it's supposed to unlock like this would convert more highly, because the stuff that's in it is definitely much more like

instant gratification stuff like it's swipes and templates and

design stuff. Right. And so it's like, I think we have up quite a few hot leads for it.

And I think people are just waiting. And so you know, obviously like I said, Okay, if I was following the the checklist,

the main momentum checklist, the supercharge link that I just gave you, if I was following that, then I would probably add an extended payment plan.

And then I would also, you know, reach out to the hot leads and like, see what's what. But because I, we were also checking in with our time and energy, and just how much stuff is coming up through these other changes in the business.

Ultimately, they're like, this just isn't a great fit for us right now to offer this. And so what I came up with is we're killing the larger toolkit. And we are going to try a new strategy, because it's all about like just pivoting and exploring and experimenting, right. And so the light resource will continue, like the content that was promised to the light people that purchase will be unlocking this Saturday, May 15. But then we're going to add more stuff. So it's basically over time going to become as robust as the toolkit was planned for. But we are not promising that it will all unlock on June 15. And so that definitely gives a lot more space. And I kind of see it more as like an ongoing product. And anyone and this is something I feel pretty strongly about, like anyone that has purchased before the price increases, just gets access to all that stuff. Like I think that's a really fun way to reward your early buyers.

And so I mean, we've done that with with member vaults, the member wall platform moved on that pretty much with any offer that we've done, like you don't lose anything that you we don't make you pay more.

If we increase the price down the road, like you get all of this extra stuff as we add it, because you came along for the ride earlier in the process, right. So as we add content, the price will go up and probably will be a great opportunity to be like, Hey, we're about to drop some new content, like make sure you upgrade by this date, to get the URL, you know, to get the lower price. So I think that's going to be a really fun strategy. I always really like

testing out strategies, because then I can share them with you and say, Hey, this worked or this didn't.

And so that's something that we're going to try. And just so you know, and this is where the uncomfortable part comes in. I mean,

the uncomfortable part kind of like big picture is saying, hey, this didn't convert the way that I wanted it to write, but again, in my opinion, like, we could make some tweaks and it would convert really well.

But it didn't cover the way we want to and we're closing, like that's kind of uncomfortable. And then it's like extra work because it's like okay, well, we've been sharing all these links, like where do we want the link to go to so just so you know, the

member vault.co forward slash make your envy shine link that I have been sharing, and that's in the

main momentum checklist and multiple social media posts and everything that now redirects to a teaser module on the light products. And so this is why I highly recommend anytime you do any offer, like use a pretty link or a bit link so that you can update it. If you change if you pivot or change things down the road, so that you don't have to worry about like all these dead links

That are just not like not going anywhere.

So like, that's extra work that you have to do that and update those things. So that's kind of the bigger, uncomfortable thing. But then the other one is we did have to be to people by the toolkit, it's like, Okay, how are we going to handle that? Like, that's really disappointing for them, right. And so what I ended up doing, what I chose to do is I refunded them, emailed them, and gave them access to the light resource for free. Because I know it's kind of a pain in the butt to sign up or something and then get an email being like, nevermind, we're not doing this. So I really wanted them to feel as supported as possible.

In full, full transparency, I and my hot my hot, hot pregnancy mess, I totally accidentally triggered

an email to them. So they, it wasn't the best, wasn't the best client experience that they had. And I hope they will forgive me because I'm not perfect, and none of us are right. So like, there will always be cringy things that happen to you, and you have to just shake it off and move on. But that's what I that's how I chose to handle that. And then the other thing is that euro for the toolkit, Euro was going to be creating all of these design resources, and she was going to be getting a percentage of the toolkit sales. But now that we're doing it differently, you know, I, again, this is another uncomfortable conversation, sort of around like, okay, like we're doing it differently, like, and we talked about doing compensation, like, how do we want to do this with a new product. And so we just, we had a heart to heart about it. And so what she has chosen to do is,

instead of creating design resources, because she is also a mom with two young kids, and she takes care of them while working. So she has a very full plate.

