Archive for 'Tips & Tricks'
3 Reasons WordPress Has Become the Perfect CMS for Membership Sites
Posted on 02. Nov, 2011 by Steve.
Since the release of WordPress 3.0, it has finally started to be recognized by the general community as an effective CMS and not just a blogging platform. While devoted WordPress fans have known about it’s power for a long time, it wasn’t until recently that the average webmaster considered it a viable, long term option. In fact, there are a number of reasons that WordPress has evolved into the perfect CMS for your membership site. 1. Development Community The driving force behind the boost in power of WordPress as a content management system is it’s development community. WordPress has become well known for having one of the largest and most active community of developers and testers of any CMS, both open sourced and commercial. This has not only been the reason behind the vast amount of growth and improvements in the WordPress core, but also in the supporting themes and [...]
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Where to Invest Your Money During the Membership Site Creation Phase
Posted on 13. Sep, 2011 by Steve.
There are very few cases where the bulk of your expenses won’t come during the creation phase of your membership site. The problem that most people face is that they don’t have an unlimited budget, which means that they will need to prioritize where their money will go. Doing this effectively may be what makes or breaks the future success of your membership site. If you are never able to get it off the ground, then the chances of long term success is next to none. Staying within your budget is critical, but there a few places where you shouldn’t skimp. Here is a quick look at the the areas that provide the highest return on your initial investment and why they should be a priority from the beginning. 1. Membership and Affiliate Management Software If there is one thing that you should not hesitate to invest in, it is [...]
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Are Membership Sites Really Passive Income?
Posted on 24. Aug, 2011 by Steve.
One of the reasons that membership sites became popular was because they were coined as being one of the easiest ways to generate the passive income. A few years later, some of the most successful examples of online membership sites are constantly updated, advertised, and very active in social networking. With of this in mind, the real question is whether or not a membership site can actually be source of passive income. Can they create income – absolutely. Is it passive – Maybe. The most important thing to keep in mind when answering this question is what passive income really is. The goal of passive income is that you can do something once and get paid multiple times for it. In it’s most basic form, membership sites are de facto passive income because you are only creating one membership site, but profiting from it multiple times. When you dig a [...]
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Fixed Term vs. Indefinite Membership Sites – Which is Better?
Posted on 08. Aug, 2011 by Steve.
There will always be a debate over which style of membership site is better – fixed term or indefinite. The problem is that both of these models have proven to be effective. This means that you need to look at your niche and what you are offering in order to decide which one is right for you. In case you haven’t considered both of these options, here is a quick look at what they are. Fixed term membership sites are designed so that a members signs up for a certain period of time. Essentially, it has a fixed end-date. For example, a pregnancy website designed to walk expecting parents through the process of what to do and what to expect during those 9 months is obviously not going to be useful forever. On the other hand, if you look at a sports related membership site like ESPN’s Insiders Club, there [...]
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5 Reasons Your Membership Site Needs a Facebook Fan Page
Posted on 29. Jul, 2011 by Steve.
Using a Facebook Fan Page to promote an idea, brand, or product is nothing new. However, many membership sites still haven’t created a page of their own. There are a variety of benefits that your membership site can gain once you have created a Fan Page dedicated solely to what it has to offer. At most, many people will integrate their membership information into other Fan Pages that they already have, however this detracts from it’s exposure in many cases. Here is a quick look at how a dedicated Fan Page can boost conversions and effectively promote your membership site. 1. Credibility One of the immediate results that your membership site will gain is credibility. In general, people have become a little more skeptical when they have to give out their personal information online. This is largely due to scam websites and a number of questionable billing practices for a [...]
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3 Things to Consider When Choosing the Best WordPress Shopping Carts
Posted on 14. Jul, 2011 by Steve.
At a glance, it may seem like most WordPress shopping cart plugins are pretty much all of the same. While there are definitely a number of features that have become fairly standardized, there is still some glaring differences between the top of the line premium plugins and the rest of the pack. Depending on who you ask, the top few plugins will vary from person to person. This is largely due to the feature set as well as the overall user-interface. Everyone likes something a little different, but there are some similarities between all of the best options. Here are 3 things to consider when choosing the best WordPress shopping carts as well as a quick overview of some of most consistent highly rated plugins available. 1. Integrated Features In general, you want to try and choose a shopping cart plugin that have as many of the features that you [...]
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3 Benefits of Increasing Subscription Prices as Your Site Grows
Posted on 06. Jul, 2011 by Steve.
Raising membership rates based upon the number of members that have already signed up has been a controversial prospect. On one side, many people believe that once you have found the right price point, there is no reason to change it, which is a very valid point. At the same time, there are several benefits that you could gain by raising prices as well. Here is a closer look at how raising your membership rates can affect your membership site in both the short and long term. 1. Create a Real Sense of Urgency One of the biggest problems that you will face when running a membership site is creating a sense of urgency. A lot of people will assume that your membership site will always be there, so there is no reason to sign up immediately. This is why introductory discounts and free trials are so popular. These methods [...]
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