How to Start a Membership Site That Guarantees Six Figures

There are seven secrets of creating a membership site that will generate a six-figure income for you in your internet business. Creating a premium content site through membership is a prime place to put all your latest content, courses, and guide people in the direction you want them to go. This type of site will give you a entire system in which to generate a great income for your internet business if it is done in the right way.

1. MAKE IT A COMMUNITY

It's important to make your site a community, not just a content delivery tool. It's a very effective content delivery method, however if you just leave it at that you are missing out on many benefits. One of the biggest benefits by making it a true community is that it will increase the time that your members stay in the site and your attrition rates (how fast people will leave) will be lower. People will like the community element you offer and will make a longer commitment to stay. Put items in place where people can interact with each other like forums, blog comments, live chat, and social networking features to generate a community atmosphere.

2. MAKE IT A STEP-BY-STEP SYSTEM

Make your site a process like A-Z, step 1, 2, 3, and so on. Many promise that they will 'deliver great value,' but in essence they are just throwing up a whole lot of content with no direction which way to go first and hence people get overwhelmed very easy. The biggest reason membership sites lose people quickly is because of overwhelm. Your membership site needs to train people how to do a process, give them sequence of where to start first to avoid what we like to call 'paralysis of analysis' - where everything looks shiny and they don't know what to focus on first. A good idea is to post action items at the end of all content so they know what actions they are to take after completing each section of material on the site.

3. CREATE PROCEDURES FOR EVERYTHING

Launching a membership site is going to create a number of repetitive processes, things like posting content, billing, customer service, and recording the content. Then there are things like outlining, recording and editing that also come into play. All these things have to be done on a weekly or monthly basis to keep your site current and progressing forward. Having procedure lists helps to streamline your efforts, which you can then automate and outsource to someone working for you like a Virtual Assistant who can take these tasks over for you. Create a schedule and stick to it; you want to be sure if you promise content at a certain time you make good on that promise. Procedures help keep you accountable to your market.

4. INCLUDE A 'ROLODEX'

The old 'rolodex' was a contact system. When launching your membership site, create a rolodex type directory of all your contacts, tools, recommended resources, vendors, and freelancers that you personally use on a regular basis. Many people want a recommendation on who can they trust, or where they should go, so giving them that kind of information is incredibly valuable, especially if it's offered in a membership site. Another tip is to make it a multimedia rolodex, not only do you give them the list of resources but you can create a 5-minute audio or video explaining how your businesses uses that resource. This takes the idea of the 'rolodex' to a whole new level when you use multimedia.

5. SEED WITH KEY CUSTOMERS

If you've launched a product in your internet business, more than likely you will have seasoned customers you already have a relationship with. These people will want to be a part of your membership site, so think about offering these people either a discounted membership or even a free membership to your membership site. By doing this, you will have a group of people who are already having success in their own businesses that are creating great momentum and discussion in your membership site right away. They will make your membership site very interactive and this will more than pay for itself by the value it will add to your community.

6. MAKE IT A MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE

You may be asking yourself, should your site be a lot of articles, a lot of audio, or video? The answer is: all of the above. Everyone likes to consume content in different ways, so have content that is accessible to all styles. Some like to read text, others like to download audio and take it with them, others are visual and prefer video. The more of a multimedia experience you make your membership site, the better.

7. CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLATFORM

There are a lot of logistics to take care of when it comes to a membership site - processing orders, registration of membership, credit card processing, etc. You will want to choose a platform or software for your membership site that completely automates this process. This way, when someone registers and pays, they can immediately access the site. On the other hand, if someone's credit card is declined, their membership can be automatically turned off. A good platform or software will protect your content securely so that only members can receive access.

About this Author

Jeremy "Sterling" Frandsen is the co-host of the #1 internet business and marketing postcast, Internet Business Mastery. Go here now to listen to an audio with more information on how to start a membership site.

To learn more about starting an internet business as well as other internet business related strategies, please visit http://www.internet-based-business-mastery.com.

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