You see, most people who think of “membership sites” think of content that’s delivered weekly or monthly… indefinitely. Members pay month after month and the owners deliver month after month.

This works fairly well if you’re running a PLR membership site or similar. But if you’re running a training site, your members are going to drift away if you just give them tips and tricks indefinitely. And they might even bail out a couple months after joining, simply because there’s no end in sight.

So here’s what you do instead…

Create a fixed-term membership site. This is a site that runs for a specific period of time, such as three months, six months, twelve months… or any length of your choosing.

Tip: For best results, create a step-by-step series as described in Part 1 of this article.

Here’s why this works…

Imagine if your site went on indefinitely. Someone might join and after a couple months quit. That’s pretty normal. But if the course only stretches out for six months, psychologically the customers will feel better if they just remain a member for the entire six months. They want to see through to the end.

This is actually a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) trick. Simply put, people don’t like unfinished business. That’s why they’ll even read books they don’t like or watch boring movies – once they’ve invested some time into the activity, they want to see it through to the end.

While just creating a fixed term site created this psychological commitment to your course, you can make the commitment even stronger by building anticipation for the upcoming lessons. That is, from the very first lesson you work on “selling” the other lessons. Like this:

Build anticipation for the whole course in lesson #1. Your first lesson should include an overview of all the lessons. But don’t just write it out like a table of contents. Instead, write it like bullet points to a sales letter.

Example: “In Lesson #3 you’ll discover a simple trick that will triple your conversion rate!” In other words, arouse curiosity whenever possible.

Build anticipation for the next lesson at the end of each lesson. At the end of each lesson you’ll want to include something like, “Stay tuned for next week’s lesson, where you’ll find out the secrets of creating cash-pulling headlines!”

Build anticipation for future lessons and bonuses periodically. Finally, from time to time you should remind members of upcoming lessons. For example, in lesson #5 you might remind members of a particularly valuable lesson or bonus that you’re offering in lesson #9. Again, write it like a sales letter bullet, where you arouse curiosity and put forth a benefit.

The biggest challenge in running a membership site is retaining members.

With a typical membership site, your members may only stick around for two or three months. But you can quickly and easily ensure that more of your members stay around for six months, twelve months or even longer by creating a fixed-term membership site!

In part 3 of this series I will be showing you the fun stuff, which is “How to set it and forget it!”

Stay tuned!

Dave

The response that I usually get from people after  I tell them this, is that they want to start a membership site and want to know how to get started. So, I decided t write a short series of posts describing to you how to get your own membership site up and running.

So you want to start a membership site.

The first thing you need to think about is your niche and your topic.

Now think about this for a moment…

Your goal is to get members to happily pay you month after month for content. Obviously, that means you need to:

• Over-deliver with quality content. You want your members to feel like they’re getting a steal for the price.

• Give your members what they want. If you’re just starting your site, then look to the top-selling products in your niche to see what your target market is already paying for.

But here’s something else…

In order to get your members paying month after month, you need to be able to make them look forward to each upcoming lesson. And the best way to do that is by creating a membership site around a step-by-step process. That is, your lessons teach your members how to achieve a specific result.

You see, if you just provide tips and tricks for your members, there’s no sense of continuity. Your members don’t develop as strong of a psychological commitment to staying a member, because they won’t have a need to see the course through until the end.

Now imagine having numbered steps and lessons instead. When someone is receiving lesson 10 of a step-by-step process, they’ve made an investment of time and money into learning the process – so they are less likely to “bail” before they’ve received all the steps.

Let me give you a few examples of sites that teach a specific achievement or result using a step-by-step process:

• How to start an online business.
• How to write a sales letter.
• How to choose, train and raise a puppy.
• How to adopt a child.
• How to homeschool your child.

Now let me give you an example of what a 12-week online marketing course might look like:

Step 1: Choose a niche.

Step 2: Market research.

Step 3: Plan your sales funnel.

Step 4: Get a domain and hosting.

