Listbuilding with Membership Sites

If you’d like to build your list and make money at the same time, consider starting a membership site. You can start small and build your membership site as the interest in it grows. If you’re interested in listbuilding with membership sites, here are the strategies you’ll need to follow to be successful.

Your membership site should be easy to navigate. As you design your site, keep it simple for members to use. Don’t add a lot of unnecessary bells and whistles. People don’t like them. They just want to get the information they need when they want it.

WordPress Wishlist Member is an easy place to start. This is great for beginners because it uses WordPress to manage your content. It also easily integrates with PayPal and 1ShoppingCart.

Create a professional-looking site. People join membership sites because they are looking to an “expert” to answer their most pressing questions or solve a problem. No one will listen to you if your website is sloppy and in disarray. Always present a professional appearance.

Most of us don’t have to spend money to hire a Web design expert. WordPress has made it easy for inexperienced Web masters to get a site up and rolling in no time. You can also use GoDaddy or Yahoo! or another hosting service that features web templates or “wizards.” The website wizards walk you through the process and allow you to type and publish a site in just a few minutes.

Make it easy for members to view videos and read online text. Again, keeping it easy to navigate and simple to use is key here. You want to reach everyone who is interested in your membership, so don’t make anything more difficult than it needs to be for your members or yourself.

Set a price that keeps them coming back each month. The jury is still out on the best price for a membership site. Some people price their sites at $9 a month and get a healthy number of members. Others swear by $27 a month and have similar success.

Don’t get greedy in the pricing process, especially when you’re new to membership sites. Once you’ve created an arsenal of great information, you may want to increase the membership cost to new members. Test different pricing plateaus to see what drives more traffic to your site and keeps more members month after month.

Stay the course. As you are building your lists, keep in mind that you probably won’t get wealthy overnight. After all, there is a degree of trial and error with your first membership site. Ask for feedback from your current members. When people cancel their membership, ask them why so you can improve the quality of your site.

Listbuilding with membership sites is a fun and effective way to build your business. You may want to join one or two successful membership sites before you begin to see what makes them so popular. That way, you’ll have a solid foundation from which to build your own site.