Archive for 'Tips & Tricks'
The 6 Most Basic Steps to Launching a Membership Site
Posted on 19. Sep, 2010 by Steve.
It is really easy to get bogged down in the details of launching a membership site. There are so many detail-oriented decisions, after a while the entire process can be daunting, yet a blur, at the same time. Fortunately, there are 6 basic steps that every detail and decision will fall into. By being able to compartmentalize a little, you will be surprised how much easier launching a membership site can seem. 1. Choose a Niche and a Domain This is the first step and could be a pretty simple one. Before you start anything, it is important to choose what niche you will be targeting and from there choose a domain name. This can become quite a detailed process once you create a plan to investigate and evaluate niches, as well as how you will choose a domain name. 2. The Look and Feel The next step is to [...]
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The 3 Fundamental Options For Building a Membership Site
Posted on 18. Sep, 2010 by Steve.
It can get fairly overwhelming when you consider all of the individual options that you have to choose from when it comes to building a membership site, however all of these options can be summed up into 3 basic groups: Custom Solution, Software, or a Managed Service. Each of these solutions have particularly benefits and drawbacks that need to be considered before making your selection. 1. Custom Solution This option is normally going to be the most expensive, at least initially. It has become a little more affordable over the years as developers had more open source software to utilize. The big advantage to getting a custom solution is that you can specify exactly what you want and how you want it. However, dealing with a developer isn’t always the easiest task, especially if you don’t really understand programming. This can lead to miscommunication and the chance that you will [...]
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Random Tips to Making the Most From Your Subscription Price
Posted on 17. Sep, 2010 by Steve.
It can be tough to find out what the best subscription price for your membership site will be. If you prices are too high, then no one will sign up. If you set them too low, then your margin will be so small that a majority of your income will be eaten up by advertising and other standard costs. With so much as stake, you can’t simply wake up one day and say that your membership site will be $39.99 per month. Here are some tips to help you get the maximum income from your subscription price. 1. Offer Multiple Subscription Options For some reason, if you offer multiple price points, not only will you get more subscriptions, but the middle option will be the most popular choice. This means that if you are offering 3 different subscription options, while there should be a discount for the second option, it [...]
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Simple Ways to Turn Your Membership Site Into a Community
Posted on 16. Sep, 2010 by Steve.
One of the primary reasons that a member will cancel a membership isn’t because of the quality of content, but rather the amount. They simply don’t have time to read everything. On the other hand, the primary reason that people will maintain a membership is because they feel that they are part of a community. Unfortunately, building a community isn’t always as easy as it sounds. You will have to much more than simply add a blog or forum and call it day. Here are some simple steps that you can take to build a real community that your members will value. 1. About the Content Many people don’t understand how easy it is to use quality content to build a community. The key is not only the information within the content, but also the tone and personality. One of the biggest problems that people have when writing content is [...]
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How Important Is It to Pay Attention to Print Publishers in Your Niche?
Posted on 15. Sep, 2010 by Steve.
One piece of advice that seems to pop up intermittently is that if you are creating a membership site, it is helpful to look at print publications in your niche to see what they are doing. While it is always a great idea to learn what others are doing right and what they are doing wrong, what type of information can be learned from print publishers in your topic area? What You Can Learn From Print Publishers in Your Niche There are a variety of things that you can learn from print publishers which can be applied to your advertising and your membership site. The first thing you should pay attention to is the headlines. If the publication has been in print for a while, then they have probably learned what types of headline attract readers in their niche. This type of information can be very valuable to your membership [...]
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Simple Mistakes That Can Destroy Your Membership Site
Posted on 14. Sep, 2010 by Steve.
It may sound a little strange, but oftentimes the best way to find out what to do right is to find out what others are doing wrong. With so must attention always being focused on what is best, not many people look at what hurts their membership site. By doing this, it is easy to make very simple mistakes that can end up being very costly. One common mistake that new membership site owners make is that they want to guard every single piece of content like it is the crown jewels. While you obviously can’t share all of your content for free, you absolutely must share some. Right now, the average seems to be between 15% and 20% of all content should be given away. Keep in mind that this means giving away quality, premium content for free, not junk content. By doing this, you will be giving potential [...]
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How Can You Sell Content to a Free Content Niche?
Posted on 13. Sep, 2010 by Steve.
One of the biggest hesitations that people have when creating a membership website is that they are concerned that it will be too difficult to try and sell content to their niche. In general, the internet is considered to be a free content world, regardless of the niche. However, that doesn’t mean that selling content needs to be a difficult task. IN fact, as long as you approach the situation correctly, selling content can often be easier than giving it away. 1. Be Unique The one thing that you absolutely must do in order to sell content to your niche is to be unique. You must show potential members that you are providing something unique. This could be your content, your expertise, or even resources that you have created such as a piece of software. In order to make sure that you accomplish this, it is important to really make [...]
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