Step 5: Get an autoresponder.

Step 6: Write your autoresponder messages.

Step 7: Create a squeeze page.

Step 8: DIY product creation – research and outline.

Step 9: DIY product creation – creating and polishing the product.

Step 10: Create a sales letter.

Step 11: Drive traffic – free methods

Step 12: Drive traffic – paid methods.

Notice how each step builds on the previous step.

It starts with a member not even having an idea for a niche… and ends with the member driving traffic to a sales letter and making money.

In other words, if the member completes the steps as the course progresses, he or she should be able to enjoy a specific achievement or result by the end of the course.

 Note: The above example is a 12-week course. Naturally, you could easily stretch this out to a year or more by creating more steps and more in-depth steps. You could go on indefinitely as long as you kept providing more advanced info as the course progressed.

One final tip…

To keep your customers happy, make sure that they are progressing and enjoying results right from the beginning.

Example: If you create a yearlong course, don’t stretch out the process for a year. Instead, give the step-by-step instructions your customers need to experience some type of results immediately (within a few weeks or month after joining) and then provide more in-depth instructions as the course progresses.

In short: Satisfy your customers’ needs for instant gratification while still providing the continuity that will keep them as a member. You’ll learn more about that in Part 2 of this series.

Dave

7 Ways To Find Profitable Membership Site Ideas
By Jimmy D. Brown of Membership To Go

Some ideas burst into the air like a rocket.

Others quickly fizzle off into the night like a bottle rocket.

There’s a big difference between an “idea” and a “great idea”, right?

Fortunately, there’s also a simple process that you can follow to get great ideas for your membership site. If you’re unsure how to begin and are stuck for ideas, try out these tips. Your next membership site may not be that far away.

1. PERSONAL.

Begin by brainstorming your own life. Get personal! Creating your membership site is going to be much easier if you know a little bit about the market. That’s why it’s a great idea to start your ideas list with hobbies, interests and activities from your own life. Write down everything that you and your family members are passionate about or interested in. This list could be a goldmine for your membership site.

2. PRODUCTS.

Ebook and video course creators have done a lot of niche market research in order to create their products. You can piggyback on this research specifically by keeping an eye on “product launches”. For example, if you see a lot of products being produced on article marketing you can safely assume that a membership site on the same topic would do well. Subscribe to email lists in your potential market to watch for product launches and get ideas for your site.

3. PERUSE.

Persuse means “to examine in detail”. It also begins with “p” so it fits my outline.
If you want a comprehensive list of existing electronic products that are selling well, Clickbank.com/marketplace is the place to go. Search through the marketplace to find out what topics your market is interested in learning about. You’ll be able to find new market ideas, content to fill your site as well as affiliate offers to create some backend sales.

4. POPULARITY.

Visit Amazon.com’s best-seller list. Amazon is the top bookseller online so it makes sense to search their marketplace for membership site ideas. The bestseller lists in various categories will help you see what topics are popular. You can easily gather membership site ideas from these lists. Hint: Go with the topics that are popular.

5. PULSE.

Forums are the pulse of your market. You can be sure that a market has members that would be willing to pay if there is an active forum dedicated to that topic. Track down some popular forums in your potential market and spend some time browsing through the topics. See what the market is talking about. Pay close attention to the FAQs section and the threads that have a lot of activity. These are indicators of the kinds of topics which might serve as a topic for your next membership site.

6. PERIODICALS.

You gotta go to Magazines.com! This website is full of membership site ideas. If a market has a buying audience, there is probably a magazine out there dedicated to it. Magazines don’t get started without advertising dollars to back them up. If advertisers are paying to get to a market, it’s a safe bet that you can create a membership site for the same market. On Magazines.com you can search by category to find membership site ideas. I love this place!

7. PROBLEMS.

The final stop I want to mention is Yahoo groups. These free e-mail discussion lists cover a wide variety of topics. Subscribe to a few groups in your potential market to look for ideas. The benefit of using groups like these is that you’ll often be able to see problems in the market that aren’t currently being met by other products.

