"7 Tactics in 7 Chapters To Help You Build and Increase Your Online Income."
Let’s look at an obvious example. You are thinking about setting up a membership site but you’re not sure which software to use. You go to Google and type in the term ‘best subscription software’. You are then presented with pages of what are essentially ads for individual software companies, each claiming that theirs is the best product, and affiliates. How much simpler would it be if you could just access that information without having to go through all those sites?
If it is frustrating to you, it will be frustrating to others as well. They will therefore be more likely to pay for said information and this can be very profitable for you. Consider the following benefits to setting up your own membership site:
If you are trained or skilled in a particular area, you can set up a successful business by simply offering others your expertise and knowledge.
You can start a membership site for practically any niche. There will always be people looking for information.
The popularity of membership sites has lead to the creation of affordable, quaddty software so your initial expenditure isn’t high.
Since most subscriptions are on a monthly basis, you can look forward to a steady income and focus on providing high-quality content to your members.
The longer your site is operational, the more credible it becomes. As your credibiddty increases, so will your membership, without you having to mount an aggressive advertising campaign.
A successful membership site will afford you the opportunity to trade with other entrepreneurs for valuable products, such as web hosting etc., in exchange for advertising on your site.
Many people make the mistake of setting up their membership site first and then trying to find a market. This is not an approach which should be used if you hope to be successful. You need to find a group of people with a specific need and then cater to those requirements.
An absolute necessity is conducting a keyword search before you start anything else. This can be done through many means, including Overture, Google and Lycos. The latter includes a top 50 list of popular search terms which you can draw from for your own site.
Many experts will tell you that the more popular search terms will be more profitable for you since there is a larger market. While this may be true, there is typically also a proportional amount of competition. Unless you are an already established online presence, it is best to start with search terms that appear in the latter half of such lists.
It can be difficult for a new membership site to get subscribers initially. People will not want to part with their money unless they have a clear idea of what they are getting in return. Therefore, the best method of attracting members is to give them a proverbial ‘sneak peek’ into what you are offering. This can take many forms, depending on the kind of membership site you operate.
One of the best, and least labor intensive, forms of marketing is through the use of a newsletter. This can be quickly and easily set up on your part. In fact, most of the information that you’ll need can be readily sourced online. It’s just a matter of putting it together.
There are two advantages to this method. Firstly, you can promote your products while at the same time delivering valuable information. In addition, since newsletters are usually sent out at regular intervals, you are ensuring that potential members are continually reminded of your site.
Why should someone join your site to get information or products when there are many other places online where they can find the same thing? The answer is that there’s no reason to. You therefore have to find a way to make what you are offering unique.
While you may not yet be an established expert in your field, there are others who already are. Knowing this can be especially valuable if your site offers informational products. Each one of these experts will undoubtedly have their own reasons to want publicity.
Contacting them, conducting interviews, and making these available to your subscribers are great joint venture opportunities. In most cases, they will gladly agree to an interview since this will broaden their own base of subscribers. It is important that you contact individuals in related fields, and not those whose products will overlap with yours.
The best membership sites are those that don’t rely on only one type of service. By offering a variety, you stand a better chance of attracting a broader spectrum of subscribers. For example, if your site deals with downloadable ebooks on internet marketing, consider offering articles and software as well.
At one point in time, the main difficulty of setting up a membership site was accessing the funds for the software. At present, there are still sites that will charge you thousands of dollars to create your site. Fortunately, there are also lower cost alternatives that can produce sites which have the same degree of professionalism as their high priced counterparts.
However, there are still two main areas that have the potential to make things difficult for you:
Some types of software may be a bit complicated to install, especially for those who are new to the internet. Most come with very detailed instructions. However, if you are having problems, you can source help from online forums or pay a low fee to have it installed by a freelance professional.
It can be difficult to find fresh, exciting content each month. Still, you have to make the attempt since that is what you are being paid by your subscribers to do. That is why it is important to stick to a topic you enjoy and are knowledgeable about.
A successful membership site needs to be able to run on its own, without too much interaction from you. After all, you will need to concentrate on creating or finding content for your subscribers. In general, you will need to ensure that your site can function smoothly on auto-pilot and that it is accessible as possible to all users. Here are some things to consider when choosing software:
Your membership site should offer as wide a range as possible of standard payment options. With a subscription site, you should concentrate on means of immediate payment such as through a credit card or onddne payment processor such as Paypal.
Your subscribers should be able to immediately set up their account, once payment has been processed, without waiting for input from you.
If a subscriber chooses to end their membership, they should be denied access immediately, i.e., the process should be automated.
You should not be limited to setting up only one website or a certain amount of pages. It doesn’t make sense if you have to pay fees each and every time you wish to open a new site.
Your software should be compatible with your web hosting features. For example, most software requires a PHP server. If you are running on an ASP server, the software won’t work.
aMember was one of the first scripts created for setting up membership sites. As such, it has built a reputation for reliability and continues to be one of the more popular software titles available for this purpose.
It contains a built-in affiliate program so users can gain extra income from their site without having to buy additional software.
It is compatible with a large number of payment systems including Paypal.
It comes pre-packaged with its own plug-ins for full integration with content management systems, mailing lists and forums.
Installation is free with software purchase.
There is no need for complex programming. The software is compatible with simple HTML pages.
The interface can be confusing, especially with users not familiar with such software.
Generated reports are very basic and it can be difficult to decipher the information presented.
The affiliate program is much too basic and missing some key features such as manual assignment of sales.
MemberGate is one of the newer membership site software solutions on the market. Nevertheless, it is becoming much more popular with people who are running multiple membership sites and are willing to pay a somewhat hefty price for the program.
Offers automatic optimization of content for search engines.
Contains a built-in WYSIWYG editor
It can act as an automated content management system.
Multiple databases are capable of handling very large numbers of members
Full integration with payment solutions such as Paypal.
Includes a built-in, fully featured affiliate program.
Full reporting of membership site statistics.
While MemberGate does have some distinct advantages over aMember, the main disadvantage is the fact that it is much pricier
If you are now starting out and would like to bypass software expenditure completely, there is an alternative for you. Quite a number of people have had success using Mambo.
Mambo itself is an open source content management system. Put simply, it a free program designed to aid managing and updating the content on your site. Mambo itself doesn’t offer you the option of setting up a membership site. However, as with many open source programs, new plug-ins are constantly being developed to add functionality.
One such plug-in is MamboCharge, which boasts the following features:
Extensive management reports.
Compatible with Paypal, Western Union and Pay-by-check payments.
Capability to handle price reductions due to redemption of coupons.
Manual editing and creation of subscriptions.
This is good option for novices or those who are looking to keep costs down. Experienced users however may require the added features contained in paid subscription software titles.