Instead of adding design resources to the light offer that we're doing now that we've pivoted to, she's probably going to create like a bundle of really amazing design resources as she's able and offer her MemberVault. And we'll just like link to it and give a discount. And we're kind of, we're gonna see how that goes, right. And maybe that kind of will change as she has time. And as we evolve this, this is another really fun thing about MemberVault is that you can, you can do bundles, right, so like she could have her offer on our member vault and like, people could buy both for a lesser price or whatever. And so we're gonna, we're gonna kind of just play it by ear, but so that's like another thing that had to had to be figured out. And so I guess,

at the end of the day, the thing that I really want to be clear about is that you are going to have to make uncomfortable decisions. And if you keep burying your head in the sand, because you don't want to deal with them,

it's gonna drain so much of your energy. Like, as soon as I made this decision, as soon as I talked to, you're like, I felt such a like, weight off my shoulders, I was feeling like I was drowning, to be completely honest, and everything that was happening and just

having to go to the midwife every two weeks, and like just things are really speeding up in terms of about to be a new mom again. And so it was like I was really feeling like, I'm not going to be able to do all this.

And so if you're feeling like that, like it's really time to check in with, yeah, I maybe don't want to make this decision. But like, I need to make this decision. And you're going to feel so much better after you do. So that's the first kind of like big takeaway about this topic. And then the second one is that when you make that decision, it unlocks so much of your energy, like you, you will realize like how much you were weighed down by this thing that wasn't a good fit anymore. Whether it was your pricing or your clients or an offer or whatever it is, right. Or a team member, that's not a good fit, or whatever it is.

But when you make that decision, and you set the ball rolling, right,

that you will feel that energy come back in. And that's exactly what has happened with me is I'm so like re motivated. I'm like, okay, cuz I've always been really excited about the content for the these offers. But it was starting to feel impossible to execute it in the way that I had decided. And so this feels much more spacious. And the other thing that I realized it's going to be really cool about it is that we can co create so we're going to be doing circle embeds in the make your MB shine, resource and so people are gonna be able to talk to each other and be like, Oh, yeah, this was a really good template, or this was really good swipe. I wish there was an X right? Like, I wish the Aaron would create this other thing, or I wish Aaron would talk about this or like, what happens like if this happens. And so I'm going to be able to interact with the buyers which is really cool community, right. And but then the other thing is that I will be able to create content moving forward because we're not saying that this is like the

set price like we can create content together that benefits you. And then it will slowly raise the price. And of course, at some point like we will hit a cap or I don't really want to go higher than that.

But I'm going to be doing a private podcast, which I love doing. And I know I'll love doing it even after baby comes. And then also workshops, as I'm able, like little mini recorded workshops with captions and transcripts.

So, yes, if you want to see a list of all the stuff that is planned, both I did, I broke it down, I'm not not falling into the same trap. If you want to see what's going to be added on to the stuff that was already promised, for there make you make your MP shine light, the things that are gonna be coming like

the rest of this month, early June, early June,

you can go to membervault.co forward slash, make your MP shine and again, that now redirects to a teaser module on the light product. And then I also listed out all the things that I want to create that might come later, it's probably gonna be this fall. So we'll see and I will update you on how this goes. I did not haven't heard from back from the buyers yet, or the full toolkit. And I completely understand if they're very frustrated with me.

Especially accidentally triggered some extra emails for them. Whoops.

But yeah, I haven't heard back from them yet. But I, you know, I will, I will share how this continues to progress. But I fully encourage you, I highly encourage you

to check in with yourself. And any uncomfortable conversations or decisions that you need to make because it is

you will feel lighter on the other side and they need to happen. It's part of running a successful business, as uncomfortable as it is and you will get

I will not say that you will ever get fully comfortable. I'm not there yet. But you will get more comfortable than then you are right now if you haven't done a lot of these conversations or decisions. Nothing is ever set in stone is the important thing to remember. So if it's not serving you, or it's not serving your customers, or your people

it's time to really check in and think about like okay, what what's a good alternative? How can I change this so that it's still good for everyone? So that it's still or at least not?

Still not like it's not like I'm taking their money and running with it right like so. Yes.

Here is to uncomfortable conversations and growing as a business owner.

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