By going through these simple outlets you are sure to find a great idea for your next membership site.

If you’d like a shortcut for finding a great idea — and an even bigger shortcut to getting a membership site setup and taking orders, grab a copy of the Membership To Go package.

Membership To Go is a complete, one-year membership site that you can license for your own use. This has never been offered before and it includes EVERYTHING you need to get started, including private label rights to the membership content, its sales letter, presell report, articles and other marketing materials.

Set it up at your site, sell as many memberships as you want, keep 100% of every sale.

Get all the details at: http://imstitute.com/go.php?offer=texasdmcgpid=2

Plus, the topic is related to one of the most popular niches in the world. A market that has had multiple million dollar launches, countless sales every single day and a huge marketplace of potential buyers.

—————–
Jimmy D. Brown is the founder of the PLR industry and creator of Membership To Go, an “everything included” membership site package that you can setup at your site and keep 100% of every sale you make. Details at http://imstitute.com/go.php?offer=texasdmcgpid=2

Internet-Marketing-Episode#2 “Why You Need a Coach!”

It also talks about:

• A little background on me and how coaching has helped me
• What is business coaching
• Why you need a coach if you want to succeed

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave comment below.

To your success,

Coach Dave

My story

Inspiration for you to start your own business

What to expect from future podcasts

An introduction to an online entrepreneur

I hope you enjoy this podcast and I look forward to bringing you more. My goal is to do one a week!

Dave

I hope you are not like me and thought that if, “You build it they will come!” I had to learn the hard way because when I first built my membership site Working Mom Workouts I though that all I had to do is build the site, post some articles and tips and bam I would get a ton of traffic to my website! Boy was I wrong and I wasted a year thinking that if I just wrote more articles I would get ranked by Google. Wrong again! Finally though I came across Russell Brunson and his traffic generating systems.

So, let me ask you, “Do you need more traffic to your site?”  Check out this new video that will help you get FREE traffic FAST.

Check it out here:

http://www.instanttrafficsystems.com/x/texasdmcg

It will show you a very simple, step by step process for getting traffic to ANY website at ANY time. It`s literally as simple as saying:

… Send traffic to www.___________.com, and minutes later floods of people are showing up at your site!

Sound like something you could use?

Ya, I thought so. I hope you love the video:

http://www.instanttrafficsystems.com/x/texasdmcg
Thanks,
Dave McGarry

P.S. – on the video he will show you something called the Oprah traffic method… it works REALLY fast.

http://www.instanttrafficsystems.com/x/texasdmcg

I’ve got a quick question for you…

Have you ever wanted to work from home…?

Own your own business…?

Come on… you know you want that lifestyle… the one that everyone talks about…

where you can “work from home in your underwear…”

or on a “beach with your laptop…”

So… why hasn’t it happened for you yet?

Come on… admit it.

This isn’t the first time you’ve been looking for a proven way to make money… is it?

When it is your turn?

My guess is this…

You saw someone online promising you riches untold…

BUT…

There was a catch… (doesn’t it seem like there’s always a catch?)

You have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to get started, right?

BEFORE you make any money… (Don’t they know that’s why you’re there…? Because you NEED money?)

Doesn’t it seem like if all those “guru’s” courses and software worked so good…

and they REALLY believed it them…

Why won’t they just GIVE you their money making system…

and then AFTER you’ve made your money… then they would get paid…

Well, I always thought it was too good to be true too…

Until this: Internet Marketing System

Ya… this guy will coach you… on HIS dime. And you only have to pay AFTER you’ve made money.

Sound too good to be true?

Check it out here: Internet Marketing Coaching for Free

Thanks
Dave

P.S. – it’s about time that somebody “got it,” don’t you think?

Internet Marketing Coaching

You’ve heard that before. And while you can grow plenty of other things (vegetables, your hair, sea monkeys), maybe the whole idea of growing your business has so far eluded you.

