Best membership site software for VIDEO

12 years ago

Hi there
There are lots of membership scripts but it depends on the complexity you want to achieve.
I use wordpress with optimzepress theme for building the actual content. There are built in templates for sales pages, squeeze pages and membership pages. It automatically builds all the menus for you and once you know what you are doing it takes minutes to build membership pages. The pages can have amazons3 videos on or self hosted videos.
Regarding the actual membership levels etc I use s2member at the moment which is free (there is a paid version) this allows you to set membership levels, restrict access to pages, posts, categories or even by tags. It integrates with paypal really easily so the payment side of things is easy to set up.
DAP (Digital access pass) is a much more comprehensive system that also works with optimize press and includes drip fed content, affiliate management etc. There is a lot more set up work and obviously there is a cost involved.
If you just want to set membership levels with restricted access and paypal integration then have a look at s2member (will work with any wordpress theme)
hope this helps
Mark

Thanks

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Jeff Usher

12 years ago

Robert Puddys Launch Formula Marketing is, in my opinion, the most complete option for this. Latest version has S3 video facilities built-in. Just input the bucket and video name etc and it all wraps up nicely in a player etc. It's not just for video though. It has loads of features that would take too long to list here. But for any membership platform it's hands down the best one I've used to date.

That said I am not sure any system would actually bookmark or save how far a person is into the video. I think all systems will require them to start the video from the beginning again.

Jeff

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Robert Puddy

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeff Usher

Robert Puddys Launch Formula Marketing is, in my opinion, the most complete option for this. Latest version has S3 video facilities built-in. Just input the bucket and video name etc and it all wraps up nicely in a player etc. It's not just for video though. It has loads of features that would take too long to list here. But for any membership platform it's hands down the best one I've used to date.

That said I am not sure any system would actually bookmark or save how far a person is into the video. I think all systems will require them to start the video from the beginning again.

Jeff

its actually loginfrequencymarketing.com Jeff we changed the branding remember

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waterburn

12 years ago

When I mentioned saving progress, I meant a way for them to "mark" how far into the module they were. This could be done by dragging a slider to how far into the the lesson they feel they are. I have seen such membership sites. Very handy. If at least it could mark the videos they previously watched, that would also be helpful.

I will also need an easy way to take payments (paypal and credit cards) and allow them to pay monthly, quarterly or yearly (with a bit of discounts for paying advance).

Drip fed content and affiliate system is something I will need as well.

What else I can add to the membership site to add more value and make people want to sign up?

Thanks
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BenBrandes

12 years ago

Originally Posted by waterburn

I will also need an easy way to take payments (paypal and credit cards) and allow them to pay monthly, quarterly or yearly (with a bit of discounts for paying advance).

Drip fed content and affiliate system is something I will need as well.

What else I can add to the membership site to add more value and make people want to sign up?

A lot of great advice so far. I'd highly recommend FusionHQ. It is way more than just a membership site builder.

You can build and manage the entire online business from one centralized platform (without being a techie). No need to "patch" different systems together which has more potential for bugs.

Why I recommend FusionHQ:
- For your payments you can build drag and drop sales funnels to sell access to your membership site with multiple upsells and downsells if needed. All without any coding.

It integrates with Paypal (and a bunch of other payment gateways) and makes is super easy to set up, trials, recurring, one time payments etc. Also does coupon codes

All the buy now buttons are automatically coded based off the payment settings you put in.

- It has an integrated fully robust affiliate system. Supports up to 2 tier, all types of affiliate tools, can give specific affiliates higher commissions, can also give specific affiliates special custom affiliate tools. We've run big launches using it and it's worked flawlessly.

- Can build membership sites with dripfed content. Allows unlimited membership levels. You can even set it up so only certain elements on a page show to specific membership levels.

- Drag and drop videos onto the page, just insert your S3 URL choose the player skin, size, few other settings and it's done. No coding needed.

- Can build out your pages using the drag and drop page builder.

- As for the forum, it's not in there out of the box, but it is possible to integrate it into the members area. You'r ebest off using one of hte forum scripts already out there then iframing it (they have more info in the FusionHQ members forum).

If you're interested, I'm happy to chat more about it over skype (PM me). I can also get you a 25% off discount too.

Hope that helps

Thanks
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Adam Kalel

12 years ago

@sodette1 - Thanks Steve, RRP looks like great software and would do everything I require. The only thing that puts me off is the rotating commissions. Best wishes with it though!

@BenBrandes - FusionHQ looks very good indeed, and I think it will be very popular with the drag and drop functionality. Unfortunately, it seems the database needs to be hosted with you and I'd prefer not to use a hosted solution. Let me know if I'm wrong of if you can solve my payment issue (see below) - if you can, you'll have a new customer.

I'd like to hear more about Login Frequency Marketing, does anyone have experience with this?

It seems the biggest issue with setting up a membership site is taking payments. I'm having lots of trouble trying to find a Payment Processor, if I could find a processor that does what I require that would probably sell me any solution.

Could anyone recommend me a way of taking payments that pays instant commissions, supports two-tier affiliate schemes and recurring billing? Many of my affiliates will be from offline relationships so something that is simple for affiliates would be best.

I've looked into solutions like Digiresults and JVZoo, but I've heard they pay the full amount into the vendor's Paypal account first then pay the affiliate from the vendor's account. This might be incorrect, but if true then would cause major problems with tax and refund issues.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thanks
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BenBrandes

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Adam Kalel

@BenBrandes – FusionHQ looks very good indeed, and I think it will be very popular with the drag and drop functionality. Unfortunately, it seems the database needs to be hosted with you and I’d prefer not to use a hosted solution. Let me know if I’m wrong of if you can solve my payment issue (see below) – if you can, you’ll have a new customer.

Hey Adam, all FusionHQ membership and sales funnel website files are hosted on your server. FusionHQ stores the members manager and also the affiliate system on their server (this way it's always accurate). That being said, it is possible to export your data if needed in the future.

Originally Posted by Adam Kalel

It seems the biggest issue with setting up a membership site is taking payments. I’m having lots of trouble trying to find a Payment Processor, if I could find a processor that does what I require that would probably sell me any solution.

Could anyone recommend me a way of taking payments that pays instant commissions, supports two-tier affiliate schemes and recurring billing? Many of my affiliates will be from offline relationships so something that is simple for affiliates would be best.

I’ve looked into solutions like Digiresults and JVZoo, but I’ve heard they pay the full amount into the vendor’s Paypal account first then pay the affiliate from the vendor’s account. This might be incorrect, but if true then would cause major problems with tax and refund issues.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Why would you want to send affiliate commissions immediately to the affiliate? What if they make 100 sales, you pay them immediately, then 30 of those sales are refunded? The money then comes out of your pocket because you already paid the affiliate. You're much better off paying the affiliate once the refund period is over.

If using FusionHQ, you have the 2nd tier affiliate system you're after. It supports recurring billing commissions (also allows to set commissions for multiple products in your campaign).

You then just need to set up the "pending period" for your affiliate program. Which means how long do you keep the commissions until you pay affiliate (most people set it as their refund period - 30-60 days).

One thing to note, you're in control of paying the affiliates. FusionHQ does not do it for you.

Hope that helps

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Sid Hale

12 years ago

Hi Ben,

Originally Posted by BenBrandes

FusionHQ stores the members manager and also the affiliate system on their server (this way it's always accurate).

Sorry, but storing the member manager and the affiliate system on a hosted service does nothing for insuring accuracy over a self-hosted solution. I'm sure they have their reasons, but that's not it.

Why would you want to send affiliate commissions immediately to the affiliate?

errrr... because it makes recruiting affiliates so much easier?

It gives you an edge in recruiting affiliates, and is a major reason for them to actually promote your product over that of a merchant who does not offer instant commissions.

What if they make 100 sales, you pay them immediately, then 30 of those sales are refunded? The money then comes out of your pocket because you already paid the affiliate. You're much better off paying the affiliate once the refund period is over.

I have thousands of customers using the Rapid Action Profits system, who pay their affiliates immediately. I, myself, have been doing this for well over 4 years, as have many of those RAP customers.

I have over 2,000 affiliates, and can count on one hand, the number of times I have had a problem with refunds on affiliate sales.

In only one of those instances, did I wind up refunding the customer myself. The affiliate on that sale was banned, and can no longer receive credit for sales of my products.

RAP isn't the only system that uses the instant commission model.

WarriorPlus, DigiResults, JVZoo, Mooshpay, and several other affiliate management systems use this business model. Affiliates and Merchants, alike, who use those systems seem to recognize, and appreciate, the benefits of the instant commission business model.

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Adam Kalel

12 years ago

Thanks for the input Ben and Sid.

You're both right, instant commissions makes recruiting affiliates easier, but it can cause some problems with refunds.

As a UK business, the main reason I'd like to use instant commissions is because of tax.

Let's say I'm selling a £10 product with 50% commission. If we make 10,000 sales and I have to pay the affiliates, there will be £100,000 going through my bank account. Even though £50,000 will soon be paid to affiliates, I'm liable for VAT on the turnover at 20% - That's a whopping £20,000 out of my half, and I'm down to £30,000 before costs, corporation tax and income tax.

If the affiliates get paid instantly, we each get £50,000 and I'm not liable for VAT (but even if I was, I'm only paying VAT on my income, not on the affiliates income too). Having to put the money though my account effectively means I'll pay 40% tax before doing anything else.

Unfortunately there only seems to be two types of commission method, either the money goes through my account (leaving my liable for tax and scammers) or I use the rotation system like Sid's RAP does.

As I stated earlier in the thread, I'm not a fan of rotating commissions for recurring billing. At 50% for example, if an affiliate makes two sales, you get full payment for one each. But if one quits after a month and the other remains a member for years, there is a huge difference in the amount you'll each get paid, it's nowhere like 50% each (two years gives one of you 96% of the income!).

Even the so called "instant commission" systems like Digiresults and JVZoo pay the money into the vendor's account first, then (almost) instantly pay the affiliates automatically from there - again leaving the vendor liable for tax and open to refund scams.

Has anyone in the UK managed to figure this out?

Are there any "instant commissions" systems that split the commission instantly?
Are there any rotating commission systems continue to rotate recurring billing products?

I'm starting to tear my hair out on this one... :confused:

Please save me!

Thanks
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Sid Hale

12 years ago

Hey Adam,

Originally Posted by Adam Kalel

As I stated earlier in the thread, I'm not a fan of rotating commissions for recurring billing. At 50% for example, if an affiliate makes two sales, you get full payment for one each. But if one quits after a month and the other remains a member for years, there is a huge difference in the amount you'll each get paid, it's nowhere like 50% each (two years gives one of you 96% of the income!).

I haven't really found this to be a problem - even w/ recurring billing. Your example discusses a single affiliate. As a merchant, your concern would be with the aggregate of all sales referred by affiliates.

If an affiliate's referral cancels a subscription that the affiliate was being paid for, the affiliate has gotten ALL of the recurring payments for that referral, and can replace that income simply by referring another sale (ultimately, that's what you pay them to do).

If the referral was paying you... well, member retention is the merchant's responsibility. Is it not? You will replace that canceled member with another direct sale, or with another sale by that affiliate.

As long as the affiliate continues to actively promote your membership, they will benefit financially from additional sales. If they participate only at launch, and maintain little/no ongoing promotional activity... what do they expect?

Are there any rotating commission systems continue to rotate recurring billing products?

I think you're asking if there are any rotating commission systems that rotate the individual subscription payments from a single customer. Not to my knowledge.

Paypal Subscriptions are registered, and subsequently administered by Paypal. You don't "bill" the customer for the recurring payments. The subscription payments are automatically deducted from the buyer's account and paid into the Paypal account that was originally registered as the seller.

Hope this helps,

Thanks
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Adam Kalel 12 years ago

Thanks Sid, that was what I was expecting.

I don't have a problem with rotating commissions, I'm just trying to do anything I can to prevent complaints from affiliates and keep them happy

RAP is starting to look like the best solution for me, at least I won't get stung by the tax-man.

Another day of researching and I've found WP-InstantPay, by the warrior "Big Mike" and his team. This uses the Paypal parallel payment system instead of chained or rotating commissions.

It seems to be exactly what I'm after - although they don't appear to offer two-tier affiliate commissions. Maybe I'm just too demanding

Anyone know of any other products that use the Parallel payment system?
- Thanks
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Manie Amari

12 years ago

Hi, there I've just recently bought Amember Pro. The reason why I choose Amember Pro over WishList was due to the pros I found in another thread. Check it out here

Maybe it could help you make a more informed decision as it did for me :-)

Thanks
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Jill Carpenter

12 years ago

Any membership software will do.

If you are looking for ease in uploading videos, the tool to use is Easy Video Player. This will put it in your amazon account, and can be managed through a personal control panel you put on your own server. It gives you an embed code that you can then put on any of your sites that are on the same hosting account.

Then you can do the whole membership site with wordpress, and which ever member script you desire. Even something like s2member which is free.

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Jill Carpenter

12 years ago

Originally Posted by waterburn

When I mentioned saving progress, I meant a way for them to "mark" how far into the module they were. This could be done by dragging a slider to how far into the the lesson they feel they are. I have seen such membership sites. Very handy. If at least it could mark the videos they previously watched, that would also be helpful.

There is a new plugin out there for wordpress that actually lets members make their own notes on pages - and those notes are visible only to them. Someone could easily make a note about where they left off on a video and what important things they wanted to remember.

Thanks

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mrketing.me

12 years ago

I think video DRM is one of the most effective ways for protecting your videos, one of the simple and fairly easy ones is vidlock, i haven't tested it before but it uses powerful Microsoft DRM technologies.

Other things you might want to consider are Video Branding, and Video URL Obfuscating. a mix of those should provide you with secure online videos

you can also check 3rd party video hosting services like on24 they are very popular and secure

Thanks

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Leslie B

12 years ago

There are a lot of membership solutions out there, but the one I'm using is the one I would recommend everyone who is serious about building membership sites: Rapid Residual Pro (The Best Membership Script Online... Rapid Residual Pro) I've used the first version of this software last year, and when Steve Odette asked me to test out the second version I was quick to agree, 'cause I knew that this script would give me what I needed: the freedom to set up my membership sites and products the way I wanted, and the knowledge that my site would be as secure as possibly could.

Videos, audio and downloads are all integrated with your amazon s3 account, or you can have them on your own hosting, whatever you prefer, it's very easy to set things up.

I've been using it on a few sites now, where I don't only have membership sites, but I also sell infoproducts, and even one on one coaching, and RRP gives me the freedom to do it easily from one site.

If you have any questions about it, you can always send me an email, or contact Steve, I'm sure he'll be happy to give you some more info about it.

Leslie

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Julie Fletcher 12 years ago

I have used WP and Wishlist in the past but always struggled with getting the videos set up quickly and easily.

I am now using Rapid Residual Pro and it is really quick and easy to link to your videos on Amazon and set them up in your membership site, you can have them stream only so that no-one can download them, very secure.

There are lots of other features as Lesley mention above and Steve is also very helpful when you get stuck, which is quite often in my case!
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- Justin Wheeler 12 years ago
  
  There are so many different options for membership sites.
  
  Wordpress is often the easiest route to go down, although not always the best.
  
  My first membership site was created with a non wordpress membership platform, which I intrinsically like as they tend to be more secure...
  
  Since then I have created most of my membership sites using Digital Access Pass and Wordpress. Wishlist Member is similar, and it tends to be 6 of one half a dozen of the other with regards to the two, both are good and will do what is required.
  
  Like a couple of other posters I have also been using Rapid Residual Pro which was initially designed for Fixed Term Memberships which is what it sounds as though you are describing. Since then it has grown into a very powerful beast, whilst still remaining simple enough to pretty much have your membership site working right out of the box.
  
  It is highly recommended and ticks a number of the boxes. Not on Wordpress so it is more secure, easy to use and navigate and works with the major affiliate platforms. It doesn't however work with Digiresults Results currently which is one of the affiliate platforms that I use and like, which is why I don't use it on all of my sites.
  
  Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you would like a guided tour behind the scenes of a Digital Access Pass set up or a Rapid Residual Pro set up and perhaps we can do a quick screenshare call.
  
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salegurus

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Leslie B

There are a lot of membership solutions out there, but the one I'm using is the one I would recommend everyone who is serious about building membership sites: Rapid Residual Pro (The Best Membership Script Online... Rapid Residual Pro) I've used the first version of this software last year, and when Steve Odette asked me to test out the second version I was quick to agree, 'cause I knew that this script would give me what I needed: the freedom to set up my membership sites and products the way I wanted, and the knowledge that my site would be as secure as possibly could.
Leslie

Originally Posted by Art.Remnet

The clients that I have been working with most recently are also very concerned with both site security and video security (preventing easy downloads). The best solution that I have found is Rapid Residual Pro (RRP)

At $297 for a 2 domain license it seems overpriced compared to Amember, S2 Pro, DAP and others...

Thanks

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James Campbell

12 years ago

The only membership/coaching/teaching script I would use for what you're looking for (especially the teaching aspect) is Rapid Residual Pro.

It blows everything else on the market clear out of the water.

Hope that helps

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mathewsps

12 years ago

Hi James,

Is it possible to integrate RRP with WSO Pro Please advise as I am looking for a best option including the same.

Regards
Mathews

Originally Posted by James Campbell

The only membership/coaching/teaching script I would use for what you're looking for (especially the teaching aspect) is Rapid Residual Pro.

It blows everything else on the market clear out of the water.

Hope that helps

Thanks
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Leslie B 12 years ago

Originally Posted by mathewsps

Hi James,

Is it possible to integrate RRP with WSO Pro Please advise as I am looking for a best option including the same.

Regards
Mathews

HI Mathews,

I'm not James, but I can answer that question: No, RRP doesn't integrate with WSO Pro at this time. Don't know if Steve is going to add that integration, but it's not really necessary since RRP pays out the same way as WSO Pro does. I'm sure, if you have more questions, that Steve will be happy to answer them in regards to RRP. He's your best bet when it comes to his software

Leslie
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cma01

12 years ago

Originally Posted by waterburn

The videos will be stored on Amazon S3.

I am confident I can get 300-400 people signed up fairly quickly.

So, I need a really good system for this. Any suggestions?

There are a lot of options out there to restrict content and take membership payments.

Payments first, I think the easiest thing is Paypal and most membership scripts integrate with that.

There are SO many options out there, it's hard to make a recommendation out there for someone else. You just have to look at what you want the end result to be and the features you want, make a list of options and rate how well what they offer matches up and how much work it would take to get an exact fit.

While I haven't created a Wordpress membership site myself, I have bought different product/services that have.

A lot have been aMember. As a user, their control panel is okay. I do think their newsletter system is a little weird, as I can see any emails sent out, even if they are to a specific person.

I've also bought things managed through Nanacast. I do like that as a user I can access anything I've bought through their system with one log in. Other than that, I think most of the benefits look like they are for the content producer. I haven't really seen anything that makes their delivery stand out versus another membership script as a user.

The other script I've seen used on several different programs I've purchased recently is Jason Fladien's MemberChamp membership plugin for Wordpress. Again, I haven't implemented it on my own site, but I really like it from a user perspective. The flow of everything seems logical to me.

Originally Posted by waterburn

Ability for the user to save the progress would be nice. Say they are going through a course of 20 videos (each 10 minutes long) and they are on video 4, but have to go. If they could save their progress somehow (6 minutes into video 4), that would be a nice feature, so that they could continue where they left off, next time they log in.

This I think you could just implement through a Wordpress plugin, it really doesn't have anything to do with membership access. A quick search found this plugin which allows users to create their own lists in addition to the ability of having a master list. If you can stick it in a widget and slap it in the sidebar, you'll be good to go.

All this above assumes you're going with Wordpress.

I'm currently working on a membership site, but I happen to be one of the five Joomla fans on this forum and I'm using that as my CMS.

It's actually a lot easier to implement a membership site with Joomla since the release of 1.7 with the custom user groups and ACL's as part of the core.

I'm using AEC for the membership plans, expirations, and adding subscribers to different groups right now.

Eventually I want to be able to sync everything to my WHMCS billing system. jWHMCS has an option in the pipeline that will do that as well as managing the subcribers and the Joomla groups, but it's not out yet. Once it is, I'll switch over to that.

Thanks
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Adam Kalel 12 years ago

Hi Waterburn,

I've been looking into the best way to do this for a month or so now. I haven't yet built my membership site, so this advice is just based on my research, what fits my requirements and the reviews of others (mostly here on WF).

For simplicity and low prices, I'd go with Traindom. You simply connect a payment processor and upload the videos, they take care of everything else. Unfortunately the system is a little inflexible for me, I'd like more control over the style.

I'm a big fan of Wordpress, and from all the research I've done DAP seems to be the best choice membership plugin. Ravi is a member here (as are most of the other membership product owners) and everyone who uses DAP seem to rave about how wonderful it is.

Rapid Action Profits seems popular, but the rotating affiliate payments won't work for me. SiteManPro is another solution that seems to have all the features I require, but it hasn't had good reviews from other warriors.

I've also briefly looked at Login Frequency Marketing (looks pretty good), Nanacast (too expensive), Kajabi (I don't want to use a hosted solution) and FusionHQ (also hosted), but DAP is my current preference.

In order to secure videos on amazon s3, you'll need extra software to prevent people getting the bucket URL - the makers of DAP have a product called s3MediaVault, but I'm planning on using Easy Video Player for it's extra features.

In order to process payments, you could just use Paypal, but I'd prefer someone else to handle affiliate payments, so I've investigated Clickbank (most popular and oldest), as well as instant commisions like JVZoo, Payspree and Digiresults - Digiresults being my preference.

I'm very much into fully functioning CRM systems so I'd love to use Infusionsoft, but simply can't justify the price - I'll probably integrate Aweber with DAP and Digiresults.

So my planned setup for my video membership site is:

Amazon s3
Digital Access Pass
Easy Video Player
Digiresults
Aweber

Let me know if you have any specific questions on anything, I'd like to think my research has been pretty thorough so far.

Adam
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- waterburn 12 years ago
  
  Adam Kalel, have you also compared Rapid Residual Pro to the ones you mentioned? It has gotten several recommendations in this thread.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  Websitemaker 12 years ago
  
  i'm also looking for Membership site plugin or software BUT I would like to make video lessons membership site with Timing of Content Delivery. So when someone pay monthly membership he starts to receive (or have access to) new lesson every day and not all lessons at ones.
  
  So please tell me ... any of this software can do this?
  
  Thanks
  
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Johnny Slater

12 years ago

You need Login Frequency Marketing, Viral Membership System, or Rapid Residual Pro. Those three systems are all specifically designed for membership solutions and have built in systems for serving up secure content which is hosted through S3.

The way all three systems integrate with S3 is very similar but each one has its own pros and cons so you need to research each one individually and decide which one best fits your needs.

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Art.Remnet

12 years ago

Originally Posted by waterburn

The videos will be streaming only (so to not let people download them and put them on torrent sites).

The videos will be stored on Amazon S3.

The clients that I have been working with most recently are also very concerned with both site security and video security (preventing easy downloads). The best solution that I have found is Rapid Residual Pro (RRP)

After looking at and evaluating most of the other great products mentioned above, the choice came down to:

Easy integration with Amazon S3
Something non-tech site owners could do without my help
Secure environment with low maintenance

RRP just works. You can add buckets to your S3 account and seamlessly upload videos right from the RRP admin area. While no solution is 100% completely safe, RRP does a great job of keeping your valuable content safe and secure while being easy for the member to use. And since it is not an open source script, it is very stable and requires few security updates (low maint).

The added benefits of a members only store and a public marketplace just puts RRP in a league of its own.

For membership sites that need to protect premium content and be easy to use for both the owners and members, RRP has my vote.

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PPC-Coach

12 years ago

I use amember for all mine, it's the best by leaps and bounds.

I custom wrote a lesson system though and just protected it with amember. Works for me.

Also, if the video shows on your site, it can be downloaded, don't concern yourself with protecting things too much as if the thieves want it, they're going to get it and share. They're not your target market though.

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waterburn

12 years ago

I like what I see from the Rapid Residual Pro demos.

Are there any specific drawbacks with it? Video instruction is my main objective here, as is ease of use for payment. I would like to offer 6 month and 1 year options for payment too, besides the month to month payments.

Another thing I think is important is a forum for members only, where they can interact between each other, but I will also be there frequently to answer questions. I am hoping I can get a forum tied into the membership accounts somehow.

Thanks
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CyberSorcerer

12 years ago

Originally Posted by waterburn

Video instruction is my main objective here, as is ease of use for payment. I would like to offer 6 month and 1 year options for payment too, besides the month to month payments.

Well I'm a Rapid Residual Pro user myself so that would have to be my recommendation. And I've used most of the others ones mentioned here too

waterburn, I run two sites with RRP one is a security site that has 7 different courses all into one domain along with one-on-one coaching, which is built right into the software. So if you're planning on multiple FTM courses, I would have to recommend going with RRP.

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Adam Kalel

12 years ago

I haven't yet checked out Rapid Residual Pro, but it's getting a lot of recommendations in this thread.

It looks very good but the one reservation I have is how it handles affiliate commissions.

I've heard RRP handles affiliate payments like Rapid Action Profits (RAP) by alternating the entire sale amount between affiliate and vendor. I don't feel this is a particularly good solution for subscription payments (it's fine for one-off charges), let me give you an example why:

Suppose you have a product for $10 per month on 50% affiliate commission. They make two sales, you get full payment for the first and the affiliate gets full payment for the second. Now suppose the second cancels after one month, but the first keeps paying for a year. Although the affiliate referred two customers, they get paid $10 and you get $120. I think that would annoy my affiliates.

@sodette1 - Is RRP your product? Is this how it handles payments?

Some great advice in your post, my experience with forums is that they're far more trouble than they are worth. However, just in case I want to integrate one in future I know that DAP is compatible with vBulletin (the software WF uses).

@Websitemaker - most membership software will allow you to "drip-feed" content, DAP definitely does, I'm sure all the others mentioned in this thread do too.

@digileaf - Kate, sounds like an awesome setup, exactly what my research has pointed towards (except I don't think you need both s3MediaVault and EVP - I suppose it's good to be double secure

)

How was the installation? Any advice you'd be kind enough to give someone who's about to go through it?

Thanks
2 replies

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Kate Davies

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Adam Kalel

I haven't yet checked out Rapid Residual Pro, but it's getting a lot of recommendations in this thread.

@digileaf - Kate, sounds like an awesome setup, exactly what my research has pointed towards (except I don't think you need both s3MediaVault and EVP - I suppose it's good to be double secure

)

How was the installation? Any advice you'd be kind enough to give someone who's about to go through it?

Ah, yes you are probably correct, if you are just streaming you may not need S3MediaVault if you use EVP. As I offer downloads too, I need to protect my download links.

I think the only advice that I would offer, if you use the same set-up as me, is to follow the step by step guide that the Optimize Press tutorials give. James Dyson, lays it out in such a way as to make sure that you do everything in the correct order.

I started working through his tutorials and kept a notebook by my computer so that I could write things down that I thought were important. It was very useful to make a note of filenames, paths, colours that I had used as well as the more complex things. I have found that notebook really useful to refer back to on occasions. You'll get to parts in the tutorial sequence, where you have to go off and then check the tutorials elsewhere (e.g. on the DAP website) and then come back to the next part on Optimize Press.

I would say, set aside a day. Be prepared to read and re-read and to watch and keep referring back to the tutorial videos.

The support teams are very good, so if you get stuck ask them.

Hope it works out for you.

Kate

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sodette1

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Adam Kalel

I've heard RRP handles affiliate payments like Rapid Action Profits (RAP) by alternating the entire sale amount between affiliate and vendor. I don't feel this is a particularly good solution for subscription payments (it's fine for one-off charges), let me give you an example why:

Suppose you have a product for $10 per month on 50% affiliate commission. They make two sales, you get full payment for the first and the affiliate gets full payment for the second. Now suppose the second cancels after one month, but the first keeps paying for a year. Although the affiliate referred two customers, they get paid $10 and you get $120. I think that would annoy my affiliates.

@sodette1 - Is RRP your product? Is this how it handles payments?

Hey Adam...

That is CLOSE to how alternating affiliate programs work - in Rapid Residual Pro, the algorithm for the alternating payments is a hybrid.

In your example, if you were using Rapid Residual Pro, if one user were to refund or cancel - the application recognizes this and the NEXT SALE in the rotation would go to replace the one that cancelled to get the rotation back even again.

Rotating commissions have been working for over five years - PayPal and AlertPay both approve of them, and they are clean, simple, no W-9's or 1099 hassles - PayPal and AlertPay handle refunds directly with affiliates for you - as if the affiliate were the vendor (which, in effect, they are from their viewpoint), and many other advantages.

Of course, Rapid Residual Pro also has ClickBank integration if you'd rather not use the built in immediate pay affiliate program.

Yes... Rapid Residual Pro is my program, though hopefully, I've represented the OP's question openly and without bias.

It's very important that you find a solution that fits your goals - not one that you have to squeeze, twist, pound and beat into doing what you want to accomplish.

That can be a very, very frustrating journey for anyone... and, Rapid Residual Pro doesn't fit everyone's circumstances... but if it does fit yours, you'll fall in love.

Thanks
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AllanWM

12 years ago

Hi Steve,

Do you have any plans to integrate Rapid Residual Pro with affiliate programs such as JVZoo, Digiresults, Warrior+, etc?

Thanks,
Allan

Originally Posted by sodette1

Hey Adam...

That is CLOSE to how alternating affiliate programs work - in Rapid Residual Pro, the algorithm for the alternating payments is a hybrid.

In your example, if you were using Rapid Residual Pro, if one user were to refund or cancel - the application recognizes this and the NEXT SALE in the rotation would go to replace the one that cancelled to get the rotation back even again.

Rotating commissions have been working for over five years - PayPal and AlertPay both approve of them, and they are clean, simple, no W-9's or 1099 hassles - PayPal and AlertPay handle refunds directly with affiliates for you - as if the affiliate were the vendor (which, in effect, they are from their viewpoint), and many other advantages.

Of course, Rapid Residual Pro also has ClickBank integration if you'd rather not use the built in immediate pay affiliate program.

Yes... Rapid Residual Pro is my program, though hopefully, I've represented the OP's question openly and without bias.

It's very important that you find a solution that fits your goals - not one that you have to squeeze, twist, pound and beat into doing what you want to accomplish.

That can be a very, very frustrating journey for anyone... and, Rapid Residual Pro doesn't fit everyone's circumstances... but if it does fit yours, you'll fall in love.

Thanks
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sodette1 12 years ago
Originally Posted by AllanWM

Hi Steve,

Do you have any plans to integrate Rapid Residual Pro with affiliate programs such as JVZoo, Digiresults, Warrior+, etc?

Thanks,
Allan

Possibly.

I've integrated ClickBank already, 2CheckOut will likely be next and I've chatted with Andy - DigiResults may be on the horizon... JVZoo, a few new programs coming soon I'm not able to discuss here, etc.

I've got a list of over 300 features people have requested I add to my software - over a hundred of those are my own enhancements still in development (Ravi, Sid, Andy, Johnny, Robert, EBR, etc - none of us possess the magic developer's wand yet - the "Deathly Hallows" combination of magic and power to create all features with a flip of the wrist and an instant wish... lol... well, unless one of those other guys is hiding something I am unaware of that is!)

We're developing other versions of Rapid Residual Pro and a number of very cool enhancements, but who knows what tomorrow may bring, right?

Sid just launched his new community and Wishlist just came out with some cool new features I hear as well. Ravi is always doing something with DAP and Digi has made huge strides forward this year. JVZoo is brand spanking new, others are on the horizon...

Not meaning to leave anyone out, but you get the idea, right?

Everything changes, everything worth having evolves and about the time you think you have exactly what you think you need - something new and shiny comes along or someone changes the rules.

Focus.

I think the most important thing for most of the marketers here in the WF, especially those not yet making $5k - $10k/mo. consistently, is to focus and stop trying to look for the PERFECT system or program or business model and to simply pick one and move forward.

I know I've stated that it's best to get a solution that best fits your goals, but I think it's also important to recognize that any and all of those mentioned above are more than capable of bringing anyone tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of dollars each and every month, relatively smoothly... each with it's own set of pro's and con's... all capable.

Experiences... and the need for focusing on what's important - first.

For the past two years I've seen some pretty crazy things and listened to suggestions, ideas, opinions, etc. and what I've come to clearly understand with my own students and many of my customers is that most of them are not looking at the right things.

Focus on the most important parts first...
- you markets,
- your products,
- programs and services,
- your customers and clients,
- your traffic and marketing
- and the overall value you deliver.
What program, platform, software, or business model prevents you from doing these things? None of them.

Some may be harder to learn than others, some more feature rich, others more popular, but in the end - the software will likely not make you a dollar in income... only those things above can do that for you.

You can have it ALL, and gain NOTHING...

If I give you a complete store with everything included that you need to open tomorrow and start making money and all you need to do is stock the shelves with products, get customers and take care of them - who cares if the front of the building is painted red instead of blue, the way you PREFER?

Paint it later... right?

"Paralysis of Analysis" is real - and so is procrastination.

There are some great programs listed here - there are also a lot of opinions, but the truth is - everything suggested can work. Get one, make your mark, get your income flowing and if you need to adjust or want to jump ship to something else later...

Or, do what I did and spend over $60k to create a custom solution of your own - out of your success - do it.

For now, my own suggestion is simpler than most here:

"Pick one or use none - stick to the basics until you are consistently bringing in more than $5k a month, minimum, focus on what is important and you'll make a lot more money than trying to discover "perfect."

Don't let all the bells and whistles, opinions and agenda's draw you away from the core of your success.

"Forward, ever forward."
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sodette1

12 years ago

Waterburn:

There are many solutions on the market today for membership websites.

I've personally used many of them and there are several categories these fall into that can help you narrow your focus;

rented (hosted solutions) or self hosted (you own the software)

programmer friendly or user friendly (most, lean one direction decidedly)

plugin based or all in one

WP based or stand alone

Etc.

There are many possibilities, but looking at the different categories should help you to focus and narrow down your choices.

For instance - I personally want a program I own that is a stand alone, all in one solution - fast to install, fast to add my products, fast to put money in my bank... but, I'm admittedly biased.

When looking at options also consider how long they will take you to set up, how long they will take you to understand and get comfortable using, how much programming background you need to use or maintain the program, how hard they are to update (and, how often you'll need to do so), how good the support and training is... etc.

Features are important, but I am amazed at how complex new or inexperienced marketers and online entrepreneurs (not saying you are a new marketer - just commenting in general) with no income streams yet want to make their first money making websites. They get in their own way so often.

Keep it simple, stick to the basics, focus on delivering super high value and all the other pieces will fall into place.

Complicated for you or your customers is not something I recommend until you reach the $10k a month club at minimum, and you have the resources to outsource your "cool, nobody else is doing it!" unique ideas.

For Saleguru - how much is your time worth?

I personally own all of the above applications and have set up membership websites on each of them.

They all have their strengths and shortcomings or limitations.

However, just looking at a price is very misleading indeed.

For instance...

Imagine program "A" asking a $500 investment but taking a few short hours to set up and providing you every single piece of your business accept the content, products and your programs for sale. In other words - imagine getting the entire store, up, ready to rock and roll and all you have to do is stock the shelves and open your door....

Now, picture program "B" costing only $97 but lacking half the features you need... requiring you to buy additional plugins and configuring those... demanding you spend two weeks just trying to figure out how to install and get the program working correctly once you figure out what pieces you want to have... creating a need for you to hire a developer to customize the program so you can make it do what you need.

And... consider your "Free" Open source application with all of it's security risks that you need to purchase all of the plugins for... connect them, add third party affiliate programs to, buy drip feed add-ons, SEO add-ons, payment processor plugins, etc. for... how much does it end up costing you for your "Free" program? How long does it take you to get all of that set up?

Price is only part of the picture... value isn't based on only a price or Bugatti's would cost the same as a Ford Escort - after all, they are both "cars" right?

Waterburn: Forums... in my experience and with over 300 clients since before 2004, I've seen forum fads come and go. Most... rarely last long and end up being massively time consuming exercises in futility to get momentum and become valuable site assets.

I'm not in any way saying not to set forums as a goal... but only recommending that perhaps you consider getting a community going strong first or that you carefully plan your forum participation and marketing before adding it to a membership site.

Especially, a membership site in it's infancy. Wait until you get a full, engaged, crowd first, in my experience... or, like I said, until you can really spend time marketing and promoting it, growing it via grass roots efforts.

If you want to make forums central to your business or membership website - take a look at vBulletin (same forum software WF uses I believe still) and their CRM versions.

I've not used the full versions yet - but I believe it's probably the most robust, forum centric, platform for membership sites if that is the direction you want to go. Not sure how drip feeding content, video hosting and protection, coupons, affiliate programs, payment processors, etc. work there... but, taking a look can't hurt, right?

Thanks
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Kate Davies 12 years ago
Hi Waterburn

I can see you are getting lots of advice from experienced members, so maybe the last thing you need is another point of view. However, I have just setup my first membership site and have made a few u-turns along the way, but I am extremely happy with the final set-up. My site has video for download, but streaming would be done via the same set-up. Here's what I have done.
- OptimizePress - for my theme
- DigitalAccessPass (DAP) - for the membership system
- Amazon AWS - to host my video files
- S3MediaVault (from the makers of DigitalAccessPass) to protect the videos, which is necessary if you are hosting your video on Amazon
- EasyVideoPlayer - as the video player for those videos that I stream on the site.
I was always going to use OptimizePress (OP) and I found that the tutorials on the OP website, teach you exactly how to integrate with DigitalAccessPass, so that made integration between the two very easy. They also teach you how to integrate with WishList and other membership systems, so I am sure any of those could also be integrated easily too.

My decision to go with DAP as opposed to other systems I tried or looked in to was based on the fact that DAP have excellent documentation and tutorial videos on their website, so I was able to check out that the features that I wanted were definitely in the the package. They go in to great detail about how their system integrates with so many other popular packages and essential system elements, such as autoresponders and payment processors. It also has a built in affiliate system, so I did not have to buy that separately or go through a separate integration process.

It works very well for me, and that would be my recommendation, but check through the documentation of whichever membership system you opt for, before you buy, to make sure that you can set things up in the way that you want to. That was where I originally went wrong, because the first membership system that I chose, didn't do what I wanted it to and I wasted days. If there isn't sufficient documentation, then ask their support before you buy.

If you go with DAP, then I would recommend using S3MediaVault to protect your links. But if you choose a different membership system, then check out S3flowshield for link protection for media that is streamed from Amazon. In fact, if you check out their website anyway, you'll get a great education as to why you need to do that. I believe that S3flowshield also has a built in player, which could be good for you.

Regards
Kate
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ravijayagopal

12 years ago

[Adam: Thank you for inviting me to comment on this thread.]

Here's my membership "dream team"...

* WordPress (of course!)
* DigitalAccessPass (DAP)
* OptimizePress (theme) for the members' area
* Amazon S3 hosted media
* EasyVideoPlayer, since the OP wants streaming-only (RTMP), which the current version of our S3MediaVault (progressive download) does not do as of yet (an upcoming version certainly will)

And coming off the bench...
* Aweber (emails)
* vBulletin (forum)
* Paypal Standard + Auth.net (best to offer both options)
* JVZoo or DigiResults (true instant aff payments - DAP integrates with both)
* LiquidWeb (vps/dedicated) or Hostgator (shared) for hosting

Obviously, for the membership plugin recommendation, I have an obvious bias towards DAP, but not totally without merit either :-)

But even if you swapped it out for a different membership plugin, the other options still stand as best-of-breed for what most people want to do with a membership site.

Hope this helps.

- Ravi Jayagopal

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waterburn

12 years ago

Thanks for all the good tips.

I am not worried about the cost of the software, I'm with Steve there. The sooner I can start using it effectively, the more I would pay for it.

The other is that I have ALREADY a large community. I have a public site with a forum and my idea with the membership site forum is that my member community can interact with each other there, discuss my lessons, etc. I will also be there regularly, and this is another reason people should (hopefully) want to sign up monthly with me. I will may be cancel the public forum I currently have, or at least not be so active there, and tell the people that if you sign up for my membership, you get a new forum that is concentrated on the lessons and courses of the membership site. I even think that members may enjoy helping each other on the membership site.

I have provided a lot of teaching online already that has been free. This is my step towards continuing what I have been doing for free, but stepping it up 10 times - more and better lessons, much more sophisticated content and teaching method, many additional handouts, diagrams, audio files, etc. I want to add great value for the members, so that I can charge a good monthly fee.

Which brings up one more thing I forgot to mention. I would like to have a live video chat or show once a week (or perhaps twice a month), where members can ask questions and I interact with the members. This would be an 1 hour session - that should be another good incentive to pay the monthly fee. Any ideas on how to easiest do this for my paying members only?

I plan to make this my full time job, and in order to keep members paying, I am going provide 4 videos per month, until I have reached a level of overall content that I deem is enough for the whole site and for the member fee.

Let me know if you have suggestions or comments on my ideas.

One thing I am wondering is drip feeding. How can I take advantage of such a feature for my membership site? I am not quite understanding how drip feeding will help my membership site. Although I see the value in producing content in advance, and making to live on certain dates. That way I can prepare 4 video lesson one week, and then go for holidays next week, knowing that my material will be published on time.

Thanks
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Canuckystan 12 years ago

For me, Vimeo + Amember Pro has worked the best.

With any membership script, you have to be certain it is stable, and amember has been around with the same developer for many years.

Vimeo costs $200/yr but it plays flawlessly and very fast on every device out there. I tried easyplayer, etc., but always had compatibility issues. Vimeo lets you restrict playing to your site only, which is another level of security on top of the membership. It embeds in the page, and there is no url for people to try to snag.

I guess drip feeding works for some people, I won't do it.
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Guru_Marketing

12 years ago

Waterburn, here are some tools to consider: Time management/Personal Productiviy Tools For Your Business | Double Time Today

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michaelcorvin

12 years ago

What are you building the site with? If you are building with WordPress I would use Optimize Press for your pages and membership area layout and Wishlist to protect the content. I have build a bunch of membership sites using this combination and it works well.

Michael

Thanks
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waterburn

12 years ago

Originally Posted by michaelcorvin

What are you building the site with? If you are building with WordPress I would use Optimize Press for your pages and membership area layout and Wishlist to protect the content. I have build a bunch of membership sites using this combination and it works well.

Michael

I haven't started building the site yet - I am doing the research first, right now!

If I went with WordPress, I am worried about security. Seems WP gets hacked all the time, mostly via plugin vulnerabilities.

Can I add a forum into my membersite with WordPress, so there is just one log in? I would need some kind of authentication bridge between optimizepress/wordpress to the forum (whether that's vbulletin, phpbb, etc).

I would LOVE a way to do streaming webcasts inside my membership system, but I really don't know if that is possible. I see ustream has a 99/month option but I don't know how that could be tied into my membership site so that only my members can view the webcast.

Thanks

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Justin Wheeler

12 years ago

Digital Access Pass integrates VBulletin into your Membership site, which is neat. They will also set it up for you I believe for a fee. Not sure about importing it in.

If you currently have a forum I would have a paid and free section.

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Johnny Slater

12 years ago

Keep in mind that if you use PayPal for your payment processor then you can't use two tier affiliate systems. PayPal strictly forbids two tier systems in their TOS.

If you want a two tier system then you will have to find a solution that uses a payment processor other than PayPal.

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Adam Kalel

12 years ago

Hi Johnny,

Many people on this forum have written that two-tier affiliate systems are against the Paypal TOS, but I've never been able to find any evidence from Paypal. I've seen their TOS talk about being against pyramid schemes and the like but no mention of two-tier affiliate programs.

Just to clarify, my product isn't in the IM niche.

Could you send a link to Paypal's policy on two-tier systems? I might have to rethink my plans.

Thanks.

Thanks
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Johnny Slater

12 years ago

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?c...locale.x=en_US

If you look at the list of prohibited things it says certain multi level marketing programs. PayPal considers pretty much all 2 tier systems to be MLM.

Originally Posted by Adam Kalel

Hi Johnny,

Many people on this forum have written that two-tier affiliate systems are against the Paypal TOS, but I've never been able to find any evidence from Paypal. I've seen their TOS talk about being against pyramid schemes and the like but no mention of two-tier affiliate programs.

Just to clarify, my product isn't in the IM niche.

Could you send a link to Paypal's policy on two-tier systems? I might have to rethink my plans.

Thanks.

Thanks
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ravijayagopal

12 years ago

I don't think most, typical 2-tier "affiliate" programs would qualify as "MLM".

To be considered MLM, your program would probably need to have a forced, "PAID" component in order for people to stay in the "program", and cancelling your subscription to the paid program would automatically disqualify you from being an affiliate. Or, say, cancelling your subscription, or earning below a certain amount in commissions, would cause your earnings "level" in the program to drop to a lower one.

So for example, if you're forcing your affiliates to PAY to continue to be an affiliate, and the moment they stop paying for their own subscription, if they automatically get booted out of your affiliate program, or lose all of their "tiers" (or "downline", as they would call in MLM), then that would be considered an "MLM" program.

And if you think about it, the Warrior Plus WSO system which requires affiliates to pay to be an affiliate, and the fact that if you stop paying the monthly fees, you will no longer get credit for any of your clicks, could easily be considered an MLM program by Paypal.

The fact that they haven't, and the W+ system continues to run fine with thousands of affiliates with all payments going through Paypal, should probably tell you something.

We have many DAP users using our 2-tier affiliate system, and using Paypal to make 2-tier affiliate payments. And we have also had a couple of them check directly with Paypal, and find out that it's ok to do so.

