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Whats the best way to setup a membership site?

by asimbawany
23 replies
hey guys,

Im going to be starting a membership site, not in the IM niche.
This will not be a mini-site and we intend for this to be a long term project with a large volume of content added every month and different membership levels. Content will be varied.. PDFs, articles, books, software files, videos and audio podcasts.

This will be my very 1st experience with setting up a membership site so Im looking for help from all you expert marketers who have done this or do this regularly as part of your business.

So whats the best way to do it?
setting it up on wordpress and using a premium plugin seems to be the easiest but iv heard there are security issues with that.
Alternatively, I was looking up some Membership site scripts but there are so many out there I donno where to start looking.

What about platforms like nanacast?

What I am looking for is something that is flexible and that I dont have to get inside the code or get technical help every time I want to customize. i'd rather pay someone to set it up for me in a way that its fully customizable from there on.

any ideas will be helpful as I am completely new to membership sites and would benefit greatly from the smallest of tips.

Thanks.
Asim
#membership #setup #site
  • Profile picture of the author mikeroosa
    I've been using Profits Theme with Wordpress and I'm pretty happy with it. I hear Optimize Press is good too. As long as you aren't doing anything out of the ordinary you shouldn't have to customize it. You could look at Traindom for an online option.
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    • Profile picture of the author Britt Malka
      We just launched a membership site with Profits Theme, and I'm really satisfied with it. It's a WordPress theme, and you can easily add sales page, squeeze page, etc. as well as create the membership part with drip feeded content.

      I've posted a review of the theme on my blog at GetMoneyMakingIdeas.com

      Before we got the theme, we just used AWeber to deliver the content.
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  • Profile picture of the author darrenmonroe
    PROFITS Theme is good and I use it with wishlist member because their customer service rocks!
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    • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
      Start with a WordPress site. You can password-protect pages.

      I own two membership sites, but they're annual memberships, so all I need to do is set up a password-protected page.

      If you need more than that, I highly recommend WishList Member, a membership plugin for WordPress sites. You can see it here: WishList Member | Membership Site Software

      I've been very happy with it.

      Michelle
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  • Profile picture of the author Paleochora
    I am working with Profits Theme. One site about to launch and a couple more in the pipe.

    Very easy to use and integrate.

    You should get hold of Ryan Lee's Nano continuity too. That is a very good resource.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nigel Greaves
    I'd suggest you take a look at using Sam Stephen's Download Guard. It's a simple and easy way to use an ordinary HTML site and avoids all the hassle that comes with constantly updating Wordpress and it's plugins.

    Nigel
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  • Profile picture of the author Nigel Greaves
    Another very cost effective way would be to use Paypal. Take a look at the all-in-one thread about membership sites here starting at Jesus Perez's post #17 for details.

    Nigel
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  • Profile picture of the author Rezbi
    There's one method a LOT of the gurus are using. I've been into it for just under a year and it's probably the easiest and quickest way to get started, and keep going, in the membership site business.

    Check out my link.
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  • Profile picture of the author Larkrise
    I have just bought Profits Theme for the same reason - mine also not in IM

    And I can concur that Ryan's nano continuity is well worth the price, it gave me lots of ideas and kick started my current eLifeCoachOnline project which should be off the ground very soon
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  • Profile picture of the author asimbawany
    Thanks for all your suggestion guys
    they all really helped!

    Most people I spoke to about this recommended I go with wishlist... I compared it to a couple of others and it seems like the best option at the moment. I think infusionWP would be a lot easier and flexible and all that good stuff but I think getting into a monthly 77 bucks at this moment won't be a very good idea.

    Again, thanks for the help guys...

    Asim
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  • Profile picture of the author ina696
    If you plan to use the Wordpress platform, I recommend you look (as an option) at Andrew Hunter's WSO for Membership Site Dashboard. Just use the search field in the WF and type in Membership Site Dashboard. I just picked this up and it is nothing short of fabulous.

    There is A LOT of information in the members' area on how to get set up properly (or even outsource the setup). There are videos with very informative Case Studies. I instantly picked up valuable information I can use. I was so impressed, I'll be purchasing a few other products he offers.

