How To Start A Membership Site That Makes You Money

So, you’ve decided that starting a membership site is the best way for you to begin earning a good amount of residual income and you know what, you couldn’t be more right.  Selling information today via a password protected website is big business.  The low barriers to entry and the minimal costs required to create a membership site have opened the floodgates for just about anybody to hop onto the Internet and start one.

The thing is though, not every membership site is guaranteed to make you money.  Sure, it’s the hottest business model on the Internet right now, but there have been more failures than success stories from those who had a go at it.  Reason being, many of them had failed to perform the necessary research needed to run a profitable membership site.  We don’t want you falling into the same trap.  Therefore, we’re going to show you how best to launch a membership site that will turn profitable as quickly as possible.

Sell what people are already buying

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to selling online.  Your key to real success with your own membership site is to first:

• Identify your target market.  And then …

• Sell what the people in your target market are already buying

We know what you’re thinking.  Why would anyone join a membership site when they can purchase these products individually?  But, therein lies the secret. 

If you know what people are already buying, you now have the easy task of gathering these information products and bundling them together in one location.  The same strategy applies if you’re selling a service.  It is then up to you to decide how to package these products and services in such a way that your members know that the membership fee is definitely value for their money.

Try differentiating your membership site by churning out products in various formats like audio, video and ebooks, giving your members choices with regards to how they consume their information.  Believe it or not, offering audio and video formats will increase the value of your membership site considerably.

Keep enticing your members with irresistible offers

So, let’s assume that you’ve done your research and you know who your target market is.  You also know what your target market loves buying.  You’ve setup your membership site, loaded with the right products, or services and people are signing up in droves.  Now, here’s where many membership site owners slip up because they fail to keep this momentum going. 

Members are not going to stick around paying a monthly fee if they’re not compelled enough to do so.

You can easily avoid this problem by enticing current members with special offers, insider information, bonuses, up-to-date industry information and ways to make back their membership fee with resale rights products that they can sell.  It isn’t very difficult to come up with some innovative ways of keeping your members happy for life.
 
We have one last tip to offer you to ensure your membership site maintains its profitability and that is, always solicit feedback from your members.  You’ll never know what your members want from their membership until you ask them.  It’s simple, quick and very easy to do and is almost guaranteed to write you a handsome paycheck every month.

Okay, so….Why You Should Start Your Own Membership Site?…. Today! 

Here’s a simple trivia to whet your appetite.  What do websites like Match.com, MySpace.com, YouTube.com and the WSJ.com have in common?  If you said they’re all making a ton of money, you’re only half right.  The thing is, why are these websites pulling in millions of dollars every year? 

The answer is quite simple really.  So simple, that you can run with this business model starting today and start making a wonderful residual income within a month or two.  The secret sauce to this multi-million dollar business model is, community.

People want to be a part of something, be it a club, a team or a community.  On the Internet, a community can number in the millions, as proven by MySpace.com.  Now, imagine applying this concept of building a community around a popular niche like cat lovers and then monetizing it.  That in a nutshell, is called a membership site.  Granted, you may not start off making millions per year, but how does an extra $2,000, $5,000, or $10,000 per month sound to you?

Owning your own paid membership site catering to a particular niche can give you a recurring income comparable to that of a CEO.  Let’s break it down further to give you a glimpse into what your own membership site can potentially earn for you. 

Say, you’ve targeted a profitable market like pet lovers and honed in on a specific niche like cat lovers. You create a membership site for cat lovers, charging $15 per month.  Just 2 months into your launch, your membership site has amassed 200 members.  That adds up to a recurring income of $3,000 every month. 

Assuming that you’ve done everything possible to stop recruiting new members, you’re now assured of owning an almost hands-free membership site that generates $3,000 every month for you.  Compare that to selling a $27 ebook for cat lovers. 

How many ebooks would you have to sell to generate a decent profit from that one time sale? Plus the fact that you’re not even guaranteed of earning a recurring income from your $27 ebook.

