5 Tips for Creating a Guest Expert Masterclass

If you run a membership, a great way of creating useful content for your members, without having to do a huge amount of work yourself, is by getting a guest expert to create a masterclass for you.

If you are an expert in your field and you want to get known by a wider audience for what you do, it’s a great idea to create some guest expert masterclasses for other people’s memberships.

Here are some top tips to make sure the masterclass that is created is received well, benefits the members and showcases the guest expert well.

Understand what the members need and want from the masterclass.

As membership owner and guest expert you need to have a conversation about what the outcomes of the masterclass should be. You need to identify where the members are at now with their knowledge and understanding of the subject and where they should be by the end. Then identify three learning outcomes for the masterclass and write these down.

Agree the structure for the masterclass.

This again should be a discussion between the two of you and these are some of the things that should be considered.

Is there a masterclass pro-forma that this membership follows? Eg. 30 minutes worth of training, recorded in three or four shorter videos and accompanied by a worksheet or handout.

Is there a way that the guest expert knows works well for delivering training on this subject?

Would it work as an interview? This is one of the types of membership site content The Membership Guys recommend.

Will it all be pre-recorded or will it be a live teach that is then recorded and added to the membership site for those who couldn’t catch it live?

How can members contact the guest expert with any follow up questions?

Can the guest expert include a link to a lead magnet or promote a free or low price offer? (I wouldn’t recommend promoting the business as a whole or a high price ticket, you haven’t built up enough of a rapport with this audience yet.)

Is there the potential to do a mini masterclass or three top tips in a free group and then the full thing in the membership? This will generate interest in both parties and generate some excitement amongst members that the masterclass is coming.

Also, during this discussion agree timescales and dates.

Keep referring back to the three learning outcomes you identified.

At the start of the masterclass make it clear what they are going to take away from it by outlining the three learning outcomes. Make sure you address the learning outcomes throughout the masterclass and at the end, give them a way to find out more and expand their knowledge in these areas. This may be by directing them to one of your freebies or low price offers, it might be by recommending a book they could read and it’s even better if this book wasn’t by you. That shows you care about their learning and not lining your pockets.

As a Guest Expert make sure you give enough useful information that they can’t resist finding out more.

If you give a lot of information and provide a good quality free handout or worksheet with your masterclass you are much more likely to get people to opt-in to your freebie or low price offer, especially if it follows on nicely from what you have already taught them. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can’t give too much away for free because then they won’t buy from you. Actually, the more useful guidance and information you give the more they will trust your expertise and want to learn more from you.

Talk about the masterclass before and after it.

This is a great way for the membership owner and guest expert to promote each other and to generate excitement about the up and coming masterclass for the members. You could create social media posts such as:

“Had a great chat with X today, we are planning a masterclass for the X membership!”.

“Just handed over the finished masterclass on X to X today for their membership. It won’t be long before their members can access it!”

“My members are in for a treat. X masterclass on X is going to really help you…”

Then share each other’s posts and perhaps even mention other masterclasses and how this one complements them and tag in the creator of that masterclass as well and then you will generate more visibility for all of you.

By following all of these tips you will create a masterclass that’s useful to the members and generates excitement and interest in the membership and the guest expert. Don’t be put off working together if one of you doesn’t have such a big audience or membership. Firstly, lots of people doesn’t mean lots of engagement. Don’t chase the people with big numbers. Work with people who genuinely seem to have a shared vision with you, whose audience genuinely complements yours and who you feel is a good fit to work with.

If you are considering starting a membership then check out some of our previous blog posts that might help you: 3 Things You Should Do Before You Create a Membership Site and 3 Reasons Why Investing Money in Your Membership Site Should be a No-Brainer.