Carving Out a Niche and Serving Modern Jewish Brides

Stu McLaren: There is a big trend brewing that’s revolutionizing the way business is being done. Big companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are jumping on this too but so are thousands of others in all kinds of markets like photography and calligraphy, fitness, finance, meal planning, lesson planning, dog training, and so many more, and they’re doing it by shifting to a recurring revenue model. Hi. My name is Stu McLaren and for more than a decade I’ve been helping tens of thousands of entrepreneurs generate recurring revenue through membership sites. Join our host, Shelli Varela, as she takes you behind-the-scenes to see how these companies are building a thriving tribe that spends with them every single month. Now, let’s get to today’s episode.   [INTERVIEW]   Shelli Varela: Karen Cinnamon, welcome to the It’s A TRIBE Thing Podcast. Buddy, how are you?   Karen Cinnamon: I’m great. What an honor and a privilege to speak to you today, Shelli.   Shelli Varela: Oh my gosh. It’s our honor and privilege to have you. So, thanks for making the time and thanks for putting your hand up and agreeing to share your membership journey.   Karen Cinnamon: Well, I’m absolutely passionate about my membership. If I can help just one person today, I’m a happy girl.   Shelli Varela: Amazing. So, your membership is called Brides Club. And we’re going to get you to tell us a bit about your membership site in a minute but would you mind sharing with our amazing audience how it is you ended up being a membership site owner and who was Karen Cinnamon at the beginning of the journey?   Karen Cinnamon: Okay. Well, let’s rewind back at being Brides Club. Let’s rewind back to not when I was a bride, but even way before. I’ll give you the story as from the beginning. So, my background is design and branding. I had a design and branding consultancy for many years. And when I got engaged back in 2013, quite late for what I wanted. I wanted to get married earlier on in life. I didn’t find the ones when I was about 37. Yeah, I’m a modern career girl but I still wanted to get married and have kids and all that stuff. And I got engaged and I found that there was nothing that spoke to me as a modern Jewish woman when it came to inspiration, advice, guidance. There were loads of blogs and magazines for non-Jewish weddings, but really nothing for anything of interest for a modern Jewish woman. And I did spot that at the market and I thought, “I think that’s missing. I think I could do something with that.”   And then I happen to be 13 weeks pregnant at my wedding and I thought, “You know what, I’m going on maternity leave shortly. I need something to keep my brain ticking. I’m going to start this idea.” I’m going to do just a little blog. No startup costs. Just start a blog that showcases interesting, creative Jewish weddings.   Shelli Varela: So, when you started the blog, was it more or less things that you had noticed or holes in the market or tips and tricks and things that you thought, “Wow, I either learned this the hard way or this would save somebody some time or money or energy if they knew this information?”   Karen Cinnamon: Well, without wanting to generalize, a lot of Jewish weddings that I’d attended had been quite similar. The traditions are absolutely beautiful but a lot of people are scared to kind of put their takes on them or have that crazy DJ that they really like. They think they have to have the DJ that everyone else has as well. And I wanted to show people what’s possible for their wedding by showcasing other people’s weddings that I thought were great. So, it’s more about showcasing other real Jewish weddings. So, pictures and words from the couple and all that kind of thing to show other people what’s possible that they can put their individual spin on their wedding as well. And the reason I mentioned my design background is because I’m creative, I could put my own creative spin on the waiting but a lot of people need to see something in front of them to realize that they can do that for their wedding. Does that make sense?   Shelli Varela: Totally. I used to sell real estate for a hot minute. And to your point, this is really brilliant that you had the insight to do this because oftentimes I would bring a potential buyer to a home and if they didn’t have the imagination or the creative insight like you do to be able to see what that house could be, then oftentimes they would say no, even though the bones and the layout was a perfect fit. So, I love that you’re able to bridge that gap for those people that maybe don’t have the same gift that you do.   Karen Cinnamon: Exactly. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not after people having like crazy themes and kind of a weird entertainment. It’s not that, like even if they just choose one thing that represents them and their union and their coupledom, that just makes their wedding that bit more personal. That was sort of my goal with the blog and it really did. It was back in 2013. Social media wasn’t even as big a thing. It really was just about this corner of the internet that I wanted to set up to help others and also, as I say, to keep my brain ticking on maternity leave. I knew I’d go doolally. That’s what we say here in England if I didn’t have something to keep my brain thinking. So, that’s kind of how it started. It came together like that and I was genuinely excited by the idea as well.   Shelli Varela: So, how did you go from having a blog to saying, “You know what, I wonder if this could be a membership site?”   