In the last lesson we talked about some of the best reasons why you should start your own membership site. In this lesson we are going to go over a handy checklist that you can use to set up your membership site.
Starting a membership site is easier than you think. Although there are a lot of requirements involved, you can breeze through them all with this simple checklist. Once you get through the following list you’ll be in prime position to launch your own membership site and start gathering a consistent monthly income from your site.
Your first step is to get a domain name. Use the most popular keywords in your niche and add a community-oriented suffix like club, group or team. For example, your classic car membership site could be hosted at www.classiccarclub.com.
You can also build a membership site into an existing blog. You can have regular content for guests and non-paying subscribers. Then you can have “premium” content that is protected.
Do you see the login box to the right? That’s for premium members of paulbevans.com
Your website design will have a big impact on how your members use your website and how often they come back. You’ll need a welcome page, a blog, a downloads page and perhaps a forum, depending on the nature of your membership site. If you want the best look for your membership site, consider hiring a professional designer who can give you a consistent look from start to finish.
- A sales letter
Your sales letter should convince visitors why they should join your membership site. Some would consider it to be the most important part of your site because it gets people in through the door. The sales letter needs to emphasize the benefits of your membership site as well as mentioning the features.
You won’t make any money with your membership site unless you have this set up properly. While many people use Paypal to process their monthly subscriptions, you can also use Clickbank, or your own merchant account and a shopping cart like Barefootcart.com to process your payments. These three options are your best choices if you want to have an affiliate program for your membership site.
A membership site script will keep your website secure. The script will build a registration form into your site, which will allow paying members to sign up and access the site. It will also keep visitors from accessing your content without paying. Thanks to membership site scripts you don’t have to hire a coder to set up a custom script for you.
There are dozens of scripts and options available. Personally, I recommend Wishlist Member.
You’ll want to keep in touch with your members and let them know what is going on inside of the site. Using an autoresponder e-mail list is the best way to keep people active in the site. You can send out a new message each time there is a content update, or you can e-mail a weekly newsletter. Place an opt in box on the welcome page that members get to after they’ve successfully subscribed. Or if using Wishlist you can integrate Aweber and your members only email list is built automatically.
- Solid content
Before you launch your site, you should have several articles, reports and other forms of content available for your members to enjoy. If you plan on having a certain amount of updates per month, you should have at least twice as much content when you start. This way the members know that they’ll be getting quality from you in the future.
But you do not have to over do it. Your site could literally be ONE interview a month.
-An editorial schedule
Just like traditional newspapers, your membership site needs an editorial calendar. You don’t want to scramble around each month trying to get your content together. Plan ahead at least a few months of content and get it prepared before you need to post it.
By following these steps, you’ll be ready to promote your membership site and start earning monthly income.
In the next lesson we will be talking about choosing the right script to power your membership site.
Don’t forget, if you have any questions or need any assistance please make a comment and I will answer directly. I am here to help.
Live Your Mission,
Paul
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