GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITH MEMBERSHIP SITES

Introduction

Ensuring growth and profits is one of the most challenging things when it comes to running a business. You may be struggling to build your customer base, get more clients, attract sales, and ensure a reliable income stream. This can make it hard for you to reach your goals and take your organization where you need it to be. That is where membership sites come in. They can help you create an income stream you can depend on to grow your business. Channel the money you earn from your site toward running your startup.

Today we’ll talk about 10 effective ways to grow your business with membership sites so you can take it to the next level. Let’s get started!

1. Develop a Membership Pricing Model

Your pricing model determines your success. If you have an effective strategy, you can attract different people and increase revenue. People perceive the value you add to their lives from your pricing. So, develop a membership pricing model that proves credibility and helps you attract more sign-ups. Consider different customer needs and set different subscription rates.

Some of the common pricing models are:

• tiered pricing
• one-time fixed rate
• installment plans
• custom rate
• recurring fixed rate
• freemium.

Tiered pricing is when you offer members a variety of prices based on the services, benefits, and features. It is one of the best ways to get more people to sign up and attract sales. You’ll be catering to various needs and making it easy for anyone willing to become a member. Customers who have financial problems but want to subscribe can choose your cheapest package. Customers who need advanced features, extra benefits, and value can go with your most expensive package. They can be your top-tier customers and help you grow your business.

A one-time fixed rate is where you allow members to pay a one-time fee to access all your content. This model can make it difficult for you to reach your money goals and keep the business running. That is why it’s important to use it with other models and not rely solely on it. For example, use one-time fixed rates with tiered pricing or any other model. That way, you’ll be guaranteed to earn continuously and attract different subscribers.

A recurring fixed rate gives customers the flexibility they need and makes it easy for you to turn them into long-standing members. You offer different pricing options and set up custom billing periods. For example, your subscribers can pay monthly, quarterly, every 6 months, or yearly. The best way to succeed with this method is to constantly upload new content and add value to your subscribers. It makes it easy for them to continue their memberships because each payment brings value to their lives.

Freemium pricing is where you offer access to certain services or free content with optional paid upgrades. Freemium content helps you establish industry authority and grow your subscriber base. It makes it easy for members to trust you and you can also convince them to upgrade to a premium membership. If they see value in your free content they won’t hesitate.

2. Sell Premium Features

Sell premium features or additional features on your site to increase revenue, attract top-tier customers, and grow your business.

Constantly add new functionality and offer services that are not included in your standard plans. Your premium plan can provide access to one-on-one sessions, paid forums, free resources, free trials, and even courses. The goal is to convince members to upgrade so you can earn more money to channel toward your business. Do market research and find out what sort of add-ons to include. Know your customers and understand what current members are willing to pay for. This helps you save time and ensure you offer services, features, or functionalities that your subscribers are interested in. Use your email, site forum, or surveys to identify member needs.

3. Host Webinars

The best way to succeed with your membership site is to build an engaged community.

That is the only way you can attract sign-ups, enhance sales, and earn enough money to finance your business. Webinars are a great way to connect with your audience and build customer relations. They are engaging and make it easy for you to interact with potential subscribers. You can strengthen relations and convince them to become members. So, host webinars and promote your membership site.

Your presentations should provide valuable content within your niche. The kind that helps your viewers reach certain goals, learn more about your field and get answers to their pressing questions. Hosting a free webinar can also help you get more email sign-ups. You can then nurture those relationships and convince your email subscribers to join your membership site.

Another option is to curate exclusive webinar content and make it accessible to members. Include the content in your level 1 pricing tier or your cheapest package to get more people to join.

4. Use Affiliate Marketing

If you are good at reviewing products or services and enjoy it, add affiliate links on your site and start earning.

Affiliate marketing can boost your earnings and provide you with a reliable side income. The best way to succeed is to understand your members and promote products or services that appeal to them. You earn commissions when users use your affiliate links to buy advertised offers. If your membership site focuses on video content or written content, include the links in your content. Make sure the links fit seamlessly with the type of information you are sharing. Add your affiliate links in your articles, eBooks, videos, or any other content you are publishing. The goal is to get the right offer in front of the right audience and ensure sales. Join reputable affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, CJ Affiliate, ShareASale, ClickBank, and eBay Affiliates.

5. Feature Sponsored Content

Feature sponsored content on your site to reach a bigger audience, get more subscribers, and increase revenue.

Sponsored content is one of the most lucrative online earning methods. Countless marketers depend on it to boost their income and grow their businesses. You partner up with relevant brands and feature their content on your website. They pay you to create the content and publish it on your site. This method is profitable despite what sort of niche or industry you are in. The most important thing to do is work with the right organizations and curate high-quality content. If the companies you work with are happy with your work, they can even act as brand ambassadors and recommend your services. The content you write and publish depends on the client’s needs. You can do sales announcements, promote client products, write review articles, or share updates and promos. The content can either be written by you or the sponsoring brand. Depending on what the client wants.

If you are responsible for both the writing and publishing processes, charge a higher rate. That is the best way to benefit from the collaboration. The most difficult part is convincing brands to work with you. So, make sure you position yourself right and prove you are worth your salt.