Karen Cinnamon: Sure. So, many, many years between one to the other. So, as I say, that was back in 2013. I started the blog. Several months later have my first baby. And actually, the blog was definitely my second baby. I couldn’t keep away from it. It was very addictive. It was really taking off and it became my full-time business within a year and I put my design and run business to one side. Advertisers were lining up to work with me. I knew I was onto something. Audience from all over the world. I was onto something. Two years later, three years later, a team of three. Now, fast forward to 2018 and we have a team in New York and UK. We’re big and I’m thinking you know what, we need something else. I want to have several income streams, not just advertisers or affiliates, but let’s see how we could potentially serve our audience and monetize them at the same time. And I thought about a community element and turn it into a really nice membership.   So, I had the idea, I suppose, about five years after I started the blog and I thought everyone I spoke to told me it was a brilliant idea. I thought it was a brilliant idea. I came up with what I thought was going to be a brilliant membership. I launched it to remember I’ve got about 60,000 readers a month coming and it was crickets. No one joined my membership.   Shelli Varela: So, how did you feel when that happened? Because that’s a great problem to have. “I have a massive audience. You know what, I’m going to press go on this. We’re going to launch it out into the world,” thinking you’re going to have a certain result. So, how did you feel and what did you do when you didn’t get the result you were hoping for?   Karen Cinnamon: Well, first of all, I exaggerated for like a slight dramatic effect. We had about 30 people join, but to me, I was expecting thousands. You know, it was going to be a hit. So, it was a huge shock. It was really disappointing. Also, I’m a sort of person I do things kind of big and I’ve gone out with like a big. I didn’t know what a launch was then but to me, it was a launch. It was just a horrible feeling. And you know, what was even worse, Shelli, was that the actual membership itself wasn’t working. So, it’s not even the, okay, you know what, I got a few people. I’ll sell the hell out of them. I’ll make an amazing. I was almost embarrassed by what we were offering. It wasn’t quite right.   Shelli Varela: Can I ask you this? So, what I love about you is that you tried something. It didn’t work. You didn’t quit. You planted and pivoted and your membership has obviously become successful and something that you love to have this amazing community. What was it about that initial setback? What did you make that mean about yourself? And how did you overcome that? And the reason I ask is because you have overcome it in a way that many other people will stop in their tracks when that happens. So, just looking for some advice or some tips for those who are maybe experiencing something similar. What did you do to keep going?   Karen Cinnamon: I think if you’ve got an ounce of, you know, I knew there was something in it. I just knew there was something in it. The members that were joining, although it wasn’t their perfect product, I could see how it potentially could be. I just needed the tools to understand how to make it good. And I also thought it was belief. That’s the word. I believed in it. I believed it could be something incredible and I just, you know, we don’t always admit that we need help with something. We think, well, I started this blog on my own and made it a success. Why shouldn’t the membership? Suddenly, I needed some help. I wanted to try it. It wasn’t like an agonizing thought, “Shall I continue it? Or should I dump it?” I just wanted to make it the best that could be and I knew if I invested in something like TRIBE or got help or whatever, I could make it work, I try my best to make it work. So, I suppose the lesson is understanding that you need help sometimes and that’s okay.   Shelli Varela: I love that you said that. It is something that we, as people, are innately reluctant to do is put our hands up and be vulnerable and say, “Hey, like, I don’t have it all figured out,” or maybe I could use some additional support or help or resources. So, hats off to you for seeing where the deficits were and then shoring them up.   Karen Cinnamon: I think I was really lucky, though, Shelli, because I launched it in January 2018 and I joined TRIBE I think two or three months later. So, I was very lucky with the timing that TRIBE was coming out just when I needed it. So, maybe I got to be lucky as well but, yeah, I just wanted to make this. I just wanted to do everything I could to potentially make this a success because I knew there was something there.   Shelli Varela: I want to ask you about the difference TRIBE made in your membership site but, first, I wanted to ask you this question. You are such an innovator because one of the things you said was you were one of the first people who decided to have a membership for brides because you looked around and didn’t see anything like it. Many people will look around and say, “Man, is there a market for this? I’ve never seen anything like this.” And because they haven’t seen anything like it, they think to themselves, “Oh, well, it hasn’t been done before. Maybe it’s not a thing.” But you actually did the opposite. You saw the void and you said, “Wow, that’s not a deficit. That is an opportunity.” What did that process look like for you?   Karen Cinnamon: Well, I’ll tell you a story. So, I knew I wanted to join TRIBE but the one thing stopping me was Stu wasn’t talking to people who had brides to be his audience. He was talking to therapists and people with business audience on this. And I was like, “But brides?” And so, I thought, “You know what, I’ll do a search in last year’s TRIBE free Facebook group and see if anyone had,” I was doing my searches. No one had a bridal membership and I was in James Wedmore’s pop up group at the time for TRIBE. And I actually said, I said the same thing. I said, “I really believe in TRIBE. I believe I can make this work but the only thing that’s stopping me is no one seems to have ever done a membership for brides before.” And you know what James Wedmore wrote, the legend James Wedmore?   