Are you considering creating a blog membership site? If so, here are 7 tips to get you started on the right path!
Tip #1: Get Started Now Not Later
If you know that a blog membership program is for you, the first thing you should do is get started. Putting off something until you learn everything about it is just silly. For one thing, you’ll never truly know everything about your topic. For another, the longer you wait the more things change and the more you’ll have to learn.
While there’s something to be said about learning and offering your best, there’s also something to be said for trying to be a perfectionist, believing you don’t have anything to offer and putting it off.
The truth is that you’ll never be one hundred percent ready to start a blog membership program, but get started now rather than later!
If you’re uncomfortable charging people at this point, you can offer the membership to a few people at a low fee lifetime membership with direct access to you. This will allow you to have a group to learn from for future members.
Tip #2: Join And Learn From Other Membership Sites
If you don’t already belong to a membership site, now is the time to join. After all, how can you learn to run a membership program if you haven’t been involved in one?
If you are already a member of a blog membership site, use your membership to learn about running one for yourself. Borrowing really is the largest form of flattery, so if there’s something that just makes perfect sense in the membership site you’re a part of, use it.
For instance, maybe you like how the site is structured, or how monthly content is added, or how member forums are run. The possibilities of running a membership site might be limitless, but why not use what’s working for others?
Also, if you belong to a membership site that isn’t running smoothly, try to figure out why and take note of that as well so you can avoid making the same mistakes.
Some questions you can ask yourself include:
- What works well for you personally in regards to the membership sites you’re in and what doesn’t?
- What makes the site worth the cost? What’s the underlying value?
- What resources are easy to access and which should be publicized better?
- How can you better what’s already being done well?
- What is the wordpress membership plugin that they’re using?
- Is there a particular structure or theme that they’re using that works?
Tip #3: Engage With All Of Your Members
While some people manage to make valuable sites based on dripped content, there’s something to be said for engaging with your members. If someone knows that they’ll have some direct access to you and they feel like you really care about their success, they’ll be far more likely to join.
Engaging with your members can mean a variety of things.
It might mean that you have a very limited space and directly coach and mentor each person as they have questions or concerns. Obviously, this limits the number of people you can reach and could end up being very time intensive, but it’s also the most likely to build an engaged audience.
Engagement could also happen in the form of group sessions, live seminars, webinars, group phone calls or FAQ sessions. This is a great way to utilize your time well, but it’s also easy to create an environment in which some people speak up, and some don’t.
Middle ground options include, private Facebook groups, forums and text chats with office hours.
Beyond engaging directly with your members, encouraging them to engage with each other can help cut down on the amount you’ll need to respond to people personally.
Tip #4: Run Group Events
While having content that can be consumed anytime is important, it also has the potential to decrease engagement in the membership site.
You can buffer engagement by running some group events to spark involvement during specific periods of time. For instance, a lot of health and wellness membership sites have summer, fall, winter and spring challenges where everyone works to meet a weight loss goal.
Tip #5: Give Out Free Membership
When you’re just starting, it can be beneficial to give away free spots. You can do this with a particular strategy, or pick followers who want to join, but don’t have the resources. Giving away free spots can create loyalty that’s unbeatable and turn your new members into cheerleaders.
Tip #6: Keep Navigation Information Up To Date
While it might seem silly to say, a lot of people fail to think about their growth. One thing you definitely want to do is continuously keep your subscribers up to date with how to access and use your membership site.
This is especially important when someone leaves for a couple of months and comes back wondering if they want to continue their membership. Keeping your subscribers up to date on where things are located as your content expands, also just shows that you’re thinking of them. Little things like this matter!
#7: Adapt As Needed
Things change and you’ll need to be flexible to change. So, over time listen to your members and what their wants and needs are. If you have an email list or social platforms you plan on pitching your membership to, don’t be afraid to ask them what they want and do this on the regular to ensure the best success for your site!
Use these 7 tips for creating a blog membership program and you’ll be well on your way to also creating a happy, healthy and engaged membership platform!
