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Membership Site: Best Format For Interaction?

by bigballin6161
8 replies
Im making a monthly membership site for weight loss. I want to be able interact with the members where they can ask questions and I can answer and so forth. Also other members can see the questions and comment as well. I am using Optimize Press.

I have seen:

1. Almost like a blog roll- I just dont know how they set this up. Does anyone know what this is called?

2. Forum- I dont know if this is possible or too much work or not the best solution

3. Private FB Group- I have heard of people using them but dont know how well it works for this

What is the best way to do this?
#format #interaction #membership #site
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Don't know if it's the "best", but here's an idea for you...

    How about an old school moderated listserv? All done by email.

    There are two options. One, people can get each email sent to the listserv in real time, or two, they can get a daily or weekly digest.

    If you're talking a paid subscription model, you simply put the opt-in form behind your paywall. You may have a little manual maintenance, like unsubscribing people when they cancel their subscription. But it's a cheap (free) way to test the waters.

    If the group gets big enough or busy enough, you can look at moving to a more complicated solution.
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  • Profile picture of the author timokeefe
    My 2c is that a forum would be what you're after, although I might be biased here .

    Realistically it should be pretty straightforward to install some off the shelf forum software on your server and run with that.
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  • Profile picture of the author bigballin6161
    Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

    Don't know if it's the "best", but here's an idea for you...

    How about an old school moderated listserv? All done by email.

    There are two options. One, people can get each email sent to the listserv in real time, or two, they can get a daily or weekly digest.

    If you're talking a paid subscription model, you simply put the opt-in form behind your paywall. You may have a little manual maintenance, like unsubscribing people when they cancel their subscription. But it's a cheap (free) way to test the waters.

    If the group gets big enough or busy enough, you can look at moving to a more complicated solution.
    Thanks! But I kind of wanted where everyone can see the questions and answers and comment. Make a community.

    Originally Posted by timokeefe View Post

    My 2c is that a forum would be what you're after, although I might be biased here .

    Realistically it should be pretty straightforward to install some off the shelf forum software on your server and run with that.
    Thanks for stopping in to answer! Is it a lot to maintain a forum?

    Also would it be a good idea to have the membership site on the main domain then put the forum on subdomain? Can this even be done? Is there a better way to do this?

    Also what kind of memberships software would I need to run all of this? Wishlist member, DAP, Infusionsoft?

    So many questions!
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by bigballin6161 View Post

      Thanks! But I kind of wanted where everyone can see the questions and answers and comment. Make a community.
      Everyone does see the questions and answers and comments. Everyone on the listserv gets every question, answer and comment via email. If they choose to add something, they simply reply to that email and the reply goes to every member of the list. Moderation works much the way it does on a forum, with the moderator able to delete or edit spam, flame or other undesirable posts.

      As for community, you might be surprised how close a community a well run listserv can become.

      Think of it as a forum via email instead of on the web.
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    • Profile picture of the author timokeefe
      Originally Posted by bigballin6161

      Thanks for stopping in to answer! Is it a lot to maintain a forum?
      No problems

      I don't think it would be too bad if the forum is 100% paid. You do need to keep an eye out to make sure there's no spam, heated arguments, etc. You also need to make sure that discussion is happening, so you might need to start threads, reply to them, etc. I think this will be the case in any community though.

      Originally Posted by bigballin6161

      Also would it be a good idea to have the membership site on the main domain then put the forum on subdomain? Can this even be done? Is there a better way to do this?
      Yeah it should be easy enough to put it on a subdomain, and I think that's a neat way to structure it.

      Originally Posted by bigballin6161

      Also what kind of memberships software would I need to run all of this? Wishlist member, DAP, Infusionsoft?

      So many questions!
      To be honest if you're already taking payments and personal details for your main site, then I think it should be as simple as adding some software that signs them up to the forum and emails them. Most forum software allows you to run invite only forums. Even doing this manually wouldn't be too bad, although you'd probably want the new users to get to the content while they're excited.
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  • Profile picture of the author mdallen
    My vote is for a forum. It will be hard to get the initial interest going though. If you can get some good interaction going at the start then you should be golden though
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  • Profile picture of the author Joan Altz
    Check out Ning.
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  • Profile picture of the author aarthielumalai
    I'd definitely go with a forum, since you'll have control over the platform. Facebook groups are hosted on a third party service, hence not the best option for something as critical as customer service/customer relations. They could temporarily/permanently ban you/your members at any time. I wouldn't run the risk. Third party websites are only useful for promotion and branding in my opinion.

    A forum can get hands-free in a while, if you have loyal members who are passionate about the topic. You'll begin to notice more experienced members answering questions overtime. You could also get moderators on a volunteer basis, just because they love the community.

    Moreover, the list of members stays with you, and you are at a liberty to contact them via other means as well (E-mail for example) using the information they provide.
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