Shelli Varela: The legendary James Wedmore said what?   Karen Cinnamon: He said, “You seem to believe in TRIBE but do you believe in you?” I’ll never forget that. Like, where do I sign?   Shelli Varela: James Wedmore’s advice is like a heat-seeking missile. You’re like out.   Karen Cinnamon: Yeah. So, no, I had nowhere to turn to. I was like, “I’m signing up. I’ll give it a go.” Okay. So, yeah, I had no excuse after that.   [ANNOUNCEMENT]   Stu McLaren: So many people in all kinds of niche markets are leveraging their existing knowledge and influence and they’re transforming it into passive monthly income. This isn’t luck. This is a repeatable formula for producing a growing subscription income and if thousands of others can do it, you can too. To find out what type of membership site would be right for your business, visit GetTRIBEGuide.com. Go to GetTRIBEGuide.com and download it today. You’re awesome!   [INTERVIEW]   Shelli Varela: So, that’s amazing. So, let’s switch gears here for a second because you had talked about you were in a really unusual situation such that you had a massive audience, but you weren’t seeing the conversions that you were hoping for. You weren’t seeing the transformation and the community that you were hoping for and weren’t happy with the actual nuts and bolts and mechanics of the membership site that you had. And then you join TRIBE. Can you tell us the difference that made or what your biggest takeaway was that allowed you to switch gears and convert in a way that you now have a larger audience inside the membership that you can help and serve?   Karen Cinnamon: There are so many ways. First of all, people often ask me, “How soon did you make your money back or whatever?” and for me, I made the money back as soon as I joined the community of TRIBE, these membership owners. So, that was for starters, immediately you’re in the right environment. Second of all, the research phase that I omitted the first time around when I did it, the way TRIBE structures you to do uncomfortable research that you get to know your audience in a way that they really wish you wouldn’t know them that well but you just do through the research so the research I think was incredible the way that that’s structured. I got so many things wrong the first time. I got the pricing structure wrong. I got the name wrong because I thought they were brides and they weren’t going to be with me for a lifetime. I asked them to pay a one-off fee which is a critical mistake if you’re a membership owner. The name was wrong. Everything was wrong, but I didn’t realize.   So, yeah, I’d say the research was the thing that made the big difference, the foundation module, and obviously all the other bits as well. But, yeah, it’s getting to know your audience’s problems in such a way that TRIBE teaches you that you can then solve them and then your membership becomes irresistible to people.   Shelli Varela: I love that and I would echo that as well. I’ve heard many people say something similar. The research that TRIBE has available in terms of not just getting to know your client base and your customers because many people who either are looking to start membership sites or have membership sites believe that they know their people and they do but here’s the caveat or the secret sauce. It’s knowing your audience in a way that makes them feel like you are inside their head. So, when they hear you speak, they hear your story but they actually feel theirs.   Karen Cinnamon: Yes. What I will say too, Shelli, is my membership didn’t just kind of transform the minute I took TRIBE and then reopened it and it’s just been kind of unicorns and rainbows all the way since that moment. It is an ongoing process. And I feel like I just get better and better and better at it, like you refine it and refine it. And I do all sorts of things in my membership to create FOMO. You know, I told you I’ve got a very big audience outside of the membership. So, it isn’t always open membership. I’m constantly creating FOMO for my big platform. I do all kinds of things that I only realize that they work through trial and error. So, it also just gives you the confidence to know what you’re doing even beyond launching it the first time after TRIBE. It’s a way of life. You know, I did TRIBE again last year. I’m going to do it again this year. It’s like TRIBE season and it’s just, for me, it’s been the making of my business.   It’s for everything together so, obviously, we monetize through advertising as well as being a big blog and having this membership in this incredible community to the heart and soul of my membership is community in the way. They’re not just planning weddings. They’re supporting one another through life like they become, they talk about everything because it’s all women at a similar stage of life all over the world. And these women talk so openly and I learned so much from them for my business and then what you said earlier about getting to know your audience. Well, the membership creates that incredible community for you to get to know even better. It’s like a free focus group that you have under your nose the whole time. So, no, I could go on and on. You know I could.   Shelli Varela: Well, it’s true what they say, people come for the content, but they stay for the community.   Karen Cinnamon: Oh yeah.   Shelli Varela: It is so, so true. I’ve heard this probably more than any other comments about the membership site is creating a safe space where the members can get to know each other because you all are sharing that commonality in whatever the membership site topic is. And particularly for you, you know, you have brides and it’s a really exciting time, but also a super stressful time and all of their focus comes down to like that day. So, having a community is super.   