    What I liked is that Andy's product sets up your membership site in a very appealing graphical dashboard ... complete with a video (could be used for a welcome message, how to get started or a lesson module); and graphical images in columns below the video player for links to the members' content and links to your help or support desk area.

    It's customizable so you can get the look you need. But what's great is the price. Definitely affordable.

    I also picked up Welly's Profits Theme and look forward to using it on another project.


    Ina
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    • Profile picture of the author andynakamura
      If you really are serious about a memebrship site, why not get some training first. Get some WSOs that has some webinars. I just came out Maria Gudelis 7-day membership mastery course. She will run another WSO based on that.

      The pre-sell video by Jason Fladlien was worth its weight in gold and she didn't even start! Though the course is designed for newbies, even experienced marketers will learn a thing or two. And its nice to get on the inside track of some of the popular gurus.

      I would wait for a WSO and get some training first. But if you really want to start you can buy Jason's course Membership Site Tactics 2.0. But heck, why not just wait until Maria comes out with her's and ride on the waves of someone *already* doing membership sites. Plus it was kinda fun because you get Maria and her buddies for more than an hour and at $250/hr heck any course dished out by these guys on a WSO is worth the price!

      Andy
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    • Profile picture of the author asimbawany
      Originally Posted by ina696 View Post

      If you plan to use the Wordpress platform, I recommend you look (as an option) at Andrew Hunter's WSO for Membership Site Dashboard. Just use the search field in the WF and type in Membership Site Dashboard. I just picked this up and it is nothing short of fabulous.

      There is A LOT of information in the members' area on how to get set up properly (or even outsource the setup). There are videos with very informative Case Studies. I instantly picked up valuable information I can use. I was so impressed, I'll be purchasing a few other products he offers.

      What I liked is that Andy's product sets up your membership site in a very appealing graphical dashboard ... complete with a video (could be used for a welcome message, how to get started or a lesson module); and graphical images in columns below the video player for links to the members' content and links to your help or support desk area.

      It's customizable so you can get the look you need. But what's great is the price. Definitely affordable.

      I also picked up Welly's Profits Theme and look forward to using it on another project.


      Ina
      Hey thanks for that Ina, It sounds pretty interesting. can you please give me a link of your membership site so I could see it in action? Can you please PM me the link if thats OK?

      Thanks
      Asim
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  • Profile picture of the author UncleHQ
    Hi,

    I use Wishlist, DELmem and Delavo for my membership sites.

    Brian
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  • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
    www.easymemberpro.com is an excellent choice if you don't want anything to difficult to use

    Kim
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  • Profile picture of the author Valuable Solos
    Use wordpress and a plugin. Paypal as the payment processor. Cheap and easy to set up. Tough part is choosing a topic.
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  • Profile picture of the author kharyreynolds
    Profits Theme is definitely a quick and easy solution with the extra functionality of sales and squeeze page templates.
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    two words for you

    OPTIMIZE PRESS

    I am not an affilate you can just google it. I have used this to tet up full video squeeze pages and membership sites in about 20 mintues flat. Not kidding. one of the best investments I have made in the last 12 months.

    I am sure you wont be dissapointed. Their backup and support is great too
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  • Profile picture of the author Dwight Anthony
    One thing i know about membership sites is backup every time the site changes! wp-twin is a good choice for this. You can also use the free WP plugin to secure your pages with a password. I've seen million dollar marketers do this.
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  • Profile picture of the author CheapTrafficDude
    Three Words... Digital Access Pass!! I have it on two of my websites and I love it, it also works perfectly with OptimizePress. DAP has so many options that it would take me too long to list them all. You can have your own affiliate program, dime sales, multiple levels of memberships just to name a few and DAP will protect your downloads from non-paying members. Ravi's a good guy, lots of videos and literature to help you along the way and you get 1 free install and can be used with the most popular shopping carts like Clickbank, 1shoppingcart and of course, PayPal.

    Depends what you're looking to do tho, if it's an NPO then you can just get a simple WP plugin to do the job, I think you can get one in CodeCanyon. The more professional ones are DAP & Wishlist but DAP is about half the price of Wishlist (last I knew).
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin AKA Hubcap
      Take a look at SiteManPro.

      $50 for unlimited domains.
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