Website Setup
Wow!
We've got a hungry market, we've got a winning concept, and we've got sizzling content. Now we need to get our website up and running.
This article is not a tutorial on how to setup a website or even how to install WordPress. I assume you know how to do that.
If you don't it's not tough to learn and there are plenty of tutorials available on the internet – in fact, I've included one as a resource to this article.
I will, however, provide a checklist – just to keep things moving forward this hour.
Step #1: Choose a name for your website.
Here you need to make a list of several different names that would describe what the main objective of your website and its theme is. Put the ones that have fewer than 20 letters in them at the top of your list.
Step#2: Find out what names are available.
Go to Godaddy.com or NameCheap.com and do a search beginning with the names you have chosen that have the fewest number of letters in them. Search until you find a suitable domain name.
Step #3: Register the domain name.
Godaddy.com or NameCheap.com are the two best. I use Godaddy.com but only because I've used them for years – starting when they were the unchallenged leader.
Step #4: Get a web hosting account.
Again, I use Godaddy because of my long relationship with them. But, HostGator.com is probably the industry leader for low-cost, quality hosting.
Step #5: Install WordPress on the web server.
You're going to use WordPress 'cause it is the simplest, most cost effective solution available.
Step #6: Set up payment processing.
Unless you have reason to do otherwise, go with Paypal or ClickBank. You need this
whether you are selling memberships, merchandise or both.
PayPal, of course, is free and all you really need to do is setup a Premium or Business account. ClickBank costs money ($49 for the first product) and requires you to setup products with product pages and “Thank You” pages. ClickBank, though, helps you recruit affiliates – which can greatly increase sales.
Showing posts with label free membership site. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free membership site. Show all posts
Friday, 26 March 2010
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Creating Your Content
Setting Up Your Studio
1. Text/Presentation Editing
You may want to deliver some of your content in web pages posted to your site or maybe in a PDF file that can be read online or downloaded to the member's computer. You may also want to create video presentations that are like a business slide presentation but in a more active, video format.
The hands-down best piece of software to do this with is Open Office. It's pretty much a replacement for Microsoft's Office suite so if you have a recent copy of MS Office, by all means use it.
But if you don't have Microsoft Office or your version is old and doesn't have the latest features (like “Save to PDF”) then get yourself over to OpenOffice.org and grab yourself a copy.
Of course, it's open source software so it's free. But it's so good that I gave up updating my Microsoft Office license 3 years ago. It has the same modules as Microsoft Office (Word = Writer, Excel = Calc, PowerPoint = Impress, etc.) and you can read and write Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.
It also lets you save to PDF (with basic security and protection) from all of the modules. It's superbly written, almost entirely bug free (I've only noticed a few minor glitches in the 3 years I've been using it) and it's FREE!
2a. Audio Editing - Microphone
The next level up in content is probably audio content. Joy Anderson, the lady in the Micro-Continuity free report (see the Resources section) delivered her entire course content in audio. It's much faster and easier than writing and putting together audio content is a cinch.
For a microphone, I use a cheap, DyNex DX-28 headset that I got from BestBuy for less than $25. After I bought it, I looked at the reviews and there were some frightening ones, but the headset has worked swell for me (4 months).
Another choice that has some great reviews is the DyNex DX-54 microphone (no headset). It's less than $20 from BestBuy and you can get it for less than $10 from Amazon.com Marketplace.
If you really want to save some money, try the Olympus ME-52 Noise Cancellation
Microphone – at Amazon.com new for just $4.99. It certainly isn't a long term solution but it'll get you up and running for less than $10.
2b. Audio Editing - Software
There are probably other alternatives out there but I'm going to point you to the one I use because
1. it's free (you'll notice that theme running through most of my recommendations)
2. it's easy to use
3. it's available for both Windows and Mac operating systems
Audacity is just a super product that will let you capture and easily edit you audio content. If you'd like to see how easy it is to use, take a look at this video on editing out background noise, breathing, and lip smacks (yep, you'll do it too!).
http://showmedo.com/videotutorials/video?name=7330000&fromSeriesID=733
Some of the things Ian Ozsvald does in this tutorial are little advanced, but just take note of how easily it's done. Easy things, like cutting out audio sections you don't want or re-recording a section and “pasting” it into the mix, are pretty intuitive and pretty simple with Audacity.
3. Video Camera
One step up from audio casting is video casting. The simplest form of video-casting has you simply pointing a video camera at yourself while you're delivering your content. If you have something to demonstrate (e.g. setting up and using photography studio equipment), video is the perfect delivery medium.
Most of today's digital video cameras will work just fine. Actually, many of the latest consumer digital still cameras take excellent video. The primary limitation is the amount of video (length) the still camera will capture.
If you don't already have a camera that will capture video, one of the best values on the market is the Flip Video camera from Pure Digital Technologies, LLC. It's simple to use – you just point it where you want it and press the big red “Record” button on the back.
Unfortunately, I don't know where you can get a Flip Video camera for free, but I've seen the 60 minute version on Amazon.com for as low as $100. On Ebay, they're even less.
4. Screen Capture
With screen capture, we're still talking video but we've stepped it up from the simple recording of you doing your “thing” to the capturing information from your computer screen in a way that your members can learn whatever it is you're coaching them to do.
The premier product in this category is Camtasia Studio from TechSmith. It does everything you'd ever want to do while creating content for your membership site. The only drawback is that it costs $300 – which is a fair price for what it can do. But, that's a lot of cash to spend when you're just starting out.
If you can't or don't care to go the Camtasia route there are some alternatives, but I'll have to admit they are compromises.
Wink – this is a great little FREE program for screen captures and video tutorials. It has a pretty nifty editor that provides a great deal of control over your video output. The problem with Wink is that the audio output is REALLY poor. For some reason, it sounds like you're speaking in a tunnel with towel over your mouth.
However, Wink does have nifty text annotation features that make soundless videos very doable and very useful. CamStudio – the Camtasia wannabe. It doesn't do everything Camtasia does and, honestly, most of the things it does do Camtasia does better. But for small, short screen captures and tutorials, it works very well.
Besides, it's FREE. Jing – from the makers of Camtasia, this is a great program for screen capture. There's a free version that allows you to capture up to 5 minutes of video for immediate publishing to the internet or downloading to your own computer. The major drawback to the free version is that it only outputs .SWF files. That's great for publishing on the internet but it's a pain if you need to edit the video since most video editing tools don't work with .SWF files.
My suggestion? Camtasia if your budget allows. CamStudio if your budget is tight. Jing if you don't expect to do any editing.
Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with free products for MacIntosh. You folks will have to explore that on your own.
5. Video Editing
If you're good, you'll get everything in 1 take. But, if you're a dimwit like me – or if you're a perfectionist (that's good!) - you're going to make mistakes that you'll either want to edit out or edit over.
Camtasia Studio returns as the product to have in this category as well. As I said, it's the premier product for creating and editing video. Buy it if you can.
But if you can't, Microsoft bundles the very robust Windows Movie Maker in with Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and I would think Version 7. It's actually surprising how much you can do with this tool.
If you're running on a Windows machine and you don't already have – and are not prepared to buy – Camtasia, Windows Movie Maker is the product for you.
6. Utilities
There's only one utility I want to recommend and that's Any Video Converter. You won't need this product if you're using Camtasia.
But if you're using CamStudio and/or Windows Movie Maker, you'll want to convert you output from .AVI (CamStudio) or .WMV (Windows Movie Maker) to the more compressed, more flexible, and more internet friendly .FLV file type.