Pitch to brands within your industry. It will be easier for you to get them to accept the partnership because they are already interested in the type of content you are sharing. Decide on a rate and charge the right price. Draw a contract that will help you avoid misunderstandings and frustrations later on. Convince brands you are worth collaborating with through your work. Showcase your work to make it easy for them to trust partnering up with you. Include links to the best content on your pitch. Add your website URL and be clear about what you want from the partnership.

State how the brand benefits to show you are not only concerned about generating revenue and reaching your goals. This method works best if you have a large number of followers or readers. It will be easy for brands to collaborate with you because they know they’ll reach a bigger audience and generate sales. So, work on building a decent following or getting more members on your site before going down this route.

Once you get that out of the way, join reputable influencer networks to find companies to work with. Influencer networks are platforms that connect brands with influencers or bloggers. They make it easy for you to find the right people to work with. Some of the best networks are Acorn, Blog Meets Brand, Social Fabric, and Webfluential.

6. Sell Ad Space

Another way to use your membership site to generate sales and grow your business is to sell ad space.

If you have at least 100 members and a decent number of readers, you can easily maximize your earnings. So, target creators that need to market their work, build brand awareness and increase conversions. Advertise their offers, promos, or content on your site. You can place the ads on your homepage, at the bottom of the page, or as banners and pop-ups. Your pricing should depend on where you place the ad, how long it stays on your site, and how many people you advertise to. For example, for ads that are placed on your homepage, shown to all members, included in your emails, and displayed on your social media pages, you have to set a higher rate.

Your cheapest package could be ads that are displayed on your homepage and only shown to your social media followers. If you have loyal followers, you can make a lot of money from this method. You can use pay-per-click advertising, video ads, social media ads, banner ads, display ads, or native ads. Let advertisers know that you are selling ad space, how much you charge, and the number of followers or members you have.

Use Google Analytics and Google Ad Manager to manage advertisers and monitor results. You’ll be able to track traffic and sales and see how your site is performing.

7. Leverage PPC Advertising

Leverage Pay Per Click Advertising with Google AdSense to make passive income and increase sales.

Google AdSense enables you to easily place ads on your website and promote to your members. The best part is that it doesn’t require too much effort to set things up. Simply create your account, apply to be a partner, and start advertising. You get 51 percent revenue on AdSense for search ads and 68 percent of the revenue for content. Read Google AdSense terms of service to make sure you meet all the requirements. Sign up for AdSense, wait for approval, and embed the JavaScript code into a widget once your account is approved.

Place your ads based on your charges and the packages your clients choose.

8. Ask For Donations

If you offer valuable content and have a decent number of supporters, ask for donations.

People who interact with your content will be more than willing to donate to your cause. Especially if they enjoy what you do and believe in it. So, set up a donation button on your site and politely ask for donations. Give users a reason to support you. Tell your story and make sure potential donors connect with your message. State what you want to achieve, why you need donations, and what sort of difference the money will make.

You can write a fundraising letter and email it to potential donors. This can be more effective than simply adding a donate button on your site. The letter shows you care about what you are doing and want to reach your goals. It shows you put time into the process and know the steps to take to reach the set goal.

You can also use social media fundraising if you have a huge number of followers. Some of the best fundraising sites to look into are GoFundMe, Fundly, Indiegogo, Donorbox, Patreon, Kickstarter, and Donate Kindly.

9. Sell Products

If you are good at making stuff, sell products online.

For example, if your membership site focuses on health and fitness, start writing eBooks on the subject and sell them to your subscribers. If you sell premium content, get creative. Start making low-content books and sell them to your followers. Some of the profitable low-content books you can try are journals, logbooks, notebooks, workbooks, planners, and coloring books. The goal is to make products relevant to your customers and ones they won’t think twice about purchasing.

You can also build an ecommerce store and use it to promote your products. Connect your store to your membership site and advertise your offers to your subscribers. Tell your email subscribers, social media followers, and all users that visit your site about your new offers. Set up your ecommerce store with WooCommerce or hire a developer.

10. Post Consistently

The most effective way to succeed in any line of business online is to post consistently.

You have to remain engaged with your audience and share valuable content that keeps them preferring your site over everyone else’s. So, create a content schedule and regularly update your pages with new information. Upload different types of content to boost engagement. Use long-form content, short-form content, listicles, how-to guides, product review articles, eBooks, and templates. This keeps your audience engaged and ensures they don’t terminate their memberships.

Your content should be constantly updated. Whether it’s free content or paid content. It has to stay fresh and up-to-date. This makes it easy for people to trust doing business with you because they see the value you bring. If you post regularly and keep your social media followers engaged, you can turn them into paid members of your site. It will be easy for them to join because they value your content and know you care about helping them reach their goals. When you get more conversions, you’ll be able to generate more sales through your membership site. You can advertise your offers to more people and increase sales.

Conclusion

Launching your business is one of the most exciting things you can ever do. However, sustaining and growing is a completely different story. It comes with its challenges, setbacks, and obstacles. That is why you have to think long-term and know what steps to take to fund your business.

Don’t rely on the business to make enough money to stay afloat when you are starting because it normally doesn’t. Instead, create additional income streams that will help you fund the business. Membership sites are one of the best ways to raise money for your startup and ensure growth. They allow you to reach a bigger audience, connect with various people, cater to different needs, and increase sales.

The most important thing is to advertise the right products or services to the right people. Make sure your followers or members are interested in what you are advertising. That is the only way to succeed. Use the methods we covered to ensure success with your membership site and build your business.

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