Start a Membership Site for Recurring Internet Income

If youre interested in creating an income online, then chances are youve been doing a little research and youve heard that the new type of website that is producing money and growing in popularity is the membership site. A membership site is one of the best ways to make money online.

It is a website like other sites but differs in that you specialize in a certain topic and have quality information regarding that particular topic and will let your website visitors have access to that topic for a certain membership fee or, in some cases, just for signing up and letting you send them information to their email.

These people pay you a recurring fee either on a monthly, bi monthly, bi-yearly, or yearly basis. If you continue to add valuable information to your membership site these people will remain members for a long time, thereby creating passive and recurring revenue for you. These same people may even promote your site, bringing in new members for you as well.

What Kind of Information Works on a Membership Site?

Whether you know it or not you are a specialist in some field, and when you have a wealth of knowledge in a certain area, you usually just tell your friends and maybe your family so they can be impressed over your accomplishments, or you can use your knowlege to help others and turn it into revenue. So if you are an expert in Karate, baking a cake or chocolate chip cookies, chauffeuring the kids around town, or even reading novels, you can make money with that knowledge by creating a membership site that caters to people that are looking for an expert in the field.

The problem is that when you start a membership site in your field of expertise and dont really understand the basics of internet marketing then you are setting yourself up for failure and you might as well not have even started in the first place. Thats why it is important to do your research and learn about internet marketing before embarking on your membership site.

The first thing you should do is find out everything you can about starting a membership site. Read about other successful membership sites and what they did to make their membership site a success.

After all you are already an expert in the area you are targeting and that is the most important part, but most people forget the second part to being a successful membership site owner, and that is to become an expert in the field and learn how to market yourself online. For example, did you know you can offer your members free eBooks they can download, or a free newsletter. Actually they are not really free because the member is paying his fee, plus you can market other affiliate products on the site, in the ebooks, or through the newsletter and companies will pay you a commission for selling their products.

Why are Membership Sites Hot?

Imagine if you charge $10 per month for each new member and you add 30 new members a month, thats one new member a day. This means you earn $300 the first month and $600 the second month and $900 the third month and your revenue just keeps increasing. Now imagine if you had two more membership sites?

You get the idea! This is why membership sites are so hot among Internet marketers. Plus you can add more profit on top by adding affiliate products, etc, etc.

People Love Membership Sites and Are Happy to Pay for Entry

Not only are membership sites hot with Internet marketers but regular people (consumers) like them as well. They get all the information they need on a particular topic without having to do endless searches on the Internet. It is much more convenient and far easier for them.

All in all membership sites are a winwin situation for everyone. You get the sales you need for the passive income you want, and your members get the information they need and want.

Win-win. How easy is that?

However, many people don't realize until they open their online businesses that succeeding at Internet marketing isn't nearly as easy as many gurus make it out to be. For one thing, you have to continuously make sales of the product or service you are selling in order to make profits and generate a sustained income. That is often not easy for new and inexperienced Internet marketers. It can often be a challenge for even the most seasoned Internet marketers.

Build Residual Income by Starting a Membership Site

That's exactly why so many online marketers, both new and experienced alike, have embraced the membership site business model.

This business model involves starting a membership site that is based on a specific topic and caters to a specific niche market. In return for continuous access, members pay a recurring fee (usually monthly). Owners, in turn, will continuously update the site with the latest, most useful content and products that pertain to that niche or industry.

For instance, there are membership sites that cater to other internet marketers – like those who use Private Label Rights (PLR) products in their businesses. A membership site like this would provide PLR ebooks, videos, and articles to its members. There are membership sites that cater to dog owners who need to know how to provide proper care to their dogs, such as feeding them and grooming them properly. There are membership sites that focus on certain hobbies, sports, even health issues.

This shows another benefit of membership sites – virtually any topic or niche that has a demand for help, information, products or content can lead to the creation of a membership site. And unlike an ebook or software title, you can get paid repeatedly for work that you essentially do just once (granted, you have to update the site regularly with the latest information and resources but even that can be automated, and you only have to build the actual membership site just once).

To create a successful membership site you'll need web hosting, your own domain, and membership site software – A membership site script that can keep track of new members to your site, current members who remain members, and members who cancel their subscriptions

One such membership site script is EZ Profit Member Sites. This membership site software is not only dirt-cheap affordable, it is feature rich and lock-tight secure. But perhaps what marketers and webmasters like MOST about this membership site script is how Fast and Easy it is to use. Literally, in two minutes flat even the newest of newbies can have a secure member's area set up and ready for business. It really IS that fast and easy.