Any Video Converter is only $29 for the Pro Version. There's actually a FREE version that will accomplish the conversions to .FLV – but $29 is a very fair price to pay for what this software can do for your membership site.
1. Text/Presentation Editing
You may want to deliver some of your content in web pages posted to your site or maybe in a PDF file that can be read online or downloaded to the member's computer. You may also want to create video presentations that are like a business slide presentation but in a more active, video format.
The hands-down best piece of software to do this with is Open Office. It's pretty much a replacement for Microsoft's Office suite so if you have a recent copy of MS Office, by all means use it.
But if you don't have Microsoft Office or your version is old and doesn't have the latest features (like “Save to PDF”) then get yourself over to OpenOffice.org and grab yourself a copy.
Of course, it's open source software so it's free. But it's so good that I gave up updating my Microsoft Office license 3 years ago. It has the same modules as Microsoft Office (Word = Writer, Excel = Calc, PowerPoint = Impress, etc.) and you can read and write Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.
It also lets you save to PDF (with basic security and protection) from all of the modules. It's superbly written, almost entirely bug free (I've only noticed a few minor glitches in the 3 years I've been using it) and it's FREE!
2a. Audio Editing - Microphone
The next level up in content is probably audio content. Joy Anderson, the lady in the Micro-Continuity free report (see the Resources section) delivered her entire course content in audio. It's much faster and easier than writing and putting together audio content is a cinch.
For a microphone, I use a cheap, DyNex DX-28 headset that I got from BestBuy for less than $25. After I bought it, I looked at the reviews and there were some frightening ones, but the headset has worked swell for me (4 months).
Another choice that has some great reviews is the DyNex DX-54 microphone (no headset). It's less than $20 from BestBuy and you can get it for less than $10 from Amazon.com Marketplace.
If you really want to save some money, try the Olympus ME-52 Noise Cancellation
Microphone – at Amazon.com new for just $4.99. It certainly isn't a long term solution but it'll get you up and running for less than $10.
2b. Audio Editing - Software
There are probably other alternatives out there but I'm going to point you to the one I use because
1. it's free (you'll notice that theme running through most of my recommendations)
2. it's easy to use
3. it's available for both Windows and Mac operating systems
Audacity is just a super product that will let you capture and easily edit you audio content. If you'd like to see how easy it is to use, take a look at this video on editing out background noise, breathing, and lip smacks (yep, you'll do it too!).
http://showmedo.com/videotutorials/video?name=7330000&fromSeriesID=733
Some of the things Ian Ozsvald does in this tutorial are little advanced, but just take note of how easily it's done. Easy things, like cutting out audio sections you don't want or re-recording a section and “pasting” it into the mix, are pretty intuitive and pretty simple with Audacity.
3. Video Camera
One step up from audio casting is video casting. The simplest form of video-casting has you simply pointing a video camera at yourself while you're delivering your content. If you have something to demonstrate (e.g. setting up and using photography studio equipment), video is the perfect delivery medium.
Most of today's digital video cameras will work just fine. Actually, many of the latest consumer digital still cameras take excellent video. The primary limitation is the amount of video (length) the still camera will capture.
If you don't already have a camera that will capture video, one of the best values on the market is the Flip Video camera from Pure Digital Technologies, LLC. It's simple to use – you just point it where you want it and press the big red “Record” button on the back.
Unfortunately, I don't know where you can get a Flip Video camera for free, but I've seen the 60 minute version on Amazon.com for as low as $100. On Ebay, they're even less.
4. Screen Capture
With screen capture, we're still talking video but we've stepped it up from the simple recording of you doing your “thing” to the capturing information from your computer screen in a way that your members can learn whatever it is you're coaching them to do.
The premier product in this category is Camtasia Studio from TechSmith. It does everything you'd ever want to do while creating content for your membership site. The only drawback is that it costs $300 – which is a fair price for what it can do. But, that's a lot of cash to spend when you're just starting out.
If you can't or don't care to go the Camtasia route there are some alternatives, but I'll have to admit they are compromises.
Wink – this is a great little FREE program for screen captures and video tutorials. It has a pretty nifty editor that provides a great deal of control over your video output. The problem with Wink is that the audio output is REALLY poor. For some reason, it sounds like you're speaking in a tunnel with towel over your mouth.
However, Wink does have nifty text annotation features that make soundless videos very doable and very useful. CamStudio – the Camtasia wannabe. It doesn't do everything Camtasia does and, honestly, most of the things it does do Camtasia does better. But for small, short screen captures and tutorials, it works very well.
Besides, it's FREE. Jing – from the makers of Camtasia, this is a great program for screen capture. There's a free version that allows you to capture up to 5 minutes of video for immediate publishing to the internet or downloading to your own computer. The major drawback to the free version is that it only outputs .SWF files. That's great for publishing on the internet but it's a pain if you need to edit the video since most video editing tools don't work with .SWF files.
My suggestion? Camtasia if your budget allows. CamStudio if your budget is tight. Jing if you don't expect to do any editing.
Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with free products for MacIntosh. You folks will have to explore that on your own.
5. Video Editing
If you're good, you'll get everything in 1 take. But, if you're a dimwit like me – or if you're a perfectionist (that's good!) - you're going to make mistakes that you'll either want to edit out or edit over.
Camtasia Studio returns as the product to have in this category as well. As I said, it's the premier product for creating and editing video. Buy it if you can.
But if you can't, Microsoft bundles the very robust Windows Movie Maker in with Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and I would think Version 7. It's actually surprising how much you can do with this tool.
If you're running on a Windows machine and you don't already have – and are not prepared to buy – Camtasia, Windows Movie Maker is the product for you.
6. Utilities
There's only one utility I want to recommend and that's Any Video Converter. You won't need this product if you're using Camtasia.
But if you're using CamStudio and/or Windows Movie Maker, you'll want to convert you output from .AVI (CamStudio) or .WMV (Windows Movie Maker) to the more compressed, more flexible, and more internet friendly .FLV file type.
Any Video Converter is only $29 for the Pro Version. There's actually a FREE version that will accomplish the conversions to .FLV – but $29 is a very fair price to pay for what this software can do for your membership site.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
What Do You Need to Know About Starting a Membership Site?
There are many things you should know about when you start a membership site. There are many things you need to consider that has to do with setting up the membership site, with gaining members, providing content and how to keep your site growing. Keep reading in order to find out some of the things that you may need for a successful site that you may not have thought of yet. This information will hopefully help you to be ready for a successful membership site.
When setting up a membership site you need to be able to choose the correct domain name and best hosting package for your membership site.
You need to discover the best fee to charge for your membership. Will you use a one-time fee, recurring monthly or annual fees?
How will you create and manage your private parts of your membership site? How will your protect these areas?
How will you update your site's content? Will it be easy to update content? Will it be easy to make administrative changes?
How can you increase your revenue? How can you maintain your membership loyalty so they won't jump ship and join a competitor's membership site?
How can you know for sure that you understand your membership's needs and that you are offering them valuable content, products and service?
How are you taking care of membership orders such as a shopping cart?
What are your payment services and are they secure?
Some things that you may need to know about before starting your membership site besides the basics of starting and maintaining the site is what features, layouts, fonts, and site colors will attract and keep the interest of your membership?
When choosing your topic how do you know which topics are hot for membership sites and what kind of research can you do to discover this?
What successful membership sites are out there that you can look at and learn from?
Do you have a business plan and a marketing plan to ensure your success?
Do you have a way to solicit feedback from your membership so that you can find out how to improve your membership site?
