Mighty Networks - Avis

I have built very successful groups on facebook but when doing so there is always a level of fear and trepidation when it comes to building a community on a platform you have no control of. Groups are just 1 segment of the Facebook market, and they could effectively kill groups at any time. Having a third party tool to continue growing a community is key to the ever changing landscape.

The benefit of Mighty Networks is also the detriment. Because my group is no longer on FB, daily entries in to the group are lower and the overall experience for members is lower. Now people have to go out of their way to join and participate. This means less people over all, but more dedicated people.

The overall simplicity of the platform in both building one and maintaining functionality. Even as a newcomer to the platform, you can build an extremely advanced community with memberships and courses, because Mighty Networks guides you through the whole process.
One other thing I really like is Mighty Networks' commitment to getting your communications to your community members. You are equipped with notification tools, a website, and a mobile app for you to reach your members wherever they are.

My major problem with Mighty Networks came when I wanted to integrate its tools with third-party software using Zapier. Mighty Networks' integration with Zapier is not rich enough. For my use case, it did not allow me to send information from my network to another service I was using.

Its ideal and layout and what could be done with it, but has a lot of limits still

Customer support is no good. I dont even bother reaching out anymore. Also costs for making it your own app are horrendous

1. Mobility: Mighty Networks ability to enable me to create a community website with paid options that could be easily accessed on a computer, tablet or phone, without me having to have extensive staff or knowledge to produce different versions of content.

2. Reliability: The software doesn't fail. I haven't had any worries about my users being able to access content or the community.

3. Support: Mighty Networks' staff has been very responsive and helpful. When I have a problem, if the answer isn't on their helpdesk, I get a return message/email within 24 hours and they walk me through the solution.

4. Growth: I like that they have a roadmap and that they continue to expand their capabilities and give users heads up when they're coming and what they're doing so that we know what to expect and whether it will benefit or impact the services we offer through the gateway of Mighty Networks. FYI, adding the automated tax solution for transactions was HUGE. I look forward to the "Spaces" innovation that is coming soon.

The biggest con for me is the lack of customer/user management features. I am not notified the instant someone cancels; in fact,. it's rare that I'm notified at all. I have to run daily reports and compare them to my existing database of members, to ensure I've welcomed everyone new, see who's been retained and who chose to leave. I can't just look at a settings file online and get a customer database and status report based on the individuals.

It's a little frustrating how many outside products/apps I need to subscribe to, learn, master and keep "up" on, etc. to be able to do everything I need to do to serve my community and make it worth paying for. There's Stripe and the tax software, I can't live without Typeform to be able to steer my users to the appropriate purchase price, and I need YouTube or Vimeo to host videos, and Zoom for meetings and webinars (used to use Crowdcast Pro, have since let that go).

The main feature for me is I have the courses and the community in one place. My classes require that I have a series of groups with say 20 students. But I have 15 of them. Each group posts to their own group and interacts with that group throughout the course. Each member can go and see what other groups are doing if they are curious. But they specifically work within a small group. I do not thing any other platform allows that. Also I deal with an older demographic and I did not want to use facebook, and I wanted the teaching platform and the groups all in one place. That has been invaluable.

So I am not very good with tech. And I found for myself that I was confused about setting it up. I also think I was sort of pushing the envelope in terms of my group structure so it was not a straight forward situation. But I got good support. And now it is all simple. Because I have a lot of retirement aged students I think they have issues with the tech too. But they have problems with zoom calls too so who knows. My needs are pretty striped down other than the groups and course platform. So there are lots of features I have never used.

My new online community—the Gutsy Great Novelist Writers Studio—hosted on the Mighty Networks platform is fantastically engaged in a way I never saw inside my Facebook group. The writers in this community have truly become friends. They collaborate on their writing, freely share knowledge, tips and resources, celebrate and laugh and have fun together, and mostly they're just super engaged with each other in a respectful space that's ad- and distraction-free. What I love most about MN is that as the host I can offer everything in one space: online classes, private groups, live events . . . all under one roof! Ahhhh!

There's a learning curve for users that needs to be carefully managed in an onboarding process, since the users are trying something new. So the set up time is somewhat labor-intensive, but MN offers an online class to help you design things wisely so you're set up for success in that regard. Once I got that onboarding process up and running, I was in great shape, and users that pay attention can be fully engaged within a very short time.

My favorite part about this software is the beautiful simplicity of the software. Although it's easy to use and clean, it also has a wide range of features that are continuously being added.

Everyone who has joined my community has said the same thing, "This is amazing!"

People love Mighty Networks because it is a true community builder!

It's difficult for me to find any cons or even constructive criticism for Mighty Networks. From my conversations with the MN team, I know we're still at the beginning. Perhaps I can mention a few enhancements that I'd like to see (I'm sure these are on the way)

1. No native video (Ideally, I'd be able to upload video directly within MN.)
2. Lack of ways to pay out ambassadors (Having simpler ways to pay members for referrals would be helpful as well.)
3. No "live" features inside of the program (I'd like to "go live" with my entire audience without having to leave MN.)

