One of the questions we get asked most frequently at SubHub is "what are the good membership site ideas?"

The answer is very simple: whatever your passion is.

You can create a membership website based on any type of business, but the one thing you don't want to do is choose one just because you think it might make money.

There is no way your website will generate paying members if you are not passionate about the subject of your membership business.

Yes, you can't just be passionate about making money!

There are dozens of successful membership sites in the niches below, which clearly suggest that there is money to be made from these subjects.  But keep in the mind that the owners of these sites are truly passionate about what they do, and truly want to help others. So before you start, just make sure with a quick check that you also fall into that category!

Having said all that, however, just because you're passionate about your membership business idea doesn't mean it will be easy to be profitable, either. Let's face it, successful membership website niches are also competitive. There will be competition in whichever niche you choose. Your job is to show your potential members how you are different from the competition.

Here are just a few examples of membership website ideas to inspire you, from SubHub clients who at one time were just like you - trying to determine how to start a membership business. They have since developed their audiences and built successful membership websites.

If you want some SubHub examples, check out our Case Studies.

Subject #1 - Fitness and Yoga

Fitness and self-care are evergreen subjects. They will always find a willing audience happy to pay for advice. Meditation and self-growth classes are excellent candidates for evergreen courses.

Example membership site in this niche - fitin15.io and sacredspaceonline.com

Subject #2 - Health & Wellness

If this is your niche, you can go with a combination of audio files, videos, checklists, e-books and any number of other resources for your members. Audio files can be uploaded or embedded.

Example membership sites in this niche: freywellness.com and functionfirsted.com

Subject #3 - Business Coaching

Business coaching is big business these days, especially online business coaching. If you have expertise in digital marketing of business services or products, this could be your niche.

Example membership sites in this niche - osimtov.com and profitandbeauty.com

Subject #4 - Online Magazine

Online magazine subscriptions are another way to monetize your expertise. Membership levels might include a free newsletter round up of the latest publications, access to current editions, and access to archives.

Example membership sites in this niche: growingformarket.com and returningcitizensmag.com

Subject #5 - Non-Profit & Association

Community development through associations and non-profits organizations is a huge industry as people of like interests come together to exchange information and learn from each other.

Example membership sites in this niche: sportinhistory.org and iprassn.org

Subject #6 - Investment/Financial

Investment tips are a great use of a membership website, and something very much in demand. You can share reports, performance spreadsheets, trade examples, screen shares, videos, personal coaching and more. SubHub's built-in forum lets your subscribers hold discussions to discuss tips and investment methods.

Example membership site in this niche - marketbehaviortrends.com and leadlagreport.com

Subject #7 - Life Coaching

Nutrition and diet is a subject that always commands attention. Similarly, stress management and self-improvement/personal empowerment niches offer a huge opportunity to start a new membership business.

Example membership sites in this niche: mylifestylerescue.com and pushmoments.com

Subject #8 - Online Training Courses

Online training is one of the most burgeoning fields on the internet right now. SubHub's course editor makes it easy to set up drip or evergreen classes to share your expertise, whatever niche you are in.

Example membership site in this niche: stemsmart.net and HTRmethod.com

Subject #9 - Children's Education

We all know that educational budgets can limit the abilities of teachers and educators to do what they would consider their best work. Membership models can supplement those efforts with materials and coaching help.

 Conclusion

Of course, you do NOT need to write about one of the subjects above to create a successful subscription or membership website. With global reach and a deep knowledge of where your customers can be found, even the most specialist subject can become a successful membership site.

Paid-for content revenues are growing across the world.

There has never been a better time to start a subscription or membership website.

Start today! Open a free SubHub trial website.

Membership websites thrive on effective marketing strategies to attract, retain, and engage their members. Landing pages play a crucial role in achieving these objectives. They can be tailored to target specific segments of your membership, serve as sales pages, entice visitors with enticing offers, promote special promotions, and facilitate event sign-ups. In this article, we'll explore how to use landing pages effectively. Here are 5 ways to utilize landing pages to market your membership website.

Targeting Specific Segments with Landing Pages: Downsells and Upsells

One of the strengths of membership websites is their ability to cater to diverse member needs. You can use landing pages to target specific segments within your membership.

For instance, if you have premium and basic membership levels, create landing pages that offer upgrades (upsells) to basic members or downgrades (downsells) for premium members looking to reduce their subscription. Customize your messaging and incentives to match the unique interests and pain points of each group. You can do the same thing with prospective members. Here are a couple of downsell examples:

Downsells for prospective members

Social media is a great springboard for capturing leads, and selling via landing and sales pages. Let’s say you are using a funnel to attract leads that includes a webinar and a series of emails. A certain percentage of these leads will convert to sales, but for those who don’t, a downsell is a good way to keep the person in your orbit at a lower (or free) price. If you have someone who hasn’t taken you up on your membership offer, but is obviously interested in your service, a landing page offering 2 free months or a severely discounted rate for a short period of time might be enough to keep the lines of communication open. 

Downsells for cancellations

Another downsell idea is to make an offer at the time of cancellation. If a member cancels, that is a perfect time to send an email with an offer to allow them to stay for a period of time at a discount.   Your landing page could reiterate the benefits of membership and possibly offer a bonus of some kind to stay on “temporarily”.  Hopefully, the member takes you up on it and decides to stay.

Sales Pages for your Primary Offering

Your primary offering is the cornerstone of your membership site. A dedicated landing page can serve as an effective sales tool for this core product or service. Provide detailed information about what your membership includes, showcase its value, and make the enrolment process simple and appealing. Use persuasive copy, compelling visuals, and clear calls to action to guide visitors toward membership sign-up.

You’ve probably seen sales pages that go on and on forever. But if you really examine them, you’ll find that they adhere to a fairly simple formula.

 1. An attention-grabbing headline. Don’t get fancy with this. Simply state what the offer is and the benefit to the potential customer in plain words. Consider using power words and addressing the visitor's pain points to pique their interest.

2. Persuasive sales copy. Here is where you want to reassure the audience that you understand their pain and have the solution. Benefits should be emphasized over features. For example, a feature of your membership might be 6 20-minute videos per week. But what benefit is that? As a member, you can consume the content at your own pace; the content is detailed enough to provide real benefit; the content is also simplified enough that the time commitment won’t be overwhelming.

3. Testimonials. As many of these as possible will help to drive conversions.  Try to ask current members for their feedback.  Reviews and testimonials are one of the most effective ways to reassure potential clients that what is being offered will help them. Video reviews are even better than text. A mixture of both is ideal.

4. Effective call to action. Sounds like a no-brainer, but consider it carefully.  Keep it simple. One call to action is sufficient - sign up, find out more, opt in, and book a call are popular calls to action. 

5. Money-back guarantee. You may have heard that most customers don’t utilize money back guarantees, and you would be right. But the main reason to offer one is simply to give your clients peace of mind.  It can be a real incentive to sign up for a trial subscription if there is essentially no risk.

Opt-in Landing Page with Free Gift

Enticing visitors with valuable free content is a powerful way to grow your membership website. You can create landing pages specifically for opt-ins where visitors can receive free gifts, such as PDFs, e-books, guides, or video tutorials, in exchange for their email addresses. These leads can then be nurtured through email marketing and eventually encouraged to become paying members. 

It’s important to start and maintain an email list of potential clients. You can use an email service like Mailchimp to create a series of autoresponder emails to go out once someone has opted in. These types of landing pages can be much simpler than the sales page:

1. A compelling headline
2. A persuasive and easy to complete opt-in form
3. A list of benefits of your free gift.
4. A visually-compelling photo of your ebook or other gift.