Do you know anything about marketing and how to promote your membership site?
Answering these questions can help you to get off on the right foot when it comes to being prepared for success.
The more knowledgeable and prepared you are for what can and will happen with your membership site the more capable you will be when it comes to handling what may come up with your site.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing
Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: Secrets of List Building
Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.
When setting up a membership site you need to be able to choose the correct domain name and best hosting package for your membership site.
You need to discover the best fee to charge for your membership. Will you use a one-time fee, recurring monthly or annual fees?
How will you create and manage your private parts of your membership site? How will your protect these areas?
How will you update your site's content? Will it be easy to update content? Will it be easy to make administrative changes?
How can you increase your revenue? How can you maintain your membership loyalty so they won't jump ship and join a competitor's membership site?
How can you know for sure that you understand your membership's needs and that you are offering them valuable content, products and service?
How are you taking care of membership orders such as a shopping cart?
What are your payment services and are they secure?
Some things that you may need to know about before starting your membership site besides the basics of starting and maintaining the site is what features, layouts, fonts, and site colors will attract and keep the interest of your membership?
When choosing your topic how do you know which topics are hot for membership sites and what kind of research can you do to discover this?
What successful membership sites are out there that you can look at and learn from?
Do you have a business plan and a marketing plan to ensure your success?
Do you have a way to solicit feedback from your membership so that you can find out how to improve your membership site?
Do you know anything about marketing and how to promote your membership site?
Answering these questions can help you to get off on the right foot when it comes to being prepared for success.
The more knowledgeable and prepared you are for what can and will happen with your membership site the more capable you will be when it comes to handling what may come up with your site.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing
Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: Secrets of List Building
Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.
If You Want to Produce More Money, Run a Membership Site
Membership sites are very profitable and already having a lot of successful case. However, many people are still struggling and do not understand how to make money from membership site. It is because most of the membership sites promote intangible, like software, or information product than that of tangible items. After all, you do not have any inventory problem; you do not need any supplier or something like that. What you are promoting is knowledge and that is where money is inside.
Consider this: using two high profile company as an example, if we compare Google, whose focus is mainly on intangible product, with Microsoft, whose focuses is on tangible product, you may be surprised at the conclusion. Actually it is said that Google has beaten Microsoft in both profits and the Internet web users, at least that is according to what Marissa Mayer of Google's consumer products says. Even though it is no mistake that the web is a global market place with millions of products, which are being bought and sold each day, we expect more than that. People who are on the web want to find information, especially high quality information.
Information is where the value resided in and is the most stable way of making money. And therefore membership sites are coming in and people who own a membership site will earn a lot of money.
What specifically are Membership Sites?
Membership site is mainly developed for a specific group of people or niche, and usually offers important information that these people are searching and willing to pay for.
The best way to understand what people want is by researching what people are looking for and how your information can help them to solve their problem as quick as possible, on a specific topic. People are entering keywords to start searching, therefore researching for these keywords are very important, and is often the first step of starting a membership site.
Why do people prefer Membership Sites?
Membership site can deliver values and benefits to both owner and members. From the owner's point of view, it is obvious that members are paying money for that kind of information. From the member's point of view, they can easily access the information they need to solve their problem without having to spend a lot of time researching on the Internet. Membership sites are therefore very useful for both site owner and members.
Types of Membership Sites
There are two main membership types, one is paid and one is free, and both of these websites can generate revenue in different ways. For paid membership site you can earn residual income from membership fees. Free membership site will have a list of members and you can promote affiliate products and earn money. Even though both types of memberships can earn you money, the number of paid members may be less than that of free members. It is because free membership is free. You may expect that the number of free members may outrage the paid one.
How does Membership Sites Make Their Money?
Both paid and free membership sites provide high quality content for their members and relationship between owner and viewers were built. Such kind of relationship also establishes trust, which is what every Internet marketers truly want. While your members will treat you as an expert in particular field, they will buy more things from you.
With the trust in place, site owner can begin their affiliate marketing programs. You will offer other people's products that are related to your membership site and get commission on every sale. You can also take advantage of your membership in another way, like market your e-books, audio and video clips, that related to your site.
Membership site has already become a growing trend on the Internet today, and it is also a good start to people who would like to begin their home business and make money online. Running a membership site in the right way can product you unlimited amount of profit. So just starting it now.
Did you find this article useful? Actually if you are serious in making money online through membership website, or just a normal ecommerce website, Turbo Membership is the only choice of you. Go their and sign up now.
Consider this: using two high profile company as an example, if we compare Google, whose focus is mainly on intangible product, with Microsoft, whose focuses is on tangible product, you may be surprised at the conclusion. Actually it is said that Google has beaten Microsoft in both profits and the Internet web users, at least that is according to what Marissa Mayer of Google's consumer products says. Even though it is no mistake that the web is a global market place with millions of products, which are being bought and sold each day, we expect more than that. People who are on the web want to find information, especially high quality information.
Information is where the value resided in and is the most stable way of making money. And therefore membership sites are coming in and people who own a membership site will earn a lot of money.
What specifically are Membership Sites?
Membership site is mainly developed for a specific group of people or niche, and usually offers important information that these people are searching and willing to pay for.
The best way to understand what people want is by researching what people are looking for and how your information can help them to solve their problem as quick as possible, on a specific topic. People are entering keywords to start searching, therefore researching for these keywords are very important, and is often the first step of starting a membership site.
Why do people prefer Membership Sites?
Membership site can deliver values and benefits to both owner and members. From the owner's point of view, it is obvious that members are paying money for that kind of information. From the member's point of view, they can easily access the information they need to solve their problem without having to spend a lot of time researching on the Internet. Membership sites are therefore very useful for both site owner and members.
Types of Membership Sites
There are two main membership types, one is paid and one is free, and both of these websites can generate revenue in different ways. For paid membership site you can earn residual income from membership fees. Free membership site will have a list of members and you can promote affiliate products and earn money. Even though both types of memberships can earn you money, the number of paid members may be less than that of free members. It is because free membership is free. You may expect that the number of free members may outrage the paid one.
How does Membership Sites Make Their Money?
Both paid and free membership sites provide high quality content for their members and relationship between owner and viewers were built. Such kind of relationship also establishes trust, which is what every Internet marketers truly want. While your members will treat you as an expert in particular field, they will buy more things from you.
With the trust in place, site owner can begin their affiliate marketing programs. You will offer other people's products that are related to your membership site and get commission on every sale. You can also take advantage of your membership in another way, like market your e-books, audio and video clips, that related to your site.
Membership site has already become a growing trend on the Internet today, and it is also a good start to people who would like to begin their home business and make money online. Running a membership site in the right way can product you unlimited amount of profit. So just starting it now.
Did you find this article useful? Actually if you are serious in making money online through membership website, or just a normal ecommerce website, Turbo Membership is the only choice of you. Go their and sign up now.
Friday, 5 March 2010
WordPress Membership Site - The Easiest Way to Set Up a Membership Site With Wordpress
If you don't own a membership site you are more than likely missing out on a very profitable income stream. It's no accident that most Internet marketers have a membership site or more than one.
The great thing about a membership site is that if you sell a product you can offer a month free to your membership site as bonus therefore making your products more easy to sell and creating multiple streams of income from one customer.
Also people love to learn so if you have great content and you want to spread out in the form of an online course what better way than a membership site. Your course material i.e. module one is delivered on the day that they sign up and use sequential modules will all be available to them month after month.
