Affordable and with all the bells and whistles you could ask for, MemberVault is the real deal.
I’ve offered different courses and products over the years, but I’ve never been loyal to a course membership platform. I’ve tried Thinkiffic. I’ve tried Teachable twice. I’ve had LearnDash installed on my sites for years. I used Invanto for two years. I’ve tried setting up systems on my own website. Without fail, though, I eventually shut things down. Either the program costs too much money or takes too much time to set up, and if there’s anything I’m short on these days, it’s time. A few weeks ago, I stumbled across MemberVault, though, and I feel like it’s the platform I’ve spent years seeking.
What is MemberVault?
MemberVault is a relationship marketing platform where you set up your own marketplace (I promise – it’s easier than that may sound!). Within your marketplace, you can offer courses, sell products, and sell coaching services. Basically, you can use MemberVault to sell anything you want to create.
How much does MemberVault cost?
How does free sound?
Yep, MemberVault is free, and ALL features are included. I’m pretty sure that’s something you won’t find elsewhere because most systems want to nickel and dime you. You don’t even need to register using your credit card to access this course membership platform!
The free plan is good until you have 100 users, at which point you will need to upgrade.
Typically, the entry-level tier on most learning platforms costs around $39 a month. That’s money that adds up quickly!
When you outgrow the free plan, the next plan up costs just $19 and will suffice until you have 1,000 users.
MemberVault’s pricing is better than any other platform.
Why is MemberVault the best?
I’ve been around the block with various course software, and there’s one thing I hate about all of them: They’re a pain in the ass to set up.
I’ve spent days setting things up in Teachable. I’ve spent weeks trying to customize WordPress plugins like LearnDash. Eventually, my enthusiasm for the platform wanes when I’m unable to set anything up quickly. I’m happy to report this was not the case with MemberVault. Within HOURS I had one of my products live on the platform and available for purchase. While it’s true I probably have more experience with course membership platforms than some, I feel confident that most people can quickly navigate this platform, either alone or with the help of their incredible Facebook group.
Ease of use is a big deal for me and cost is, too. A free plan that robust told me the founders of MemberVault had so much faith in their platform that they didn’t need to trap anyone into an overpriced plan from the outset. Service like this means so much to me in my old age. If I can experience a platform and decide it’s the best for me then I will be happy to throw all my money at it down the line. On the other hand, if you want me to pay big bucks before I even know what you’re about then I’ll probably keep one eye on the exit ramp… which is what prompted me to leave Teachable for MemberVault.
How is MemberVault support?
I typically have to be really stuck to reach out to support, and I’m happy to say I never felt stuck with this platform. They have such a vast help section that went above and beyond in answering any question I had. However, if you find yourself stuck, there’s a chat box that’s always in the corner of your screen where you can either receive help via chat or email.
On top of these options for help, there’s a Facebook Group offering a wealth of information. I asked a question about customization in the Facebook group, and the CEO quickly answered it! Generally, though, people are more than willing to help one another get their accounts up and running.
What are standard Membervault features?
One of the things that have always driven me crazy about Teachable is that you have to pay for upgrades in order to make full use of the course membership platform. For instance, you’ll pay an upcharge if you want to offer quizzes for the people taking your courses. I don’t mean to pick on Teachable, though, because that’s the way most platforms function. You get a fundamental platform and then pay more if you want any of the bells and whistles.
MemberVault doesn’t play that way, though. Here are the Membervault features you’ll get with a basic (FREE) membership to the course membership platform:
- UNLIMITED PRODUCTS
- Quizzes
- Increase engagement with rewards – MemberVault comes with an automatic leaderboard for all products you offer. You can encourage your audience to use your products more by enticing them with unlockable content they can open based on their own engagement rates and completion of modules.
- Drip content – This is key if you don’t want all of your material available as soon as someone signs up. Drip the content and release it on your chosen schedule.