Most landing opt-in pages ask only for name and email address to avoid barriers to signing up. Be sure to include a statement about your privacy policy.  When describing your free gift, try to frame it as a quick solution to at least some of their problems. For instance, if your opt-in landing page offers a free 7-day email course on photography tips, describe it as a "7-Day Photography Mastery Course" and emphasize the benefits of improving photography skills in a short period of time. 

Special offer page for promotions

Promotions can be a strong catalyst for membership growth. Landing pages tailored for special offers, such as free trials, limited-time discounts, or bundled packages, can significantly boost conversions. Clearly outline the offer's terms, benefits, and value, and emphasize the urgency of taking advantage of the promotion. 

Be very clear about the benefits of this special offer, and how it differs from your regular pricing model. Are you offering a 20% discount? 60%? You can also make it a dollar amount.  Either way, you want to encourage visitors to act quickly. Be sure to include urgency in your offer. You can do this by having the offer expire in a certain number of days or hours. Most platforms allow embedding of a countdown timer for this purpose.  Lastly, make your call to action meaningful. Choose specific words that reinforce your offer, such as “Shop Now”, "Yes! I want to change my life Today!", "Save 50% Now". 

Event or Webinar Sign-up Landing Pages

If your membership site hosts events, webinars, or exclusive content releases, dedicated landing pages can simplify registration processes and increase attendance. These pages should provide essential event details, schedules, and clear sign-up forms. Ensure that the pages are responsive for mobile users, as many people access such content through their smartphones.

Event and webinar registration pages have a dual purpose: to explain the benefits of the event or information they’ll receive on the webinar is one. The other is to be very clear on how the event is going to be accessed. If it’s an in-person event, how will they receive details of date, time and location? Are there any special instructions they need to be aware of before registering? if it’s an online event, be sure to make it clear how and when they are going to receive the access information.

Make the sign-up process as simple as possible, without too much customization of the registration form.  If you can stick to name and email to start, you can always follow up later to request more information using your email service.

Conclusion

Landing pages are versatile tools for membership websites, catering to a variety of marketing needs. Whether you're targeting specific segments of your membership, presenting your primary offering, enticing opt-ins, promoting special offers, or facilitating event sign-ups, a well-designed landing page can significantly impact your membership growth and engagement.

To make the most of your landing pages, continually analyze their performance using web analytics, conduct A/B testing to optimize elements, and keep refining your strategies. By strategically implementing landing pages in the ways outlined above, you'll be better equipped to attract and retain members while achieving your membership website's goals.

SubHub’s landing page builder is the perfect tool to create landing pages for your sales and marketing campaigns. Simply click on Landing Pages and start building. 

Ready to get started? 

In another blog post, we explored reasons why membership website owners should provide a good amount of free content on their sites.

We came to the conclusion that free content has many benefits, all leading to the ultimate price of a website visitor becoming a member. But what will convince them to cross that free line into paid territory?

In this post we’re going to look at the free/paid content issue from another angle:

What makes people willing to pay for content? 

First, it's important to realize that they may not be willing. There are so many news sources on the internet, web users can always find free alternatives for general news. They don’t even have to look very far as the aggregation news sites pull it together for them. And that’s just for news articles.

With the plethora of AI tools available now, anyone can have a detailed article at their fingertips on just about any topic. ChatGPT and Bard (Google’s counterpart to ChatGPT), for example, can scrape up tons of content on any subject in a matter of seconds.

This saves all kinds of research time that previously would be been spent combing Google results, typing various searches into a Google search query, going to various information sites like Quora.com, and checking out YouTube’s search engine for videos on the topic.

So now that it's fairly easy to find free content on any subject, most people probably just do that, right?

Think again. Research shows that at least 65% of internet users have paid for online content. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2010/12/30/65-of-internet-users-have-paid-for-online-content

But why? We've come up with 5 compelling reasons why users will pay for online content.

Time is money

Doing that kind of research, even with the advantages of ChatGPT, Bard and others like them, still requires time.

Let’s not forget that the idea behind a membership website is to provide information, knowledge or expertise on a recurring basis. That means that as a membership website owner, your potential customer is going to have to go through all the search and research options regularly to be able to access the same or similar content that you can provide with no time or effort on their part. By providing a paid option that doesn't require the research on their part, you will be saving your clients time, and as we all know, time is money.

Farm experts GrowingForMarket.com know this very well. As a seasonal online publication, they are saving their members many hours of time and effort to find the latest growing information and tips available for each growing season.

Convenience

This might be the number 1 reason why people are willing to pay for free content. Let’s say you’re looking to take up a yoga practice. You could go online and search on Google or YouTube and find millions of search results showing you a multitude of different poses and types of yoga. Where do you start? Which kinds of yoga are for beginners? Which style should you adopt? What if you’re looking for specialized styles like yoga for seniors?

You can sift through all that, or you can sign up for an online yoga class with an expert like Cheri Schultz of inspireencourageempower.org and be guided through a series of yoga routines that fit your schedule and your strength level, simply by signing up to a low-cost recurring subscription. Which sounds better? 

Exclusive content

People will pay for content that is not available elsewhere on the internet. Or content that is not available in the way that you have packaged it.  If you have a “secret” or little-known approach to building wealth, you may have something completely unique to offer. Even the most determined researcher can spend hours on ChatGPT, or researching on Google and not come up with the specific ideas that you have to offer.  A few dollars per month may very well seem like a small price to pay for recurring content that they can’t get anywhere else.

Community

People will also pay to be part of a community. Quite often, you’ll find website owners offering a course or membership-based subscctipion to content, with access to other members as a bonus. It’s great to have the perspective of yourself as the website owner, but let’s face it, you’re not always going to be available. And your members’s peers will 99.9% of the time be happy to help other members if they can.

So don’t be afraid to charge members for access to other members. This kind of community also offers a safe haven for people who may not want to post on a public forum, but feel comfortable asking questions among a closed group of like-minded individuals. SubHub clients like mylifestylerescue.com are doing just that by encouraging members to interact on the built-in forum on their websites.

Premium services

Finally, there is something that people will always pay for - personal one-on-one access to the expert (that’s you!). High-end business coaches can charge thousands of dollars per month for personal coaching. A membership website is ideally suited to offer premium services like individual coaching - at a premium price.

There are many ways of going about it: 

1. Offer consulting services by the hour
2. Offer coaching programs on a recurring fee basis
3. Offer non-recurring subscriptions to a course with live coaching
4. Offer evergreen courses

Conclusion

It’s true that people won’t pay for content on the internet if they can easily find free alternatives. But the catchword there is “easily”. Easy means with little effort, little time, and no money.  Even with all the search and AI options available, it still takes time and effort to research a topic, eliminate what isn’t useful, find a way to utilize the valuable information, and put it into practice.

If you can provide all these qualities in a neat package at a reasonable cost, you will be way ahead of the game. 

If you're an expert in a niche subject and want to start a business to earn an income from your knowledge, then starting a membership website is the answer.

A membership website allows you to protect your exclusive content behind a paywall so access is only granted to subscribers.

This article will list the steps you need to take to start building your membership website.

1. Identify your target audience

Growing an audience of paying users requires creating content tailored to their needs.

It may seem counter-intuitive but by focusing on a specific niche subject you'll be able to more effectively create content that appeals to your target audience.

Knowing the customer persona of your target audience, enables you to identify and create impactful content specific to their needs along with effective marketing strategies to reach and engage them.

A narrow audience allows you to craft targeted marketing messages that will resonate with potential members resulting in successful marketing campaigns.

2. Determine your membership model

Once you identify your audience, you need to decide the content that you plan to offer, how it will be delivered and the sales model. Employing multiple revenue streams will maximise your ability to monetise your content. For example, by providing a visitor, who doesn't intend to sign-up to a membership, the opportunity to purchase a course, digital download or pay-per-view product means you still capture revenue. The SubHub platform gives you the ability to create multiple revenue streams.

