Monika Jansen — January 15, 2020 Setting up a membership site requires a TON of work, but if you can create one that people want to join it’s a very worthwhile endeavor. A membership site represents a new potential income stream, and it also allows you to build an online community and engage with people in a more intimate setting.
With this in mind, here are 5 pieces of advice you should remember when developing your own membership site. Spend 6 minutes watching the video or read on for the tips.
Understand your target audience
Before diving in headfirst, you need to determine whether demand even exists for your potential membership site. This means getting to know your target audience. Some questions to ask include:
- Do people want what you’re thinking of offering?
- What do people want help with?
- Why should people keep coming back to your membership site after their first visit?
Provide enough value to members
People won’t hesitate to leave your membership site if they don’t find the content valuable, so make sure the information you share is useful to your members. Also, don’t disappoint your members by promising 4 or 5 pieces of content every week, then only delivering 1 or 2 pieces.
Remember, the best way to keep customers is by consistently meeting their expectations.
Get the price right
When setting a price for access to your membership site, you want to find a happy medium. Obviously setting the price too high means that people will be unwilling to pay for access, but setting the price too low can actually devalue your brand.
Ask yourself what amount your ideal member would be willing to pay for access. For instance, maybe $ 9.99 per month is the perfect price for new customers, but new customers don’t represent your ideal member. An ideal member already knows that you provide valuable content, so maybe this person would be willing to pay $ 19.99 per
cuncon / Pixabay
month.
Offer members the freedom of choice
There are so many ways to consume information these days, including:
- Reading
- Live-chatting
- Watching videos
- Listening to podcasts
This is good because people have different learning styles, so while some individuals are fine with just reading, others prefer a more interactive approach to learning. Try giving your members all of these options so they can learn in whatever manner they choose.
You can also provide different levels of access to your membership site. This type of tiered membership gives people the option of paying extra for all the bells and whistles if basic access isn’t enough.
Give your first few members a discount
Imagine you just paid for access to a membership site so you can participate in live chats. Now imagine how disappointed you’d be if there was absolutely no chatting going on. Luckily, there’s a way to prevent this issue from arising.
Instead of charging your first few members full price, you can offer a discount or even let them in for free. Once you get a few active members up on the site for people to interact with, then you can start charging the full rate.
Wondering if your website is up to snuff? Learn about the 10 key elements of a small business website.
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