Tag: membership

It’s Fun to go back to Skoool!

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Are you looking to build authority, trust, and credibility in your niche?
You are?
Excellent. Then you probably know that you need a loyal audience of people who will eagerly consume your content and buy whatever you create or promote.

But here’s the problem!

We live in an information age where people are bombarded with content, non-stop notifications, social media drivel, and a plethora of other distractions.
Building a solid community is only half-the battle… keeping them engaged and interested is the other half – and it’s the more important and difficult half.
While several solutions have popped up on the marketplace to address this problem, there’s on exceptionally outstanding platform called Skool that does this brilliantly…
And we’ll look at it in more detail further down.
What’s important now is that you understand why you need a community…

Why Every Marketer Should Be Building a Community (Tribe)

Having a community ensures that you are in constant contact with your audience/customers. This is imperative not only for trust-building… but for the survivability of your business.
Building a reliable community is key to boosting repeat sales, conversions, and recurring income.
A community could be a Facebook group, a server on Discord or a cool niche group on Skool.
While each has its pros and cons, the underlying principle is the same – there’s a place for your audience to hang out and interact with each other.

 Word-of-Mouth Marketing

When you have a group, it’s inevitable that some members will help others and if your courses/training are good, they’ll recommend what worked for them. This social proof and brand advocacy will lead to higher conversions and increased sales for you.

* Feedback

With a community, you’ll be able to get feedback on your products/training. You could conduct polls, ask for suggestions, etc. You’ll gain a better grasp of what your audience truly needs… and you can serve them better.

* Increased Loyalty and Retention

When you’re present in a group and interacting with your members, you’re no longer a vendor who sells from a distance. You’re now a friend – and people love interacting and supporting their friends.
We could go on and on about the benefits of having your own community, but you get the idea.
What you probably want to know is…

“How and where do I host my community?”

This Is an Excellent Question!

But it’s not so easily answered because several variables are involved.


Up until now, Facebook groups were seen as the ideal way to build a community. The fact that they’re free to set up and most people are already hanging out on Facebook works in the platform’s favor.

Aack!

However, there’s a very insidious side to Facebook – the platform itself is designed to distract your audience with ads, other posts, and a ton of other ‘interruptions’ – that make money for the platform.
If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product… and the currency is your attention… and your subscribers’ attention.
Their focus is NOT on helping you win. Facebook looks out for Facebook. Period.

So, while you could build a tribe on Facebook, you’ll want to funnel your audience to a group on a platform like Skool where you control things in your group.

Everything will be more focused on your content, your offers and your messaging.

The Most Popular Platforms…

There are several platforms like Discord, Circle, Teachable, Kajabi, etc.
We looked at most of these and after weighing the pros and cons, there was just no denying that Skool was far superior to all the rest.
Created by marketing legend, Sam Ovens, this structured platform is designed to minimize distractions while offering excellent course and community features.
So while you could go around looking at the other options, you’ll soon discover that nothing comes close to Skool at the moment.
The fact that another popular marketer, Alex Hormozi, has been raving about it in his YouTube videos is only going to increase Skool’s popularity.
We’re hoping they maintain their relatively low (straightforward) pricing as demand increases. It’d be better to get in early while you can.

Now let’s weigh the pros and cons of Skool.

Why Skool is the ONLY Course Platform You’ll Need

If you’re planning to build a community with the products/courses you’re selling, here’s why Skool helps…

It’s Easy to Use

This platform is extremely simple to navigate and set up.
Even the greenest of beginners will be able to create, host and sell their courses here and create a lively community.
With the drag-and-drop editor, you won’t need coding knowledge or anything complex.
The learning curve is short, gentle, and fun.

All-in-one-platform

Skool is an all-in-one platform… and your customers/members will find it just as easy and intuitive to use.
Unlike Discord which seems clunky and confusing to navigate, Skool is a breeze and looks a lot neater.

