RECOMMENDED TOOLS
Infographics free to use
VPN Service - ExpressVPN
Youtube Thumbnail Grabber
MemberSpace membership site
Infographics
Our original Lotto Looks infographics are free to share on your personal or business website. Fill in this form and we will let you know when they are updated so you can always keep your site fresh. You can also request a new infographic or give feedback here:
2. VPN Service - ExpressVPN
Get safe browsing with ExpressVPN. This special offer of 3 Free Months with a 12-month subscription is only open to our readers and Silver Lotto newsletter subscribers. Click below to see more:
3. YouTube Thumbnail Grabber
This free service grabs the YouTube video thumbnail and shows it in different sizes without the YouTube titles and overlays. I’ve used it for many of the YouTube videos for the News section on this site.
Here’s the video with distracting YouTube details all over it.
2. I go to boingboing.net/features/getthumbs and enter the YouTube URL. This shows a selection of thumbnails provided by the YouTuber on a separate page.
3. I copy the best thumbnail and using my Squarespace website tools insert the JPG in the thumbnail section. It automatically refreshes the video and we get this nice clean presentation.
4. MemberSpace
This membership program is one that I’ve used since January 2019 for the Silver Lotto Membership Site.
UPDATE: Since limiting my sales to new members in 2022, I am not using MemberSpace. But the program is still the best I have found and still recommend it.
It has been the only one that fully inegrates with my website host of choice, Squarespace.
I’ve tried a number of other membership sites over the last 15 years, like Kajabi (for 5 years from 2013), aMember Pro (7 years) and Wishlist Member briefly before settling on MemberSpace.
I’ve also trialed MemberMouse, which along with Wishlist Member is WordPress-based, and I found both good, but difficult to use.
MemberSpace has a number of big advantages for me and anyone else wanting their own combined website and membership site. There are many reasons I would never be without both Squarespace and MemberSpace:
MemberSpace is relatively easy to set up. You’re using the same layout as your Squarespace site (or any other site they integrate with) so most of the WordPress hassles are left behind.
And believe me, if you want efficiency in your business then you don’t need the many WordPress headaches. No support except forums is one of WordPress’s greatest drawbacks, since any kind of membership site needs some handholding in the beginning.
I spent 4 full days trying to figure out how to get MemberMouse installed, with issues that flip-flopped between my host and their system. I gave up.
MemberSpace integrates seamlessly with my Squarespace website. In fact, this is why I bought it because my members stay in my Squarespace site and they are not confusingly redirected to another website.
As well, an extra site means another domain name, hosting costs and support and so on. This is big.You don’t need a separate website and host such as is required for WordPress member sites. The best host plans are expensive, and for the price you would pay for decent hosting speeds, I get that as part of Squarespace - PLUS all the huge feature set of a business Squarespace site.
But best of all I get a very satisfied feeling at the end of each working day knowing that I won’t have to worry about plug-in updates, host server access problems, vetting and contacting third-party experts, and all the concerns that come with manually tweaking these kinds of sites.
It’s all taken care of - but more importantly - problems don’t happen in the first place!
I’m not a beginner when it comes to computers. I started with Macs in the mid-80s and used them to run a couple of community newspapers I owned. My staff and I spent 15 years using them in that pressure cooker deadline environment, they never let us down, and I’ve been a Mac advocate ever since.
Like most business people I want a computer to be a productivity tool, and they are.
Endlessly messing around with coding and fiddly tech stuff does not leave time to grow your business, and leaving problems to disinterested experts is a minefield at best.
That doesn’t mean to say I’m a hands-off user now. I thoroughly enjoy the design and writing side of this site and have a lot of expertise in those areas.
But ease of use and dependability is essential, and MemberSpace has provided that continously without any problems.
Their support is great, but honestly I’ve only had to use them a couple of times - mainly to ask if they had an improvement I wanted. But they were fast and responsive each time, promptly helping me with my questions.
About MemberSpace
I am so enthusiastic about MemberSpace and its effectiveness for me that I decided to partner with them. I will get a small commission if you buy, but you won’t pay any extra. Click this link to find out more:
