7 Membership Site Proven Business Models

Membership marketing is a long standing and proven business model. Offline, newspapers and magazines have been using it for years to deliver paid subscriptions and information to their customers. As the internet evolved many of these same publishers moved online and now offer membership sites and paid subscriptions to their website.

Membership marketing and various membership site models are effective and profitable for a wide variety of business niche ideas and business models. It’s a highly profitable business model because it enables business owners the unique ability to create and tap into several buying behaviors and triggers
including:

* Prestige
* Scarcity (particularly if you only allow a certain number of members to join at various levels)
* Credibility and authority
* Exclusivity
* Valuable information, products and services

As a business owner, membership sites provide you with the unique ability to:

* Create a community of interested prospects and customers
* Market directly to these prospects and customers.
* Create a consistent cash flow.
* Create a new source of passive income.
* Monetize your business in a whole new way.

In this post, I’ll present several different potential membership site models. Each model will be described and we’ll provide a few examples of how the model can be used to build your business and profit.

Membership Model #1 Publisher Model

The publisher model is the most common type of membership site. This is ideal for people who have chosen a niche industry and are affiliate marketers or information marketers. In this model you would provide content to your members on an ongoing basis.

Many newspapers now use this model. For example, the Wall Street Journal is now a membership based website. For a monthly subscription members have access to the paper and all its content.

You can easily combine this model with the next model we’re going to talk about which is the product deliver model. For example, you could have a membership site devoted to salt water aquariums. Each month you’d publish and deliver a report or an ebook on various salt water aquarium topics. You could also provide members access to a wealth of article based content on your niche topic.

User Benefits

The publisher membership model benefits members because it enables them to have access to specialized information. You can limit the number of members to make it feel more exclusive and this tactic works quite well for some industry niches. For example, if you’re marketing information to real estate agents, you could offer content about real estate secrets and because
it’s exclusive information you can charge more for the membership.

Additionally, this model offers convenience for your members. They could go out and glean information on your topic from a variety of sources. However, membership to your website delivers all the content they need to them on a regular basis. All they have to do is log onto the website.

Monetizing the Publisher Membership Model

There are a variety of ways to monetize this model. That being said, the most common method is to simply charge for a monthly, quarterly or annual subscription. Later in this report we’ll talk about varying levels of membership. However, it helps to monetize a site sometimes if you offer degrees of membership.

You could give silver members, for example, access to your article content. Gold members get a monthly report and access to all article content. Platinum members get access to all article content, a monthly report and membership to another niche related site. This way, you can partner with others to grow your membership base and profits.

Additionally, if you market affiliate products in some of your content then you can make affiliate income as an additional source of revenue.

Requirements for Success

A regular and consistent flow of quality information is essential for this membership model to work. People have to be motivated to want access to your information and motivated to continue paying their membership fees. This means you must know your topic inside and out and understand what your audience is looking for when it comes to information.

Membership Model #2 Product Delivery Model

This model works by delivering a package of content to members each and every month. For example, a business marketing to other online business owners could offer a PLR report, ebook or even a software product each month to its members in their chosen niche industry. And because it’s PLR they might choose to limit the number of members they have.

Like the publisher business model, this model could also offer various levels of membership paid on a monthly basis. Each time a member pays their subscription, they receive that month’s content to use however they see fit – it’s PLR, private label rights.

User Benefits

It offers exclusivity because the only people who are able to access and use the content are the members. It also offers the convenience we discussed in Membership Model #1. And for many business owners, the model used in the example would offer a tremendous amount of convenience. They’re able to get quality content each month that they can repurpose to fit their needs.
They don’t have to hassle with finding other people to create products for them and they don’t have to spend their own time creating products.

Monetizing the Product Delivery Model

Like the previous model, the most basic way to monetize this model is to charge a membership fee. That being said, you can also upsell and offer additional products to your audience and make a profit from information marketing.

For example, if you’re offering a flat month to month membership to people and they receive a monthly PLR report in their chosen niche industry you could also offer them, from time to time, an ebook or software PLR product they can buy on top of their regular monthly subscription.

Requirements for Success

Top notch products!  If people are going to be motivated to purchase a membership they have to know that they’re getting a quality product in exchange.

Membership Model #3 Micro Continuity Membership Model

Continuity membership means that there is an implied automatic renewal system in place. Think of the magazines you subscribe to and how many of them automatically renew your subscription. You don’t have to do a thing, right? They have your credit card information and it’s all taken care of. Many virus protection software services operate with a continuity system. There are many internet businesses that operate with a continuity model.

