Why You Should Consider Setting Up A Membership Site?

Recently, I wrote an article for my clients about membership sites. Thought it may benefit some people on the forum too:

Why a Membership Site Can Be the Ace Up Your Internet Business Sleeve

Why Own A Membership Site?

Regular residual income. Adsense income. CPA income. Big ticket affiliate income. Regular followers. These are just five reasons off the top of my head for you to own a site like this. Now, despite what some gurus will tell you, setting up and running your own membership site is not easy.

On the contrary, I spent a painful amount of time researching my first ever membership site. I tried numerous paid and zero cost scripts. And, ultimately I spent a fortune having it developed too. Even today, I invest real time and money everday on my site, to keep it updated with the very best products, and to try and introduce new initiatives that my members would like.

So, why go through all the hassle? And why do I recommend all my clients have their own membership site business themselves? It goes something like this…

1. It Gives You Residual Income - The Holy Grail Of Incomes

Residual income is that which is received on a regular basis. It’s a little like having a monthly paycheck, only without the annoying backstabbing boss, or the rush hour commute. It’s not “money for nothing” as some of the ebooks and courses try to make out in their sales pages. Far from it, you still need to invest real time to update your site. But, do it right, offer your clients good regular updates - and more times than not, they will stick around.

You’ll find that as you collect new members, your income can snowball quite dramatically without you having to do “extra” work. It really is the sophisticated internet entrepreneurs in come of choice.

2. Your Protected Content Site Allows You Space To Advertise More Targeted Products

Protected content (member) sites unlike ebooks/videos/static sites are dynamic. If you’re doing your job as the owner, you’ll be updating your products regularly. That means people have a reason to keep logging in, and checking the new downloads. That’s a live audience there - and you know what they like. Hence, it allows you a highly targeted stream of responsive prospects to offer additional products and services to.

You can add in CPA links, big ticket affiliate links, Adsense…. And monetise your space effectively. Bottom line? this type of site can yield multiple sources of income over and above the residual subscription income.

3. They Offer You A Competitive Advantage & Brand Awareness

The more difficult something is, the less competition you have. That’s a basic rule in life. Membership sites are notoriously tricky to set-up. That’s why you don’t see them being offered for anything less than top dollar (check the rates on elance for yourself). That’s actually a good thing for you. It means greater barriers to entry, which helps you charge a higher price for what you offer.

It also helps to brand you - the protected content site owner has far more flexibility and credibility than someone peddling ebooks for $1.99 from his sad HTML static site. Plus the flexibility to do JVs. And to build a quick list into the thousands, simply by offering a free members level that can be upgraded later.

4. As Your Member Site Grows, You Offer More And More Versus Your Competition

If you operate a model where as soon as the member joins, they access everything in your protected content site, it’s a real advantage - especially if you have been around for years, your clients can feel they are getting an unmissable bargain.

To see the full article, please visit the article post here.

I'd really like to know if anyone has set-up a successful membership site, and how they value it compared to their other VRE. And, what have been the benefits and drawbacks on creating and running the membership site in your opinion?

 

Membership sites really are the holy grail.
They can be on going, i.e. never ending or fixed term. Personally I prefer the fixed term type because members know exactly how much they will be paying out and for how long.
Get 10 of them up and running giving you $500 per month and you have a very healthy income, although 20 is much better.

 

yea talk about membership site you also talk about residual income so long as you have quality content for you members