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I have this potentially great idea, a little help first!

by karlstech
8 replies
Hey there Warriors,

I have this idea that has a potential of becoming a profitable membership website. Now I don't really want to share it publicly at the moment, I just want some directions and pointers:

1. What general requirements are there to creating a membership site?
2. How would I go about promoting a membership site? The same as usual?
3. I love the idea of freemium memberships, attracts more users, but how can one make money from this?
4. Any other general tips?

I know it might be difficult when I haven't disclosed it's topic, but in a broad sense it's about writing and articles.

Thank you, would love to see what you have to say!

Cheers!
#great #idea #membership site #potential idea #potentially #traffic help #website help #writing content
  • Profile picture of the author The Real Deal
    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hey there Warriors,
    1. What general requirements are there to creating a membership site?
    If you want to test your idea and make things really easy for yourself, you can just use your normal webhosting account and an autoresponder for your membership, (I can send you a report on how to do this if you PM me). However, if you want to create a more serious membership site I would recommend either Wishlist of Zaxaa membership.

    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    2. How would I go about promoting a membership site? The same as usual?
    Pretty much, but you need to make sure that you offer your members real long-term value. I understand that you don't want to reveal your idea in public, but focusing on providing long-term value to your members would be my #1 advice. Since a membership site is generally a bigger financial commitment (long-term), it takes a bit more effort to recruit new members, so your retention rate is important.

    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    3. I love the idea of freemium memberships, attracts more users, but how can one make money from this?
    I don't have much experience from the "freemium model" so can't really say, but personally I prefer to focus on a smaller number of "more serious" paying members and provide them with the best possible support, rather than a larger group of non-paying members. It partly depends on how much work you have to do for each member, and some people are very successful with the freemium membership model, I'm just speaking from personal experience.

    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    4. Any other general tips?
    I recommend that you offer a very low-cost trial membership for a few days, to give people a chance to view and properly understand your offer before making a long-term commitment, this will improve your conversion rate.

    Finally, if you think you have a good idea and you understand the market, just get started and GO FOR IT!
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    • Profile picture of the author karlstech
      Originally Posted by The Real Deal View Post

      If you want to test your idea and make things really easy for yourself, you can just use your normal webhosting account and an autoresponder for your membership, (I can send you a report on how to do this if you PM me). However, if you want to create a more serious membership site I would recommend either Wishlist of Zaxaa membership.

      Pretty much, but you need to make sure that you offer your members real long-term value. I understand that you don't want to reveal your idea in public, but focusing on providing long-term value to your members would be my #1 advice. Since a membership site is generally a bigger financial commitment (long-term), it takes a bit more effort to recruit new members, so your retention rate is important.

      I don't have much experience from the "freemium model" so can't really say, but personally I prefer to focus on a smaller number of "more serious" paying members and provide them with the best possible support, rather than a larger group of non-paying members. It partly depends on how much work you have to do for each member, and some people are very successful with the freemium membership model, I'm just speaking from personal experience.

      I recommend that you offer a very low-cost trial membership for a few days, to give people a chance to view and properly understand your offer before making a long-term commitment, this will improve your conversion rate.

      Finally, if you think you have a good idea and you understand the market, just get started and GO FOR IT!
      Thank you for the helpful post!

      I'll be sure to take into consideration, I guess that the only real obstacle I have is if I'll be good enough to set up a membership site.

      But maybe it's like you said, maybe I should just get started and see where it leads me!
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve B
        Karlstech,

        Just be aware that there are good reasons and not-so-good reasons for starting a membership site.

        Typically, the good reasons for starting such a site are because you are:
        • Teaching something with a logical progression so you want to provide one lesson after another in logical sequence
        • Offering premium content that is not available elsewhere and you want to release it little by little
        • Coaching or assisting large groups but you want to personalize the experience as much as possible
        • Providing up-to-the-minute timely information on a very regular basis like "breaking news"
        • Giving greater access to some of your subscribers than others because they want added output from you
        One of the bad reasons for starting a membership site is because you like the thought of recurring income.

        Another poor reason for employing this business model is the fact that you want to sell information that is generally available all over the Internet but figure you'll make it exclusive.

        In order to accomplish what you want to do in your post, think about employing membership site software that allows you to have multiple membership levels. Then you can give free trials at one level, basic content at a second level, and advanced content at a third and more expensive level.