The best thing about a membership site is that once it's in place and all the content or modules are in place and ready to be delivered you can leave it to start on your next project knowing that one site can generate a sizeable income for years to come.
WordPress the new Standard
WordPress with its easy-to-use plug-in architecture is fast becoming a standard on the web today, making it extremely easy for you to have a fully working website up and ready in a matter of hours.
For many WordPress is just a blog, but it can be so much more with new plug-ins appearing every day!
The plug-in I'm talking about today will turn your WordPress blog into a fully functional membership site which will be fully incorporated into your autoresponder and shopping cart.
The best part is, it's easy to use. Just unzip, upload and within minutes you can have your own membership site up and running.
Types of Membership Site
When you hear "Membership Sites" it's likely you think about a site publishing ongoing content.
Am I right?
But what if I told you that there are many "types" of membership sites.
Take a look...
1) Ongoing Content - This is your traditional membership site. Essentially you provide fresh content on a regular basis and people pay monthly to access that content whenever they want.
2) Protected Download Area - If you sell any type of digital product, you'll want to protect it behind a membership.
Why?
Because that way you can prevent people from passing your info to others who haven't paid for it AND you can block their access should they ask for a refund.
3) UPS Method - This type of membership is used when you deliver a "package" of content to your members each month.
They belong to your membership so they can receive this "package" every month.
A good example would be a Private Label Rights membership. With those memberships they deliver a package of PLR content each month.
4) Course Materials - If you sell any type of course that has "Modules", then you should consider putting it into a membership site.
When you select the right membership software, you can automatically deliver each module at a predefined time so that everything is automated.
That way you can create the course once, but after that people can continue to sign up and receive the course one module at a time.
5) Micro Continuity - This membership was made popular by Russell Brunson and essentially it involves delivering content for a fixed period of time.
It's similar to running a "modular course" where you automatically deliver content but over a fixed period of time (3-6 months).
6) Project Management System - Running a virtual business often means you are working with vendors around the world.
With the right membership solution you can quickly create a "private membership" for YOUR company.
Just setup a membership level for each "position" in your company and then create a section of your site just for people who belong to that position (webmaster, designer, customer support etc.).
You can find out about my number 1 recommended way to set up a Wordpress Membership site with an easy to use plug-in by clicking here
Set Up Your Own Secure Member Area For FREEE
The great thing about a membership site is that if you sell a product you can offer a month free to your membership site as bonus therefore making your products more easy to sell and creating multiple streams of income from one customer.
Also people love to learn so if you have great content and you want to spread out in the form of an online course what better way than a membership site. Your course material i.e. module one is delivered on the day that they sign up and use sequential modules will all be available to them month after month.
The best thing about a membership site is that once it's in place and all the content or modules are in place and ready to be delivered you can leave it to start on your next project knowing that one site can generate a sizeable income for years to come.
WordPress the new Standard
WordPress with its easy-to-use plug-in architecture is fast becoming a standard on the web today, making it extremely easy for you to have a fully working website up and ready in a matter of hours.
For many WordPress is just a blog, but it can be so much more with new plug-ins appearing every day!
The plug-in I'm talking about today will turn your WordPress blog into a fully functional membership site which will be fully incorporated into your autoresponder and shopping cart.
The best part is, it's easy to use. Just unzip, upload and within minutes you can have your own membership site up and running.
Types of Membership Site
When you hear "Membership Sites" it's likely you think about a site publishing ongoing content.
Am I right?
But what if I told you that there are many "types" of membership sites.
Take a look...
1) Ongoing Content - This is your traditional membership site. Essentially you provide fresh content on a regular basis and people pay monthly to access that content whenever they want.
2) Protected Download Area - If you sell any type of digital product, you'll want to protect it behind a membership.
Why?
Because that way you can prevent people from passing your info to others who haven't paid for it AND you can block their access should they ask for a refund.
3) UPS Method - This type of membership is used when you deliver a "package" of content to your members each month.
They belong to your membership so they can receive this "package" every month.
A good example would be a Private Label Rights membership. With those memberships they deliver a package of PLR content each month.
4) Course Materials - If you sell any type of course that has "Modules", then you should consider putting it into a membership site.
When you select the right membership software, you can automatically deliver each module at a predefined time so that everything is automated.
That way you can create the course once, but after that people can continue to sign up and receive the course one module at a time.
5) Micro Continuity - This membership was made popular by Russell Brunson and essentially it involves delivering content for a fixed period of time.
It's similar to running a "modular course" where you automatically deliver content but over a fixed period of time (3-6 months).
6) Project Management System - Running a virtual business often means you are working with vendors around the world.
With the right membership solution you can quickly create a "private membership" for YOUR company.
Just setup a membership level for each "position" in your company and then create a section of your site just for people who belong to that position (webmaster, designer, customer support etc.).
You can find out about my number 1 recommended way to set up a Wordpress Membership site with an easy to use plug-in by clicking here
Set Up Your Own Secure Member Area For FREEE
Monday, 1 March 2010
How Do Membership Sites Generate Income?
Membership sites can generate income in many ways. They generate income from membership fees, ad space, sale of products, by developing proprietary technology and then selling it or charge a fee to the membership to use it, and marketing services and products to the membership. The successful membership site owner will recognize a need within the membership and fill it thus successfully making lots of money.
Is a membership site right for you and can you make good money with the site?
Individuals who run successful membership sites know how to keep site members coming back, stay in contact with members, send special offers to the membership to add to sales, knows how to give incentives like coupons, and discounts to encourage spending and also knows how to sell advertising on the site to others as another source of revenue.
Memberships generate income to site owners because the site can enhance a current business or service, encourage customer loyalty.
Any business is all about making money and membership sites can make any business more profitable when a membership site is connected to it. Membership sites can generate multiple streams of income once a base membership is established by selling affiliate products, money from AdSense and other ad sales. Ultimately the site can even be sold for a profit down the line such as the recent sale of YouTube.
Anyone can set up a membership site and begin to generate multiple streams of income from the sale of the subscriptions to the sites, to products and services, to teleseminars and coaching. There are many possibilities and the sky is really the limit when it comes to the income generating potential of membership sites. When you have a membership site you have a ready audience for the marketing of any future products or services. Your membership will come to trust you and to be eager for your next product or service. With every resource, every time you offer fresh content you are building up the seeds for future sales from your members. Members will also begin a cycle of saying yes to your offers to the point that they will eagerly be waiting for your next offer.
A membership site is right for you if you have a current business, or profession and want a platform to sell to of responsive individuals eager for your next offering.
Membership sites generate income from within the membership, from outside advertisers, from the subscriptions, and from the sale of additional products and services sold to the membership. Membership sites often have several different tiers of membership with each advancing tier being of higher value and higher subscription rate. A member may join at the free level become involved with the site, enjoying the free benefits and learning how valuable the site is and is exposed to the higher levels of content that are available only to those who pay the higher fees. The member will eventually decide to pay for the next tier, and then a higher tier after that. The site owner will receive income from the same member multiple times.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing
Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: Secrets of List Building
Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.
Set Up Your Free Secure Membership Site In 60mins
Is a membership site right for you and can you make good money with the site?
Individuals who run successful membership sites know how to keep site members coming back, stay in contact with members, send special offers to the membership to add to sales, knows how to give incentives like coupons, and discounts to encourage spending and also knows how to sell advertising on the site to others as another source of revenue.
Memberships generate income to site owners because the site can enhance a current business or service, encourage customer loyalty.
