The business model you choose should be the result of consideration for the type of offering you're presenting.

If a six- or twelve- month training is what you offer, then yes it makes sense to have an end date to your membership.

If, instead, you are hosting a community of enthusiasts in a niche that is ongoing it probably doesn't make as much sense.

Remember, it is the audience that is in control when you really think about it. What are they telling you they want?

I guess I'm saying that the decision on whether to end a membership should be a function of the what you're offering and what the audience wants to see from you.

Good luck,

Steve

I have membership sites that do both. It depends on what your objective is. Let me give you two examples:

Example 1: I have a membership website (no URL included as it would appear too self-promotional) that has a specific objective of helping men be more successful with women during a very specific time frame.

It drips information for 8 months. At the end of the 8 months they no longer get charged a monthly fee because the purpose of that specific website is completed at the end of 8 months.

They can cancel ANYTIME (only the first 30 days can get refunded). What's great about this for me is that I don't have to create any new content. It's all already in there.

Now, I'm a marketer, so of course there are going to be cross-promotions, upsells, and even backend offers, especially once the 8 months is over. Why? Because a certain % of your customers are going to want more content and value from you.

My favorite thing about this model is that it still creates passive income, I only have to create the content ONCE, and it's a great way to build leads.

Example #2: Another membership website, which is updated at least several times a month is what I call a perpetuity membership website because the monthy fee will be charged forever (or until I decided to close it or if I meet my untimely demise). It's really not all that important what the niche is or the topic for the purpose of this thread, what IS important is what type of content is being delivered on for how long.

I once had a dating advice newsletter that I delivered via membership website; it got updated with videos, articles, and podcasts. It went on for year until I decided to sell it.

This is what's great about membership websites, you don't even have to have a website. I know several marketers across several different niches that do very well only sending their content via e-mail autoresponder.

I do both and both models can be very profitable.

RoD

Both can be very effective. I lean towards the ongoing model, simply because I like the idea of an ongoing passive income source.