* Community Engagement

Why else would you use Skool if not for this awesome feature?!!
Your students will be able to hang out and engage with each other in your group (on Skool).
Interacting in a Skool group is very similar to what you’d do on Facebook. You can post videos, gifs, comments, likes, etc. and it all updates in real-time so everything stays ‘active’ and fluid.
As the leader of the group, you’ll be able to engage with your members by chatting with them and even message members privately, if you want to.

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Even more important, members can develop relationships with other members because there is direct messaging available for them too! Your group could get known as a place for members to collaborate and partner on ventures with little intervention by you!

* Built for Digital Course Creators

This reason is definitely why so many course creators are switching to Skool. It’s designed to make it easy for vendors to focus on teaching and selling their infoproducts.
As mentioned earlier, you’ll be hosting your courses on Skool. So there’s no need to build a separate course website and connect a whole bunch of complicated plugins. Everything can be done in minutes!

Search Function

The unified search function will allow you to find comments, posts, members from one place quickly.

Broadcast Emails

You’ll be able to send broadcast emails to your members too. So it has some degree of email marketing feature – though it comes nowhere close to a solid autoresponder such as ConvertKit. So you may want to invest in a separate email marketing tool.

*****

I am in three Skool groups. What I love is I can set up a weekly digest email to come into my Inbox every week to see what's happening and even more important, I can click on button in email and go to the group to add my comments or observations!  Unlike the Facebook notification that push onto your monitor while you work, you can look to see what's happening in your groups in your email provider when YOU are ready!

Payment Processor

Skool also has payment processing integrated into it. You can accept payments through Stripe and PayPal.
It you wish to use other integrations, Skool works well with Zapier… and you can contact their support for further advice related to your needs.

* Awesome Classroom Features

The learning management system in Skool is just as good (maybe even better) than most platforms such as Kajabi, Teachable, and even LMS plugins.
It has all the features you’ll need: modules, lessons, progress tracking, transcripts, etc.

The greatest advantage Skool has is that it integrates the community building with the courses flawlessly. Everything is smooth and works synergistically.
So your students are not only consuming your content, but also engaging at the same time. It’s a win-win for everyone.

* No Ads… No Distractions

Unlike Facebook which bombards its feed with ads, there are no ads in Skool.
No one is going to be distracting or ‘stealing’ sales/customers from you. This point alone makes Skool a clear winner in our books.

* Event Calendar

It’s easy for members to forget group events and so on. Thankfully, Skool has an event calendar feature that’s prominently displayed so your members are always on track and reminded of any upcoming events.

* Gamification Features

When it comes to selling courses and building a community, Skool’s closest competitor is probably Circle.
But while Circle is priced slightly cheaper (which makes it more attractive to those on a budget) … it lacks the superior gamification features found on Skool. So your students will not have as much fun consuming your content, if you were on Circle.

* What is Gamification?

Gamification features include points, badges, leaderboards, and levels, which aim to motivate users through game-like elements.
The hard truth is that most students who sign up for a course, despite paying for it, will drop off halfway. That’s just the way things are.
With gamification features that enhance engagement, encourage participation, and foster a sense of accomplishment – you’ll not only be able to keep the student motivated, but they’ll be more likely to finish what they start.
Skool’s gamification features such as points, leaderboards, activity tracking and so on are excellent for keeping your tribe hooked on your training.

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In the Skool groups I am in, they use gamification to keep us coming back to participate. If I make a post asking a question, I get so many points; if I make a comment on a post, I get so many points and there is a leaderboard showing who does the most comments, posts etc. With Skool, you can even open a course in your community depending on how many points a person gets, they can get a new course to watch!

* Detailed Analytics

Skool has a metrics dashboard that will show you how your students are progressing, what their favorite modules are, how many students you have within a time range and so on.
By looking at the numbers, you’ll be able to ascertain the health of your group and what type of content works best.
It’s all laid out easily. So you won’t need a PhD in calculus to understand your stats.