Any business is all about making money and membership sites can make any business more profitable when a membership site is connected to it. Membership sites can generate multiple streams of income once a base membership is established by selling affiliate products, money from AdSense and other ad sales. Ultimately the site can even be sold for a profit down the line such as the recent sale of YouTube.
Anyone can set up a membership site and begin to generate multiple streams of income from the sale of the subscriptions to the sites, to products and services, to teleseminars and coaching. There are many possibilities and the sky is really the limit when it comes to the income generating potential of membership sites. When you have a membership site you have a ready audience for the marketing of any future products or services. Your membership will come to trust you and to be eager for your next product or service. With every resource, every time you offer fresh content you are building up the seeds for future sales from your members. Members will also begin a cycle of saying yes to your offers to the point that they will eagerly be waiting for your next offer.
A membership site is right for you if you have a current business, or profession and want a platform to sell to of responsive individuals eager for your next offering.
Membership sites generate income from within the membership, from outside advertisers, from the subscriptions, and from the sale of additional products and services sold to the membership. Membership sites often have several different tiers of membership with each advancing tier being of higher value and higher subscription rate. A member may join at the free level become involved with the site, enjoying the free benefits and learning how valuable the site is and is exposed to the higher levels of content that are available only to those who pay the higher fees. The member will eventually decide to pay for the next tier, and then a higher tier after that. The site owner will receive income from the same member multiple times.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing
Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: Secrets of List Building
Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.
Set Up Your Free Secure Membership Site In 60mins
Are You Ready for Your Own Income Generating Membership Site?
Everyone would jump at the chance to have a membership site that brings in a monthly recurring income and have to do only a minimum amount of work if any at all.
Clue me in as to what the "membership site" is all about!
You are absolutely right! A membership site provides the same service for a group of people who have the same need or interest.
As long as they retain their membership, you will charge these people monthly, quarterly or yearly or whatever the terms of your contract with them states for using your service.
This is not like a one time sale offer for which you continually need to find new customers for. You will also not need to come up with any new products to upsell the current ones that are available. A membership site business will give you a reliable, stable and steady income each and every month. In order to keep your clients happy and turn them into a royalty customer depends upon your service to them.
If you are a good Internet marketer, you will need to have a membership site of your very own. You may never have thought about running your own membership site, but it attracts customers like flies to honey and in some ways it is easier to manage than the typical affiliate sites.
The goal of an affiliate marketer is to build a strong customer list. When you have a membership site, it is an excellent means of getting that list built up fast. The all important list is usually what a membership site is composed of - interested people who want to return to see what is being offered. People may join a membership site for a number of reasons. They may want to subscribe to a newsletter that you offer, they may be glad to get several things that they want all in one convenient place, or it may be something as simple as loving the font that you use on your site. No matter what the reason for their joining, members can be charged a monthly fee in order to get access to what you have to offer. This generally will consist of articles, services that are available to them, a customer service line for questions and problems and a forum to tie everything together.
When you have a steady stream of members who are paying you monthly, then it is easy to meet your monthly income goals. This can be in addition to any affiliate sales, or it may be used in place of them. Some affiliate marketers love to build their membership site rather than keep several different affiliate websites going. A membership site is able to be marketed more easily than several smaller affiliate websites.
Some membership sites on the Internet use their affiliate marketing programs to attract new clients. For members who bring in other new paying members, a flat fee or commission is given to them. This can also be done by waiving part of the membership fee for those members who wish to recruit. This does not cost the site owner anything, and it brings in new clientele at an exponential rate. Using a system like this, one can get large membership numbers much more quickly and it is also less expensive.
Membership sites are a safe way to protect against sales slumps. In a month that has a low sales volume, you can experience a cushion by a steady income of recurring monthly membership fees. If you happen to experience problems with your smaller sites, such as losing your search engine rankings or if a product of yours bites the dust, then the larger site can step in and make up for any lost income.
There are also free membership sites on the Internet that are set up in the same way, but these sites try to attract members by not charging any fees. The income that these sites will realize is in trying to obtain the largest list possible in order to market to in the hopes of getting sales. Having a free membership site will not bring in the recurring membership fees, but, in the long run, it will have a wider membership. Whether you wish to charge to have people enter your website or not, if you have a membership site, this is a strong marketing technique that will help to brand not only your information but your products as well.
CW Teo has years of vast experience in Affiliate Marketing. Membership Sites Generate Billions Of Dollars In Income Every Year - Isn't It Time You Grabbed Your Share Of This Incredible Profits Opportunity Today? [http://www.membership-millionaire.net]
Get Your Own Membership Site Here For FREE
Clue me in as to what the "membership site" is all about!
You are absolutely right! A membership site provides the same service for a group of people who have the same need or interest.
As long as they retain their membership, you will charge these people monthly, quarterly or yearly or whatever the terms of your contract with them states for using your service.
This is not like a one time sale offer for which you continually need to find new customers for. You will also not need to come up with any new products to upsell the current ones that are available. A membership site business will give you a reliable, stable and steady income each and every month. In order to keep your clients happy and turn them into a royalty customer depends upon your service to them.
If you are a good Internet marketer, you will need to have a membership site of your very own. You may never have thought about running your own membership site, but it attracts customers like flies to honey and in some ways it is easier to manage than the typical affiliate sites.
The goal of an affiliate marketer is to build a strong customer list. When you have a membership site, it is an excellent means of getting that list built up fast. The all important list is usually what a membership site is composed of - interested people who want to return to see what is being offered. People may join a membership site for a number of reasons. They may want to subscribe to a newsletter that you offer, they may be glad to get several things that they want all in one convenient place, or it may be something as simple as loving the font that you use on your site. No matter what the reason for their joining, members can be charged a monthly fee in order to get access to what you have to offer. This generally will consist of articles, services that are available to them, a customer service line for questions and problems and a forum to tie everything together.
When you have a steady stream of members who are paying you monthly, then it is easy to meet your monthly income goals. This can be in addition to any affiliate sales, or it may be used in place of them. Some affiliate marketers love to build their membership site rather than keep several different affiliate websites going. A membership site is able to be marketed more easily than several smaller affiliate websites.
Some membership sites on the Internet use their affiliate marketing programs to attract new clients. For members who bring in other new paying members, a flat fee or commission is given to them. This can also be done by waiving part of the membership fee for those members who wish to recruit. This does not cost the site owner anything, and it brings in new clientele at an exponential rate. Using a system like this, one can get large membership numbers much more quickly and it is also less expensive.
Membership sites are a safe way to protect against sales slumps. In a month that has a low sales volume, you can experience a cushion by a steady income of recurring monthly membership fees. If you happen to experience problems with your smaller sites, such as losing your search engine rankings or if a product of yours bites the dust, then the larger site can step in and make up for any lost income.
There are also free membership sites on the Internet that are set up in the same way, but these sites try to attract members by not charging any fees. The income that these sites will realize is in trying to obtain the largest list possible in order to market to in the hopes of getting sales. Having a free membership site will not bring in the recurring membership fees, but, in the long run, it will have a wider membership. Whether you wish to charge to have people enter your website or not, if you have a membership site, this is a strong marketing technique that will help to brand not only your information but your products as well.
CW Teo has years of vast experience in Affiliate Marketing. Membership Sites Generate Billions Of Dollars In Income Every Year - Isn't It Time You Grabbed Your Share Of This Incredible Profits Opportunity Today? [http://www.membership-millionaire.net]
Get Your Own Membership Site Here For FREE
Why Do People Join Membership Sites?
