Next I experimented with utilizing software systems which were meant for creating a community. The trouble with this was that putting really beneficial training products into the group program wasn’t easy either. This took a very long time to make the program pages.

Lastly I made a decision to try a WordPress member website. Initially I made use of the no cost WordPress member site plugins but that didn’t function nicely simply because I was not able to find resources that could assist me to automatically combine the ecommerce and the month-to-month payment and the member access itself. For a short time I would get the system to mail me an email and I would speedily set up the accounts and contact the person back again. However that is absolutely no way to construct a major member organization since it’s got too much hands-on work.

After that I ultimately discovered the Wishlist member plugin and even though I was hesitant I made a decision to give it a try. Since they has a money-back guarantee I also made the decision to buy more and get the multiple website permission. Go here and you can find out more about some of my successes about membership WordPress plugins.

It ended up to be a great purchase. The plugin easily stream lines the methods of developing membership websites and if you are generally currently okay with WordPress, then it really is likely to be a no-brainer to make a quite professional member site and build your on-line member organization.

I do have a couple of tips regarding member websites. First, keep things simple at first. Provide good value, but do not devote forever building a complex and perfect website. There is a good reason. It is the # 2 tip that is to not ignore the problem of advertising your member website. Many people get emerged in developing the site but do not understand that it might require a long time to attract even a low number of members. Start quick and keep working at it.

Question:

Source: Yahoo! Answers

You probably start out with some free membership site software that is very basic and requires lots of manual effort.

Then you might get a bit more advances with opensource membership site software that is still free but requires some more knowledge and effort.

Then you can get a premium membership website module that makes your life simpler and your business takes off.

Then you might go into building custom software that is part membership site and part tools, because building really good tools is another way to keep members in your membership site.  For example, check out my lead generation membership site.  We have programmers adding tools, trainers adding training and linking professionals creating links back to our members websites.

You can stop at any level of membership site expertise, but there is a big range of effort and sophisitication that can be achieved over time.

First, it is very hard to make a living from one membership site.  It is a lot of work to set them up and even more work to promote them.

So the best way to make money with a membership site is to get good at setting them up and promoting them quickly – and have many sites adding to your income.

This means you need membership website software that has a low cost per site and you can use it across many membership websites without additional costs.

If you opt for one of the expensive membership suites you are going to struggle to ever make any money.

Instead, find membership website software like Wishlist Member that you can build a license for and use on an unlimited number of membership sites.

Even though I make a fee if you buy through that link, I also will let you know I did pay for the product and successfully used it to build several membership sites that continue to generate revenue for me.

So take a look at their videos and such and make your own decision.  But do not get caught in the trap of a high cost individual site that you might never break even on.

Why does WordPress work well?

Well, by itself it has some difficulties because of weak membership management.  But if you buy a plugin to take care of that issue, then you will end up with a very good system because wordpress is great for managing information and structuring your information.

If you are good at using WordPress blogs to build websites, then you will love using  a membership plugin to build a wordpress membership site.

Yes, if you use the Wishlist Member Plugin.  Visit Wishlist Member Videos to find out more.

The hardest part initially for me was to find the right technology for a membership site.  However, once I bought and got comfortable with Wishlist Membership I was then able to meet the next challenge.  That challenge is to create quality content that people will pay for.

If you are on the fence about buying Wishlist Member, let me just say that you should buy it and then focus on creating great content and learning how to market the community.  Those are the two more challenging areas that will take up more time.  If you spend too much time on the technology, you are just delaying ever building a real membership website income steam.

1)Pick  Niche Market
If you want to build a membership website that will succeed, you will want to choose your target market carefully. Avoid going for generic markets like weight-loss which already has thousands of membership sites. Instead, focus on a niche market that appeals to a specific category of people. For instance, you can start a membership site for 50+ year olds that want to loose weight. Of course, it’s paramount that you have knowledge in the market you are targeting. For instance, you can’t not start a health related membership site if your profession is computing. It doesn’t make sense.