In these difficult economic times, many Internet marketers are turning toward having their own membership sites in order to be able to create their own recurring income streams from customers who pay a monthly fee to access the products and resources inside their membership sites. By utilizing a secure, easy to use membership site script you can start profiting with your own membership site and enjoy recurring income stream(s) well into the future.

Selling online content in a password-protected Website is what membership sites are all about. They are also all about making revenues on a recurring basis. The start-up costs and running costs of a membership site are minimal if you know what you are doing. The reason online membership sites are so successful is that people are more than willing to part with money in order to gain valuable content. Many niches can convert into a successful membership site including business information, how to make money, personals, entertainment, sports coaching, marketing services, weight loss and dieting help.

Subscribers are will to part with anywhere from $9.95 a month to $19.95, and if the site is really unique and valuable as much as $200 a month.

There is plenty of stretching room in the world of membership sites as the current statistic states that only 9% of online users currently belong to a membership site. Because the WWW is an international marketplace anyone, anywhere can start and profit from a membership site.

Individuals wanting to start a membership site should understand that there are 4 key steps that they must take in order to start a successful membership site.

Step 1 – They need to target the correct market for their topic area.

Step 2 – The content should be unique and valuable. If the information is not found anywhere else online than you will be able to pull in subscribers without much effort other than advertising the fact that your content is unique.

Step 3 – You need to find subscribers by generating quality traffic such as getting good search engine positioning, using pay-per-click, using joint ventures, utilizing Ezines, affiliate programs and viral marketing.

Step 4 – You need to involve you membership in the learning process by adding tools and services such as software, ebooks, resources, and give-aways. When you provide tools and services along with your valuable content you are giving members everything they need in one place, which adds value to your site.

Do you have a special skill or interest that you can turn into a profitable membership site? Can you find unique, content that members would be willing to pay to receive?

Starting a profitable membership will be exciting, rewarding and fun. You will need to understand what is involved in setting up the site and how to maintain it. There are many things to plan for including auto-responders, automated sign-ups, credit card processing, automated cancellations and website content that is continuous.

You will not only profit monetarily from your membership site but you will also learn a lot too as you go through the process of setting up the site and running it. You too can run a successful membership site. Seek out as much information as you can about membership sites, what makes them successful, and how to run them before you dive in. The more knowledge you have the easier it will be for you to start your own membership site.

Perhaps you have heard about how lucrative membership sites can be? Perhaps you belong to several successful membership sites and would like to join this online business model. You can make a lot of money by owning a paid membership site. You can have steady income for years from just one membership site. Membership sites come in automatically as long as the site is running.

In case you are unsure of what a paid membership site is, let us review:

You may have heard them referred to as member only sites, membership sites, subscription, or even mentorship sites. All of these sites have one thing in common and that is that a member has to pay to have access to the content of the site. These sites all bring in a steady flow of money month after month, year after year and can be on a variety of different topics. Some membership sites provide useful information on a particular topic, some sites mentor members in a particular field while others offer information such as review or articles about a particular product. Other membership sites provide specialized services or act as a gathering place for the members who all have a common interest. No matter what type of site it is the one thing all of these sites have in common is that all of the members are only entitled to the information if they pay for it.

People gladly pay for information online because the information is easily accessible, can be specialized to a particular topic or product or can be about mentoring them in a particular field of interest. The site offers something of special value that is not offered anywhere else. This is why people are willing to pay for membership in these sites, to obtain valuable information that they feel they can't get anywhere else. People pay for this information because it would be time consuming to gather the information on their own, or because the information is difficult to come by.

Just a few years ago, most people did not have to pay to access information online; it was free for the taking. Membership sites did not become popular until a few years ago, so the field is pretty wide open yet for new membership site owners.

Membership sites are springing up that are focused on all sorts of unusual topics and some common topics too. Topics of membership sites can range from business, to hobbies, to products, marketing, fitness and weight loss, dating and other social topics, even cultural websites.

Now that you know a little bit more about membership sites and the need for them it is time to learn a little about how to start a profitable membership site.

Your first step in starting a membership site is to choose a topic. The topic should be something that you are passionate about, have some expertise in, and are viewed by others as having knowledge about the topic. Sit down and make a list of all the things that you have interest in, your hobbies, your vocations, any business training you have had, or even what you do when you have free time. Are you a consultant, speaker, or mentor to others on any topic? Once you have narrowed down a topic it is time to set up your members only site.

Setting up your membership site:

You will find many software programs and tools to help you set up your membership site. Basically you need a Website, hosting, and 3rd party services to help you with the administrative tasks of running a membership site. You can find all of this in one place by using membership management software systems. These systems automatically do all the administrative tasks involved in running a membership site. Using a system can reduce your workload greatly.

Google the terms "membership site" and discover all the software systems available. Look them over carefully to see what benefits they offer. Choose one that has a good support system, knowledge tools, and a forum for asking questions and getting good advice from knowledgeable individuals who are currently running or who have previously run successful membership sites.

The members of your membership site are your bread and butter. They are your income so pleasing them and keeping them coming back to your site is where the income is. Without your loyal members you will not have future income. If members are not happy with their membership you will lose them which means lost revenue.

There are many things a membership site owner can do to keep pleasing the members including providing a constant stream of fresh site content, creating a community that members will feel comfortable being a member of, and paying close attention to providing valuable customer support. It is also important to educate your members on how to use the site and how to enjoy what you have provided for them. Making them feel at home on the site will give them satisfaction in the fee that they just paid to become a member of your site.

Not all members will enjoy the same type of format. Some members enjoy getting information via the email, and others love to explore the member areas, others like watching and listening to videos. Still other members prefer the physical products such as audio, DVDs, and CDs. Some members like to know what is in store for them and like scheduled content, scheduled teleseminars or tutorials.

A quick way to add content to your site is to have a fresh supply of articles. Articles are usually low cost, are easy to read and you can place several new articles each week on the site.

If your topic lends itself to tutorials these are easy to do in the video format. With a video you can verbally give information as well as to visually show the members what you are describing to them. This is a very effective form of training, and can cut down on member frustration. A member that avoids frustration is a pleased member who will continue to pay future membership fees.

A successful membership site is always adding new content, giving real value to the members so that they know that they are receiving continuous information. Site owners will want to over deliver to the membership so that they will always be well pleased with what they are getting out of the site.

If you create a community spirit among members they will be more likely to continue to return to the site where they will spend more money. If members feel that they receive real value for their money they are more likely to return and spend more at your site. You form a community by providing a forum, or a chat room.

Forums are places where discussions take place that can be opportunities to share. When you have a new forum it can be difficult to get the first posts to appear. There are ways to get around the initial hesitancy to post. You can hire individuals to post for you to get your forum started. These hired posters will get threads started and possibly to make additional comments if the members are hesitant to start posting. Another route instead of hiring posters you can give free memberships in exchange for posting a certain number of quality posts each week. The site owner can also start threads, or add to the discussion. A good way to get discussion going is to ask questions. Ask for opinions about something that may be a current or controversial subject for the site topic. You can also bring up the subject of forum posts in your articles that you submit each week on the site to encourage members to post.

Make sure you have links to the forum in all areas of your site.

Most forum software allow for member polls or surveys that are wonderful ways of getting members to be active in your forum.

Chat rooms can be inviting to some members. Make sure they are secure and for members only. Promote chat rooms in your newsletter or in articles. Have monthly topics or teach a class in the chat room in order to encourage members to use the chat room.

One thing that makes your membership site stand out from all the rest is your combination of features that you have to offer to your members. There are certain features that are pretty standard for most membership site and then there are advanced features that may be unique to your membership site. Features can create the atmosphere of your membership site.

Standard features are those features that most membership sites have because they carry with them common needs of all membership sites such as having Login ID or passwords to protect certain areas of the site that are private and for members only, or automated renewal reminders that go out so that members won't be surprised by the arrival of the date to renew their membership, and also content formats and membership subscription types, as well as the ability to handle account suspension and cancellations. Other standard features include the ability to handle data exports and reports.

Advanced features include the ability to have Real Time member tracking, and the ability for members to be able to initiate account creation and a responsive shopping cart system.

Payment features should include the ability to accept payment from payment services such as PayPal, or major credit cards. The website should be able to integrate a shopping cart as well as a forum so that the members can interact with each other.

Your shopping cart should have features that your membership will need especially if you have an international membership such as flexible tax models, the ability of members to manage their User Accounts, having the ability to manage their shipping address, and have the shopping cart in multiple languages.