Offering membership tiers which unlock more content and perks depending on the level is another upsell option to employ. But remember, too many choices can have a negative impact. According to Hick’s Law, the more choices you present to a user can prolong their decision making process. So limit the membership levels to no more than four.

Membership fees can be set up as a one-time payments or on a recurring basis. Recurring fees have the advantage of providing a steady and reliable income flow. For members that might need a nudge, including free trial days can entice them to sign up.

3. Choosing the best membership platform for your needs

These days there are a wealth of membership models to choose from. They include WordPress, where you can build your site's functionality with plugins, to all-in-one SaaS solutions. Which you select will depend on your budget, tech skills, membership objectives and the content you want to sell.

WordPress offers the most flexibility when it comes to the design and functionality you can achieve with your website. However, those benefits also come with costs and disadvantages. Unless you have technical skills or the budget to hire a developer, a WordPress site can be out of your price range.

The other major downside with WordPress is plug-in maintenance. When you build a website based on the interaction of multiple plugins, you must insure they are all compatible. One incompatible plugin, can break your whole site. This often happens when a plugin needs to be updated. And when it does, you'll need to hire a developer to fix it.

Alternatively, a SaaS solution (Software as a Service) is a complete service that provides you not only with the website but hosting, maintenance and customer support. Popular SaaS examples are Wix, Shopify, Teachable and SubHub. A SaaS solution reduces the stress of running an online knowledge business. If something breaks, you just need to submit a support ticket. And SaaS companies are always working to improve their product offerings.

You'll want to select a platform you can grow with. The design, functionality, and scalability should be flexible enough to modify to meet your target audience’s changing needs.

Many SaaS solutions specialise in the delivery of specific types of content. If you plan to only sell online courses, you might select an eLearning platform like Teachable. If your focus is website membership, but also want the additional revenue stream of selling courses then the SubHub platform is the answer.

Lastly, choose a platform that provides dedicated customer support. When you run a membership website, there will be issues. Read client reviews support by people who really understand both technology and online publishing is vital.

4. Building your website

If you've selected a SaaS solution, you can start right away creating your site with that solution's website builder. Most SaaS solutions are intended to be intuitive enough for a non-techie to easily use.

Your homepage will be the most important page on your site as it will influence whether or not a visitor becomes a member. Be sure to carefully craft the copy of your banner and body text so that it informs and engages with your potential members. Clearly define, the benefits of your membership proposition.

Your homepage must also be SEO optimised with keywords so that your site is found in search results.

Include a testimonial section as client reviews can have a persuasive impact by showing visitors that others value your product, it’s a vote of confidence in your product.

Pay attention to page speed as a slow loading page will cause visitors to bounce.

These are just a few tips to create a converting homepage.

5. Upload initial content

Before launching, you'll need to have uploaded enough content to satisfy your first members. This could be in the form of blog posts, courses, downloads, videos etc. Then you'll need to stay committed to a regular schedule of adding new content.

Make sure your content is meaningful and is of value to your audience.

6. Follow SEO best practices

Just launching a website isn't enough to get found. From the start, be sure to follow SEO best practices when creating your site and adding content. This will improve your chance of getting found in search results. Using keywords, the proper heading format, internal links and requesting backlinks are all necessary to insure that when Google and other search engines index your site that they understand what your site is about, how content relates to each other.

• The same focus keyword needs to be present in your meta title, article headline, first sentence and a few times in the article body.
• Once you create an article, submit it to Google search so that it is indexed within 24 hours.
• Use the proper heading (H1, H2, H3...) format on your pages. H1 must only be used ONCE on any page. Proper headings inform search engines about the structure of your site and the hierarchy of your content.
• Internal links are created when you include links of similarly-themed content to each other. Again, this help search engines understand the content on your site and how it relates to each other.
• When a site links to your site, this is a backlink. It proves to search engines that your content is relevant and trustworthy.

7. Grow a community on social media

Drive traffic to your website using your social media channels. It's best to select a single social media platform and then dedicate all your efforts to building an audience. Choose the platform where your prospective members will be hanging out.

Conclusion

Membership is one of the most exciting business opportunities on the internet today. It is established enough that you will not have to reinvent the wheel. Everything you need to be successful is available and accessible to novices and experts alike.

You just need to take the first step and open a free 14-day trial with SubHub.

Getting your first 100 paying customers for a membership website is always the hardest part. But once you reach that number, it becomes much easier to attract new members.

Here is your 90-day plan for getting your first 100 paying customers:

Before you launch your membership website

Before diving into marketing and traffic-building, there are a few key things to consider:

Know Your Audience: Understand who they are, what problems they have, and how you can help them. Also, know how to reach them.

Understand Your Competition: Identify both online and offline competitors, know their pricing, and determine how you’ll stand out.

Clarify Your Unique Value: What makes your site different? Why should someone choose you over the competition?

Create a User-Friendly Website: Your site should look professional and clearly communicate what you offer. Remember, every page is a landing page, so ensure visitors can easily navigate your site from any entry point.

Include Free and Member-Only Content: Offer some high-quality free content to build trust, but also have exclusive content for members. Before launching, have at least 90 days’ worth of content ready to free up time for marketing.

Refine Your Offer: Make an offer that’s hard to refuse. Ensure the perceived value is at least three times higher than the membership cost. Consider offering a money-back guarantee and special deals for early sign-ups.

Pre-Launch Marketing Activities

• Build Authority: Establish your credibility in the field. Get testimonials, create a social media presence, and engage with relevant groups.
• Prepare a Marketing Plan: Outline your marketing activities before the launch so you know exactly what to do each day.
• Interviews: Conduct interviews with key figures in your industry. This not only creates valuable content but can also drive traffic to your site if the interviewees share it with their audiences.

90-Day Marketing Plan

Your plan should be divided into two phases:

Phase 1 (80 Days): Focus on driving traffic to your website and building a relationship with visitors who show an interest in the service you are providing. Allow visitors to sign-up to an email newsletter or other services that will enable you to proactively communicate with them.

Phase 2 (10 Days): Shift focus from traffic and relationship-building to converting your most loyal followers into paying members. Build excitement with an irresistible offer which your most loyal followerswon’t be able to resist.

Phase 1 Activities:

Driving Traffic to Your Membership Website

Since you won’t initially get much search engine traffic, you’ll need to rely on other methods to drive visitors to your site. Some ideas include:

1. Google Ads: A powerful tool if used correctly. Focus on specific keywords relevant to your niche.
2. Newsletter Ads: Pay to advertise in newsletters that reach your target audience.
3. Press Coverage: Use free and paid press release services to announce your site’s launch.
4. Article Syndication: Publish high-quality articles on third-party sites to drive traffic.
5. Forums: Join relevant forums and participate in discussions. Include a link to your site in your signature.

Collecting Email Addresses

It’s crucial to capture email addresses from your site visitors. Offer something valuable in return. Your offer should have a perceived value that is at least three times greater than the membership price. Some examples are:

Access to a video series

A free course

A popover sign-up box

A downloadable eBook or report

An example offer package could be:

• Your Guarantee – The lower the perceived risk the higher your conversion rate. If you can offer a 100%, no questions asked, money-back guarantee it will increase your sign-up rate.
• The early bird catches the worm – reward your first members with a special deal. Everyone likes a bargain.
• Set-up an affiliate program – an affiliate program is an automated way of paying people who recommend your service to their customers or site visitors a commission for any sales they facilitate. If you want other website owners to help you sell your service this is the best way to get them fired up.

Try to give away something that has zero or near-zero cost to you, but provides your target audience with real value.