Karen Cinnamon: Yeah. And I’d love to just give you one example at the moment, there’s a lot of wedding postponements happening because of the situation at the moment with COVID. And a lot of the members are helping the other members design new stationery free of charge that they can send out and they’re all doing what they can to support each other during this difficult period even though they’re all having a tough time. So, the community do so much of the work for you almost because it’s so powerful. Always the community is going to be more powerful than just one. So, yeah, I mean, it’s just this incredible part of my business that will always be my baby.   Shelli Varela: It’s incredible. Last question, if somebody is listening and they’re thinking about starting a membership site, whether they have a large audience or they’re just getting started, what advice would you give them? And what difference has having a membership site made in your life?   Karen Cinnamon: I think having a membership site, obviously, for any business owner means that you’ve got live elements to your business that is constantly evolving and it makes you a better businessperson. I genuinely think that because you’ve got real individuals under your nose rather than your audience being individuals that you don’t know what they like, what they do, where they live, like this is just, yes, it’s a small portion of your wide audience. But like I said, I think the most important thing about having them show up for any business is getting to know your audience in that way and the way they talk and what they teach you. So, if anyone’s on the fence, I’d say you’ve got to at least give it a shot like I did. You’ll never regret it. Whatever happens, you’ll learn so much.   Shelli Varela: Well, and I just want to echo back something you said earlier, which is you believed it and so many people will have to see something to believe it. But conversely, you believed it, which is why you saw it.   Karen Cinnamon: Yeah. I mean, you framed it beautifully. Also, now that it’s taken off and it’s a thriving membership, just the fact that we can help in such a way, these couples, which is actually a very stressful thing to plan a wedding and to be able to help in that way, is just very, very rewarding. And I’m sure it’s the same for every membership owner. So, think about your audience first, and you second, and you’ll get your membership off the ground,   Shelli Varela: And also, the counterintuitive pieces, to your point, they help you build it. So, it’s actually easier than you would anticipate it might be because your community shows up and shores up and helps you transform this idea you have into something that’s living and breathing.   Karen Cinnamon: Yeah, absolutely. And we haven’t even talked about the monthly recurring revenue which is just, you know, it’s just a great feeling to see that in your bank account every month from a financial side of things. So, yeah, you put it all together and why wouldn’t you give it your all?   Shelli Varela: Yeah. The beautiful thing about having recurring revenue and monthly income to your point is for this gift that you’re birthing out into the world to be sustainable. And for you to show up stress-free and being able to fully concentrate on sharing your gifts and sharing your ideas, it has to be financially sustainable. So, it’s so incredible that the thing that you love you get paid to do, but because you’re getting paid to do it, you can show up in a bigger and better way for that community.   Karen Cinnamon: Oh, absolutely. And you know, we’ll do anything for our TRIBE. At the moment, it’s a very testing time for everybody and we are showing up in a big way. One of the members it’s their birthday tomorrow. We’re doing a virtual birthday party for her.   Shelli Varela: Awesome.   Karen Cinnamon: Yeah, I mean, people are in self-isolation right now. She was going be celebrating on her own. So, we are doing a virtual birthday party for her tomorrow.   Shelli Varela: The virtual Brides Club birthday party. I love it.   Karen Cinnamon: Yeah. And it’s the first time we’ve done one in two years. And we’re doing it because before this week, people could celebrate with their friends and have a normal birthday party, but she can’t. So, it’s whatever it takes because like you’re saying, we’re invested in them. They’re invested in us. You can never do that in a free community. You just burn yourself out behaving like that for free. So, yeah, it works for everybody.   Shelli Varela: Beautiful. If people are looking for you online, Karen, where is the best place they can find you?   Karen Cinnamon: So, I love Instagram. I am being a community girl. I’m all over Instagram. So, I’m at Instagram @SmashingTheGlass and my blog, my big platform for any brides to be and particularly Jewish and interfaith Jewish but all brides will love to look at it is SmashingTheGlass.com.   Shelli Varela: Excellent. Thank you so much for taking the time. You are a gem.   Karen Cinnamon: It’s been such a pleasure. Thank you for having me.   [CLOSING]   Stu McLaren: I hope you love that story. It’s amazing, right? That’s what It’s a TRIBE Thing is all about. So many people in all kinds of niche markets are leveraging their existing knowledge and influence and they’re transforming it into passive monthly income. Listen, this isn’t luck. There’s a repeatable formula for producing a growing subscription income and each week we’re going behind the scenes to show you exactly how they did it. Get the latest stories and actionable ideas from each episode at www.ItsaTRIBEThing.com and if you know one other person who could benefit from this, tell them to subscribe. Tell them to go to ItsaTRIBEThing.com. [END]