When launching your membership website, don’t limit yourself to the idea that paid subscriptions are the only way to monetize. There are multiple ways to generate revenue from your content, including offering online courses, paid events or exclusive resources. The key is that if your content is valuable, people will pay for it in various formats.
Delivering your content in different formats enables you to cater to the diverse preferences of your audience, allowing them to consume content in the way they prefer. Whether it's through videos, written guides, live webinars, or downloadable materials, offering multiple ways to engage with your content ensures that you're reaching a broader audience and maximizing your monetization opportunities.
1. Creating Content Membership Levels
Offering multiple membership levels with tiered content access has two key advantages. First, it allows you to cater to a wider range of budgets, making your subscription plans more accessible to potential members. Second, it creates an opportunity for upselling by encouraging members to upgrade to a higher-tier plan with additional features.
However, avoid overwhelming users with too many choices. According to Hick’s Law, increasing the number of options can slow down decision-making. To ensure a smooth experience, keep your membership plans straightforward and easy to understand, enabling visitors to quickly choose the right plan and complete their sign-up.
2. Setting Up Recurring Subscriptions
The recurring subscription model allows members to sign up for automatic payments, which can be billed monthly or annually, providing you with a steady, ongoing income stream. The advantage of this model is that payments are automatically processed through the payment gateway and deposited directly into your account, ensuring a seamless collection process.
To make this model successful, it's essential to consistently deliver fresh, valuable content to your members. Regular updates ensure members continue to perceive the value of their subscription, keeping them engaged and more likely to remain subscribed long-term.
3. Selling Online Courses
Course are all the rage. Being an expert on niche subject is the perfect combination for creating a unique and saleable course. The individual lessons can even be composed of existing content you already have.
Course offerings can have multiple sale and promotional possibilities. The sale of individual courses creates a second revenue stream in addition to memberships. Including course access in a membership, can increase the perceived value of a membership. A course can also be used as a lead magnet to grow your email list
4. Selling Digital Products
Your website content can be repurposed, packaged and sold in many forms - all providing another revenue opportunity. A single blog post can be turned into a mini-ebook, checklist, worksheet, PDF... The possibilities are many and each is another way to engage with your audience, reinforce your expertise in the subject matter and create revenue for yourself.
SubHub's pay-per-view feature lets you sell one-off access to content to non-members. So even if a visitor decides not to become a member, you'll still have a revenue opportunity and there's always the future possibility that they will become a member. Just make sure that you've set up a 'nurture email series' to be sent to those leads that purchase a pay-per-view product.
5. Keeping Your Members Engaged
Consistent communication is key to maintaining the dialog with your members. It reinforces your commitment to them. Stay in touch with your community with a regular newsletter informing them of new content and products. Make sure to continue to nurture those visitors who have yet to subscribe with an automated email series.
You can also instill a sense of community by enabling the built-in member forum on your SubHub website. By learning about your member's views and concerns, you'll be able to use it as an opportunity to create more relevant content for your audience.
6. Host Free and Paid Events
Hosting virtual and in-person events presents a opportunity to generate additional income while strengthening connections with your members. You can also promote exclusive events as a premium benefit for subscribers.
Organizing events allows you to establish credibility and build trust with your visitors. These gatherings serve as an excellent platform to deliver immediate value, showcase your expertise, and emphasize the benefits of membership on your website.
Consider offering a diverse range of events such as webinars, private coaching sessions, in-person yoga classes, and more. These initiatives not only engage your community but also create additional revenue streams through ticket sales.
Conclusion
There are numerous ways to create, deliver, and monetize content, so don't restrict yourself to just one revenue stream. Diversifying your approac - whether through subscriptions, courses, events, or premium resources - can boost your earning potential.
The key takeaway is to stay consistent and committed to regularly producing fresh, meaningful content for your audience. Continual updates reinforce the value of your membership site and encourage members to stay subscribed, ensuring ongoing revenue.
