Membership Software- Who Should Use it and Why
Who should use membership software on their website. Figuring out what software is right for your website.

 Membership software is being touted as the best way to add cash flow to a business or organization.  And yes it is a great ecommerce solution.  But you have to be aware of exactly what you are getting into before you blindly add this software to your website, or even build a new website around some membership management system.

Membership website software is part of what I call Social Software.  You could include such things as forums, or chat rooms, or even Groups as seen on Yahoo or Google.  All of these software systems are used to gather likeminded people together.  The difference with a membership website is that you also have the opportunity to collect a steady cash flow.

One big thing that you must understand about a membership site is that it requires attention.  If you build a site around one of your passions then this will probably be no problem.  But it will demand your time and energy.  Well, unless you subcontract out the work.  And yes this is done by many successful sites.  Also you can get volunteers to help in the moderation and servicing of members.  But again, you still have to be there for the moderators.

I've played around with different software programs (hunting for the cheapest and best membership site software).  I'll save you a lot of grief by telling you to avoid any free wordpress membership site plugins.  As soon as wordpress upgrades its system, everything gets thrown out of whack! ( and they upgrade often)

Determining exactly what you want to do will help you in choosing the right membership site software.  One fellow I know has video lessons for his clients.  Another has written lessons ( ebooks) and live coaches.  Another has a newsletter, etc etc.  Again the first step is having a clear goal.

Yaro ( of blogging fame) has a free report to help work out the essentials of setting up a membership site.  You can get the membership site building report through this link.    No sense me trying to sit here and paraphrase the thing!

Yes a membership site can bring in a lot of money, but you will burn yourself out if that is the only reason you start one.

Think of your membership site as a club, or community organization.  It is a meeting of kindred spirits.  The difference between you and the local book club is that you have a world population to draw on.  It may be hard to pull together 100 people in your neighborhood, but it quite easy to build a club of thousands on the internet.  I belonged to one membership site that had a membership of over 100,000 and spawned get togethers all over the world.

This brings up another benefit to a membership site.  You can add other money making items, such as trips, conventions and books.  Not to mention recommended products which can be sold through a drop shipper ( you don't have to touch one thing).

Anyway, I'll let Yaro fill in the details and help you get started.  Just remember, it really helps to be a sociable personality to thrive with a membership site.  

by Colin Noden -

Back to Top

###

Source: http://www.websitebuildingforbeginners.com