Phase 2 – Converting Followers to Paying Members

After 80 days of building excitement and relationships, it’s time to convert your followers into paying members. Here’s how:

1. Create a Compelling Offer: Give early members extra value rather than just a discount.
2. Host a Big Event: Consider organizing a webinar with valuable content, but make the full benefits available only to paying members.
3. Make Signing Up Easy: Clearly communicate the benefits and include a money-back guarantee to reduce perceived risk.

Everything you will have provided so far – the email sign-up giveaway, the content on your site, the email newsletter, Tweets, etc – has been free.

In phase 2 you must turn your attention to packaging up your paid membership service in such a way that your most dedicated followers are very happy to pay.

You want to build excitement and desire over the 80 days. This will get a much higher conversion rate than allowing members to signup whenever they want.

The Offer

You must create a very compelling offer for the first 100 members. I would strongly recommend that the offer is based around giving them downloadable stuff for free rather than a discount on the membership fee.

You should try to preserve your income as much as possible. As mentioned above create a package of services that have a value much greater than the cost of the subscription.

The Big Event

To launch the 10-day sign-up period you should arrange a big event.

A very popular thing to do is have a webinar where prospects can dial into for free and listen to a talk by you, or better still, a really well-known industry personality.

A webinar is easy and cheap to arrange but has a high perceived value to attendees.

The content of the webinar should not be a sales pitch for your membership site. You need to be more subtle than that.

The content should provide really good information about a particular subject, but the information should be incomplete. The additional information should be available within the membership site.

A few examples:

• A wine tasting site – the webinar could be hosted by a recognized master of wine and cover how wine tasting is done. The membership area of the website could then reveal their actual tasting notes for dozens of wines
• A site about launching an Internet business – the webinar could cover the 15 things you must do before launching an Internet business. The membership area could list all the resources you need for a successful launch
• A site about educating children at home – the webinar could cover how to plan a home-based curriculum. The membership website could provide all the templates for the parent to fill in

Make Signing Up Easy:

Clearly communicate the benefits and include a money-back guarantee to reduce perceived risk.

The Sign-Up Process Checklist

1. Get your site ready with some really excellent content
2. Create additional content for the first 90 days so you can focus on marketing activities
3. Create or source some gifts that can be given away to incentivize email sign-up and paid membership sign-up
4. Focus on driving traffic to the free content on the site and getting visitors to sign-up for the email newsletter (or other communications channel) using a free offer. Keep building interest and momentum for 80 days
5. Work with other bloggers, online publishers, journalists to get them to drive traffic to your site
6. Plan a big event such as a webinar to launch the start of membership sign-up
7. Create a very compelling offer which gives value well beyond the cost of the subscription
8. Host the big event. Provide real value but give listeners a compelling and irresistible reason to sign-up for your service
9. Look after the early paying members and they will do a lot of the future selling for you

Conclusion

This technique for getting 100 paying members in 90 days is tried and tested. The skill is building the excitement about your service to the point where your followers can’t wait for it to go live. At all stages, try to put yourself in your prospects' shoes and think about

“what would REALLY make me want to sign up for this service?”.

Ready to start your membership website?

Thanks to the internet, opportunities for income generation have been undergoing a radical transformation. One of the most exciting developments has been the rise of the passion economy which empowers individuals to monetise their unique skills, knowledge and interests.

What is the passion economy?

The passion economy is built on the concept that anyone can monetising their distinct talents and passions. Platforms like Patreon, SubHub, Substack and Teachable have popularised this trend by enabling individuals to build direct relationships with their audiences. In the passion economy, value is derived from personal expertise and the ability to connect with a community around a shared interest.

The term "passion economy" was popularised around 2019. The phrase gained attention with the publication of a 2019 article by Li Jin, a former partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. In her article, Jin described the passion economy as a new wave of internet-enabled opportunities that allow individuals to monetise their unique skills, interests and expertise.

Freelance writers, artists and educators have always found ways to monetise their talents through direct sales, teaching, or consulting. However, the rise of the internet and digital platforms in the 2000s has greatly expanded these opportunities, allowing for broader reach and more innovative monetisation models. This has allowed ordinary individuals to pursue online businesses centered on their passion.

Turning your passion into profit with a membership website

One platform that lets you easily monetise your knowledge is a membership website. With a membership website you can create a dedicated space where your audience can access premium content behind a paywall, receive personalised services and engage with you and other members.

The membership model offers several advantages:

• Steady revenue stream: Unlike one-off sales or ad revenue, membership fees provide a recurring income.
• Community building: A membership site fosters a sense of community, leading to higher engagement and loyalty.
• Creative freedom: You can design your content and services to align perfectly with your passion and expertise.
• Direct relationship with your audience: Cut out the middlemen and build direct, meaningful relationships with your supporters.

Steps to building a successful membership website

If you have an expertise or a passion that others find valuable, building a membership website can be an excellent way to share your knowledge and earn an income. Don't be deterred by a niche that seems too competitive or one in which the audience seems too small.

In a competitive niche, your unique perspective can set you apart and attract a dedicated audience. One solution to a competitive niche is to refine the audience you want to target. For example, rather than target everyone doing yoga, try to specialise to meet the needs of a specific audience segment - like children practicing yoga. Read how yoga instructor Cheri found her niche.

Likewise, a small niche audience is often more valuable because their engagement and commitment will be greater. The more specific and unique your niche, the easier it will be to attract a dedicated audience. This is because you'll be able to create content directly relevant to the needs of this audience.

The most important factor in identifying your niche is to choose a topic that aligns with your interests and expertise. This should be a topic that you're passionate about because in order to be successful, you'll need to remain committed to producing new content on a regular basis.

Examples of successful membership website topics

• Lesson plans for home schooling to Sunday school
• Online tutorials for craft tools to astrophotography
• Coaching for yoga to personal manifestation
• Expert advice for stock trading to wine tasting

Once you've chosen your niche, it's time to start building your website

1. Choose the right platform: Choose the platform that will meet the needs of your audience and the content you will create and deliver. Read our article comparing six of the best membership website solutions. We highlight their positives and negatives.
2. Define your value proposition: Clearly articulate what makes your membership site valuable. Your value proposition should address the specific needs of your target audience. This could be exclusive content, personalised coaching, courses or other unique benefits.
3. Create high-quality content: Content is the cornerstone of your membership site. Ensure your content is valuable, engaging and consistent. Regularly posting of relevant content will keep your members coming back and attract new subscribers.
4. Build your community: Foster a sense of community among your members by using forums, live chats and social media groups to encourage interaction. Engaged members are more likely to remain subscribed and become advocates for your site.
5. Market your site: Utilise social media, email marketing and SEO to promote your membership site. Offer free content or trials to attract new members. Collaborate with influencers in your niche to reach a wider audience.
6. Analyze and improve: Regularly review your site's performance using analytics tools. Understand what content resonates most with your audience and continually refine your offerings. Listen to member feedback and be open to making improvements.

Tips to be a successful creator in the passion economy

• Be authentic: Authenticity builds trust and loyalty. Be genuine in your interactions and transparent about your offerings.
• Stay consistent: Regular updates and consistent communication keep your audience engaged and satisfied.
• Offer value: Ensure that your members always feel they are getting more value than what they are paying for.
• Engage personally: Personal interactions, such as live Q&A sessions or personalized content, can significantly enhance member satisfaction.

Conclusion

The passion economy offers a unique opportunity to turn your knowledge and passions into a sustainable income. By building a membership website, you can share your expertise with a dedicated audience, create meaningful connections and enjoy the freedom of doing what you love. Start today and watch your passion transform into a thriving community and a rewarding business.