* 24/7 Support

When it comes to customer support, Skool is excellent. The only other platform that seems to have faster support is Systeme.io.
But the key takeaway here is that if you ever need help, Skool’s support is always there to assist you at any time of day.

* Free Courses

Skool has a few free courses for you to enroll in so that you understand how to use the platform well.

 

These invaluable courses will help you get the best out of Skool and help you sell more subscriptions.

* Affordable, Straightforward Pricing

Some platforms like Kajabi offer a myriad of features (most of which you won’t use) … but they charge an arm and a leg.

Skool is a lot more affordable and charges a flat rate every month. The pricing plan is very simple. You pay one fee and get ALL the features.
You get unlimited courses, unlimited students, no hidden fees – and you can cancel at any time.
Skool’s transaction fees are the lowest when you compare it to its competitors!

* 14-Day Free Trial

Still on the fence?

Give Skool a 14-day spin and see if it’s right for you. Our guess is that you’ll never look back. There is zero risk for you here.

Disadvantages of Skool

For the most part, we were highly impressed with Skool, but it would be remiss not to discuss the disadvantages – and there are few.

* Platform Dependency

If you host all your courses on Skool, you’ll need to keep paying the monthly fee. If you stop paying, you’ll forfeit your account and your tribe on the Skool platform.
Similarly, if you decide to move to another platform, it’ll be a hassle to move all your courses and members to a new platform. While this is not a deal breaker and is mostly true for any SAAS service, it’s still something to be aware of.
The good news is that Skool and the people behind it are legit and reliable. The platform is skyrocketing in popularity and should last a long time.

* You’ll Need to Find Your Own Members

While you’ll see several popular groups displayed on the home page of the Skool website, the truth is that you’ll need to find your own members, customers, etc.

Skool is an excellent platform that hosts courses and communities. But it’s just a ‘tool’.

Ultimately, your success in making your business work will rest squarely on your lead generation and sales skills.
Don’t expect Skool to make you an overnight millionaire, despite the hyped-up content and fanfare you may come across online. You still need to do the work.

* Beginners May Find the Pricing Steep

If you’re a successful marketer, forking out $99 a month is not an issue. For a beginner who’s just starting out, this monthly fee can feel like a burden.

The best way to remedy this issue will be to sell a few courses first and gain traction. With an email list, you’ll be able to do remarketing and get more repeat sales.
Once your course sales cover the monthly Skool fees, then you can leverage the 14-day free trial and go on to pay for it.

Baby steps here.

* Facebook is still an unconquerable behemoth (for now).

While Skool is a far better course platform and has much more community engagement features… when it comes to traffic, it’s absolutely no match for Facebook.

That’s just the hard truth.

Most people do not consciously choose to use Facebook. It’s an almost subconscious habit for them to reach for their phone and scroll on social media.
They’ll read whatever posts appear on their feed, including the group posts… which have limited reach.
On the other hand, it’ll take a conscious effort to get your tribe to log into your Skool group to consume your content. It’s not a habit for them.

The best way to remedy this problem will be to have a Facebook (FB) group and ask your Skool members to join that too.
Then you could post teasers of your latest/upcoming content in your FB group and have a link pointing to your Skool group. Now, your tribe that’s doom scrolling on FB will see your post and be more likely to see what’s in your Skool group.

You’ll also want to add your Skool members to an email list so that you can email them about new content, events, etc.
When you can reach them on multiple platforms, you’ll get them to repeatedly visit your group more easily. This will always be a bugbear when it comes to using Skool, because using the platform is not a mainstream habit.
So extra effort will be required to get them inside and engaged.

Should You Sign Up with Skool?

A definite yes.

