My Recent Email - Three Types of Membership Sites
Here’s another recent email I wrote to my readers. It’s about the three types of membership sites that you can build, and the software to power it. And at the end, I have a little advice about picking your software. Hint - a lot has to do with support.
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Before You Dive In - Three Types of Membership Sites…
=================================================There has been too much talk about membership sites. The
good, the bad, the opportunity… the hype.Before you dive right in, I want you to be aware what you
are getting yourself into. I want you to be clear about the
type of membership site you will be building…There are at least three types of membership sites. And
each type is different requires different kind of software
and different kind of management operations.hmm, writing this makes me want to expand this into a
longer blog post version later…The three types of membership sites…
[+] Download Area
[+] Content Subscription
[+] Social NetworkingDownload Area, is a membership site where people sign-up to
get access to the download area. And with a little viral
strategy, you get a Butterfly-type membership site.This is where you offer something for free upfront. And then
you put up a one-time offer during the sign-up process. And
then, you turn around and offer your members the opportunity
to make m oney as an affiliate. They’ll earn commission from
their referrals that take up the one-time offer.There are a bunch of software that you can use for this.
- Butterfly Marketing
- Viral Mini-Sites
- Easy Members Pro
- Viral Sales Generator (I use this at OptinDesign.com. Let
me know if you want to get this)Content Subscription, is the most common type of membership
site. This is where you build a site that you update
regularly, and sell access to the content. Software built
for the Download Area are not suitable for this as they are
not designed for frequently updated content.For this, I recommend WordPress, which is a solid content
management system. And you tie that together with aMember.
aMember is a durable software, with reliable support. It has
been in the market for years and has proven itself as the
leader in the market when it comes to membership management.aMember also supports a number of other content management.
If you are more familiar with other content management, you
can use that instead.- WordPress, and tie it up with aMember
The Social Networking. This is a membership site where you
allow members to actively interact with each others. In away
you are building a MySpace clone, or maybe a Facebook clone.You may want to set a special theme and attract only a
targeted group of people. It’ll be much more worth for
people to join.For example, you can build a site that gathers small
business owners. Or maybe a site for hypnotherapists.Here are two software that I can recommend…
- PHPFox
- Profile Manager Premium=================================================
A word about looking for software…
=================================================Here’s my golden rule…
Only go for solutions by a real software developer company
and not software from marketers. And make sure that the
company offering the software has proven track record i.e.
has been around for years, has a good number of clients.Well, the truth is, most software created by marketers are
poorly supported. The software they created was just to fill
in market need at that time, and normally will not be
developed further. What you buy will most probably be the
only version they will ever have.For me, I feel a lot safer getting software from a real
software development company, that continues to develop
their software. I know the software I get, it’s proven to
work, because others are using them right now. And even if
it doesn’t go my way, I know it’s backed by a company that
really knows their software - because they are the actual
developer.Well, I guess that’s all I can say this time.
Before getting into membership sites, make sure which one
you are building, OK…Feedbacks? Just write back. I love reading reader’s email.
And even if I don’t reply (sorry for that, sometimes I get
to caught up in other things I am doing), I do read your
emails.Warmest regards,
Iszuddin Ismail (Kidino)
[+] http://www.MiniSiteGallery.com
[+] http://www.DIYMiniSite.com
[+] http://www.OptinDesign.comp.s. ~ If you want to build your membership site using
Viral Sales Generator, let me know. I can help because I
have experience with the software. http://urlmoo.com/vsg
