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Marketing Tip

Membership Sites: One Way to Be Well Paid for What You Know?

How to Make Membership Sites Work for You 

by Diane Eble

Though I love books, and have been in the book publishing industry for a long time, I'm very glad that technology now affords authors other ways to deliver our content besides a print book.

If you have a print book, the most profit you'll get from it is a few dollars. Usually between $1 and $2. 

It's sad but true that your book alone can't get you rich. Can't even pay the mortgage, usually.

However, if you keep in mind that YOU are the message, and that your message can be delivered in a number of different ways, then suddenly a whole world of opportunity opens up. 

If you like to speak, you can do seminars, public speak at other people's events, and do teleseminars, radio shows, and podcasts. 

If you prefer to write, you can publish articles, Special Reports, white papers, a blog, eBook, and now, a relatively new form of distributing your material: membership sites. 

How Membership Sites Can Make Your Content More Profitable 

Basically, with a membership site, you give people access only if they pay for it. Thus, you monetize your book's content AND offer more of you in some way, for added value.

Membership sites are a way to be "well paid for what you know." You can create a steady monthly income for yourself through a membership site.

But a few things are crucual to know.

First, membership sites can be structured in all sorts of ways.

If you have a book that can get outdated, your membership site can be a ways of keeping people abreast of the latest happenings. 

For instance, a friend is writing a book on how to create profitable web sites. Since the material is such that it will change quickly, she will ask people who buy the book to register it at a special web site, where people will get access to all her newest tips and tools relevant to her topic. 

If you've written a cookbook on gluten-free eating, you can give people access to new recipes and information on health issues related to this topic. 

If you're a coach, you can offer people access to special teleseminars in which you interview experts on various topics. 

Almost anyone can interview experts on their topic, and ask people to pay $10-30 per month for access. 

Do you get the idea? How can your topic be expanded into a membership site?

Membership sites can be a great way to create some steady income, but they're not without their pitfalls. Some of the most successful people on the Internet caution against membership sites. At least, certain types.

The Down Side of Membership Sites 

I was all set to create a membership site myself, until I read something from someone who had created several himself. Jimmy D. Brown has been making a living online since 2000, and has created 4 membership sites. 

His conclusion after all this is startling: he says membership sites are actually usually a bad idea. 

Here's why, according to Jimmy: 

1. Traditional membership sites require too much work setting up. One of the biggest reasons why people don't get their membership sites going in the first place is because there is a lot of work that goes into the initial setup. When you factor in writing a dozen or so original pieces of content to "stockpile" in your member's area, getting training materials in place, setting up a forum, installing scripts, assembling a "library" of materials and other things most membership sites include, it's just too time-consuming for the average person to ever get in place.  

2. Traditional membership sites have built-in pressures to create content.   It is so easy to burn out by running your own membership site. You think going in that you'll never run out of ideas to write about. As one of the most creative and prolific writers you'll ever run across, let me tell you that I myself face this problem. Almost everyone does. And, even if you are supernatural and can continue coming up with new ideas for years and years, the demands of updating your site 3-5 times per week with new content requires discipline that most of us just don't possess. 

3. Traditional membership sites require pricey and complicated scripts.  By running a membership site, you have to manage passwords, protect your member's area, keep up with who's active and who's stopped paying you, manage your content and at least two dozen other things. This requires a membership site "script". Have you looked at your options? Most inexpensive ones are either inadequate or incompatible. And others are way too expensive (thousands of dollars) or have so many "bells and whistles" that you need to join a membership site just to learn how to use them! 

4. Traditional membership sites demand a large investment of time.  You have a forum to moderate, cancellations to process, content to add, technical problems to troubleshoot, password problems to fix, and a variety of other tasks that usually get left out of the "sales letter" for a product or service trying to convince you to start a membership site. The truth is, a traditional membership site requires a large investment of time. Now, if this is the ONLY part of your business you'll have, you might pull it off. But, believe me, it will leave the average person with virtually no time to do list-building, traffic generation and develop other products. 

5. Traditional membership sites include a continual battle to keep subscribers.   Here's a figure most people don't tell you about: the "average" subscriber will stay active for 3-4 months and then they'll cancel. What, you thought they'd join and stay with you forever? It simply doesn't happen that way. With more and more membership sites being launched, this figure is probably going to get worse. People simply don't have the time nor money to remain active members in many different programs. Factor in indifference, a lack of effort, poor results and a never-ending amount of other enticing offers and you'll be lucky to get them to stay 3-4 months. 