If you’re a marketer selling your own courses… building a community is not an option, but a necessity.
It’s the surest way to build and maintain a connection with your tribe. It’ll also ensure business longevity while creating brand awareness and trust in you and your products.
Feature-wise, Skool is all you’ll need to sell courses and build a community.
Everything on Skool will take your course business to the next level.
There’s no risk for you here. With the 14-day free trial, you have nothing to lose.

Give Skool a try and you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to set up, sell on and charge monthly fees.
Nothing like recurring revenue from an engaged community to boost your bottom-line and skyrocket your profits.
Try Skool today and you’ll be glad you did.

>> Try Skool Now! <<

Business of At Home Business Community Open and Founder’s Special!!

Home Business Startup Checklist

The Business of At Home Business Community is now open!
Check out what you get as a Founder here

So Here’s Exactly What You’re Going To Get With

“The Business Of At Home Business Community”

 This Amazing Community Includes:

  1. Member Directory

  2. Member Forum

  3. Business Trainings inside Community

  4. New Training every month

  5. Private FB group

  6. Open Office Hours every month for Q and A.

  7. PDF cheat sheets

  8. PDF workbooks and checklist for courses

You can:

* Escape being overwhelmed at all the things you need in your business to grow it
* Sidestep spending money on a variety of courses you may or may not need
Save yourself from struggling to do it all on their own
* While quickly creating and starting a home business with lots of tools to help you grow
* And leverage the skills learned in the Community to create a real business       online or offline
You can:
*be part of  a community of like-minded people
* Save time and money by finding resources all in one place instead of all over the internet
* Understand what you need to know about getting the foundations of your home business planned.
* Discover The Real Secret to create the foundations for a home business quickly so you can grow.
* See how you can easily get sales quickly (so you don’t have to deal with having to try to do it by yourself).
* Realize how when starting a home business you can quickly get customers…
* Effortlessly get the tools to create a homebiz quickly
* Enjoy short and long-term solutions for your home business
*Be part of a community to integrate or share your business to make each other stronger
* And, as a special bonus, you’ll also discover how to automate and add processes to your business so it works for you when it sleeps!
For an incredible Founders rate and get the support and implementation you need to get your business growing quickly!
Get your free Home Business Checklist free here , no signup just giving it away with Steps you need to do to get Started in your Business just click on the picture and it will download immediately.

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Eight Reasons Memberships Earn

Memberships are part of our everyday life even when we don’t realize it. It’s a business model most people are comfortable with. You can join memberships for massages, chiropractor care, medical practices, gyms and more. It’s obvious the concept is lucrative. But, how do memberships really earn and why?

1. People Love Feeling As If They Belong – Being part of a community of people who enjoy the same things you do is a very special feeling. They say birds of a feather flock together, and memberships prove this point over and over again. You can have a very small niche and still attract members in enough numbers to be profitable if you price the membership right.

2. You Offer Unique High Value Products – No membership is complete without at least monthly new products or services added to the membership to keep the members interested. The products need to add value to the consumer to the point that they say, “Wow, this is awesome.”

3. You Participate in the Forum Personally – The forum is the lifeblood of any membership website. Without a forum you will have very little opportunity to keep your audience excited to pay the membership fee month after month. Mostly, you should spend time on the forum every single day.

4. The Content Is Regularly Updated and of Exceptional Quality – Aside from products or services, the content that your members consume is important too. You need to update content daily with a blog post, plus contribute more content each month such as white papers, checklists and so forth.

5. You Know How to Over Deliver – It’s easy to get carried away with marketing words and make your audience feel as if they’re going to get more than they are. This is a huge mistake. Membership sites that make money deliver far more value than the person joining believes they’ll get.

6. Startup Costs Are Low – All you need to start a site is a way to make sales pages, landing pages, membership site software like aMember.com, and social media pages for the membership site, plus an email autoresponder and forum software like phpBB.com. You can install it all yourself or hire someone, and be up and running for $500 to $1500 dollars with monthly ongoing expenses between $100 and $500 dollars.

