Starting A Membership Site – What Should Your Focus Be?
Okay, here’s what I want you to do. Take a blank sheet of paper and fold it in three equal parts starting from the bottom. Just fold it and roll it up. Then, when you’ve done that, turn it on its side and open it out. You’ve now got three columns.
In the first one, write MOST INTERESTED. In the second one, write MILDLY INTERESTED. And in the second one, write MAYBE INTERESTED.
Then, in each column write down the things that most interest you, mildly interest you and maybe interest you.
There it is.
That is your business plan.
Your first column is your first membership site. Get that up and running and the profits from it will fuel your next site and so on until you add more topic areas of interest or you start on another sheet of paper!
I split the sheet deliberately into three columns so that you can focus on areas that really interest you. These are the things you are passionate about and that maybe you know most about. It just makes the whole thing easier for you and if it isn’t fun to do and enjoyable, then you have to ask yourself why you are doing it. Remember that earlier I said that business isn’t just about the money? It’s not. Yes, you run a business to make money, but money should never be the sole reason that you ever do anything.
You’ve got to have fun doing what you do and you’ve got to enjoy doing what you do. If you do that and get everything else right then you’ll find the money will flow relatively freely from the things you do and engage yourself in. That has been my experience throughout my business life and it has been the same story for many good friends and business associates too, especially with their membership sites.
You work best with what you know and understand and your success will be very much determined by how you communicate that knowledge, eagerness, freshness and vitality to others through your membership site.
Now, I’m not saying that you can’t acquire knowledge, skills and information in other areas. You most certainly can and as your confidence and competence grows with the requirements of membership sites, that’s exactly what you will do.
You’ll create membership sites in lots of other areas, if that’s what you choose to do. More sites = more profit streams for you.
It also means more work, but hey, this is fun – it’s not the 9 to 5 kind of grind that simply sucks the life and soul right out of you.
This is just you being you. But what should your focus be? The answer is – what interests you the most? Go back to the piece of paper we divided into three columns. That’s where you start.
And the world of membership sites is vast. You’d be amazed at what people want to know and what they will pay to find out.
- For example, if you had 10,000 members paying you just £25 a year to access the content on your membership site, you’d be staring at an income of £250,000!!
- If you had only 5,000 members paying you £20 a month you’d be banking £100,000 a month… that’s £1.2 MILLION a year!!
Now, just multiply that by 5 sites or 10 sites and then do the maths. The income for a little genuine and well-focused effort can be – and for several of my business associates – is truly awesome!!
But what should you choose as the focus for your membership site? These are membership sites that they have been particularly impressed by, for the clarity of content, layout and control. There’s a lot you can learn from taking a closer look at some or all of them.
Business Information – If you know about running a business then this membership site model is probably perfect for you. These are “how to “ information websites such as:
www.RestaurantOwner.com (Excellent information here!)
www.marketingyourdvd.com (And here!)
Hobby Information – These sites provide essential information on tips, tricks, hints, techniques, resources and events to other like-minded enthusiasts:
Education Information – An excellent online educational or learning resource where you can give others the benefit and know-how of your skills and professional expertise, such as:
Investment Information – Sites such as these always command higher value membership prices, but you really must be fully qualified in order to provide this kind of advice:
Tradethemarkets.com commands fees of between $2000 and $4000 a month, depending on the level of membership chosen. Take in just 100 members and you’re looking at $200,000 – $400,000 A MONTH – or $2.4 million to $4.8 million A YEAR.
That’s £100,000 – £200,000 every month and £1.2 – £2.4 million a year for providing a service that gives members access to excellent content. Much of that is pure profit in the pocket.
I have a really good friend who has a head full of ideas. He’s a very bright guy and has lots and lots of interests. He’s also still a “9 till whenever he finishes “ jobber. He wants very much to separate himself from debt and the daily bump and grind of 9 to 5. The trouble is – he doesn’t know how.
I am convinced that a membership site is the perfect vehicle to enable him to do this.
I think he can see it too, but he is determined to create a site that caters for a wide “variety of interests”. A hotchpotch that offers a bit of something for everyone.
I’m still trying to steer him to concentrate on just one focus in each of his websites. I’ll let you know how I get on!! The point I’m making is that clarity of focus is essential if you are to succeed in all of the ways you want to. So concentrate hard on determining what will be the focus for your first membership site.
Get the experience, learn the ropes, deal with the issues and then you’ll be ready to set up other membership sites with easy efficiency.