You can get traffic to your website or store. You can make sales. Maybe you can even bank a little profit. But sometimes it feels like there’s an invisible ceiling that’s capping your earnings. And if you could just break through that ceiling, you’d enter a new tax bracket. You’d take your business to the next level. You might even start enjoying a new lifestyle.

But nothing quite works.

You feel like a unicyclist sinking in a foot of mud – you try and you try, but you don’t budge an inch. You don’t move forward or back. You just stay stuck – working so dang hard but not getting anywhere fast.

Until now, that is…

Introducing the iBusiness Owner membership site – your ticket to growing your business!

>>> You can check it out right here:

ibusinessowner.com

This is NOT some irrelevant collection of materials or some basic “how to start a business” information. Instead, these are proven strategies that you can use to grow your business. You’ll discover profit-multiplying strategies such as:

* How to turn more browsers into cash-paying buyers.

* Which kind of products or services put the most profit in your pocket.

* How to generate more revenue on every transaction.

* How to turn one-time buyers into repeat customers that generate hundreds if not thousands of dollars in extra income for you.

* How to expand your market reach to beat your competitors and get a bigger piece of the market share.

And much, much more!

You’ll enjoy learning about and employing some of these strategies from your first month as a member. And every month thereafter you’ll discover still more ways to grow your business.

Bottom line, if you want to see real results – if you want to finally learn how to take your business to the next level – then visit ibusinessowner.com

And do it now, because the sooner you do, the sooner you’ll enjoy rapid growth and increased profits!

Best regards,

Dave McGarry

Okay, so let’s move forward with part II of Niche Marketing.

What is Niche Marketing?

If you ask a dozen marketers you will probably get a few different answers, but the one I gravitate towards is, niche marketing is a focused, targetable portion of a market that you try to sell goods to.

For example, one of the most recent and best niche marketing products to hit the market was done by Toyota. Toyota knew that there was a percentage of car drivers who were environmentally conscience and wanted a car that could go long distances without consuming a lot of gas. These individuals cared less about what the car looked like or how fast it went but was more concerned about the environment. Toyota exploited this market and built a car that these individuals would pay more money for and also be put on a waiting list to get one. No other major car company at the time went after this highly focused and targeted group leaving the opportunity for Toyota to capitalize. There are many more examples of niche marketing but the Toyota example is a real good one to study. Although Toyota had success many companies do not but here is a list of positives and negatives to niche marketing.

Positives and Negatives to Niche Marketing

Positives:

• Profitable – As I just mentioned Toyota was rewarded handily for their entry into the environmentally friendly conscience consumer, which helped their bottom line and profits for the entire company.
• Hungry – If you find a market that is dying for their need to be filled you have ventured into what I call a “Hungry” market. Finding a hungry market is key to successful niche marketing.
• Loyal – Most of the time if you find a highly focused and hungry market these individuals become raving fans and are very loyal to you. That is if your product and service are good!

Negatives:

• Too small of market – Sometimes you might find a niche that is too small to offset costs associated with bringing a product or service to market.
• Untapped for a reason – A big mistake that marketers make sometimes is that they think they find a niche market that is untapped but the market is untapped for a reason.
• Crowded – Sometimes if a market is hungry and there is a lot of competition that can lead to an over crowded market and lots of competition.

Most effective Marketing Strategies

Now there are many different marketing strategies you can implement, but for the sake of this post and for my presentation to the YEA I am going to focus in on the ones that have been effective for me and my business.