7. You Can Charge More People Less for Superior Value – The other attraction people have to memberships is that it is a way to spread the cost of resources over many different people. Something that might cost thousands a month for one-on-one work will now cost just a fraction of that when you spread that cost over many members.

8. You Offer Unannounced Extras – The real trick to memberships is keeping the consumer interested, and you can do that with unannounced extras that make your customer want to see what comes each month. Make these really special and super hyper-focused on the audience, and you’ll have a winning combination.

Earning money from membership sites is easier than other methods of earning money online, but you do have to continuously wow your audience to keep them interested, plus devote a fair amount of time to marketing the membership.

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Eight Resources to Include in Your Membership 

Creating a membership site is an exciting process, but it can be hard to think of what to include in your membership. Most memberships have similar offerings, and you should at least stick to the basics. But, don’t stop there. The more you can pack into your membership, the more in demand your membership will become.

1. Glossary – This could be a list of terms, as well as a list of resources for the members to better understand the terms used in the content, information products, videos, and forum. Let them know up front everything that you can.

2. Message Board – The most popular membership websites have a forum or message board for members to speak to each other as well as to the leaders and coaches who are running the membership site. It builds community, and some people will stay long past using the other resources just for the message board if it’s active.

3. Permanent and Temporary Content – You want both permanent and temporary content to continuously flow through the membership site. Some content should be around all the time and some should drip in based on where the person is in the membership. This will keep people at your membership and wondering what’s coming up next.

4. Videos – Including video is always a good thing in a membership site. Whether it’s a “how to” do something, interviews, courses, or something else, video always livens up a membership site. You can use PowerPoint and your own voice to product videos easily.

5. ECourses – Learning how to do something is a good reason to join a membership site and if you have a few courses that your members can get a certificate for finishing, all the better. It will make them want to stick around.

6. Information Products – At least once a month, include a full-fledged new information product for the membership to use and implement. Information products can include eBooks, video, eCourses, and more but can also be sold individually on their own outside of the membership.

7. Checklists – People love having checklists that they can follow along with to get things done. You can include checklists about how to use the membership as well as checklists about how to do something your niche wants to do. There are so many options for you to fill your membership with useful things for your audience.

8. You – The most important resource to include in your membership site is you. You must be directly involved with the forum, with making videos, with writing content and as a cheerleader for your members. That’s why they are joining, after all.

Filling your membership with useful and unique resources will become your goal and passion as your membership grows. You’ll get ideas directly from the members, so don’t worry. The important thing is to get started with a minimum and build as you go to make your membership more valuable with each passing month.

Categories: Grow a Home Business, membership Tags: Tags:

Eight Tools and Software to Help You Build Your Online Community

One of the ways to increase sales, spread brand awareness, and develop new ideas for products and services is to offer your audience an online community to become part of. By making yourself available to a community online, you can find out in advance what types of things your audience needs to solve their problems. Online communities will literally put you on the cutting edge with your community.

1. Facebook Groups – This is a great entry level, free way to start an online community. Start your community here and then invite them to more excusive paid memberships for an upgraded next level of community.

Link – http://www.facebookgroups.com/

2. AMember – This software enables you to set up members only communities, subscriptions, secure shopping carts, and more for your niche community. People like feeling protected from others and this is a safe way to start a private community.

Link – http://www.amember.com/

3. AWeber – It might seem odd for this to be included in community building but if you think about it, it makes complete sense. You need a way to communicate with a lot of people at once and AWeber is one of the best autoresponder services available for the money. You can send newsletters, email blasts and other information to members who sign up to get information.

Link – http://www.aweber.com/

4. vBulletin – This is forum software that offers either a self-hosted version or a cloud version, so that you can have a powerful and easy to run message board or forum for your audience to congregate and discuss issues in a members only setting.

Link – http://www.vbulletin.com/

5. WordPress – You can build a membership website using WordPress and some plugins like Paid Memberships Pro, or bulletin boards like bbPress, among others. While these are relatively simple, you may need some professional assistance ensuring security and the right server capacity.