Most people are suffering from information overload and need a place to find reliable, quality information amidst the hoards of questionable information that can be found online. People want to be able to save time when they need information and instead of spending hours even days researching a topic they can turn to a membership site where they can find in one location all the information they are looking for.
Membership sites can also save people money because the membership is often offered products or services at a discount.
People join membership sites because they save time and money!
People also join membership sites to be able to share with others who enjoy the same interests. You can learn a lot from other people sharing stories of how they grew such and such a plant or played a great game of golf. People join book club sites and cooking membership sites to enjoy learning new things and sharing hobbies that they have in common with others. Most membership sites have forums or chat rooms that facilitate a "community setting" that encourages members to chat with each other.
People join membership sites for the opportunity to share with those who have a common interest so that they can learn from others and have an online community to be a part of.
People also join membership sites to improve skills or receive an education. There are many mentorship or tutorial membership sites online that offer members the chance to learn a new skill or improve an existing skill. Many business membership sites show individuals how to run a business online or how to work from home. Knowledge is powerful and many members agree that membership sites are one of the best ways to increase your knowledge on most any subject.
People join membership sites to increase their knowledge about a subject or to learn a new skill, even to earn a living by gaining valuable information from those who are already earning a living doing something that are willing to teach others.
Some people join membership sites because of the bonuses, or prizes that are given to members for being part of the membership site. Some sites offer discounts to members, or give monthly awards even run regular competitions. Membership sites are always finding new ways to reward members for being loyal and participating in the workings of the site.
People join membership sites for the extra rewards and goodies that membership site owners often give to members as a way of saying thank you for being a part of the membership.
Sometimes membership site members are given the opportunity to earn money through the site like when they participate in affiliate programs run by the membership site.
People join membership sites for the opportunity to make money through what the site offers.
The reasons people join membership sites vary but could be to save time or money, share common interests with others, be a part of a community of others who like what they like, increase or gain knowledge, because of the extra rewards, bonuses, discounts, or prizes and also some people join membership sites in order to make money.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing
Download Your Own Membership Site For FREE
Membership sites can also save people money because the membership is often offered products or services at a discount.
People join membership sites because they save time and money!
People also join membership sites to be able to share with others who enjoy the same interests. You can learn a lot from other people sharing stories of how they grew such and such a plant or played a great game of golf. People join book club sites and cooking membership sites to enjoy learning new things and sharing hobbies that they have in common with others. Most membership sites have forums or chat rooms that facilitate a "community setting" that encourages members to chat with each other.
People join membership sites for the opportunity to share with those who have a common interest so that they can learn from others and have an online community to be a part of.
People also join membership sites to improve skills or receive an education. There are many mentorship or tutorial membership sites online that offer members the chance to learn a new skill or improve an existing skill. Many business membership sites show individuals how to run a business online or how to work from home. Knowledge is powerful and many members agree that membership sites are one of the best ways to increase your knowledge on most any subject.
People join membership sites to increase their knowledge about a subject or to learn a new skill, even to earn a living by gaining valuable information from those who are already earning a living doing something that are willing to teach others.
Some people join membership sites because of the bonuses, or prizes that are given to members for being part of the membership site. Some sites offer discounts to members, or give monthly awards even run regular competitions. Membership sites are always finding new ways to reward members for being loyal and participating in the workings of the site.
People join membership sites for the extra rewards and goodies that membership site owners often give to members as a way of saying thank you for being a part of the membership.
Sometimes membership site members are given the opportunity to earn money through the site like when they participate in affiliate programs run by the membership site.
People join membership sites for the opportunity to make money through what the site offers.
The reasons people join membership sites vary but could be to save time or money, share common interests with others, be a part of a community of others who like what they like, increase or gain knowledge, because of the extra rewards, bonuses, discounts, or prizes and also some people join membership sites in order to make money.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing
Download Your Own Membership Site For FREE
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Cementing The Ideas(Part 4)
Setting the “Table”
In this module you'll flesh out your membership site's content. We won't actually create the content... that'll come later. But we will create a framework that will make creating the content much easier and go much faster.
The simple (but not easy) solution to designing your membership site is to create a detailed outline to work from.
You'll actually create two outlines – a “Table of Contents” version and a “Detailed” version. Just one of these outlines alone won't quite do the trick. You'll need them both.
The “Table of Contents” is an organized summary of what you want your site to cover. With a micro-continuity membership site, you'll separate your content into modules. For my 15 week “Photography Studio Equipment” site my “Table of Contents” outline looks like this
Week #1: Intro and Overview
Week #2: Lighting – Studio Strobes
Week #3: Lighting – Small Flashes
Week #4: Light Stands
Week #5: Studio Furniture and Supports & Props
Week #6: Tripods
Week #7: Wireless Flash Controllers
Week #8: Backgrounds
Week #9: Modifiers – Umbrellas and SoftBoxes
Week #10: Modifiers – Reflectors and Diffusers
Week #11: Modifiers – Specialty Modifiers
Week #12: Viewing Output
Week #13: Lighting – Continuous
Week #14: “Surfaces”
Week #15: Software
Week #16: Bonus
Not only do you have the framework for your membership site “course”, you also have a filing system that we can use to better organize any research you may do.
Next, take the Table of Contents outline and add subheadings and additional points to each weekly module.
Now, here's my strategy and I know people will disagree, but...
I like to deliver at least 6 hours worth of “stuff” each week.
I know some people are content with delivering a 1 hour video each week for a continuity program. But when I get stuff like that, I begin to wonder why I'm paying for the program every month when I could probably finish the whole “course” in a day or two – if they'd just give me the content. I start to feel like I'm being strung along and when I start getting that feeling, I usually end up terminating my membership.
Understand, however, that 6 hours of “stuff” doesn't necessarily mean 6 hours of content. There's the a tool that every teacher uses to “augment” his or her in-class teaching. It's called “homework”.
You can create a 5 minute video that shows your members how to accomplish a task. Then, have them do it themselves. What took you 5 minutes to do on video could easily take them 2 hours or even 2 days to complete since:
• they're not familiar with the process
• they may need to do research to complete the task
• in your video, you may have “skipped over” certain parts of the process. I don't mean you leave out things, but you'll do like they do on cooking shows where they'll tell you to put the dish in the oven and bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Then they put the dish in the oven and immediately take out one that's already done. They didn't leave out any part of the process – they just “skipped over” 45 minutes of the process that didn't add to your understanding the recipe.
So, if each module is a week and I want to deliver 6 hours of “stuff” to the members, I may divide it into 4-6 subheadings that will each take the member an hour or more to complete.
Here's an example of my “Photography Studio Equipment” site's detailed outline for the 1st week:
Week #1: Intro and Overview
I. Why a Studio?
A) Convenience
B) Professionalism
C) Opportunity to make money
D) Total Control
II. What Type of Photography (Portrait or Commercial)
A) Equipment for Portrait Studios
B) Equipment for Commercial/Product Studios
III. Cameras
A) Types
1. DSLR
a) Major Features / Requirements
b) Benefits
c) Concerns
2. Consumer DigiCam
a) Major Features / Requirements
b) Benefits
c) Concerns
3. Film
a) Major Features / Requirements
b) Benefits
c) Concerns
B) Accessories for Studio Work
1. Eyepieces and Viewers
2. Shutter releases
3. Storage and Packaging
IV. Lenses
A) Focal Lengths for Studio Work
1. “Normal” lens
2. Wide Angle
3. Telephoto
4. DOF Control
B) Other Lens Considerations
V. Equipment Your DON'T Need
Your turn!
