Today I’m talking to Chris Badgett, Co-Founder of LifterLMS (Lifter Learning Management System). That’s a very popular WordPress plugin for creating a course and/or a membership site. I’m actually using it myself for the Productize Course.

Chris’s done an incredibly job building a community around his product and brand. He has done a lot with Facebook Groups and connecting with customer on a regular daily basis, and Chris shares his unique tactics for this.

We talk about the WordPress market using the Freemium model. Chris knows this space very well and I think there’s huge opportunity in this ecosystem.

Then of course, we talk about combining services with software products. At Lifter they’ve been doing it with great effect, offering their course software plugins, with done-for-you setting up course/membership sites.

Enjoy!

Episode Notes

[1:36] From helicopters in Alaska to building websites, to building WordPress plug-ins.

• “So I really understand the psychology and the mind of the course creator and membership site builder because I am one.”
• “The big challenge is client work always cannibalizes the product stuff. So you have to treat it as a separate company.”

[10:44] Transitioning from Paid to Freemium Add-On or Appstore model.

• “I wanted to be premium from the beginning. I just see people struggling with stuff that’s way too cheap.”
• “We wanted to have a free front-end product, but it was very important for validation that the very first version was going to be paid.”
• “People needed it to be flexible, so the add-on model is really helpful.”
• “We’ve really invested a lot in helping other developers build products for Lifter.”

[17:12] Building Community. Specific tactics, tips and rituals to build community.

• “Building community is about habits.”
• “It’s a sign of a healthy group that you don’t have to do the [group] moderation alone.”

[30:48] Matching services to go with the product.

• “By hanging out with the community a lot you don’t take for granted where you are and how you are different from your customer.”

Links

• Chris Badgett on Twitter
• Chris Badgett’s product, LifterLMS
• Chris Badgett’s Web Agency
• Chris’ Organic Permaculture courses
• Productize Course
• Tropical MBA podcast
• Phil Derksen
• Lifter LMS VIP Facebook Group
• Mandi Ellefson on the Productize Podcast
• Brian Casel on LMS Cast
• Drift Chatbot
• LMS Partial Scholarships
• Books mentioned
  • The 4-Hour Workweek
  • Crossing the Chasm
  • The Lean Startup