Links:
WordPress – http://www.wordpress.org/
Paid Memberships Pro – https://wordpress.org/plugins/paid-memberships-pro/
bbPress – https://wordpress.org/plugins/bbpress/

6. Hoop.la – This is an all-in-one online solution for your online community. One really good thing about this is that it’s a hosted system that you own. However, it can be pricy for this full-featured online community software solution.

Link – http://www.hoop.la/

7. NationBuilder – This is an online community builder that is fully featured; you can charge a membership fee, email members, and more through one dashboard. This can act as your entire website without the need to integrate a lot of other software.

Link – http://nationbuilder.com/

8. SocialGO – This cloud-based community building software has the ability to create a forum and even charge for the membership to the group. It is full featured and reasonably priced.

Link – http://www.socialgo.com/

Building an online community is a great way to build relationships that will translate into referrals, true supporters and fans that will help you expand your business and keep your business running through the test of time.

Categories: Grow a Home Business, membership Tags: Tags:

Eight Ways to Provide Value to Members

Getting people to join your membership is only half the battle. Getting them to stay is the other half. The best way to do that is to offer exceptional value to them once they join. Some of the value you explained to them on your sales page where you mentioned the benefits, but some should be left as a surprise for after they’ve joined. Remember, the key to member retention is to under promise and over deliver.

1. Offer a Knowledge Base – A searchable knowledge base is an excellent way to provide value to your members. You can add to it over time, as questions are asked via email and on forums and in group message boards. Being able to have answers at their fingertips will keep them coming back.

2. Host Free Educational Videos – Within the knowledge base it will help if some of the more complex information is provided in video form. When you show people how to do something in this manner, they will want to come back and will therefore keep their memberships active. This is especially true if your videos are produced in as close to a professional manner as practical.

3. Host a Members Only Directory – People like doing business with other members, so if you can provide a members only directory that lists people’s websites, specialties, and offers, they will enjoy that benefit immensely.

4. Have Members Only Offers – When you have a membership, pushing out a new product to them first, with a huge discount, is another great members only offer that you can do on a regular basis. Not only that – it’s a great way to test out your new products.

5. Monthly Group Calls – It’s not hard to use a system like Free Conference Call to conduct a live call once a month or even more if you want. It’s amazing how something as simple as spending an hour on a phone call once a month will help with member retention.

Link to Free Conference Call – https://www.freeconferencecall.com/

6. Offer Specialty Groups – If you have a larger membership, breaking it down into specialty groups will help people stick around longer too, because they will feel catered to. You want each member of your group to feel special. A good idea is to have small, five-people “mastermind” groups, complete with weekly call and a special forum.

7. Host Members Only Events – Another great way to provide value to your members is to have members only events such as in-person events, meet-ups, and webinars. You can also use these to allow each member to invite one new person to help expand membership.

8. Offer Member JV Opportunities – People love working together with like-minded people. Provide them new ways to join together to make new offers, do new things, work together in ways they may not have thought about.

You can be assured that your members will be happy with their membership if you give them just a bit more than what they thought they would get. Fortunately, you’ll be able to actually interact with and ask your members via the message boards or other groups you form. So, it’ll be easy to give them more than they thought they were getting.

Categories: Grow a Home Business, membership Tags: Tags:

Get Others to Promote Your Membership Program

When you start a membership program you want to have a steady flow of new members entering the program at any given time. The average time someone stays in a membership program is usually 12 weeks or 3 months. Therefore, you need a constant stream of people coming into the membership to keep it full and active.

Members Only Referrals

One of the easiest ways to not only encourage people to stick around longer than 12 weeks but also to get new members, is to allow members to refer your group. Require people to stay a member to be able to refer the group and receive commissions. Offer a nice 50 to 60 percent recurring referral percentage to the members who refer others. This will keep them around longer, as well as get more members.

