This is a question that I have been asked a lot recently. I think, reading between the lines that many consider that setting up a membership site is very complicated due to perceived content requirements – it has to be good – right.
It is my contention that if you are in business, then you already know a lot about your subject. You already have a lot of great content already in your possession. You just need to re-purpose what you have to a website.
So the next question is, where would you get your members from? So, my answer is that you should be talking to your market place or you are simply not going to grow. Even if all you know now is ten people.
If all you know is ten people then it is really easy. You send them each an email and you let them know that you have written an article and that it is available to read on a website, just like this one.
However, before we get too excited, here is a short excerpt video from a recent webinar I ran on Twitter where I cover who should use Twitter. The same concepts apply across social media and this includes blog and membership websites.
[i4w_page_popup title='To Blog Or Not' url='./to-blog-or-not/' h=800 w=500]
[/i4w_page_popup]
So if you consider that being open is something that is right for your business, then the simple use of a membership website that everyone should be able to grasp is that it can be used as a place to present your articles. In time you will attract new visitors who happen to be searching for the subject and your article will answer the question.
If you are one of those people who happen to find this article and you want to learn more about How To use Twitter for Business you will find I have a free course on this subject on this site where you will need to opt-in to read the complete set of information.
As a result I will know a) that you are interested in using Twitter for business and b) I will be able to let you know when I add more content to the site, so that you can continue to be part of the conversation and at that point, as a member, you might find yourself wanting to add to the conversation.
I would suggest just one more thing. You use WordPress as the basis for your membership website. WordPress software is free to download and easy to use with 1000s of free designs available. It is an ideal content management systems designed to store your articles – as blog posts.
There is an easily accessible pool of people who know all about WordPress should you need help. WordPress can transform into a very sophisticated integrated membership system for very little cost and is surprisingly easy to manage over time.
What I have covered here is a very simple outline of how membership sites can help your business. I hope that helps you. If you have any more questions I will be glad to answer them for you, let me know.
David White
You must log in to post a comment.