In a time where free content saturates the digital landscape, the art of selling website content demands a strategic approach. These tactics capitalize on twelve unique selling propositions that can elevate the value of your website content.

This is the number one lesson that continually rises to the top of the list. Go niche!

If you want to sell your content online, you must target a niche audience with information that they would struggle to find for free anywhere else on the web.

By honing in on a specific niche, you can tailor your content to address the unique needs of a defined audience.

The more unique and exclusive your information the greater chance you will have of selling it via a subscription or membership website. Research your market well and create a content plan that provides your audience with content they can’t find elsewhere. Think about research, interviews, case studies, video tutorials and skill building courses.

The membership websites that do best are run by people who are passionate about their (niche!) subject. It is this passion and knowledge that should be used to convince your prospects to join.

People buy people. They want to know what you know so they can decide if you can provide what they are looking for. You must concentrate on conveying you expertise, not giving the impression you are only running the site to make money.

The best way to become perceived as an authority is to participate in the community and discussions about your subject on other websites. The more places you are seen giving valuable advice, the more credible you will become in the eyes of your prospects. Research the most active forums and blogs for your sector and try to contribute to all of them at least once a week.

The only way that you can convey your knowledge and expertise on your website is to give some of your best content away for free. Free content can help establish your website as an authoritative source within your niche. As users engage with your free content and find it valuable, they are more likely to perceive the premium content behind the membership paywall as even more valuable, encouraging conversions.

So few websites are well designed, a professional looking site is a real competitive advantage. If prospects see a professional looking website they are much more likely to believe the site is being run by professionals who will provide high quality content. A great looking site has a well designed logo, simple navigation, relevant colours, lots of white space and a layout that makes it easy to use.

Free membership website giveaways play a crucial role in growing your audience and establishing your platform as a trusted source within your niche. Sign-up gifts could include an ebook, premium reports, video course, templates and resources. Make sure you make the value of these benefits clear.

Free trials are a proven way to increase the number of subscribers. However they are only effective if you get the credit card details BEFORE the trial starts. A trial should be provided on the basis that billing will automatically start at the end of the trial period unless the prospect cancels before then. Also you should offer a 100% money back guarantee. This greatly lowers the perceived risk of signing up.

Many prospects are nervous about signing up to subscriptions online. To reassure themselves that there are real people behind a website they often email questions. You MUST provide quick and accurate response to these queries or you will lose potential subscribers. I emailed ten subscription websites last week and seven days later I’m still waiting for four replies!

Your website statistics are your most powerful ally in understanding your prospects and increasing conversion rates. Study them carefully and regularly. Some examples of what you should look for include:

• Via what page do prospects who sign up for the service enter your site?
• What search term do the highest converting prospects use to find your website?

Website owners rarely pay much attention to choosing a payment processor. However this is an important decision. Renewal payment failures are a real waste of profit. Make sure you select a payment processor who specialises in doing recurring billing.

12. Create a sense of community

• Pick a niche topic which you are passionate about and create unique content.

• Build authority through your expertise by providing free content and participating in the broader online community covering your subject.

• Make sure your website looks professional and is easy to use. Pay particular attention to making the sign up process simple.
• Look after your members by answering their questions and making them feel part of a special and exclusive community.

More and more bloggers, small businesses, publishers, and organizations are realizing the benefits of running membership model businesses. They also know that to make such a business a success, they need subscription management software.

Whether you are providing mostly free content, paid, or a combination of the two, you'll need a robust subscription management platform to make it simple and easy to use for both yourself and your members.

We'e put together the following checklist of subscription management software features you'll need to ensure your subscription business model has the best chance of thriving from the start.

Our subscription management checklist is divided into two sections:

Part 1 - Front-end features that your website visitors and members will expect and appreciate

Part 2 -  Back-end features to make your job as Administrator as easy and fun as possible

Comprehensive List of Subscription Management Software Front-End Features

Integrated Login and Password Access

There should be clearly visible link to a login page with fields for username and password. The benefit of having a subscription website is the option to protect some (or all) of your content from the view of non-subscribers.  This usually means placing the subscription-only pages in an area where they must be accessed through a login page.  This sounds simple enough, but the challenge is how to link password protection to the subscriber database and the content management service.  With full integration, you have control over who has access to what and for how long.

Integrated Payment Processing

Even if you don’t plan to charge subscribers, you'll need a subscription management software with integrated payment processing because you never know how your site will evolve.  Good subscription software will integrate with PayPal and Stripe. Other payment processors are becoming popular with website visitors, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, so you'll want to plan for those integrations in the future if not now.

Multiple Subscription Levels

The subscription software or service you choose should enable you to assign content, subscribers, and password protection to multiple subscription levels. You don't necessarily have to offer multiple tiers right off the bat. In fact, for some business models, it only makes sense to offer one, all-access subscription plan. But again, you don't know how your business will evolve in the future, and you will want to be able to offer a simple tiered subscription model for potential members to choose from.

Free Trial Subscription and Paid Subscription

The most successful subscription websites offer limited-access, time-restricted, free trial subscriptions to all premium content, and long-term full access to this content with paid subscriptions.  You should ensure that your subscription software has this flexibility. It gives potential subscribers an option to try before they buy.

Multiple Currencies

Even the simplest subscription site requires multiple payment plans and support for multiple currencies.  For example, a site with bronze, silver, and gold subscription levels that offers monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription plans to customers paying in Dollars, Euros, or Sterling potentially need 27 different payment plans.
Your subscription software should have the flexibility to establish and manage multiple payment plans.  More advanced software should allow you to receive live foreign exchange data as well, but this is only important if you want all of your subscribers around the world to pay exactly the same amount at all times.

Automated Customer Messages

Your subscription software should have the capability to send customized, automated email messages to your subscribers when they join your site.  For paid subscription sites there are legal requirements to send customers an invoice, cancellation policy, and your contact details. Apart from being a legal requirement, it's just common sense that after signing up for anything, purchasers want and expect an automated confirmation email, welcome email, and to be directed to a thank you page on the website after they submit their payment.

Customer-Controlled Subscription Management

Once your website grows to dozens, hundreds, or (hopefully) thousands of subscribers, it will be impossible to manage renewals manually.  Your subscription software should be able to fully automate the process of renewing subscribers’ accounts, automatically take payments, notify you if a credit card fails, send out renewal reminders, and suspend the passwords of those who don’t renew their subscriptions. Even more important, your software system should allow subscribers to manage their subscriptions on their own, without intervention from you. They should at a minimum be able to cancel their membership on their own, and possibly upgrade or downgrade to a higher or lower tier as well.

Showing “Teaser” Content

A useful functionality for your website is to show your visitors the titles of all your articles along with brief descriptions, and once they click on an article they are prompted to subscribe to view the entire content.  Your subscription management software should be able to work this into your site.

Forgotten Password

Since it is common for subscribers to occasionally forget their passwords, your subscription software should be able to automatically verify users and email new passwords to them.  If you choose to do this manually, you will waste a lot of time and end up with very frustrated subscribers.

Comprehensive List of Subscription Management Software Back-End Features

Now that you've ensured you can implement the front-end features your audience will love you for, let's continue by making sure you have all the back-end features you'll need to easily create and manage your subscription service.

Simplified Control Panel

The more time you spend on administrative tasks, the less time you have to build your online business.  To minimize the time you spend on administrative details, make sure that your website has a single, simplified control panel from where you can accomplish routine tasks – like adding content, changing payment plans, accessing your subscriber database, and viewing your web stats.

Content Management System

Content management must be at the heart of your website, and a content management system (CMS) can help you easily add text articles, images, and video clips.  The CMS should also allow you to edit your site’s navigation.  As an online publisher, you need to have complete control over your site’s content without having to know HTML or any other technical web coding.

