Getting started with your membership site is certainly an exciting prospect. BUT before you do, you'll need to take some time to decide what type of membership site you want to create. The first thing that usually comes to mind when talking "Membership sites" is the monthly continuity type. These are the type of websites where subscribers pay a monthly fee and get access to a special members. But that isn't the only type of memership site you can create.
Here's a short list of the more common type of online membership sites
- Free site - Social site, free information sites, great for listbuilding
- Paid information site (one time payment) - Deliver information - eg. tutorials
- Paid information site (continuity) - Deliver information - eg. tutorials, how to's
- Service delivery - You deliver some sort of service that your clients need / use, eg. web hosting, software subscriptoin etc.
- Paid fixed term - Short course
- Paid coaching - like in our client example
Naturally this isn't an exhaustive list, there are many other types and options to choose from, but it is enought to get you started. When you look through the type of site I mentioned above, you'll notice that they all fall into one of three categories:
- Free
- One time payment
- Continuity sites
Each one of these will be better suited to specific markets so it's hard to say which one is best in general. Here are some of the pro's and con's of the different types
Free
Pros:
- Easier to build members since there's no cost
- Great tool to use for list building
Cons:
- Large effort for now upfront return
- Must have a solid 'backend' plan if you hope to earn and income from it
- Time consuming
One time payment
Pros:
- Can have less resistance to subscribers since they only hav to pay once
- Doesn't require as much 'ongoing' work since your subscribers have received what they've paid for.
- Time saver - create it once sell it over and over
Cons:
- Must keep marketing over and over to ensure continuity of income
- May require a larger upfront fee to make it profitable
Continuity Payment
Pros:
- Potential for very large income
- Keep getting paid month after month
- Must continue to deliver fresh new content / services if you want to keep subscriber paying
- Usually a smaller upfront fee so you need to keep people on for longer
- The average subscriber will stay active for around 3 months so you need to continue to enrol new members.
As I mentioned earlier, there's no real hard and fast rule about which type of membership site will suit you best. That will depend greatly on what you are offering and who your target market is. One of the big questions you'll need to ask yourself if considering any type of continuity type website is "What will I do to keep them coming back" That's one of the real key's with the continuity model. To keep your subscribers 'hooked' you need to make sure they either really need what you're offering eg. web hosting, software subscription etc. OR you continue to deliver great fresh, new, valuable content on an ongoing basis.
I hope this tips proves helpful and useful to you.
Get in on the conversation by leaving a comment below, we'd love to hear what you've got to say about it.
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