But I'm no lawyer, and I don't play one on TV either ;-). So what do I know? ;-)

Call or send Paypal an email and ask them about your specific situation. Doesn't hurt to be sure.

Originally Posted by Johnny Slater

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?c...locale.x=en_US

If you look at the list of prohibited things it says certain multi level marketing programs. PayPal considers pretty much all 2 tier systems to be MLM.

- Ravi Jayagopal

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Adam Kalel

12 years ago

Thanks to all for comments, this is a great thread!

I completely agree with Ravi and I'll be contacting Paypal if I choose to use them as a payment processor.

@quadxnet - I'll let you know as soon as a decision is made. There are lots of good options for and the comments from @BenBrandes, @Sid Hale and @ravijayagopal show how passionate and fantastic the support is for each product.

At the moment I've got a bigger issue (which makes me wonder how any UK business could use affiliates) and I'm trying to work out tax problems. In the UK businesses must pay 20% of the sale price of any item as VAT, no matter what their costs are. Imagine you pay affiliates 75% commission - in many countries you'd get to keep 25% of the income. In the UK (and most EU countries) you only get to keep 5% - and then you have to pay corporation/income tax!

This, and the ridiculous EU cookie law (BBC News - Cookie law deferred for one year) that it looks like they're actually going to enforce - has lead me to think about moving my business elsewhere. Sorry UK, but if you were more competitive you'd earn more tax from me.

Thanks
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Sid Hale

12 years ago

Hi Adam,

Originally Posted by Adam Kalel

At the moment I've got a bigger issue (which makes me wonder how any UK business could use affiliates) and I'm trying to work out tax problems. In the UK businesses must pay 20% of the sale price of any item as VAT, no matter what their costs are. Imagine you pay affiliates 75% commission - in many countries you'd get to keep 25% of the income. In the UK (and most EU countries) you only get to keep 5% - and then you have to pay corporation/income tax!

This shouldn't be a problem if you use one of the systems that use the rotating sales model.

When the affiliate is paid, they are paid directly by the customer. They are, in effect, resellers - rather than affiliates.

It's much like you have given them resale rights to your product, and they are paying you royalties (your share of their sales) on sales that they make. On sales where they are paid, no monies go into your Paypal account so there is no revenue for you to report. Your affiliates will be liable for VAT on their direct sales - not you.

disclaimer - I'm not a tax attorney in the US, much less in the UK, but I have enough experience developing tax reporting systems and accounting systems for corporate America (I started about 10 years before anyone ever heard of Bill Gates) to feel confident in my understanding of the applicable tax law.

Hope this helps,

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celente

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Sid Hale

Hi Adam,

This shouldn't be a problem if you use one of the systems that use the rotating sales model.

When the affiliate is paid, they are paid directly by the customer. They are, in effect, resellers - rather than affiliates.

It's much like you have given them resale rights to your product, and they are paying you royalties (your share of their sales) on sales that they make. On sales where they are paid, no monies go into your Paypal account so there is no revenue for you to report. Your affiliates will be liable for VAT on their direct sales - not you.

disclaimer - I'm not a tax attorney in the US, much less in the UK, but I have enough experience developing tax reporting systems and accounting systems for corporate America (I started about 10 years before anyone ever heard of Bill Gates) to feel confident in my understanding of the applicable tax law.

Hope this helps,

My business partner in 2009 got into trouble in oz for this. SO you have to make sure you report and record things properly.

It does get a bit of a nuisence when you have multiple site and tier 1 's 2's affiliates...but still its a good idea to keep records.

Thanks

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SamKalai

12 years ago

I recommend Optimizepress it's a one time fee of 97$ for unlimited websites

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James.N

12 years ago

Wow - I'm looking into building a membership site soon and this thread has TONS of great information. I feel like there's still some uncertainty with whichever solution is chose. Adam, please keep us updated with the direction you choose to go.

Thanks!

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mathewsps

12 years ago

Really love the way warriors sharing the experience they had. A ton of info to learn.

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Adam Kalel

12 years ago

Thanks @Sid Hale - my account advised me I was liable for the full value of good sold, I'll have another conversation with him about rotating commissions, RAP might be the solution to a 40% tax problem!

@sodette1 - Steve, that was a wonderful post! Far too many people get "perfection paralysis" obsessing on minor details and unlikely "what ifs".

Perfect doesn't exist. Even if you've spent $60k developing your own solution, new ideas and features can be developed all the time.

For those on the bring of a membership site, focus on what you can uniquely offer your customers. It's not going to be the software that runs the site. Do your due diligence and pick one - then get moving. You can work out the specifics and minor problems later, when you've got more time and money... Focus on your ROI and get some return!

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waterburn

12 years ago

Great points Steve. Those are wise words!

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amdtill

12 years ago

Ben,
Can you tell me if FusionHQ supports Pay Pal Website Payments Pro? I really don't want my customers to ever leave my web site like they have to with a standard Pay Pal account.

Thanks

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JeremyHendo

12 years ago

Have any of you looked into Market Pro Max ??? They are the Best Membership site and product site platoform in my opinion...They have a built in Affiliate System, Evergreen Webinar System, Slaes Pages, Membership Pages, etc... check them out Here

Thanks

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therichb

12 years ago

Originally Posted by waterburn

I am close to deciding on a membership software for my business, which is instructional videos. I provide instructional lessons in video format, and my whole business model is depending on how well my members will perceive my lesson site.

The videos will be streaming only (so to not let people download them and put them on torrent sites).

My focus is to tell all my subscribers (fairly large list) that I now have a membership site available for 19.95 per month. I will start with a 2 hour course, and each week, there will be (at least) one new video added. There will also be weekly shows with me, where I do QandA's and "show and tell" kind of stuff - 1 hour per week.

The videos will be stored on Amazon S3.

I am confident I can get 300-400 people signed up fairly quickly.

So, I need a really good system for this. Any suggestions?

Ability for the user to save the progress would be nice. Say they are going through a course of 20 videos (each 10 minutes long) and they are on video 4, but have to go. If they could save their progress somehow (6 minutes into video 4), that would be a nice feature, so that they could continue where they left off, next time they log in.

I am aware of WishList, Amember, DigitalAccessPass but I don't know enough about each.

Any tips or insights greatly appreciated!

For your requirements, you can go with a service like Cincopa.com which offers total media sharing services with no branding & can be subscribed at a very affordable pricing... I tried it once & was happy with it...

One good thing with Cincopa was that it offers you choosing multiple themes for your videos which is not there with youtube.com hope this helps

Thanks

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TycoonRob

12 years ago

RRP looks good, but at almost $200 is out of reach for the budget marketer. Is there anything that is similar but available to the average person at a reasonable cost?