Having a blog site can be one of the best ways for businesses and individuals to promote themselves. You can provide quality content and connect with your readers on a regular basis. But the trend is going to the next level.
More and more people are turning their WordPress blog into a membership site. Membership sites allow the site owner to provide exclusive content for site members. This concept works great for authors, motivational speakers, fitness trainers, and even support groups.
Recently I had the pleasure of working with Carl Henry, a corporate sales educator. Carl has watched his business change over the last 20 years. He splits his time between appearances, authoring several books and corporate training events. And one thing he’ll admit, the demand for his sales knowledge has increased during this current economic times. More and more clients of his clients are changing their spending habits. So Carl decided to change his approach also.
Carl already had his current blog site that promoted his publications and his weekly posts. We decided to take Carl to the next level with a membership site. Why? A membership site allows Carl to offer exclusive access to his valuable content. It also allows his clients to have access to other content that is only available on his site.
I’m sure you can see how this approach would be valuable to his clients and potential clients. But this also is a valuable part of Carl’s income stream. Carl can now collect a monthly access fee for his membership blog. Since the cost of the monthly membership is just a fraction of some of his other services, this is a great way for him to find new clients on a budget.
There are 3 things that contribute to having a successful membership site.
- Valuable Content – Just like Carl Henry, your membership site needs to offer exclusive/VIP type content for your members. Your members will want to see value for what they can learn from becoming a member.
- Seamless Integration – There are several quality WordPress plugins that can integrate with your site and your merchant account. Membership plugins should be compatible with Paypal, Authorize.net and other merchant account services. If you have any questions, consult with a WordPress/blog consultant to find out which options will work best for you.
- Promote Your Site – Promoting your membership site will let your readers know there is valuable content. And don’t forget to promote some of your popular topics to entice non members to join