Customizable Design

You may want to be able to constantly adjust your website’s design. You should have access to a design interface where tweaks can be made or even completely changed.  The most flexible way to manage your website’s design is using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), so make sure the website software or platform you choose allows CSS.

Image Library

Images are an important part of your website, so your CMS should have the capacity to manage images so they can be inserted into any page with clear labeling (alt-tags) and can also be linked to content within your site or third-party sites.

Multimedia Content

Multimedia content is the biggest advantage that an online publication has over its print competitors, so make sure your website is enabled to publish content in multiple formats (text, images, audio, video) even if you don’t plan to use them all immediately.

Member Database

At the heart of all subscription management software is a database that collects information from subscribers.  The quantity of information collected will vary from one site to another.  For example, a free subscription site may only collect email addresses, while an expensive business site may collect additional data. This could include name, address, company, position, or association subscription.  Regardless of what your short-term plans are, I highly recommend that you choose a subscription software that allows you to customize the amount of personal data you can collect.  The subscriber database should also have a search feature and be easily customizable.

Enable Multiple Revenue Streams

Most successful subscription websites have multiple revenue streams, so don’t focus only on charging subscription fees while ignoring other revenue-generating opportunities like:

- adding affiliate links related to your site’s subject matter;
- selling physical or digital products via an online shop; and
- promoting and selling offline events.

Consider the different ways you can generate income from your website and make sure the functionality can be enabled or added later to make it possible (for example, a shopping cart, adserver, event booking form, etc).

Download Library

Most content websites provide their subscribers with downloadable reports, e-books, software programs, video clips, or audio files.  Your website should make it easy to upload and manage downloads.

Search Engine Optimization

Your website must be easy for search engines to index, and any good web developer should be able to optimize the code to make it easy for Google and other search engines to find and index all the pages on your site.  The best subscription website should be highly optimized from the outset so you don’t need to worry about anything other than adding quality content.

Relationship-Building Features

As your site begins receiving visitors, you need to establish relationships with them to encourage them to keep coming back.  The most useful applications for building online relationships are email newsletters, RSS feeds, forums, comment fields under articles, and member profiles.  The best subscription website should have these applications integrated.  Some subscription software will come with additional plug-ins so the applications can be added.

Reporting and Analytics

In addition to connecting to Google Analytics, your membership software should feature a built-in analytics dashboard. In order to make informed decisions, you need to have access to valuable insightful data. Your reporting should track and measure your website's key metrics like signups, logins, enrollment, engagement and churn.

Monitoring, Maintenance, and Backups

A common mistake made by new website owners is that they underestimate the work involved. This includes managing, hosting, security, maintenance, data backups, and upgrades to the site.  They often use free open-source software on a cheap host to launch their site. But that usually results in a lot of down-time, lost data, and wasted time.  Non-technical people should avoid managing the technical, security, and back-up side of their website because these tedious tasks can consume a great deal of time for very little gain.  You should either use a fully managed subscription service or a development company that can handle this work for you.

Support

Even though support is the last point on this checklist, it should be one of your highest priorities.  As the owner of a subscription website, your time is the most valuable resource you have.  You should focus your energy on creating content, marketing, and managing your subscribers, not worrying about hosting, bandwidth, backup, upgrades, and fixing bugs.  You need excellent support from people who have an understanding of the technology as well as the online publishing field.

Conclusions

Running a subscription website is one of the most exciting business opportunities on the internet today. There are tons of resources available so that you won’t have to reinvent the wheel to get started.  Everything you need to be successful is available to novices and experts alike.  If you invest time and thought into the early planning phase, you can quickly have a thriving online business.

Refer back to this checklist while shopping for subscription management software.  Look at a hosted and fully managed subscription website service (like SubHub). A full-service platform can accelerate your launch and make your day-to-day work a pleasure.

All-in-one membership website builders have emerged as transformative tools that simplify the process of creating, managing and earning an income from your knowledge. They empower individuals by letting them establish their online presence quickly, efficiently and affordably.

These comprehensive platforms offer an array of features and functionalities under a single roof, eliminating the need for coding or the use of multiple tools.

With all-in-one website builders, you can effortlessly design, customize and publish your website. These platforms typically include user-friendly drag-and-drop editors, templates and a variety of built-in functionality so all aspects of your business are in one place.

If you're ready to start a membership website then this article will provide guidance and examples for the top website builders and their best use cases.

What basic features should your builder have

• User registration and login: the ability for users to easily create accounts and log in securely.
• Content restriction: you should have the ability to restrict access to specific content to incentivise memberships and provide value to subscribers.
• Membership levels: this feature is crucial to creating distinctive member tiers and effectively monetizing your audience.
• Responsive design: ensure the platform is accessible and functional on various devices and screen sizes.
• Integrated payment processor: your builder should be able to securely process payments using gateways like Stripe and PayPal.
• Automated workflows: time saving functionality that streamlines administrative processes by sending welcome and renewal emails.
• Analytics: data tracking and reporting tools are essential to making informed decisions about your website’s performance.
• Customer support: access to reliable and responsive customer support for troubleshooting and assistance.

How to select the right all-in-one website builder

When selecting which website builder to choose, start by considering your specific use case, content, goals and audience needs.

By defining the scope and purpose of your membership site, you’ll be able to determine what functionality you’ll need and which platform has the capabilities to deliver it.

Most membership website builders are designed with specific use cases in mind and their features and functionalities reflect this specialization.

For instance, platforms like MemberPress and Wild Apricot are focused on providing solutions for online communities or associations with tools for managing membership.

While education-focused builders like Thinkific and Teachable cater to instructors, offering features tailored for online course creation and management.

The key is to identify your specific needs and objectives, then choose a builder that aligns with your intended purpose. You should also evaluate factors such as pricing, scalability, security, and reliable customer support.

Top 5 membership website builders and their best use cases

Circle is a platform for building, managing and monetising your online community. It's easy to use with a clean and intuitive interface and responsive support.

This platform is particularly useful for those seeking to foster engagement, discussions and collaboration around a shared interest, topic or brand. The cornerstone of the platform is its community facing features.

Features include:

• Community building: tools for creating and customising your online community with categories, topics, or channels.
• Member profiles: so users build a sense of identity within the platform.
• Discussions and posts: initiate and participate in discussions, ask questions, share knowledge, and post content.
• Notifications: features to keep members informed about new posts, replies, and updates.

The platform also includes online courses, live streaming, automation workflows, metrics and more.

Standout feature: is its interactive community space that provides chat rooms, private messaging, event spaces, live streams and more. An alternative to using a private Facebook group.

Use case: best suited for individuals and brands looking to build, manage and monetize their online communities.

Best for: established community centered creators.

Starting at: $49/mo with 4% transaction fee and 10GB of storage.

Kajabi is a premium priced, all-in-one website builder designed for creating and selling online courses, memberships and digital products.

Whether you're a subject matter expert, coach, or organization wanting to provide structured learning experiences, Kajabi offers a comprehensive solution with many built-in tools.

Kajabi provides tools for creating and hosting courses, managing members, marketing your content and processing payments, all within a single platform. It's a versatile choice for those seeking to deliver educational content, whether it's in the form of video courses, e-books, webinars or other digital products.

Your website is built using an editor that allows you to select and assemble content blocks from a menu.

Kajabi has a user-friendly interface but, as with most all-in-one platforms, there is limited customisation that can be done to your website's design.

Features include:

• Course creation: robust system for creating, hosting, and selling online courses which include videos, documents, quizzes, and more.
• Website builder: powerful website builder lets you create a professional looking website.
• Email marketing and automation: built-in email marketing tool lets you to send newsletters, automate email sequences and segment your email list.