- Customized announcement bar and footer
- Remove MemberVault branding
- Recurring payment options
- Trial periods for paid products
- People who register for your products/courses can register to be affiliates.
- Integration with shopping cart services SamCart and ThriveCart (though these are not needed)
- Built-in integration with numerous email services, including MailerLite, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, and more so you can continue to connect with your audience
- Tag your subscribers so you can track their interaction with your content
- Payment processing via Stripe and/or Paypal
- No transaction fees – you don’t pay anything beyond your monthly fee (if you have one) and whatever fee your payment processor charges
- Upload unlimited products to create your own virtual marketplace
- Teaser content allows you to show prospective clients what your class/product is about before they buy
- Zapier integration
- Coupons
- Payment Plans
- Custom domain
MemberVault vs. Teachable
I had been using Teachable for about a year when I found MemberVault. And, as I mentioned above, this was my second go-round using Teachable!
Honestly, I never loved Teachable.
It was certainly no fault of theirs, but I paid $39 per month and sold minimal products. When I did sell products, I would pay an additional 5% in transaction fees and a processing fee. I wasn’t making any money at all.
As a long-time advocate of affiliate marketing, I really wanted to offer an affiliate program for my courses, but I would have needed to upgrade to the $99/month plan for it to be included.
As mentioned above, drip content is a standard Membervault feature. It is not in Teachable. This isn’t actually a feature I use but what I don’t like about Teachable is that it lists all features in your account – even those not available to you – with messages like the one above telling you to upgrade get access to the feature. Ugh. I’m thankful everything within MemberVault is included, regardless of your plan.
My MemberVault Account
I cannot overstate how easy it is to use this course platform. I look at it this way: I spend a lot of time online. I love playing with new software. So if a piece of software confuses me, I know it will probably be even more confusing for others. I don’t feel that way about MemberVault at all. I feel comfortable that the vast majority of you would pick up how to use it very quickly.
When you want to work on your product offerings, you need to go to the products tab, and you’ll be able to see the basic information for your offerings. Want to make a change? It’s easy peasy. Just hit edit.
What you see above are my live products, but you can also hide products that aren’t quite ready for the public or set some products up as “bonuses” that can only be unlocked when a user engages enough to be rewarded.
MemberVault Examples
There are plenty of ways to customize the appearance of your MemberVault, so no two accounts look the same. Here are links to a few Membervault examples:
- She Soars Digital Courses (of course, I had to include my own!)
- Classes and products I offer include:
- Nikki Arensman
- No Guilt Mom
- Allie Bjerk
- Airial Re’nal – a MemberVault expert, her free course helped me customize a couple of things within my account!
Using MemberVault in Your Business
You are an expert in whatever your small business may be. If you see an opportunity to teach others what you do, then creating a course or downloadable product may be an excellent way to expand your business.
One reason you might consider offering “products” is to grow your email list. Facebook, Instagram, and all the other social media networks are great and make it easy to connect with your customers and/or would-be customers. However, these platforms’ problem is that those people are essentially the social media platform’s “customers,” not yours. When you get someone to register for your email list, though, they become *your* customer as they’re giving their consent to reach out to them directly through their inbox.
Am I SURE MemberVault is a good investment for a course membership platform?
Since MemberVault is free, there’s really no risk in signing up and giving it a whirl. I feel confident you’ll like the platform.
I know there are big influencers out there all hawking different platforms and telling you it’ll be hard to be successful unless you spend $100+ per month on a platform like Kajabi, but that’s not true. There’s nothing wrong with any other platform, but there’s no reason to spend money to spend more money. Honestly, this is one of my biggest pet peeves about the online industry. Spending more money on products won’t make you successful.
You will find success with hard work and knowing where to save a buck or two without reducing quality.
I can’t tell you how hard to work but I can tell you MemberVault is an affordable course platform that contains all the bells and whistles you’ll want and need to set your business apart from the competition.
Interested in giving MemberVault a whirl? Click here to register for the free plan and start building your empire!
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