Since most membership sites have content in various formats, products, tools and resources it is important to have catalog features that can encompass all that your membership will utilize as they grow as well as the things that administration will need as the membership site grows. These features may be the capability to have an unlimited number of products and categories, the ability to search for products, resources and tools, the ability to handle downloadable products.

There are also membership sites that offer both free and paid memberships so this is a unique feature. Free members can start to use and understand the value of the site before deciding to become a paid member.

One area of features that definitely makes a membership site unique is what the site has to offer as far as specialized content such as articles, ebooks, audio and video materials, forums and chat rooms or a discussion board. What kinds of resources and tools are offered on the site for the members to use that enhances their experience?

It can seem overwhelming when you first brave the waters of membership site ownership. Many individuals brave these waters because of the prospect of making excellent continuous revenue. The big bucks do not come without a lot of planning and hard work though. There are many things that you will need when first starting a membership site.

There are many benefits to owning a membership site including loyal and responsive customers, the opportunity to have all of your products in one place, having a profitable site that others (affiliates) will help promote for you, continuous weekly, monthly, or yearly income and also the opportunity to eventually sell your membership site business at a premium price.

If you have the right tools it isn't difficult to start your membership site. You do need to know though what market you are going after, and you have to have a steady supply of quality content, products and services as back-end sales, a forum, chat room, and customer support.

Having a membership site means that you don't have to have many business Websites to keep track of but only one site that you can have all of your products and services on.

Once you start and successfully run, one membership site, you can start additional sites for even greater profit.

To start your membership site you need to know what you need, how to build and how to manage the site. You will need to choose a theme or topic, decide on membership software and scripts, decide on which autoresponder you will use, decide on a membership model, decide what types of content you will use and what your source of content will be, is your membership going to be free or paid? What if any audio and video products will you are using? Are you going to be using an affiliate program to help promote your site if so, how will you manage your affiliate program? Will you become involved in Joint Ventures (JVs)? Decide on what help desk and forum scripts you will be using. Will you have a shopping cart on your membership site if so will it be on another server or on your server? What resources will you make available to your membership?

As you can see you have a lot of decisions to make and many things to plan before you can launch your membership site. Speaking of launching, that is another thing that you need to plan. Some individuals start doing things to make a smooth launch one to two years before they start the membership site such as building a responsive email list.

While in the planning stages of your membership site it is a good idea to get advice from those who have launched successful membership sites before you. You can locate these individuals by becoming a member of a business forum. Read threads about membership sites, ask questions and be open to the suggestions of others while keeping in mind the results of your own research. Seek out successful membership sites and explore them to see how they are set up and what tools they provide for their members. Not all sites are the same and a lot will depend on your topic and your financial resources. You can still get a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't by looking around at successful membership sites.

Most people are suffering from information overload and need a place to find reliable, quality information amidst the hoards of questionable information that can be found online. People want to be able to save time when they need information and instead of spending hours even days researching a topic they can turn to a membership site where they can find in one location all the information they are looking for.

Membership sites can also save people money because the membership is often offered products or services at a discount.

People join membership sites because they save time and money!

People also join membership sites to be able to share with others who enjoy the same interests. You can learn a lot from other people sharing stories of how they grew such and such a plant or played a great game of golf. People join book club sites and cooking membership sites to enjoy learning new things and sharing hobbies that they have in common with others. Most membership sites have forums or chat rooms that facilitate a "community setting" that encourages members to chat with each other.

People join membership sites for the opportunity to share with those who have a common interest so that they can learn from others and have an online community to be a part of.

People also join membership sites to improve skills or receive an education. There are many mentorship or tutorial membership sites online that offer members the chance to learn a new skill or improve an existing skill. Many business membership sites show individuals how to run a business online or how to work from home. Knowledge is powerful and many members agree that membership sites are one of the best ways to increase your knowledge on most any subject.

People join membership sites to increase their knowledge about a subject or to learn a new skill, even to earn a living by gaining valuable information from those who are already earning a living doing something that are willing to teach others.

Some people join membership sites because of the bonuses, or prizes that are given to members for being part of the membership site. Some sites offer discounts to members, or give monthly awards even run regular competitions. Membership sites are always finding new ways to reward members for being loyal and participating in the workings of the site.

People join membership sites for the extra rewards and goodies that membership site owners often give to members as a way of saying thank you for being a part of the membership.

Sometimes membership site members are given the opportunity to earn money through the site like when they participate in affiliate programs run by the membership site.

People join membership sites for the opportunity to make money through what the site offers.

