Right now, educators all around the world are pondering how they might bring a group of people together around a shared purpose or interest - learning a specific topic, subject or concept in this case. Creating a membership site is one of the most effective methods to do so.
Membership websites were formerly considered a side hustle, but they are now a growing industry. Many individuals are seeking methods to connect with others who share their interests and ambitions at this time.
We'll take a new way of thinking about how to construct a community site in this post. So, what do we have to lose? Let's get started!
If you're wondering how to make a membership website, the first step is to pick a topic that people would put their time and energy behind.
People will spend their hard-earned money in joining you if you develop a membership site around a topic or objective that is significant to them.
Why? Because it turns out that the greatest approach to deal with uncertainty is to collaborate with others to come up with innovative answers.
Consider the issue you pick to be the "mission" of your community. It's the glue that holds all of your members together and encourages them to work together to attain their common goals.
Every field needs its own professional membership site that includes education, training, and networking opportunities.
Career and professional development are excellent themes for a membership website as they naturally bring people together and motivate them to accomplish their objectives. With each new member, the value of expertise, perspective, and networking possibilities grows.
The following are some of the kind of questions that a virtual community of like-minded experts may solve together:
There are no simple or apparent answers to these problems. You won't be able to find them on Google. Despite this, they are necessary for our income, sense of self, and capacity to have a positive effect on the world around us in both good and terrible times.
You may crowdsource answers to these concerns and find creative solutions with a community of motivated and capable individuals on the same road if you utilise a career-focused membership site.
Creating a membership site to bring together particular experts is about more than simply establishing a successful company for yourself; it's also about providing something necessary to individuals at vital moments.
Health, health, and spiritual activities are themes that never go out of style. There will always be space for self-reflection, seeking inner peace, and improving one's health, no matter where one is in life.
Consider how a guided community can assist you in developing a daily meditation practise, improving your connection with exercise or fitness, or becoming closer to your spiritual or religious purpose.
When you run a membership website with a physical workshop or in-person training course, you increase the number of people you can serve and, as a result, your income. With every new member, you're also building something that's more useful to everyone because you're able to draw from a lot larger, more diverse, and more fascinating group of people.
Personal finance, retirement savings, or cooking were all essential enough for a premium membership site before the crisis, and they're much more vital today.
These aren't the only issues to consider.
There are also plenty of areas where you may use a membership website to provide knowledge, assistance, and work and social networking opportunities for people who wouldn't otherwise be able to achieve their goals on their own.
Consider if your topic is relevant right now and whether members will benefit from exploring this area with other motivated individuals as you consider creating a membership site outside of job, health, wellness, or spiritual themes. If you answered yes, you have everything you need to start a membership site.
You might be wondering if you can build a membership site if you aren't an expert in your chosen subject.
What is the solution?
Your worth as a membership site designer isn't based on your knowledge or the assumption that you'll know everything. It's in your passion to build up the structure for you and your team to master something that's important to everyone in the community.
When you check a variety of membership sites, you'll see that they're not headed by professionals. Instead, they're led by people who pursued their interest and brought people together around a shared passion. They've made six- and seven-figure salaries as a result of their membership sites.
It's a positive indicator that you're more qualified than you believe if you're drawn to a certain topic.
It's logical to just want to offer your membership site open to all once you've decided on a clear, inspiring theme.
This is a blunder.
One of the quickest ways to fail before you really get started is to define your membership site's target audience too broadly.
This is how it works: Because you're enthusiastic about your subject, you can understand how it relates to everyone in your organisation, not just mobile app product managers. And if that's the case, doesn't it apply to everyone working in and near technology firms throughout the world?
The issue then becomes, “Why would I want to restrict myself and the advantages of my membership to only mobile app product managers when I could have lots of members if I went broader to include all engineers?”
As a result, you set up a membership site and begin marketing to all professions. You may even run various Facebook and Instagram advertisements to spread the news. However, when you launch, nobody really turns up for the next few days.
Doesn't it sound bad? However, this frequently occurs when you attempt to throw a wide net immediately away.
What characteristics do successful membership sites share?
You expect your first members to identify themselves in your marketing and exclaim, "Hey, that's me!" This will make expanding your membership site a lot easier and quicker.
What methods do you have for narrowing down your first desirable members? Here are a few ideas to get you started:
If you spotted them going down the street, how would you describe them?
After you've reached this point, do interviews with participants you believe may be your initial ideal members to hear how they identify themselves and what inspires them. These discussions will provide you with invaluable information that will help you develop an effective membership site.
Nowadays, a new generation of modern community platforms has arisen that provide a far more intuitive and seamless membership online experience than in the past. These systems enable you to create beautiful, feature-rich websites without the need for bespoke programming.
Pensil is a new-age community platform with the best feature sets. It leads the market in this category. Built with a flexible technology stack, it provides you with options to integrate it wherever you want.
It also provides both Android and iOS mobile applications to make the user experience so much better.
You now have more membership perks to offer than just content now that you've picked a contemporary membership site software platform like Pensil.
You're ready to think about what you'll charge for your membership site and the member perks you'll provide, with online courses, smaller mastermind groups, live events through video conferencing, and even an optional 1:1 coaching tier.
While all of the membership tiers you might create when starting a membership site can intrigue you, keep it simple and worthwhile. Consider what will help your members reach their goals, and put your efforts here first.
Remember that building this initial high-value layer isn't only about material, an online course, or even your personal coaching time. Your community and the relationships you create among members will most likely be the reason your people accomplish the outcomes and change they desire in their careers, health and wellbeing, or other key interests.
Starting high and surrounding your members with a lot of help and perks is always simpler than pulling back features for lesser priced tiers.
It's much tougher to identify what people need to be successful when you start a membership site with limited services at a cheap price and afterwards try to move "up market," which determines how high a price they'll pay.
Rather, begin your membership tier(s) with a high level of value and kindness and then charge a premium. This way, you'll learn the most and obtain the greatest outcomes for your first members, which will be simpler to adapt and expand on over time.
It's time to attract your first users to your new membership site now that you've completed the process of creating one.
Don't expect your membership site to go viral just because you put it out there. There are a variety of reasons for this, including the way Facebook and Instagram generate money through advertising.
It's not going to happen.
Set a reasonable target for the amount of members you want right away and use your personal and professional networks to find them. You can put up a membership site with ten or even fifteen individuals and still earn a profit because you're charging a premium ($299 or more per year).
Attracting your initial members is simple if you have a mailing list or a following on social media. Start with an email blast and promote your membership site on social media on a regular basis.
If you're starting a membership site from scratch and don't have a following or email list, reach out to your professional or personal network by email, text, or phone to recruit members. Tell them what you're building and who you're developing it for. Then, request nominations or suggestions from those who might most benefit from it.
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