HOWEVER, I know that Jimmy came out with this perspective before a brand-new membership site software was created, so I'd like to tell you about something that can counteract a lot of the problems Jimmy mentioned above.

Turn Your Blog into a Vehicle for Being Well-Paid for What You Know 

If you have a blog already and do not find it burdensome to create content regularly, then there is a brand-new membership software that is relatively inexpensive and relatively easy to use. 

It's called Wishlist Member, and if you already have a WordPress blog, this might be an ideal option for you. WLM is a very impressive piece of software that installs like a typical plug-in, but is easy to use and very powerful. 

In terms of expense, it's only $97 for a license for one site. That's a one-time fee, which is really wonderful when you think of how much a membership site can make you. Even if you only charge $10 per month to access your members-only content, and you get 10 members, in your first month you're even, and the rest is more money coming in that you would not have had otherwise.  

(I think I'm talking myself into doing this right away!) 

Take a peek at all the things that this amazing piece of software does for you. In my opinion, it counteracts a lot of what Jimmy D. Brown pointed out as weaknesses of traditional membership sites. (Remember, he wrote that before Wishlist Member was created.) 

So again, Wishlist Member may well be for you if: 

1. you like to create content and are already doing it. 

2. you have a blog you update regularly, especially if it's WordPress (or you're open to switching to WordPress). 

3.   you have content that people would be willing to pay for—something unique that you can give them on an ongoing basis that they can't get anywhere else. 

What will people pay for? Here's a fascinating article that answers that question. If you're considering a membership site, think about how you can add any of these elements to your site for added value. 

If you're not quite ready to make a commitment to an ongoing membership site—and I do advise you to count the cost carefully—then there's another alternative that is arguably better anyway. 

It was created by Jimmy D. Brown, who, as usual, came up with a way to simplify and make membership sites work. If you're looking to be "well paid for what you know" and if what you love to do is write, consider this next option. 

The Easiest Way: Fixed Term Membership Sites  

Jimmy D. Brown's alternative is what he calls a Fixed Term Membership site and I must say, it has a lot of appeal. 

Here's his definition: 

"A 'fixed-term membership site' (FTM) consists of weekly content shared via autoresponder to paid members for a specified period of time." 

In my experience, the most successful kind of programs  are those that provide a specific result for a specific period of time. 

People like to know exactly what they are getting for their money. 

That's why I think Jimmy's program makes a lot of sense. 

Read more about what a Fixed Term Membership site is, and how it "fixes" each of the above problems of membership sites, here.  

Jimmy's method is very quick--he shows you how to start it within 48 hours. (Yes, it is possible.) 

I myself have taken Jimmy's Membernaire course, and it is the best training I've ever invested in. Truly.  

If you had only ONE thing you can afford to invest in, it would be this. ($27 per month will not break the bank, I hope.) 

I guarantee, you will be referring back to this content to YEARS to come. One of his 10-page lessons packs more content than most entire books. The guy is very savvy and very creative. 

(I strongly suspect many of the so-called Internet marketing gurus secretly learn from Jimmy. After studying many of them for years now, this is my conclusion. I'd rather learn from the source myself.)

That's why I've taken many courses by Jimmy. I find him to be a very good teacher. He has a way of simplifying things so that anyone can do what he says. He breaks it down, step by step, and gives you specific, easy things to do each step of the way.

So consider how your content—written in book form yet or not—might be right for a membership site. Read Jimmy D. Brown's take on it, and see it if makes sense to you. If it does, sign up for his Membernaire program. He's got a money-back guarantee, so you almost can't go wrong. 

And yes, I'm implementing what I've learned from Jimmy. Where do you think the Author Success Plan came from? That's a free FTM, designed to give you a taste for what's to come, which is the 6-month FTM, "Author Success Strategies: The ABC3 System for Becoming a Successful Author." Stay tuned! 

Action Steps:

1. If you already have a WordPress blog, read this article about why people pay for content. Brainstorm what you offer that fits into some of these categories, and how to convert that to a membership site. (If you want to set up a consultation with me about that, contact me: