6 Tips to Start a Membership Site and Create Residual Income

6 Tips to Start a Membership Site and Create Residual Income

Creating your own membership site is a great way to generate a lot of extra cash as well as create residual income.

Your options are practically unlimited as to what type of membership site you want to start; however, you do need to make sure there is a demand or fairly big interest in the type of site you decide to create.

The best time to start a membership site is now.  Take some action…grab your pencil and jot down these steps.

Here’s 6 easy steps to start a membership site:

1.  Choose your Niche

You want to choose a niche that you know something about or have interest in, and you want to choose a niche that other people are interested in too.

Some popular topics include weight loss,  health, making money, saving money, finance, travel, homeschooling, cooking, organizing, time management, etc.  I recommend staying away from trendy topics that may soon lose interest when the “next big thing” comes out.

2.  Choose your Format and Membership Type

Now it’s time to work out some preliminary details.  What type of membership site should you create?  You need to consider the wants and needs of your future members.

Much of your decisions will depend on how often you can deliver fresh content.  Will your membership site offer new content weekly, bimonthly, monthly or yearly?  How often will membership fees be due?  Decide the little details so that you can make adequate action plans.

3.  Build your Membership Site

Now is the time to start building your site.  Decide on your name, purchase a domain name, choose appropriate software to run your membership site (I recommend WishList Member software), outsource the design work or use templates.  Personally, I feel that Wordpress  is a super easy way to create your site and you can find many free templates online or even low cost templates that look quite professional.

Make sure to take your time to build the site correctly with an appealing layout and design.  It also might be worth investing in a copywriter for your salespage if you feel inadequate in this area.

4.  Create your Content

The next easy step is to create the content for your site.  Again, you want to make sure to take time to create really great content.  Consider outsourcing if you hate writing or need help with your content creation.

You want your content to be outstanding.  If new members are disappointed with your content, they will quickly unsubscribe and may even ask for refunds.

What you need to do is plan to over deliver.  Create at least a whole months content in advance if possible.  This way, you can start planning for the next months content while your members are currently utilizing and enjoying your first month’s content.

5.  Start Slow and Build Slowly

Another thing to consider is starting slow and building as you go.  Don’t offer way above what you will be able to deliver every month or whatever set basis you have formed.

It’s better to offer a reasonable amount of content and establish a good solid foundation.  Once you have your site established and thriving…you can surprise your members by adding even more content and value to their membership.   You can grow slowly and add some partners to build your business larger and expand.

6.   Promote your Membership Site

One thing you can depend upon is failure if you have no traffic to your new membership site. A few things you can do is start some free internet marketing promotions such as article marketing, forum marketing, social networking and directory submissions.

For a guide that will lead you step-by-step with tried and tested tactics for building your own successful membership site, I highly recommend that you subscribe to “How to Set up a Membership Site in 48 Hours or Less.”  You’ll not be disappointed in the tutorial or your results!

=================================================

Use this article on your blog ~ click here for details

=================================================

Easy Strategies to Start Marketing a Membership Site at No Cost

Easy Strategies to Start Marketing a Membership Site at No Cost

As someone who is putting hard work into developing a membership site, you know that a good part of your success lies within a successful marketing plan.  Some people are natural-born marketing gurus.  For other people, marketing can be a difficult part of business.

Here are some simple strategies to make your marketing efforts a little easier:

A very simple and often overlooked way to get your website noticed is to include your website address on any and all information you send out, both electronically and physically. If you have business cards, make sure to include the site on them.  You can also set up a signature line in your email program which will automatically include your site info on each email you send out.

Another great place to market your membership site is forums and message boards. You can perform a Google search to find a forum on just about any subject you can think of.  Try to develop a list of topics your target market would be interested in and find a few active forums dedicated to those topics.

Once you find a few forums you enjoy, you can join them as a member.  In most cases, you will be allowed to create a signature line that will be displayed on your posts.  You may want to include your URL and a short blurb about your business, products, or services.  Anyone who views your posts will be able to see this information.

Social networking is quickly becoming one of the hottest things on the web. Websites such as MySpace and Facebook enable their users to meet and interact with people all over the globe.  Many social networking sites, like the ones mentioned above, are free to join.  You can use these sites to meet other business owners as well as potential clients.

Article marketing can be a very effective marketing tool. You simply write articles that are related to your membership site and distribute them through reprint directories.  Other website owners and bloggers visit these sites in search of content that they can publish on their sites.  When they publish your article, they will include an author bio box that you write.  You can include your website address in this box.  When people read these articles, they will see the link to your site and may choose to click on it.

Your marketing efforts will be a continual part of your business.  You can try some things and see how they work, and if they don’t work as well as you expected, you can try a new method.  Have fun with your marketing efforts and get creative!  Marketing is not only one of the most important parts of your business, it can also be one of the most interesting.

==================================================

==> How to Start a For-Profit Mastermind Group <==

Instantly downloadable 22-page ebook in PDF format:

http://mommyrevenue.com/mastermind-ebook

===================================================

Advantages and Disadvantages of Running a Membership Site

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Running a Membership Site

If you have been paying attention to the buzz surrounding the subject of membership sites on the internet, you will have heard about the many benefits of owning one. On the other hand, if you are new to the concept, you may be wondering what the big deal is. Well, of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to consider. We’ll start with some positive benefits that you won’t want to miss!

==> Advantages of Running a Membership Site

1. Passive Income: The first and most obvious benefit of any membership site is the passive income it generates from membership fees. The definition of passive income is “income derived from investments in which the individual is minimally involved.” To be successful, a strong initial effort is needed to get your site running and a passive income stream flowing. After that, you may well find yourself earning more and working less.

With a passive income, you can make money 24 hours a day seven days a week. Unlike a service based business, with a business that generates passive income, you can take your family on vacation and still make money while you are away from the office.

2. Residual Income: Membership sites also enable you to earn residual income. Residual income is income that keeps coming in to you on a regular basis. When you create a membership site, your customer will be paying a monthly membership fee for a time period that you designate.

You may only charge your customers twelve payments, and after they have paid those payments, grant them a lifetime membership at no additional cost. You may opt to charge a yearly renewal fee, or you may decide to have the payments charged to them on a continual monthly basis for as long as they remain a customer. Whichever method you choose, you are creating residual income for yourself.

3. Inexpensive To Start: Another great benefit to a membership site is that it is relatively inexpensive to start. Of course you will need to put some money into it, but if you can do the web design work yourself and choose to market your business using free marketing methods, you can get your site up and running for less than $200. That includes the domain registration, hosting account, membership management program, and any additional tools such as an autoresponder.

4. Expert Status: As your membership grows in popularity, so will your reputation. You will begin to be seen as an expert in your field. Subscribers will automatically look to you for advice and inherently trust your judgment. Essentially, you will be building and promoting your own brand. When you have a recognized and trusted brand, you dramatically increase your ability to offer other products and services under that same brand name. Because your brand is proven and trusted, your new products automatically become trusted as well.

5. Built In Affiliates: By offering an affiliate program, your customers will be able to earn income through the referrals they bring to you. If you are consistently providing your customers great content and quality information, they will most likely be happy to tell others about your site; couple that with the fact that they can make money doing that, and they will be shouting your praises from the rooftops.

When the majority of your customers are helping you to market your membership site, you will be able to reach a much greater number of potential customers than you would ever be able to reach through your solo marketing efforts. This, of course, will lead to a greater number of new subscribers and a larger income.

==> Disadvantages of Running A Membership Site

Read the rest of this entry »

Creating a Membership Site Doesn’t Have to Be a Pain

Yesterday, I went for a bike ride with my family. (We’re a family of five…three boys, my husband and I). For the like of me, I couldn’t figure out why I was getting so tired and having such a hard time pedaling (a huffin n’ puffin, you know). After quite a ways from home, I discovered my tires were quite low. No wonder I wasn’t gliding in the wind like I wanted! What a tough job it was just pedaling back home. Well, I tested out a product last week, that makes everything roll a little easier…

I tested out “easynemberpro“. I have to say I was easily impressed with the many features and the great utilities to easily create new pages for my member’s area and set up an affiliate program as well. All you needed to do was upload the graphics for your affiliates and the affiliate codes were generated for the affiliates. No headache there. It also allowed me to create a free membership version and create an incentive page to entice free members to upgrade to my paid membership area. I really liked the one-time offer feature, too (where your members can view a special one-time offer before heading on to the members’ area.) All of these customizable pages allowed me to create my pages without any html knowledge. I could also upload files that I wanted to share with my members.

