Podcast transcript: 032. Introducing the Your Strata Property Online Membership Community

Intro:  Welcome to Your Strata Property. The podcast for property owners looking for reliable, accurate, and bite-sized information from an experienced and authoritative source. To access previous episodes and useful strata tips, go to www.yourstrataproperty.com.au.

Amanda Farmer:  Hello and welcome. I’m Amanda Farmer and this is Your Strata Property. Today, I want to tell you about something really exciting that I have been building for some time now and I am so happy to finally be able to talk about it and to share it with you.

I want to start with a story. I started this podcast about 7 months ago now and I started the podcast because over the last 13 odd years working in the strata sector, particularly in the area of strata law, it has become clearer and clearer to me that people who own in strata or live in or manage strata and community schemes need information. They need accurate, understandable information, and they want quick answers to their questions. And these aren’t usually difficult questions. The questions you’re asking, for experienced people who know strata, who know the law – they are not hard questions. They’re questions that can be answered quickly and once they’re answered, huge problems can be solved or even avoided.

Now, a lot of baggage comes with being a lawyer. We are a highly regulated profession. We have to disclose our legal fees, we have to limit our work to the scope that has been agreed, we have to send detailed invoices, we have to deal with concerns about costs in a particular way. Over time, what this has meant is that lawyers are expensive. We charge high hourly rates and those rates are designed to cover our administrative time in setting up files, attending to our legal duties, meeting our statutory obligations, and these are obligations which I agree, they are important and they are necessary.

And I do believe that it’s important that lawyers are held to that high standard especially when they are giving legal advice that people are going to rely on.

But the side effect of all of this is that access to the legal profession, and access to high quality valuable information and guidance is becoming further and further restricted. And it’s restricted to those who can afford it. Those who can afford 500 dollars an hour which what I am currently charging for legal services. And I think it’s safe to say that for the vast majority of people that is just not something they can realistically afford.

So, when they balance their problem against the cost of solving it with legal representation they just can’t see the value and I don’t blame them.

But you know me, I’m not one to dwell on problems. I like solutions so long story long, overtime I have been coming to this realisation that there are people out there with genuine, easily solvable problems who are not getting their problems solved because they can’t afford to hire a lawyer.

Quite frankly, that is not good enough and that was really the driving force behind me starting the podcast 7 months ago to deliver to you that problem solving information and that guidance in a way that is easy to understand, easy to digest, enjoyable, and above all valuable to you because it means that you then have the knowledge that will help you not only solve problems that are driving you around the bend in your home or to do with your investment properties or even in your work as a strata manager. But also to increase the standard of the community that you live in or the community that you serve, to understand that there is a better way and we can, with a little bit of information and some insider tips, implement that better way and improve our experience of community living in many respects.

Now, as a listener to the podcast, I am obviously not telling you anything you don’t already know – you’re on board, you get it.  I thank you for that. I really do appreciate your support and especially all of those owners and strata managers who have reached out to me and told me how much you are enjoying the podcast and how much you get out of it. Thank you. That is what drives me to keep delivering more, and here it is.

Here is the more that I have built for you. You now have the opportunity to be part of an online community. A community that gives you access to strata experts such as myself. A place where you can have your questions answered quickly and accurately. You have access to content like articles, eBooks, templates, videos, and other recordings that are going to assist you in your day to day experience of community living and it’s going to help you make the most of your important investment.

Today, I am introducing you to the online membership community for Your Strata Property. Now this is for owners of strata or community titled properties, whether you’re residents or investors. It’s also something that I can see strata managers will get a lot of value from. Whether you are new to strata and are just trying to figure out what all the terminology means or you’ve just put your hand up for your committee and you aren’t sure where to start when it comes to chairing meetings or putting motions forward, maybe you’re a pretty savvy property investor but you’ve never come across the unique creature that is strata before, or maybe you’re a long term owner and you’re looking to keep up to date on what’s new in the sector so that you don’t bother your strata manager too much with phone calls and emails. You might even be a strata manager who has found that the content I’m delivering so far is helpful and you want to take that to the next level and essentially have me and my team of experts on tap for you.

Whatever your place in the strata sector is, this membership is for you. Now, inside the online community is a Q & A forum where you can post your questions and topics for discussion, however specific, and have them answered by me and my team of experts or might even have them answered by other members who are old hands at this strata stuff. There’s many of them out there.

You have free access to our library of eBooks which are otherwise sold on the site. Free access to templates which includes by-laws templates which are currently selling on the site for close to a 150 bucks each, you’ll get updates on the latest legal cases and changes to the law, you even have the opportunity as a YSP member to come on to this podcast and chat with me about your most pressing strata issue and pick my brains for some solutions.

Now, you can join this community for as little as 29 dollars a month, that’s it, 29 dollars a month. It is even less if you join on an annual membership. All of that value for just 29 dollars a month. That is a long way from 500 dollars an hour.

The reason I can do this? I can do this because I’m able to tap into the power of an online platform, the advantage that comes from solving problems on a much larger scale. If I answer a question in the forum that helps Peter from Parramatta that answer is also going to help Sam from Surry Hills. Plus who knows, Peter and Sam can probably help each other.

This means that I can charge less than I would otherwise charge for face to face or one on one legal advice, but you are still getting the most important result which is: your problem is solved, your question is answered, you have access to information.

So, how to get in? Head over to www.yourstrataproperty.com.au/membership. There you can learn more about what’s on offer and you can sign up immediately and you are in.

Now, this membership is something that is very close to my heart. It has been an absolute labor of love for me over the past many months and I cannot wait to share it with you and hear what you think. This is something that is only going to grow into the future and I hope you are willing to come on board as the very first members and from that privileged position you can actually play a massive role in what the future of the community looks like.

You can tell me what you want to see inside the membership, what content do you want, what templates do you need, what do you want to learn and what you want me to be talking about on the podcast? You are in the driver’s seat. I want to continue to build this community together with you.

So, there you are. That’s your introduction to the YSP online membership community. Check it out at www.yourstrataproperty.com.au/membership. Dive in for just 29 dollars a month and let me start solving your problems and improving your community living experience today. I can’t wait to see you over there.

Outro:  Thank you for listening to Your Strata Property. The podcast which consistently delivers to property owners reliable and accurate information about their strata property. You can access all the information below this episode via the show notes at www.yourstrataproperty.com.au. You can also ask questions in the comment section which Amanda will answer in her upcoming episodes.  How can Amanda help you today?