Affiliate Marketers

If you don’t want to allow only members to promote your group, you can let affiliate marketers promote it. But, you do want to choose the marketers carefully to ensure that they will use honest methods to promote your group. Provide graphics, blog posts, and other information to help them market your membership.

Make YouTube Videos

A good YouTube video can go viral. If you create a regular channel on YouTube that people like to watch, it is another means of promotion for your membership program. You don’t even have to mention the membership program other than at the end of the videos, and in the description bar. Ask people to share – this is a great way to get other people to promote your membership program.

Create Infographics

People love sharing infographics that give data that the audience needs to know. They also are more likely to share visual material than the same data in print or a blog post. The best way to start is to put the graphic on your social media networks. Ask your family and friends to share, and you’ll create momentum.

Provide Excellent Graphics

Other people are more likely to want to promote your membership group if you offer good material and graphics to help them promote it well. Memes, infographics, videos and more all offer everyone a good way to promote your membership program.

Personalized Webinars

A really good way to promote your membership group is to ask movers and shakers within the industry to host a webinar where you’ll be the guest. You will answer questions and then promote your membership at the end of the webinar.

Ask for Testimonials

The testimonials of others will help you promote your membership program, but it will also help other people promote your group. The more good things you can show people about your membership program, the better. The more good people see, the more they’ll want to help promote your membership.

Memberships are a lucrative way to create a new stream of income based on the niche you’re already involved in. You can provide your products and/or services in an entirely new way that guarantees regular and timely income.

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Ten Reasons Membership Is Lucrative 

The reasons memberships are lucrative are many and varied. But, the fact is, with the right plan you can make a full-time living online adding membership to your product list. Having a continuity plan can change your business life for the better. You know it works because big business does it too. Think about Netflix, Amazon Prime, and even your local Massage Envy which offers membership programs.

Here are ten reasons why membership is lucrative.

1. You’ll Feel Good – When you can offer something to others that they need, you’re going to feel great about it. This makes a membership more lucrative because you’re going to not only make money, but you are also going to want to keep adding to it. Going to work will feel like a joy.

2. Inexpensive Start-Up Costs – Relatively speaking, if you choose your software properly and take into consideration your own level of knowledge, the start-up costs are low, which means your profits will be higher.

3. Steady Income – If you haven’t experienced the consistency of regular income, you will when you start a successful membership site. People start them for a reason, and people also join them for the same reason.

4. People Love Privacy – Members join a club for privacy. They can go to a membership site and talk about what they want to without worry that it’s searchable on the net.

5. You Can Do It Alone – You don’t need a huge staff to help you build or run a successful membership website. Once you get the technology set up, you just have to add to it on a regular basis and participate in the forums if you choose. If you do a drip membership, you can set it up and forget it. Less staff equals more profit.

6. You Have Something to Offer – Anyone who has something to offer, even the smallest niche, can start a membership site that is successful.

7. Add Value to Your Current Business – If you already have a business online, adding a continuity program will take your business to the next level.

8. People Want Exclusivity – Membership makes people feel special as if they’re part of a secret group of movers and shakers. Therefore, getting people to join isn’t hard. Getting them to stay is a little more work but if you focus on value, you can do it.

9. People Expect a ROI – People join membership sites expecting to get huge value out of the membership. And as long as you can provide that to them, then not only will they feel they’re getting a return on their investment, you will too.

10. People Are Curious – People will join simply out of curiosity to see what’s inside. It’s up to you to hold them there to increase your profits.

If you market your membership correctly, you will have a successful online membership business – provided that you’ve done your homework on starting it in the right niche. People want to feel as if they belong, and they like having privacy. If you have information to offer, membership is the best way to do it.

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Getting More Information from Your Subscribers AFTER They Opt In

The best email subscription forms ask for very little information to start. But, the more personalized the emails you send your subscribers, the more response you’ll get. Therefore, you need to come up with ways to get more information from your subscribers after they’ve already opted in so that you can ensure that you are sending them the right information.

