Is Starting a Membership Site Right For You?

It’s sounds so attractive, doesn’t it? Why try so hard to sell products one by one when you could have a membership site that pays you residual income month after month? I bet you’ve done what I’ve done – grabbed a calculator and done the math. Let’s see – a modest subscription, say, $17. Then a modest subscriber base, say, 150 to begin with. Which means $2,550. A MONTH!!!!!

Surely, that’s the way to go? Well, maybe. Maybe. But membership sites aren’t necessarily as straightforward as the math makes it seems. This informative article gives some tips and ideas if you are thinking of setting up your own membership site.

So what is the first thing you will need? What is the best way to go about it? The first key piece of kit is software that will drive your membership site. If you use WordPress, you need to look at plug-ins: I would suggest you look at a plug in called Mingle. But you get what you pay for. If you have cPanel there is free software that you can install yourself, but you will probably find that you will want a heavy duty piece of kit from day one.

Well know forum software is provided by Membergate but there is a monthly usage fee. Among the paid WordPress membership plugins that are continually referreed to Wishlist Member, Digital Access pass, and MembershipWing.

But how do you attract members? One suggestion is to offer free membership and then use scarcity to draw in members. In other words, on the squeeze page tell them the site will charge a membership soon (which you will, you’re not lying) so they should grab the membership while it is free.

What you want to avoid is having to change platforms once you are up and running, so take your time to research software which might include: download protection, a built in affiliate section, free trial options and multiple member levels – not just free and paid, but maybe tiered – bronze, silver gold etc.

So you can see what I’m suggesting – get that legal pad out and focus on a list of what features you want and need in your membership site: maybe three columns labelled “Need”, “Want” and “Nice To Have”. Once you have those worked out, the software choices will narrow quite a bit. In short, it is probably best to select software built around your membership site model, rather than building your business around the software.

People wonder whether they should start with lots of content? My feeling is that your members provide content as much as you do. Unless you are very clear and specific regarding your niche, I would recommend that you do not need to have all the content ready when you go live. The secret is to remain contemporary, and continually add content, and posts.

Finally, there is an option that you might want to consider. That is to offer a fixed term membership site i.e. three or four months. This is attractive as it has an end point, and subscribers don’t feel they are signing up to an open ended cost (even though they can unsubscribe at any time.)

So there you have it – initial thoughts to spur you to investigating membership sits more thoroughly. Good luck – My best to you.