        If you pick the right software platform, setting up and managing your site with multiple membership levels is pretty easy. Don't attempt to use cheap scripts where you will have to "bolt on" the various parts of your web site.

        The very best to you,

        Steve
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        • Profile picture of the author karlstech
          Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

          Karlstech,

          Just be aware that there are good reasons and not-so-good reasons for starting a membership site.

          Typically, the good reasons for starting such a site are because you are:
          • Teaching something with a logical progression so you want to provide one lesson after another in logical sequence
          • Offering premium content that is not available elsewhere and you want to release it little by little
          • Coaching or assisting large groups but you want to personalize the experience as much as possible
          • Providing up-to-the-minute timely information on a very regular basis like "breaking news"
          • Giving greater access to some of your subscribers than others because they want added output from you
          One of the bad reasons for starting a membership site is because you like the thought of recurring income.

          Another poor reason for employing this business model is the fact that you want to sell information that is generally available all over the Internet but figure you'll make it exclusive.

          In order to accomplish what you want to do in your post, think about employing membership site software that allows you to have multiple membership levels. Then you can give free trials at one level, basic content at a second level, and advanced content at a third and more expensive level.

          If you pick the right software platform, setting up and managing your site with multiple membership levels is pretty easy. Don't attempt to use cheap scripts where you will have to "bolt on" the various parts of your web site.

          The very best to you,

          Steve
          I like this idea Steve, it resembles a functioning business model I see almost every day (like packages on most of the online services you can think of).

          What your'e saying is that each rising level within the model corresponds more content and a higher price, right?

          So an example would be (as you wrote):

          First Level: A free trial or free package that contains minimum content and features, but still useful content.

          Second Level: A paid package, with all the previous things + more content and features that are even more valuable than the former.

          Third: The more expensive one. Contains the former + more, exclusive features, options and content.

          This model has struck me several times. Mind if I PM you Steve?

          You always have some insightful advice that makes a lot of sense in the end and would like to know your take on this!

          Karl
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          • Profile picture of the author kk075
            Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

            I like this idea Steve, it resembles a functioning business model I see almost every day (like packages on most of the online services you can think of).

            What your'e saying is that each rising level within the model corresponds more content and a higher price, right?

            So an example would be (as you wrote):

            First Level: A free trial or free package that contains minimum content and features, but still useful content.

            Second Level: A paid package, with all the previous things + more content and features that are even more valuable than the former.

            Third: The more expensive one. Contains the former + more, exclusive features, options and content.

            This model has struck me several times. Mind if I PM you Steve?

            You always have some insightful advice that makes a lot of sense in the end and would like to know your take on this!

            Karl
            Well, you have to have some directory facing content for the search engines to even find you, and you'll also have to have enough free content to convince me that your paid membership is viable. If you give me too much content, then maybe I can read between the lines and not need to join. If you give me too little, then I can't see the value and I'll pass. So finding that balance is going to be crucial for you to succeed.

            As far as the tiers go, it would really depend on your idea and how well it would naturally scale. While I respect that you don't want to share your idea (I have two things I'm working on myself that I'm keeping private), it's hard to say what would work without knowing what you're doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas W
    1. What general requirements are there to creating a membership site?
    Security, Software to process/refund Money, Content, Content, Conten

    2. How would I go about promoting a membership site? The same as usual?
    Same like any other product services

    3. I love the idea of freemium memberships, attracts more users, but how can one make money from this?
    Give then little free content and then ask to upgrade to unlock more content

    4. Any other general tips?
    Be sure to have a webmaster available at hand. Membership sites can be hassle and requires lots of support.
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  • Profile picture of the author karlstech
    Thank you!

    The truth is I had to scratch my previous idea. It was a site where anyone could publish content that people could claim and use for their own businesses.

    As you can imagine this wouldn't work since it would lead to matching posts being published around the web and it would require a special software to make it an effective approach,

    Someone is probably doing this already with success and a more technical know-how. Unfortunately I don't have that so it won't work..

    So now I'm fresh out of ideas!
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    • Profile picture of the author dingaloo
      When another idea comes, I really like s2member pro on wordpress with flyplugins course plugin. Those 2 plugins work great together and the developers are actively updating both. S2 is considerably cheap in comparison to other membership plugins and is very powerful. Its easy to setup and has the membership levels you sought.

      Anyway best of luck with the future idea
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