2)Gauge The Market:
Snoop in  various social network sites like Facebook and MySpace to connect with users who may be interested in your niche market. In fact, you can also get new ideas from there. Look for rare information which  people and yet it’s not easily available online and start a membership which provides what rare information. Soon, you will be having thousands of visitors.

3)Draw  A Plan
It’s paramount that you understand what your members will want  if you want your site to last long. Are they want videos or authoritative information. Remember that a membership website should be built around people’s needs so it’s vital that you conduct thorough research to want your members will want.

4)Implement your plan.

Getting started is usually the hardest part in any online adventure. Your ideas may be good but if you don’t act on them, some one will do it before you and you will loose out. Make sure that you have all the articles, videos and audio if need be. They will be critical when  promoting your website.

5)Choose  the right Technology
There are practically hundreds of  membership website programs which you can use to start a membership site. Unfortunately, the majority of people need  membership site setup assistance  to get started. That’s why  our site provides useful  resources  for those individuals  who  would like to have help setting up their Membership Website.

6)Market Your Membership Website

In order to attract members, you will have to market  your membership website. There are various ways to market your website like article marketing,  social networking and paid advertising.

If you Build a membership site, you will soon discover that  running and maintaining a membership website is not hard as it seems.

Every software has it’s own flaws,that’s why it’s vital that you choose website membership software with all the features you will need. Below, I have pointed out some of the vital features that you will want to look out for when selecting the right membership website software to use.

Before you look at the software features,find out the reliability of the software or company. You can do this by looking for reviews from people who have used the software before. Not only should the software be reliable, but the company which is supplying the software should be reliable as well. Make sure that the company offers excellent customer support. Try emailing the company and if you don’t get a response within 24 hours, then try your luck elsewhere.

Obviously, the next vital thing to look at are the true features of the software. List down everything you expect of your membership site and make sure that the software you intend to use has those features that will support your plans. Whereas the majority of companies list features of their software on their websites, there are no guarantees. It’s always good to e-mail the company to get more detailed information.

It won’t make any sense to use software that is incompatible with your web hosting account. For instance, a particular software may need PHP to be installed on your server,thus it won’t do any good to install it on an ASP server since it won’t work. From experience, most membership websites are run with software which require servers running PHP.

Lastly,it’s always good to consider the cost of of the Membership website software you intent to purchase. You should take this seriously because the old adage that “you get what you pay for” applies in software as well. Of course, there are some cheap software with great features but it most cases, cheap of free software have few features.

Click here for more free tips for starting a membership based website.

Focus on not more than three tasks at a time. Plan, act on it, and evaluate the results. Continue to do things that work, eliminate those that don’t and add a new way to market your site, and then repeat the same process.

Here are three ways to generate lots of paying customers to membership sites.

Joint Ventures. This is the fastest way to get a large number of traffic to your site. You can convince joint venture partners to work with you in the promotion of your membership site by contacting list owners in your market or non-competing market and providing them a strong “what’s in it for me” value statement. Create the promotional material in advance for them to just plug into their marketing. People will be more willing to do business with you if they find you easy to work with.

Article Marketing. The best way to promote your membership site is through the use of article marketing. You can generate a large number of traffic to your site by writing short, useful articles that can help people solve problems and by posting it on various article
directories. You will create reliable and steady traffic to your site if the article marketing is done on a consistent basis.

Leaving sensible blog and form posts. Simple comments on other people’s blogs and forums can create a lot of traffic; granted that the blogs and forums chosen are in the related market. The traffic doesn’t come overnight but with consistency in valuable commenting, people view you as someone who is knowledgeable and causing them to click on your link to get more information.

The one thing I did not love about Teaching Sells is that it suggested using Moodle as your membership site software.  After using 6 different membership site software solutions, I found Wishlist Member and once I made that change I was able to create new, profitable niche membership websites in MUCH less time.

That said, the training I got from Teaching Sells was very helpful.  Thinking through how to structure your content and what kind of tools you can add to your membership site is very important and will help you minimize your expenses (by avoiding costly mistakes) and maximize profitability.

Go take a look at Teaching Sells and get the free membership website report.