When I first started my online business I thought it was going to be as easy as building a website and having hundreds if not thousands of people come to it. Unfortunately, I was way wrong and the sad part is I should have known better. Having a product or service is one thing but getting be to know about it comes down to marketing. After some work with my business coach I implemented the following strategies to help sell my product:

• Email News Letter – One of the best ways for me to deliver information and build a trust with potential clients came from my online newsletter. I created an option for subscribers to join my list and every week I would send them an e-newsletter with tips, suggestions, and personal stories. By providing them solid and valuable information I helped build credibility and trust before I even pitched them something.
• Blog – I am sure you have all heard about blogs and what they can do for a business and this is the very first thing I started when I began my marketing. Several of my articles where picked up by the search engines and brought traffic to my site, which then allowed me to establish the relationship
• Facebook Ads - Facebook Ads really was one of the best strategies I implemented. As a marketer the ability to dial into a selective target market, which is what Facebook let’s you do is priceless. At one time over 50% of my traffic came from Facebook Ads
• Facebook Fan Page I created a Facebook Fan Page for my site Working Mom Workouts , which also allowed me to build a tribe of fans that I could build a relationship with before I tried to sell them anything.
• Mommy Bloggers – I reached out to a particular group of moms who blog and are well connected in the “mommy circle”. What I did was I provided them a sample of my product and in return I asked them to blog about it to their followers. Nothing more powerful then to get a good review from a person who has influence over a lot of your target market.
• Google Adwords  When I first started using Google Adwords I lost money and was not very successful but after taking a course I learned how to lower my cost per click and also write better headlines to get clicks to my site. Another great strategy that paid off.

Those strategies were just several that I tried but they were also my most effective. The key to any good marketing plan is to test, measure, and track your ads or strategies to see if they are working. Keep the ones that work and ditch the ones that don’t. Simple as that!

Well, with that I will end my talk on Niche Marketing and I hope you learned something that you can take along in your entrepreneurial journey!

You know what it’s like…

Seems like every time you turn around there’s another product promising that you’ll make millions online with a push of a button. Your excitement goes through the roof. You think that this time you finally found the solution to your creating an online business problems.

But then…

Disappointment. Frustration.

Feeling that eerie sense of déjà vu because you’ve been here before.

Weeks, maybe months are lost. And yet you still haven’t made money online. You still are working for the man and stuck in that same boring old job. And sometimes you don’t think you’ll ever get to have the flexibility and financial freedom that you so desire to have.

Worse yet, you look around and it seems like you’re the only one who can’t make money online.

You start thinking it’s you (it’s NOT).

You start wondering what those other guys have that you don’t. You start wondering what their secrets are.

Sound familiar?

Well if so, you’re about to discover some marvelous news…

Introducing The Internet Copy System – your surefire solution to building an online internet empire!

I know, that’s a pretty bold claim. But I can make that kind of bold claim because I know The Internet Copy System works. I’ve used it to create my own online business. Countless others have used it to make money online as well. And that’s why I know it will work for you too.

Need proof? Just take a look at what you’ll learn when you download your copy of The Internet Copy System today…

* You’ll discover a neat little trick that helps you create a highly sought after information product every time!

* You’ll learn a bizarre yet effective way to traffic to your website!

* What do the so called “Internet Marketing Gurus” know that you don’t? You’ll find out!

* You’ll learn how a highly educated professional who got fired from his job finally started to make money online – and how you can too!

* You’ll get a neat tool that will actually get you that first check in hand from selling online!

* You’ll find out how to have other people do the selling for you – you won’t want to miss it!

… And much, much more. By the time you finish reading this exciting online business creation system, you’ll know exactly how to build your own Internet empire business!

I know you’re excited. I know you want to start making money online. But you’re probably still wondering if it really works.

I know it will. But you don’t have to take my word for it. And you don’t even have to say “yes” today. Instead, all you have to do is say “maybe,” and I’ll let you download the guide right now… risk free.

That’s because The Internet Copy System is backed by a rock-solid 60 day guarantee. If you’re unsatisfied for ANY reason – if you don’t absolutely agree that this is the best way to build an online business – then just say the word and I’ll refund every penny.

I can’t be any more fair than that.

And that’s why there’s just one thing left for you to do: Click here to get started.

Dave McGarry

P.S. Click here now, because you’re going to love the flexibility and freedom of having an online business brings to you – and you might even be surprised at just how easy it is.