The videos that easymemberpro include on their site are so great for newbies. It gives detail of step-by-step on how to install the software. I paused in between each step so that I could perform the installation as I was watching the video. To my amazement, I installed my first program successfully (almost). Disappointment set in when I realized that I had some how installed it without perfection (my homepage was looking a little odd, but all else was very functional.) Somewhere I goofed…and I immediately contacted customer service. I thought it would take hours to get any help, but right away I received an email from customer service. My advice, though, if you’re really not into technical stuff is just to let their staff install it for you. At a fee of only $25, you can be fixing dinner for your kids why they do the installation.

I’m sorry to admit that I changed my mind on the project that I was going to do. Basically, because I’m planning on teaching school again this coming fall and decided that adding projects to the list wasn’t in my best interest after all. I did ask for a refund…and they stood up to the test once again! They offer a “30 day no quibble money back guarantee” and within the same hour I had my money refunded to my paypal account. Now I call that prompt customer service…

So, here’s the perfect product to get your membership site started if you’ve been hankering to do such a thing (just click on the great-lookin’ box below!)

7 Profitable Membership Sites That You Can Start Today

7  Profitable Membership Sites that You Can Start Today

I’m going to get straight to the point…membership sites are a great way to earn residual income online.  Pick one (or two) of these 7 options below and get some action going….

1.  Coaching/Mentoring

This type of site provides help, insight and support to its members regarding a specific topic.  There are life coaches, business coaches and mentoring programs focusing on varies industries or job types.  A coaching or mentoring site allows the owner to leverage their time.  Instead of offering their expertise to one client at a time, they can provide it to hundreds or thousands of clients at the same time.

2.  PLR (Private Label Rights)

A PLR site offers a random assortment of articles centered around a key word or idea.  The articles you provide through a Private Label Rights site can be legally modified.   Many website owners and bloggers subscribe to these services to use the content on their sites or create special reports and ebooks out of them.

3.  Social Sites

Social sites focus on bringing together specialized niches of people like senior citizens, dog lovers, people from a certain regional area, or just about any lifestyle choice or passion you can think of that would draw people together.

4.  Content

This is probably one of the most popular types of membership site.  A content site offers its members resources and information centered around a particular topic or problem.  Usually the topic is highly specialized and the information it contains cannot be found quickly or easily elsewhere.  Members gladly pay a monthly membership fee in order to have this useful information in one, easy to locate place.

5.  Paid Newsletter

A newsletter site offers its members exclusive access to news and information relating to a specific topic.  Basically, the owner of the site researches and compiles pertinent news stories and data from all sorts of media so that the members don’t have to.  

6.  Message Board or Forum

This type of site requires potential posters (or information seekers) to pay for a membership before they can contribute and/or use certain functions of the forum, such as a search.  Creating a viable forum site can be tricky, as it must provide information that can’t easily be found on another forum or website for free.  They also normally have a very low membership fee.

7.  Content Delivered Via Audio

With this type of membership, all of your content is delivered to your members or posted on your site as audio files.  I have seen this site model used to offer audio files on a wide variety of topics to be used as additional content on other membership sites – rather like business to business marketing.

You can also combine several of these ideas into one membership site. A content site can also have a members only forum, and a paid newsletter can feature a monthly audio bonus.  The possibilities are endless, and the more you offer your subscribers, the more they will value your service.

==================================================

==> How to Start a For-Profit Mastermind Group <==

Instantly downloadable 22-page ebook in PDF format:

http://mommyrevenue.com/mastermind-ebook

===================================================