Standout feature: is its built-in email marketing editor to create custom email campaigns.

Use case: best suited for coaches and creators looking to monetize their knowledge through online courses.

Best for: established coaches and creators as it is a premium priced option.

Starting at: $149/mo for 3 products, 1000 customers, unlimited landing pages.

SubHub is an all-in-one website builder that specialises in membership and turning all forms of content into income.

It's strength lies in its flexibility, making it a suitable choice for a wide range of membership use cases.

SubHub provides the necessary tools for managing subscribers, selling online courses, delivering content, processing payments and building an online community around your niche or expertise.

Its built-in store adds a significant layer of e-commerce functionality to your membership website. It's particularly useful for those who want to sell additional products beyond just membership subscriptions.

Features includes:

• Robust membership features: unlimited member levels, recurring subscriptions, content segmentation, Stripe & PayPal integration.
• Content monetization: sell membership, courses, digital downloads and store products all-in-one place.
• Committed support: a dedicated 5-star support team that always goes above and beyond client expectations.

Standout feature: multiple tools to monetize your content with memberships, courses, digital downloads and pay-per-view products.

Use case: best suited for individuals and businesses looking to monetize their content through selling memberships and stand alone products.

Best for: knowledge experts, coaches and creators with content rich websites.

Starting at: $47/mo, 500 members, unlimited products and pages.

Vonza is a platform tailored to the needs of course creators, coaches, and digital entrepreneurs. With an array of tools and features, Vonza simplifies the journey of transforming your knowledge and expertise into a thriving online business. It's all-in-one platform provides a comprehensive set of tools to create and deliver online course content.

While Vonza has an array of functionality, its website builder has limited design flexibility compared to other platforms. So its websites can have a generic appearance.

Features include:

• Course creation: easily create and host online courses which include video, quizzes, assignments and progress tracking.
• E-commerce: sell physical and digital products, memberships and courses.
• Email marketing: integrated email marketing tools and lead nurture.

Standout feature: is its powerful online form builder to create online surveys and quizzes.

Use case: best for course creation.

Best for: new coaches and creators.

Starting at: at $99/mo for 5 courses and 10 products and Stripe integration.

Kartra is an all-in-one platform with built-in, comprehensive marketing tools. Whether you're looking to build a website, manage email campaigns, sell products or create marketing funnels, Kartra gives you the ability to centralise all those functions in one place.

Many membership websites use social media to drive traffic. However, if you want to create targeted campaigns then Kartra's integrated marketing suite of tools lets you build and manage lead generation pipelines with opt-in forms and landing pages.

While Kartra's purpose is to simplify e-commerce, the platform is so comprehensive that the learning curve is long and setting up workflows can be complex. So you need to be prepared to commit time to learning the system.

Users also report that the website page builder has design limitations and can be slow to load.

Features include:

• Marketing automation: to create and manage campaigns, set up email sequences, follow-ups and segment your audience to deliver personalized content and offers.
• Affiliate management: recruit and manage affiliates to help promote your membership site.

Standout feature: is its automated, sales-driving marketing funnels.

Use case: best for marketing campaign creation and selling products.

Best for: product marketers.

Starting at: at $119/mo for up to 2,500 contacts, 20 products and 100 pages.

In summary

All-in-one membership website builders cater to a wide range of use cases, from education to content subscriptions and community building. The best choice for you depends on your specific goals and requirements, so it's essential to consider the features and integrations that align with your website's purpose.

Niche content membership websites have become an increasingly popular means for individuals with specialist knowledge to offer exclusive content, build a community and generate revenue. However, despite the potential for success, many membership websites fail to achieve their goals.

Before launching your membership website, it's crucial to understand the typical reasons that lead to failure. By identifying these stumbling blocks, you can take proactive steps to avoid them and increase your chances of building a successful online business.

In this article, we identify into the top ten reasons why membership websites often falter. We examine each failure point, and present you with knowledge and strategies to overcome them and position your membership website for long-term success.

1. Lack of clear value proposition

What do members get out of joining your site? If you can't answer this question clearly and concisely, then you're going to have a hard time convincing a visitor to become a member.

Without communicating a compelling and distinct value proposition, your membership website will struggle to attract and retain a loyal user base. Here's why a clear value proposition is crucial for a successful membership website:

• Differentiation: A clear value proposition sets your membership website apart from the competition by highlighting its unique benefits and value.
• Member Motivation: A well-defined value proposition addresses the needs, desires and pain points of your target audience. It demonstrates how your platform can provide solutions.
• Clear Communication: Your value proposition should be concise and easily understandable ensuring that potential members quickly grasp the essence of your membership website.
• Conversion Optimisation: Value propositions that are well crafted and persuasive can significantly impact conversion rates by effectively persuading visitors to become paying members.

Tip: You can strengthen your value proposition by defining your customer persona. Through understanding your customer persona, you're able to identify and address their pain points in your messaging. This lets you position your membership website as a solution provider and can enhance its perceived value.

2. Poor quality content

High quality content is the lifeblood of any membership website. It's what keeps members engaged and coming back. Regularly updated and relevant content creates a sense of anticipation, value and exclusivity. It increases conversions. When people find your content to be valuable, they are more likely to take action, such as signing up for your newsletter or purchasing a product.

By delivering content that addresses member pain points, educates or provides insights, you reinforce your value proposition and build trust.

Compelling content helps differentiate your membership website from its competitors. By offering niche content, you can carve out a unique position in the market. This differentiation enhances the perceived value of your website and gives members a reason to choose and stay with your platform.

Quality content also helps to drive traffic to your website. When people find your content to be informative and helpful, they're more likely to share it on social media. Other websites will reference it and these backlinks will improve your search ranking because Google then sees your site as a trusted authority on your subject.

Tip: By creating content that targets relevant keywords, you increase the visibility of your website in search engine results. This can attract new members who discover your content through organic search, expanding your potential audience.

3. No free content

The natural tendency of membership website owners is to hide all of their content behind a paywall. This is a mistake.

Every membership website should make a percentage of its content free. Providing free, regularly updated content serves several purposes:

• It drives organic search traffic and shares.
• It builds trust with visitors by sharing valuable content for free.
• It enables you to establish authority and credibility on your topic.
• It gives visitors a reason to return or sign up for a newsletter.

Offering free content is a powerful marketing tool. It demonstrates the value and credibility a membership to your website provides. It's a powerful tool to attract, engage, and convert visitors into paying members.

4. Bad user experience

Design is important.

You only get one chance to make a first impression. In fact, statistics report, you have less than 6 seconds to make a positive impression that convinces a visitor to scroll. A membership website that is difficult to navigate, has slow loading pages or lacks intuitive features can quickly turn off users. Frustrating user experiences can result in high bounce rates and low member retention.

There are many membership platforms to choose from. Do your research and find one that fits your needs and has excellent customer support.

5. Complicated membership options

Complicated membership plans and pricing tiers can introduce unnecessary friction in the sign-up process. This friction delays a visitor's decision to subscribe.

Simple membership plans play a significant role in the success of a membership website. They eliminate confusion and enable potential members to make quick and informed decisions.

When presented with a limited number of well-defined membership options, users can easily understand the benefits, features and pricing associated with each plan. This transparency reduces decision fatigue, fosters trust and promotes a positive user experience that increases conversion.

Tip: Ideally, you should offer no more than three plan tiers. Each plan should offer a distinct value proposition. The benefits of each plan should be clearly listed to differentiate the levels of content access and features. When a user can quickly grasp the value proposition and pricing structure, they are more likely to sign-up.

6. Ineffective Marketing and Promotion

Without proper marketing and promotion, even the most exceptional membership websites will struggle to attract an audience.

