Your existing customers are your strongest source of income - plain and simple.

That means it is imperative to keep them happy. To keep them interested and engaged and to make sure they perceive value by visiting your website.

A membership site is potentially the best way to add value and profits to your existing internet business. Adding a membership site to your business is more than adding another product, it's about adding value, strengthening your credibility and increasing your authority in the industry, branding, and increasing customer loyalty. It's about tapping into those key triggers that motivate everyone, including you, to buy.

Each triggered buying behavior adds dollars to your bottom line. In short, membership sites are a winning situation for both you and your customers. You offer incredible value and benefit to your members and you reap the financial rewards.

For a Membership Site to be Profitable You Must Offer Consistent Value

A membership as part of a profitable internet business requires providing consistent value. A few simple strategies such as providing members with new content, creating a sense of community on your site, paying attention to your customer support, and educating your members in the use of your site, will ensure that your members continue to enjoy your site and maintain that all important monthly subscription.

Keeping members engaged.

To maintain your member's interest in your site, and keep them paying their subscription, regularly, update your membership site with fresh content. You will want to make your content available to your members in a variety of formats including:

- web pages
- member area
- email
- direct mail offline
- videos
- audio
- Podcasting
- teleseminars
- offline seminars
- dvds
- cds
- scheduled content for paid members

Marketing Your Value

You also want to make your members are aware of the new content. To continue their subscription your members will need to feel that their membership is gaining value, and knowing they have access to extra content will achieve this even if they do not actually read or use it.

One of the simplest ways to add content is to add articles to your site.

The number of articles you need on your site depends very much on the cost of being a member, as well as what other services you offer your members. You can aim for several new articles each week to start.

Coming up with new ideas for regular articles can be difficult. Here are a few tips to give you some inspiration.

• Use the search feature on your membership site. Look at the terms that your members have been entering into the search field, and build articles around these.

• Use ideas from your members' discussion forum. Either write an article that answers a question you are often asked, or pick a controversial topic that has recently been discussed on your forum and write an article about that. You could even use the forum to ask your members if there is a particular subject they would like to read articles about.

• Compile a list of good websites that are relevant to your niche subject. Make sure you visit these on a regular basis to pick up on any news and developments, and to get ideas for articles.

• Keep a folder of article ideas. When you are surfing the net or reading a newspaper, make a note of any subjects that would make a good article. You can also keep any material that is relevant to these topics in this folder.

• Evaluate different article structures. Article types such as 'top tens', 'checklists' and 'how to', are popular, work for almost any subject, and are fairly easy to put together.

• Look at your past week. What have you done? Are there any projects you could talk about? Have you used anything new you could write a review on? What have you learned? All of these can provide valuable article ideas.

Your Business Future

Membership sites add value. If you ever plan to sell your online business, a membership site adds value to your business. They're fairly simple to operate, membership site technology automates most of the work, and their return on investment is bar none.

Adding a membership site to your business is a sure way to tap into human nature, human buying nature. We all want to be part of something valuable and notable. Make sure your membership site provides the value your members and prospects perceive by adding regular content and products and resources. You'll be glad you did - a membership site will get you on track to build the business you deserve and desire.