Welcome Message – Right off the bat, when you send your new subscriber a welcome message to your list, it is a great opportunity to seek more information from them using a web form. Depending on which email marketing program you use will determine which features it has to collect more information.

Thank You Page – Another great place to get more information from your subscribers. This can be true of an opt-in thank you page, and a product purchase thank you page. Create a form for the page where your subscriber or buyer can click to provide more information about them to help you serve them better.

Polls and Quizzes – Periodically, it is helpful to send your list subscribers interactive information such as polls and quizzes. This will help engage your list subscribers in a new way and open them up to providing more information about themselves so that you can personalize your interactions with them even more.

Coupons and Codes – Any time a subscriber takes advantage of a coupon code is a good time to collect more information about them so that you can personalize the information you send them. You may have only collected an email and name when they first opted in but when they redeem the code, ask for just a bit more info.

Request for Response – Sending out an email to your subscribers requesting a response such as a comment on your blog, or for them to fill out a form, or to ask you a question that you’ll answer on your blog, is a good way to get more information about each subscriber that can be used to create more personalized messages.

Surprise Gifts – You probably gave your subscriber a freebie when they signed up for your list. You can use the same tactic in your subscriptions to get more information from your subscribers. Offer them a new free gift for some sort of action taken.

Subscriber Preferences – This is a good way to get more information is to offer your subscribers various preferences they can choose for the type of information they want. If you have more than one type of list, why not give them a chance to get on other lists that you have at this point?

Behavioral – Moving your subscribers from list to list due to the behavior that they demonstrate is a great way to personalize the information that your subscribers receive. For instance, if they click through to buy something, they should be moved to a new list.

Don’t just try one time to get more information from your subscribers. Take time to build the trust between you and your subscribers and as time goes on, ask more questions and seek more feedback from them so that you can make the information you send them more personal than ever before. The more personal your messaging is to them, the more response you’re likely to get.

Choosing Member Benefits

When you create a membership website, you’ll need to determine what you’ll choose for membership benefits. The benefits you choose will vary depending upon your niche, your audience, and the cost of the membership. After all, if the price is higher and the number of members is limited, the member will expect much more than if the price is lower and more people are able to join.

Some examples of member benefits might be:

More Access to You

You are probably the most important part of the membership website. People want to feel as if they can get direct help and advice from you. If you can promote more access to you as a benefit, then the members will appreciate that enormously – especially if you offer more expensive coaching to clients.

Private Message Boards

Feeling part of a close-knit community is a wonderful thing and a wonderful way to keep members wanting to pay their monthly membership fee. If you can keep the message boards busy, you can keep your members a lot happier. Promote a busy message board as a huge benefit.

Learning

People love consuming information products that teach them about a small aspect of their business, and you can provide continuous monthly products that help your members become more successful or happier (depending upon your niche). Information products can provide this benefit.

Accountability

You can offer your members the benefit of accountability by setting up goal-setting groups and forums. This is such a great aspect of membership websites that even the members themselves jump in to offer this to each other.

Special Offers

You don’t have to stop selling to your members just because they’re members; you can use the membership as a way to offer the members first chances at special offers, new programs, and more. They’ll appreciate being an insider, and you’ll get to test out new products on them first.

Connections

One of the many benefits of membership is the ability to find great connections that can become joint venture partners. Your members will benefit from being introduced to wonderful people with whom they can form partnerships and take their goal setting to the next level.

And More

There are so many benefits that you can promote that should be based on the niche, your audience and their needs. Always put the needs of your audience first. And remember, you can start with a few benefits and then add to them as you go. Nothing has to be perfect from the get-go.

Membership websites are full of benefits for their members. Which benefits you choose to put into place is completely dependent on your knowledge of the niche, as well as what the audience needs and feels are important.

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