The reasons people join membership sites vary but could be to save time or money, share common interests with others, be a part of a community of others who like what they like, increase or gain knowledge, because of the extra rewards, bonuses, discounts, or prizes and also some people join membership sites in order to make money.

Most individuals looking to start a membership site understand that they need to have a topic for the site. The site will be successful if the topic revolves around a niche that you have some knowledge or expertise at. The site will also be successful if the niche is one that lends itself to fresh content and one in which the members will need to keep coming back for more fresh information.

Niches not to choose for a membership site:

A niche that would not be good for a membership site that needs fresh content and a reason to return would be the topic of quitting smoking. The goal of someone who desires to quit the smoking habit is to be successful at quitting, and once they are successful there would be no further need for the member to return to the site would there?

Another bad idea for a niche would be one that is a "how to do" site in which once you have the information it would be difficult to provide fresh content. In order to avoid this problem your niche should not be too narrow. A membership site about how to make Snowmen would be hard pressed to come up with fresh monthly content but a membership site that revolves around the Winter holidays would indeed have fresh content every month because of all the possible content variations.

Good examples of niche membership sites that lend themselves easily to fresh, quality monthly content are: Earning online cash for the new internet user, or a membership site that revolves around investing in the stock market.

When doing research on niches for membership sites make a list of all the things that bring pain or sadness to an individual and then make a second list about all the things that bring pleasure or happiness to people. Brainstorm for a while on these two lists and you will soon have many good ideas that you can research.

One of the most valuable true statements about finding a niche for a membership site is that you have to know your market. An idea for a site may sound good, may even be one that you are interested in; but if the market demand is poor than it will be a dead site. You have to understand what your members need in the niche you are contemplating. Will you be able to provide enough fresh content each month to address the needs they will have in that niche?

One obvious point that must be made is that the niche you decide on must be one that can be served online, if you choose a niche that can only be done strictly offline you may not find enough interest.

When deciding on a niche look towards keywords to see if there are membership sites already in existence on the niche you are considering. Use keywords that people would actually use when searching for your topic.

Try doing a survey to gage the interest in your chosen niche. One useful tidbit I learned about in college was the fact that there is a site that helps you design surveys called SurveyMonkey.com You want to be able to gage if the niche you are thinking of using will actually be one that will bring in members in large enough numbers to allow for the success you envision for your membership site.

Membership site owners like other business owners have concerns about running or managing their business. Their concerns may be about setting up the site or administrative needs or they may be about the members, they may even be about financial issues of the site.

Set-up Concerns:

The concerns a membership site owner may have include deciding on a title for their membership site that will draw members, tell what the site is all about and attract search engines. They also are concerned about designing the site logo or slogan and all the other site graphics in such a manner that will add to and not distract from the site. They are concerned about being able to produce quality content for the membership site that will give great benefit to the membership and may include articles, ebooks, interview transcripts, and also software. They are concerned about the possibility of hosting a site community such as a forum or chat room to give the members a place to share information and stories about the topic of the membership site.

They may be concerned about the site's navigation, and the ability of members to search for information, the ability to have relevant links, and other key elements of the site such as index and table of contents. The site owner may also be concerned about back end products, how to use the site as a promotional tool and how to make sure the members are getting the benefits they expect from the site so that they will remain loyal to the site. You may be worrying about the type of payments you will be accepting. Will you offer monthly, quarterly, or yearly memberships or all of the above? Will you have a free membership version or paid only? If you have both versions, you will need a password-protected area for the paid members. What are your security concerns for the site?

Member Concerns:

Should the members contribute in any way to the content? How will I attract new members? How will I keep my members happy and loyal to my site? How can I receive feedback from my membership so that I will know what is working and what isn't in time to make necessary changes to the site before members become disenchanted and leave? How can I design my site so that members will feel that they are a part of the site?

The Financial Concerns:

A membership site owner may have several financial concerns about the membership site for instance am I offering the payment options that my members use? Is my site secure enough for credit card transactions? Am I offering all the payment options that members may be interested in like monthly, quarterly and annual payment choices? Is there a way to find out why members cancel and offer reinstatement so that I don't lose revenue?

Site set-up, member concerns and financial concerns are the major concerns of the membership site owner. Concerns may change as the membership site ages. A membership site owner must always be on top of the needs of the membership community addressing the membership concerns as well as ownership concerns. Understanding what the concerns are, brainstorming solutions and applying the right solutions will help in making your membership site a success.