Are people really willing to pay for information by joining a membership site?

You bet.  Applying the principles of community and combine that with relevant information that people are yearning for, and what you end up with is the winning formula for a membership site that guarantees you a solid income for years to come.

Though there are those who still believe that information should be made available for free, they’re in the minority.  Many online communities are quickly cozying up to the fact that the Internet isn’t free any longer.  If they’re looking for specialized information, they’re going to have to pay for it.  And think about it this way.  Putting a price on your information does create a perception that it’s already valuable.  And the only way of accessing this valuable information is becoming a member of your site.

More entrepreneurs and internet marketers are wising up to the fact that starting their own membership sites is the best way to begin making a lot of money for very little effort. 

We painted a scenario of a simple cat lovers membership site that has the potential of adding an extra $3,000 to your paycheck every month.  But, why stop there?  Diversify your membership sites further by setting up a separate membership site for dog lovers, bird lovers, horse lovers, etc.  We hope you’re beginning to see your earning potential here and best part about it is that you don’t even need any expertise in these areas.  Anyone can do this.

There are folks who are quietly raking in $50,000 and more every month, just by setting up paid membership sites in a variety of niches they know absolutely nothing about.  There’s no reason why you can’t start your own and join these big earners today.

A Simple Way Of Deciding Between A Recurring Or One-time Membership Fee For Your Site 

Running a membership site as with any business model requires planning. 

Things like, how many new products you should include every month, what kind of perks should your members get on a monthly basis, or how much you should charge for your membership site must be considered.  Another consideration that is often overlooked is deciding upon whether charging a recurring fee or a one time subscription fee will yield more profits for you.

Many marketers tend to opt for charging a monthly fee and we’re not denying that that’s a very profitable model.  But, you might also want to consider charging a one time fee for a lifetime membership. 

Now, we can’t tell you for certain that one method is better than the other.  Split testing both pricing models for your membership site is often the best way to determine the truth about each model’s earning potential.  But, to get a gauge of which pricing structure is for you, have a look at the most profitable membership sites online today. 

Fire up your spreadsheet and break it into three columns in this order:

1) name of membership site,

2) how much they charge and

3) do they charge recurring fees or a one time fee.

What you’ll also come across as you conduct your research are membership sites offering payment options on a monthly, quarterly, half a year and yearly basis.  Take note of all these options in your spreadsheet and at the end of your research, tabulate the results.  What are the pricing models that stand out for you, the ones that are being most commonly adopted by these membership sites?

We have done the research and what we can tell you is that recurring membership fees currently stand as the most popular pricing model.  And this is a perfect pricing model if you’re prepared to add new products, or improve your services on a monthly basis.  This acts as an incentive for members to stay on with your membership site.  Otherwise, members will find no reason to continue subscribing with you.

Where the one time membership fee comes in handy is if you’re selling a single product and your membership site is made exclusive only for owners of this single product.  For instance, you’re selling a dog training book with exclusive audio and video products made available only via your dog training membership site.  The only way people can gain access to these video training modules is to pay a onetime subscription fee which gives them unlimited access to these video and audio downloads.  Members can then take their time to view these videos at their own leisure.  With such a pricing model, you can actually set a higher price for membership and people will have no problems with it.

Ultimately, the decision is yours for you to make.  You now understand how these two pricing structures apply to a membership site, but this isn’t a fixed rule.  You can set a one time fee for your membership site even if you’re planning to give away new products to your members every month.  You can even offer an upgraded monthly payment Platinum version of your membership site to your one time subscribers.

So you see, there are a number of ways you can use the onetime or recurring payment structures to ensure the long-term profitability of your membership site.  If you’re still undecided about the best option for you, refer back to your spreadsheet and stick with most popular pricing model.  You can always change the pricing model along the way if it isn’t working out for you.

Tags: how to start a membership site, membership sites

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at 7:08 am and is filed under Starting a Membership Site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.