In this module you'll flesh out your membership site's content. We won't actually create the content... that'll come later. But we will create a framework that will make creating the content much easier and go much faster.
The simple (but not easy) solution to designing your membership site is to create a detailed outline to work from.
You'll actually create two outlines – a “Table of Contents” version and a “Detailed” version. Just one of these outlines alone won't quite do the trick. You'll need them both.
The “Table of Contents” is an organized summary of what you want your site to cover. With a micro-continuity membership site, you'll separate your content into modules. For my 15 week “Photography Studio Equipment” site my “Table of Contents” outline looks like this
Week #1: Intro and Overview
Week #2: Lighting – Studio Strobes
Week #3: Lighting – Small Flashes
Week #4: Light Stands
Week #5: Studio Furniture and Supports & Props
Week #6: Tripods
Week #7: Wireless Flash Controllers
Week #8: Backgrounds
Week #9: Modifiers – Umbrellas and SoftBoxes
Week #10: Modifiers – Reflectors and Diffusers
Week #11: Modifiers – Specialty Modifiers
Week #12: Viewing Output
Week #13: Lighting – Continuous
Week #14: “Surfaces”
Week #15: Software
Week #16: Bonus
Not only do you have the framework for your membership site “course”, you also have a filing system that we can use to better organize any research you may do.
Next, take the Table of Contents outline and add subheadings and additional points to each weekly module.
Now, here's my strategy and I know people will disagree, but...
I like to deliver at least 6 hours worth of “stuff” each week.
I know some people are content with delivering a 1 hour video each week for a continuity program. But when I get stuff like that, I begin to wonder why I'm paying for the program every month when I could probably finish the whole “course” in a day or two – if they'd just give me the content. I start to feel like I'm being strung along and when I start getting that feeling, I usually end up terminating my membership.
Understand, however, that 6 hours of “stuff” doesn't necessarily mean 6 hours of content. There's the a tool that every teacher uses to “augment” his or her in-class teaching. It's called “homework”.
You can create a 5 minute video that shows your members how to accomplish a task. Then, have them do it themselves. What took you 5 minutes to do on video could easily take them 2 hours or even 2 days to complete since:
• they're not familiar with the process
• they may need to do research to complete the task
• in your video, you may have “skipped over” certain parts of the process. I don't mean you leave out things, but you'll do like they do on cooking shows where they'll tell you to put the dish in the oven and bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Then they put the dish in the oven and immediately take out one that's already done. They didn't leave out any part of the process – they just “skipped over” 45 minutes of the process that didn't add to your understanding the recipe.
So, if each module is a week and I want to deliver 6 hours of “stuff” to the members, I may divide it into 4-6 subheadings that will each take the member an hour or more to complete.
Here's an example of my “Photography Studio Equipment” site's detailed outline for the 1st week:
Week #1: Intro and Overview
I. Why a Studio?
A) Convenience
B) Professionalism
C) Opportunity to make money
D) Total Control
II. What Type of Photography (Portrait or Commercial)
A) Equipment for Portrait Studios
B) Equipment for Commercial/Product Studios
III. Cameras
A) Types
1. DSLR
a) Major Features / Requirements
b) Benefits
c) Concerns
2. Consumer DigiCam
a) Major Features / Requirements
b) Benefits
c) Concerns
3. Film
a) Major Features / Requirements
b) Benefits
c) Concerns
B) Accessories for Studio Work
1. Eyepieces and Viewers
2. Shutter releases
3. Storage and Packaging
IV. Lenses
A) Focal Lengths for Studio Work
1. “Normal” lens
2. Wide Angle
3. Telephoto
4. DOF Control
B) Other Lens Considerations
V. Equipment Your DON'T Need
Your turn!
Monday, 22 February 2010
Strike With A Match
Start With The Sizzle
This has got to be the most challenging and difficult part of the entire 24 hour process. The goal of this hour is to create a by-line for your membership site.
To create this by-line – we're going to use marketing “black arts”. There's nothing illegal about what we're about to discuss, there isn't even anything unethical about it – unless you don't plan on delivering on your promises.
I call them the “black arts” because we're about to use psychological principles to “motivate” your prospects to do what you want. Some might substitute “motivate” with “manipulate” - and they'd have a valid argument.
But just like any tool, it can be used for good or it can be used by unethical people to do cruel, dispicable things to the unsuspecting buyer. I'm going to tell you what they are. I hope you'll use them ethically and carefully – always putting the welfare of your customer in the forefront.
There are any number of ways to use the “subconscious behavior” and instinctive “social responses” that are part of every human's psyche to motivate (or manipulate) people to do certain things. In their book “Covert Persuasion”, Kevin Hogan and James Speakman list 55 covert persuasive tactics including:
#33: Use Covert Hypnotic Language Patterns
#45: Artificially Vague Language
#23: Induce the Sense of Scarcity
#13: Find and Point out the Common Enemy
Start a Membership Site in 24 Hours! isn't about covert or overt persuasive tactics. This manual is about building a successful membership site business - fast. So, we're not going to try to deal with 55 covert persuasive tactics – we're only going to deal with one simple, proven truth about human behavior. Everything a person does is a response to either perceived pain or anticipated pleasure. Humans take action to minimize pain, maximize pleasure, or both.
Which do they do most – minimize pain or maximize pleasure?
That, my friend, is the $1 million question. Here's the answer.
They do whichever one they most identify with emotionally.
If the pleasurable option strikes the strongest emotional chord – they'll take action to experience that pleasure. If they identify emotionally more strongly with the painful alternative, they'll take action to minimize that pain.
Unfortunately, here's another rule... most people have more experience with pain than they do with pleasure. Because they have more personal experience with pain – that tends to be what motivates people the most.
For example – most people have no experience with being independently wealthy (pleasurable experience) but they do have experience making tough financial choices, struggling to pay bills, not being able to give their kids the things they'd like to.
So, the most successful offers will address minimizing pain. For example, which one of these (off the top of my head) offers is more persuasive?
1. In just 3 months, Get It Fast.com will have you living the carefree life of financial independence. You'll be able to do what you want, go where you want, whenever you want to.
Your life will be a dream come true!
or
2. After 3 months at Get It Fast.com, you'll be shocked as you realize some familiar things in your live have come up missing...
• Struggling to make that next payment? - gone.
• Can't figure out how to pay for braces your daughter needs AND drum lessons your son really wants? - no more.
• The weariness, disorientation, and lack of sleep from working
that extra job? - can't find it anywhere.
Each week in the simple, step-by-step Get It Fast.com program you'll learn to earn the kind of cash that will make those nagging fears disappear... FOREVER.
Ok. I admit that #1 is kinda lame. But, it does prove my point. The second example does two things to stand out:
1. it spells out the pain in a way that the reader will likely identify with
2. it provides a specific solution
Which is exactly what you'll need to do as you're creating your hook. Everything you write (or speak) for the next 17 hours should follow this model.
Alright, I'll go first. Here's mine...
Could be better, but it's not bad for a first cut.
Now, you do yours.
This has got to be the most challenging and difficult part of the entire 24 hour process. The goal of this hour is to create a by-line for your membership site.
To create this by-line – we're going to use marketing “black arts”. There's nothing illegal about what we're about to discuss, there isn't even anything unethical about it – unless you don't plan on delivering on your promises.
I call them the “black arts” because we're about to use psychological principles to “motivate” your prospects to do what you want. Some might substitute “motivate” with “manipulate” - and they'd have a valid argument.
