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Top Benefits of a Members-Only Website
If one of your goals is to build your tribe online, creating a member-only website should be prioritised. What is a membership website, and why should you make one? Is it a profitable venture? What are the benefits of creating an online community? In this guide, we are dishing out reasons why now's the best time to start your own membership website:
What is a Membership Site?
A membership site is a gated website that features exclusive content. The content is reserved only for subscribers. As for the types of content to offer to subscribers, these will vary. Some of the most popular forms of content presented to membership sites are:
- Online courses
- Exclusive videos
- Private email subscription
- Coaching lessons
- Podcasts episodes
- Live webinars
- Forum or messenger board
- Downloads products, services, tools, etc.
To access the content, a user must sign up to become a member and log into their own account. The subscriber has to pay a fee to access the exclusive content.
Ways Membership Sites Make Money
- Recurring membership fees
- Charges for special events
- Special rates for premium content
- Donations
- Sponsorships/Collabs
- Affiliate Marketing
Depending on the platform you're using, you can set up a tiered membership, so subscribers can choose what content they like and offer different levels of payments. You can also offer a one-time fee to give full access to the content.
Kajabi, for example, can host a membership site, and the platform offers a full suite of tools to build, market, and update your members-only website. The service lets you offer tiered pricing, which gives you more opportunities to earn money online.
5 Reasons to Build a Membership Site
Leverage Your Email List
Growing your email list should be prioritised early in your solopreneur journey, regardless of whether you plan to set up a membership site in the future. In fact, growing your email list should be one of your main goals. You can monetise your email list and gain more marketing opportunities down the line.
Once you've built a decent following, you can create a membership site and start making money off your email list. You can offer a single product to start – such as an ebook or branded visuals. These types of content can be created in a matter of days, and once ready, you can launch your members-only site and cross-promote on various platforms.
Earn Recurring Revenue
Membership websites are set up to earn recurring revenues. You can offer a single product or multiple products. You can earn revenues from your membership site by
- Setting up a monthly or yearly membership fee.
- Requiring members to purchase access to different areas of the site
- Charging a base membership price with limited access
- Charging more pieces of content for an extra fee
If you're selling a single product that is offered in full for a one-time payment, you will only earn from every sale. The more products you promote, the higher your income will be from your members-only website.
Of course, you need to work on member retention to ensure a steady stream of income from your membership website. As long as you're providing valuable content, your subscribers will keep their membership.
Foster a Community
Every entrepreneur dreams of one day having their own tribe with engaged members. With a membership site, you can foster deep relationships with people who share the same interests as you.
Through your membership site, subscribers can interact with other members and have a place where they feel they truly belong. And with you managing the entire thing, you have control over the kinds of content members can access. You can interact with members and share your insights and expertise. You can turn your online community into a learning hub for niche topics.
Market to Loyal Customers
What makes subscribers different from average web users? People who sign up for exclusive content don't need much convincing to buy from you. They already signed up for your content, which means they're invested in your brand.
Think of membership site subscribers as pre-qualified leads. They are willing to pay for your exclusive content by signing up for a membership. You don't need to spend a small fortune on promotions to get their attention. Instead of spending your money drumming up attention on new customers, you can focus on providing the best exclusive content to your members and earn more – up to 300%!
Build a Valuable Brand
Over time, your online community will increase in value. As the volume of exclusive content increases, your online community grows. At some point, you can adjust the membership fee to increase your revenues.
Launching a membership site adds credibility to your business. It adds value to your brand. Unlike regular sites, maintaining a membership site provides a more stable and longer-lasting stream of income. Of course, you have to put in the work. Apart from managing the community, you must add fresh, high-quality, interesting content and features to keep people engaged.
Is a Membership Site Hard to Maintain?
Not at all! Setting up the entire website should only take a few minutes if you choose a user-friendly content creation platform like Kajabi. You must prepare the content in advance (articles, visuals, videos, etc.) and integrate a membership site or section on your website. You have the choice to maintain the membership site manually or automate everything.
The great thing about building an online community is that it runs independently. In the beginning, you'd have to do most of the engagement yourself, but as members start getting to know and helping each other, the community becomes self-sustaining. It will take time to get there but working hard to grow your community and sparking conversations between members will be worth it in the end.
Are you thinking of building a membership site? We hope that this guide has inspired you to create premium content for which people are willing to pay top dollars.
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