Continuity marketing has received a bad reputation over the past few years due to a number of accidental or intentional forced continuity programs. The problem isn’t continuity because many people do appreciate the convenience of not having to renew their membership on a monthly basis. The problem occurs when people don’t know they’re signing up for a continuity program.

A micro continuity model means that members are signing up for a short term. Maybe they’re signing up for three months or six the purpose of the micro continuity model is to demonstrate that there is an end in sight.

An example of a micro continuity membership site might be an online course. Members receive a predetermined amount of information, lessons, or online workshops each month. At the end of the course, they’re trained. They receive a pat on the back or they’re awarded a certificate. One might learn internet marketing this way, graphic design, copywriting or any number of other beneficial topics.

User Benefits

This model actually has a high conversion rate. People like to know that there is an end in sight. And provided they’re receiving value from the membership, they’re less likely to cancel early. It offers the same convenience and potential for exclusivity that the previous models have offered.

Monetizing the Micro Continuity Model

Monetizing this model works in much the same way the other models work. You profit from selling memberships. You can combine membership models and also profit from potential affiliate sales and from selling information as an information marketer would.

Requirements for Success

Quality information is again essential. If you’re offering a membership site on how to become a copy writer, then your monthly lessons must help people achieve their goals. They must provide value. People want to walk away at the end of their membership knowing they have the foundation to be a copy writer.

Membership Model #4 Modular Course – Training Delivery

This model looks very much like the example used in the previous model. However, unlike a micro continuity model, this training delivery model can continue indefinitely.  Many businesses use this model and offer varying levels of membership. For example, novice, apprentice, and master. They
automatically move people from module to module with a sequential upgrade feature that some membership software programs provide. And some membership sites have started requiring members to pass a test proving they’ve consumed the material before they can move up to the next level.

This actually motivates people to continue their membership because they want to achieve the next level – think about all those video games people continue to play simply because they want to get to the next level. It’s a powerful motivator.

And if you’re offering a training course that adds value to their life, helps them increase their value, or helps them make money then they’ll be motivated even more to become and stay a member.

User Benefits

Ultimately this membership model offers a system that helps someone learn at their own level. It also serves as a motivator. If they’re short on funds, they can bust through the program quickly and learn all they need to know. If they’re shorter on time, they can learn at their own pace without missing out on any information.

It’s also a convenient way to learn, nothing better than having the information delivered to you and stored in a manner that offers convenience and security.

Monetizing the Modular Course Model

This model can be easily monetized by offering a single membership subscription rate or the option to upgrade your membership if people want to access information at a faster rate. It can also be combined with other membership models, like publisher or product delivery, to add profit options.

Requirements for Success

A quality training course is essential. Unlike many of the other models, you don’t need to create a regular source of new information. Once your training course is developed, you can ultimately be finished with the content creation aspect of your membership site.

Membership Model #5 Protected Download Area

The product download area is ideal for information marketers. Members can subscribe to your site and have access to a secure download area full of information they’ve purchased with their membership.

It gives you more control over your downloaded material and helps protect against digital theft.

Monetizing the Protected Download Area Model

Generally, you can monetize your site in one of two ways, subscriptions or membership fees and the sale of affiliate or additional information products.

This model helps you continue to present yourself as an authority in your industry.

Membership Model #6 The Community Center

Many people go online every day with the sole purpose of connecting with other people. You can create a membership site devoted to a topic. People can become members, generally for free, and then share information on the niche topic.

Benefit to Users

The benefit is immense for users. They can learn and share information with like-minded people. And if the site is free, then it’s social networking at its best.

Monetizing the Community Center Model

Because this model works best when it’s offered for free, money can be made from selling ad space and from affiliate products.

Membership Model #7 The Coaching Site

Online coaches often find that the membership model helps them offer better services to their clients and a better coaching experience. It instantly increases value by creating a common coaching members area and a personalized area for each coaching client. It offers a much more personalized experience for clients because the coach can address specific concerns in the private area.

Monetizing this model is a bit different because a coach is likely already charging clients by the hour or by the session and wouldn’t want to add a membership fee to the rate.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a wide variety of membership website models. There is a wealth of opportunity to start a membership site as an individual business or to add it to an already existing business model to increase your value and profits.

The key is to plan your membership site around your vision, mission and target audience. And then to find the membership software/script that fits your needs.

To your membership site success!