However, you don't need a big budget to effectively promote your website just social media savvy. Before launching your website, establish yourself on the social media platform where your target audience is most active. Build an audience by regularly posting and actively engaging with your followers. Use the channel to build trust, present yourself as an authority and drive traffic to your website.

7. Lost prospects

People rarely find a website and immediately reach for their credit card. You may have to convince them over time. The problem is over 90% of visitors, even if they like what they read, will never return and will become lost prospects.

In order not to lose these potential members, your website’s number one goal should be to get a visitor’s email address. Once you have their email, you can begin to build a relationship through ongoing communication like a newsletter or special offers.

Tip: To capture a visitor's email, implement an opt-in strategy using a compelling lead magnet. In exchange for their email, offer a piece of valuable content. Your incentive could be an ebook, discount, checklist or free online course. The lead magnet should align with the interests or address the pain points of your target audience.

Place the opt-in form strategically on your website, as a pop-up or banner and clearly communicate the benefits of subscribing. Keep it simple. Ask for only essential information like a name and email address and assure them their email will not be shared with third parties.

8. No sense of community

A strong and engaged member community promotes connection, engagement and collaboration. This leads to increased satisfaction, retention and advocacy. Active members are more likely to renew their memberships, reducing churn and sustaining long-term success.

Community can be nurtured through comments, forum discussions, live webinars and Zoom classes.

Active members are also ambassadors for your website. They can drive traffic and conversions through shared posts, testimonials and reviews.

9. Limited to a single revenue stream

While membership subscriptions will form your core revenue source, additional streams allow you to broaden your customer appeal and maximise your earning potential.

Some visitors may not be ready to commit to a membership, but will be interested in purchasing access to an individual course or specific piece of content. By diversifying your offerings, you can cater to different customer preferences and generate revenue from those who aren't interested in membership. You'll also capture their email for future marketing efforts.

Creating additional revenue streams isn't difficult. There are many ways you can repurpose and sell your existing content using different delivery methods. Blog posts can be offered as pay-per-view products and paid downloads. Your video tutorials can be adapted into courses. Access to events and webinars can be sold.

10. No social proof

Websites without social proof are at a disadvantage as they lack the validation of users.

Social proof should always play a prominent role on your website as it establishes trust, credibility, and legitimacy. It leverages the influence of existing satisfied members to attract and convince new members to join.

Sharing member testimonials and positive experiences provides potential members with a sense of reassurance and confidence in their decision to join.

Social proof can take various forms, including testimonials, reviews, case studies, user-generated content or social media engagement.

Tip: Make a concerted effort to get member reviews posted on a trusted review site. Open a Google My Business page and start collecting reviews.

Conclusion

Now that you know some of the factors that contribute to a website's failure, you can use this knowledge to build and grow a successful membership website.

D.N. Leo is an Australian novelist who writes supernatural fiction. She uses her membership website, DN LEO, to connect with and update her readers, market her audio and e-book collections and provide access to newly published, serialized stories.

Her goal is to immerse her audience in her unique world creation while growing her fan base one chapter at a time.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

I'm a novelist with more than 40 novels published in the contemporary fantasy genre under D.N. LEO. With a background in film and television, I view my fiction business more as a show business than a literary business. I'd like my audience to enjoy the stories in whatever ways they want.

Why did you decide to build a membership website?

I offer my audience a 'world' where stories and characters come to life. My audience is familiar with my Multiverse Collection, and I want to create a multiverse community where they can enjoy episodic stories - like Netflix without pictures - and engage with like-minded audiences. The membership site is designed for that purpose.

Why did you choose the SubHub platform? What are the platform features most important to you?

SubHub is a robust and solid platform. Your support service is the best.

How did you get your first members?

I have an emailing list of followers.

What has been the most effective way to drive traffic to your website?

Emailing list and engaging content suitable for community.

Do you use social media to get members for your website? What platform have you found to be the most effective?

I use Facebook to grow my audience.

How have you grown your email list and how often do you send out email campaigns?

I use Facebook advertising. I send email once a week. In addition to SubHub membership site, I have my own website, a designated community app, and a shop.

What kind of content is most popular on your website? And how often do you post new content?

E-book format is the most popular format of my novels. I am trying to promote the membership site using serialized fiction. It's a work-in-progress.

What advice do you have for anyone launching a membership website?

Exclusive content and a sense of community is important for my fiction business.

How has the SubHub platform helped you to reach your goals?

The lifetime membership plan is one of the most popular plans I've offered. People love it because it increases accessibility to the stories in my world. Without SubHub and the ability to release serialized content, it would be almost impossible for me to grow my fan base by slowly introducing them to my fictional world. It's not about trying to sell a book. It's about inviting people to visit the 'happy world' I created and then making them fall in love with it, one chapter at a time.

Final thoughts

A membership website is the perfect vehicle for authors to establish a connection with their readers and promote their fiction. It's a base for your fans to peruse and purchase your published and online books, learn about your latest events and read reviews. So don't miss out on an opportunity to increase the visibility of your novels and professional reputation with a website dedicated to the promotion of your written work.

Kevin, along with his business partner Anthony, launched the educational resources website Function First to empower physical therapists and fitness professionals with effective pain management treatments. The website is dedicated to sharing the advantages of employing functional movement training to alleviate a client's chronic pain.

It provides a comprehensive range of online courses, webinars and workshops to inform pain management practitioners in using evidence-based methodologies and exercise solutions to improve patient outcomes.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

We work with folks experiencing chronic musculoskeletal pain, & our education company teaches practitioners how they can work with this demographic.

Why did you decide to build a membership website?

In 2011, I could sense there was a shift in what consumers were looking for. Providing education online (as opposed to strictly live-events) was THE future. As the sophistication of platforms got better, and the explosion of membership streaming demand grew, so did our need to find a platform that could deliver the multitude of content we created over many years.

Why did you choose the SubHub platform? What are the platform features most important to you?

After researching myriad platforms, it was clear SubHub understood exactly what I had envisioned for a membership site. I was able to schedule a call and ask them specific questions, which (surprisingly) isn't available with all membership platforms. Not only did they have custom course builder templates & multiple subscription tiers, I was able to hire their development team to customize the site in a way that other's were not offering. Simply stated - SubHub and their entire staff won our business!

How did you get your first members?

We have over 25 years in our industry, and have built a substantial email list over the years.

What has been the most effective way to drive traffic to your website?

Creating content that has actual value, and establishing an online community that gets involved & can share your website | content with prospects. Non-organic, paid avenues such as Facebook ads have been effective also.

Do you use social media to get members for your website? What platform have you found to be the most effective?

Instagram & Facebook are the most effective social media platforms for us.

How have you grown your email list and how often do you send out email campaigns?

We have used SubHub's Zapier integration to help us expand our ever growing (and complex) email lists. The automation of email campaigns has been an enormously helpful tool. From the moment we acquire new members, to continually providing automated emails of content, emailing our list is a huge aspect of our business.

What kind of content is most popular on your website? And how often do you post new content? 

We are constantly posting new content to our site. The most popular content comes from our video shorts. Our customers want video content, that is not overly time consuming.

What advice do you have for anyone launching a membership website?

Hire the people who understand your concept | vision, and work with a platform like SubHub that not only has a great product, but outstanding customer service as well.

How has the SubHub platform helped you to reach your goals?

By constantly providing a product & service that we can rely upon to exceed our members expectations of an elite online education experience.

Conclusion

Function First illustrates the undeniable role that online education websites now play in every discipline. No longer is training limited in-person classes. Valuable instruction is now available in many online formats. By being able to provide comprehensive, up-to-date training resources to a wide audience of practitioners, Function First achieves its goal of helping individuals with chronic pain lead better lives.