Membership sites have been around for a while, but they are getting bigger, prettier, and gaining popularity as time goes by and people understand how to make them not only awesome but truly epic.
If crafted just right, these subscription sites are worth their weight in gold.
But do you have what it takes to create and maintain that level of member intrigue?
The main goal for any membership site is to not only persuade members to join, but to convince them to stick around for a while, igniting passive income for your business.
In order for your membership site to function as a true website passive-income powerhouse, you need to be able and willing to dish out high-value content that keeps your members hungry for what you’re dishing out to them on a regular basis.
They have the structure to deliver continuous worth by way of subscription payments. But ONLY if you keep delivering the high-value goods – content – your members expect to receive for their continued support.
So how do you do it? What type of content will help ensure you’re keeping your end of the bargain?
Let’s go over what an epic membership site should look like.
Offer Online Courses (the cream of the crop)
These are seen as the bread and butter of any epic membership site.
Creating and offering online courses, by way of single or multiple topics, is not only an excellent choice but imperative to your master plan.
Courses can be super long with multiple modules that present over time to the member giving them a feel of a university distance course. Or, they can be short and sweet with just one thing to check off their list.
You could even do multiple shorts instead of one long course.
However you choose to put the course(s) together is up to you, but it must be built around good, engaging content that entices members to keep coming back to learn.
Live Webinars and/or Pre-Recorded Video Lectures
Planning to go live at regular intervals pre-determined in any lesson plan is a great way to deliver engaging content to members in your time zone (or close to it).
However, that isn’t always possible for everyone, given their time zones and schedules, so it’s vital to also provide the live webinars after the fact as part of the course. These pre-recorded sessions can then be accessed at leisure and nobody misses out.
You could also ONLY offer pre-recorded lectures if that suits your course/lifestyle better. The live-recorded feel has its advantages, but really, so does professionally pre-recorded. It will all depend on your preference.
Webinars, whether live or pre-recorded, offer the chance to give members a classroom lecture feel, and also bring in guest speakers, further ramping up value for your content and engagement from your members.
Live Conference Calls and/or Pre-Recorded Telecalls
This is another excellent live format that is useful for any online course. Again, this can be offered later as a pre-recorded session for members to either visit or revisit while taking the course.
The format can vary depending on your needs and the attendees, but they will be done with your members on the line and may include a Q&A session at the end, which is an added bonus for those who were able to attend real-time.
There are many programs out there for teleconferences such as GoToWebinar, Zoom, and Instant Teleseminar, all of which have excellent features.
Content Libraries / Downloads
For members unable to attend or interact at the scheduled time for live pieces should have everything available for download after the main event has taken place.
This will keep members subscribed for a longer period of time, especially as you build up your library of various pre-recorded lectures, telecalls, webinars, and general content!
Exclusive downloads whether we’re talking software, blogs/articles, resources and tools, etc., are a high-value addition to your membership site’s Content Library.
Simply offering up neatly packaged resources for people to unravel and spend time getting themselves deep into is valuable beyond measure. With Content Libraries in place, there is an immediate back-catalog of things to do and the promise of ongoing content is alive and well.
Community Groups/Forums
Online groups where members can meet and interact is of the utmost importance with any membership site!
These communities can keep members engaged, and interacting with each other, and have the potential to keep them locked in for months and years past the point of just any one online course.
It gives them an outlet for questions, comments, feedback/concerns, and a place to work peer-to-peer.
Moderators should be in place to keep things in line and to answer questions on behalf of instructors. Direct instructor answers would boost value, too, and should be part of the plan.
Let’s Not Forget Membership Perks
Offering member-only discounts on products and services offered through your regular website is another excellent perk for members who subscribe to your site.
Everybody loves a discount. This is an absolute must if you plan to reach EPIC status. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Don’t Forget the Little Things (excellent ideas for stand-alone content)
Although it may seem so, online courses aren’t your only option for membership sites.
They are large and all-encompassing but smaller things like exclusive articles, how-to videos or written tutorials, mini-courses and such other things that carry extremely high value as well!
Focus on the benefits of the benefits to resolving specific issues for various people via articles and blogs.
This will give you a deeper sense of your customers needs and offer them solutions to things that might hold them back.
Depending on your niche, a library of short content like this could be an arsenal of value.
Some things can stand alone as intended, or several pieces over time can also be incorporated into a new, full, or mini course. Strive to keep both available as they should be designed to stand alone.
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