I have been project manager getting our community site up and running AND I've started a MN for my own company. I do appreciate how supportive the resources and livestreams MN creates are for folks getting started. There's a robust amount of customization and they add new features regularly based on feedback. I've dreamed up multiple ways to use their 'course' feature (resources, course, ambassador resources, table of contents, session notes) -- and MN allows you the customizing ability to change language around how their courses are labeled within.

MN is limiting in it's features for plans. There have been a few times I've had an idea for how I'd like to accomplish, price and sell a plan, but am unable to do so based on their configuration. Also, I don't think it's intuitive for community members to navigate (and I'm tech savvy). You could see this in your free trial, but it does take a while to get the hang of all the different 'containers' and how to get back to the main feed from those containers + customizing all the settings for different groups (great feature, just a lot to customize).

The software has grown a lot since I first started using is a year ago. Right away I saw the benefits of this amazing software that would allow me to take my membership community to the next level – I'm a techie and I'm always ahead of the curve so this software was a perfect match!

When I first started with the software a year ago it was still being developed in terms of ease of use for providing different types of membership options which now is available.

community members experience a fairly simple learning curve

Lacking in accessibility features for vision impaired people. Does not play well with popular programs for vision impaired people.

Ease of use. People love it. Not too expensive

It's hard to keep it private/ keep people out. I use it fir domestic violence victims where it's hard to keep people safe from abusers.

Nice aesthetics, I like the way it delivers content. Makes it easy to start your membership/content management portal.

Wish there was a way to customize payment plans

Mighty Networks makes it possible for us to bring small business owners together so they can learn from each other. We appreciate having a private, well-organized space for conversation. We also love the features that help members find each other and get to know each other better.

Mighty Networks is pretty darn intuitive--but it can be a learning curve for some members. We've found this can be overcome by simply creating resources and events that help members navigate the space and experience the platform.

When I started my online community, I didn't want to rely on Facebook and I also wanted software that would allow me to share pre-recorded workshops etc. Mighty Networks really is the best of both worlds. If you include topics you can easily build a resource database for your members AND you have a social media feed where members can interact with each other. It's super easy to use, much cheaper than Kajabi and the likes (which imo don't really work for a membership anyways) and the customer service is the best.

Here are some smaller adjustments that I'd like to see in the future:
- option to choose more than one topic for an article
- embedment of audio, instead of file sharing
- migrate members from monthly to annual plans
- plans in NZD
- more options to adjust the landing page
- free trial period for members without having to put in credit card details (and allow members to use the whole trial period even if they cancel earlier)

I like the ease of use. My clients can access via the app or online and it’s super easy for me to push out content regularly. I also like that they are consistently upgrading the features. As My business has grown, they have too.

There are some limitations. I’d like to be able to “go live” and record directly to the platform.

This was easy to set up and the support I receive is timely. It has a great community feel and the features I need to run a community centred learning experience.

I would like to see better image management and the ability embed from more sources but overall there has been nothing that we couldn't figure out an alternate method for.

The customisation options, the courses platform, the look and feel of the platform are all fantastic. As is Might Network's commitment to continuous improvement and the Mighty Host community and learning experiences.

The membership plans can be cumbersome and confusing. Would love to be able to duplicate and amend plans instead of starting from scratch each time. Customised welcome messaging would also be great.

It is mostly intuitive and easy to use, navigate, get to know. The same ease-of-use is experienced by most new community members - and this IS our member experience priority!

Limited options for 3rd party payment platforms. "STRIPE or nothing" is no choice.

It has been the right flexible tool for us to begin to build our network and work out how we can work best to create our movement

Its not really a con, but to grow we need access to data, ideally need courses to be chargeable in uk pounds rather than dollars.

What I love the most about Mighty Networks is that fact that I can literally have everything in one place. MN helps keeps my community members engaged and the user interface is clean and easy to use.

It's hard to find a Con for Mighty Networks. The only thing that is on my wish list from them right now is having native video and a way to do Livestreams inside of the product. I know that is something that they are currently working on.

I was able to launch my online classes and webinars using Mighty Neyworks.

This video upload is limited so I’m still using YouTube.

I love the close, sheltered experience my members get when they join me in our group - they can focus, be honest, and stay on track without distractions or worries about information getting out.

Integrating with another software in order to share video is still a work in progress but it is possible and there is promise that there is more to come!

I enjoyed the simplicity of setting up the site, it was very intuitive. I also love the app feature of it as it makes it very easy for my community to stay connected and involved. Lastly, the ability to personalize and customize the app is also wonderful.

We've only been using it for a month now, so we are still in the honeymoon phase, but I do wish we could customize different groups and chats, maybe add a search feature to make it easier and organized for our app users to find what they need in our community since we post so much.

Easy to use and a lot of features. Ready to go.

The Free version is very limited. The next step up is the Community Plan which is NOT $23 per year but $23 per month. With the Free plan, you do not get your own domain, topics (absolutely needed), or access to your members.

I think BBPress on WordPress is a better option at a less monthly cost.

I love the way they integrate social learning and community in the user experience.

Lots of bugs and a clunky design when used on a smaller screen.