But just like any tool, it can be used for good or it can be used by unethical people to do cruel, dispicable things to the unsuspecting buyer. I'm going to tell you what they are. I hope you'll use them ethically and carefully – always putting the welfare of your customer in the forefront.
There are any number of ways to use the “subconscious behavior” and instinctive “social responses” that are part of every human's psyche to motivate (or manipulate) people to do certain things. In their book “Covert Persuasion”, Kevin Hogan and James Speakman list 55 covert persuasive tactics including:
#33: Use Covert Hypnotic Language Patterns
#45: Artificially Vague Language
#23: Induce the Sense of Scarcity
#13: Find and Point out the Common Enemy
Start a Membership Site in 24 Hours! isn't about covert or overt persuasive tactics. This manual is about building a successful membership site business - fast. So, we're not going to try to deal with 55 covert persuasive tactics – we're only going to deal with one simple, proven truth about human behavior. Everything a person does is a response to either perceived pain or anticipated pleasure. Humans take action to minimize pain, maximize pleasure, or both.
Which do they do most – minimize pain or maximize pleasure?
That, my friend, is the $1 million question. Here's the answer.
They do whichever one they most identify with emotionally.
If the pleasurable option strikes the strongest emotional chord – they'll take action to experience that pleasure. If they identify emotionally more strongly with the painful alternative, they'll take action to minimize that pain.
Unfortunately, here's another rule... most people have more experience with pain than they do with pleasure. Because they have more personal experience with pain – that tends to be what motivates people the most.
For example – most people have no experience with being independently wealthy (pleasurable experience) but they do have experience making tough financial choices, struggling to pay bills, not being able to give their kids the things they'd like to.
So, the most successful offers will address minimizing pain. For example, which one of these (off the top of my head) offers is more persuasive?
1. In just 3 months, Get It Fast.com will have you living the carefree life of financial independence. You'll be able to do what you want, go where you want, whenever you want to.
Your life will be a dream come true!
or
2. After 3 months at Get It Fast.com, you'll be shocked as you realize some familiar things in your live have come up missing...
• Struggling to make that next payment? - gone.
• Can't figure out how to pay for braces your daughter needs AND drum lessons your son really wants? - no more.
• The weariness, disorientation, and lack of sleep from working
that extra job? - can't find it anywhere.
Each week in the simple, step-by-step Get It Fast.com program you'll learn to earn the kind of cash that will make those nagging fears disappear... FOREVER.
Ok. I admit that #1 is kinda lame. But, it does prove my point. The second example does two things to stand out:
1. it spells out the pain in a way that the reader will likely identify with
2. it provides a specific solution
Which is exactly what you'll need to do as you're creating your hook. Everything you write (or speak) for the next 17 hours should follow this model.
Alright, I'll go first. Here's mine...
LOOKING TO SETUP A STUDIO -- BUT AFRAID
YOU'LL WASTE YOUR MONEY ON FANCY EQUIPMENT
YOU DON'T NEED?
At EZ Photography Studio.com you'll discover the 10 Essential Pieces of Photography Studio Equipment that your studio won't survive without. You'll learn:
which brand and model will give you the most bang for your buck and why
how to find great deals on top quality studio equipment
the best alternatives when a piece of equipment doesn't fit your budget
Plus, for every single piece of equipment you'll get step-by-step, easy to follow tutorials that will give you the knowlegde, the confidence, and the insider secrets on putting together just the right studio equipment to make quality, professional images that you can sell for top dollar.
Could be better, but it's not bad for a first cut.
Now, you do yours.
Friday, 19 February 2010
Creating Your Hook (Part 4)
By now, you've not only uncovered target market of internet shoppers who've got a problem (or problems) that they'll pay to have solved, you've also got, a good handle on the solution(s) they're looking for.
That, my friend, is the driest tender. It's what you'll need to start your sales fire.
Now, all you need to do is strike it with a match. You've got to provide that dry tender with the spark that sets the whole process aflame.
That spark in marketing lingo is your “hook” - the thing that will get people to take notice of your membership site... to get excited about what you're offering... to pull out their credit cards and sign up for a membership.
This is another one of those critical steps in the process. If your “hook” isn't up to snuff, it's the same as trying to start a fire with wet matches. It won't matter how dry your tender is – heck, you could even douse it with lighter fluid. If your matches are wet, you won't get a spark. If you don't get a spark, you won't get a fire. And, in our analogy, if you don't get a fire – you die.
So, take your time – at least the whole hour – and create a really powerful “hook”.
Of course, creating a great hook isn't easy. If it was, everybody would have one! But it IS simple. You just have to put your “creativity” cap on, follow a few guidelines, and put away your fear of looking silly.
Picture this: You're presenting a serious marketing idea, and everyone in the audience falls down laughing. Rolling in the aisle.
That's the kind of idea I've always looked for. In fact, when I was president of the New Jersey Nets, we had a page in our company manual that said: If people fall down laughing when you present an idea, that idea has a chance of becoming a breakthrough idea. When an idea is so outrageous that it causes people to laugh at the idiocy of it, then it's time to push the outrageous envelope and see if that idea can be developed.
Jon Spoelstra – Marketing Outrageously
Got it? So, let's start on our powerful, outrageous “hook”.
Focus on your topic. Take your information and turn it into a process, a step-by-step formula that you can give to your members to solve whatever problem they're dealing with. For me, I'm not only going to tell them the “Top 10 Most Essential Pieces of Photography Studio Equipment”, for each essential piece of equipment I'm going to show them:
• the different brands and why they would choose one over the other
• where to buy the equipment at the best price (and whether they should consider buying used)
• the brand I use and why I chose it, what I like about it, and what it does and doesn't do (with detail information about features and function)
• how to use the equipment to get the best results – both photographically and financially
• what alternatives they have if they can't afford that piece of equipment
Wow! That was fast. How did I get there? It wasn't as difficult as you might think.
I'm about to take five minutes out of your hour and explain a concept that is as close to a secret gold mine as I'm ever going to get. This concept is so important that I'm going to write it in bold, red letters so when you see it, you'll know it's REALLY important.
When people are on the internet looking for “information” - “information” isn't what they're hoping to find. Most of the time they already know what they want and have a pretty good idea of how to get it.
What they are looking for is someone who can show them how to get from where they are to where they want to be with the least amount of pain and aggravation**.
**Pain and Aggravation always take one or more of these forms:
• Money - they want to get there without spending more than they have
• Uncertainty – they want to get there without getting lost and confused
• Time – they want to get there as quickly as possible
Now, if you want to know how to satisfy that need, the way to get them to choose you over your competition is simple.
Be a guide -- not a map-maker.
As this country (the US of A) was expanding and people were migrating from the East Coast and Midwest to the West, most of the travelers didn't have a clue about how to get to where they wanted to be. Sure, they could buy maps, but what they really wanted and needed were guides. People who'd been there before and could lead them over mountain passes, across dry deserts, through hostile territory, and to their destination in the shortest time and with the least amount of pain and loss.
If you've spent any time with internet marketing, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I've spent more money that I'm willing to admit on ebooks and courses – all the while looking for a guide. Most of the time, what I ended up with were just maps. The authors hadn't really been to the places they were “guiding” me through. How could I tell? Because there was always a river on the map that said “cross this river” - but never any information about:
• how to find the shallowest place to ford
• how to prepare the wagons to get across
• how to prevent wagons from capsizing (and what to do if one does)
none of the tips you'd expect to get from someone who'd actually driven a rickety, unbalanced, overloaded wagon across a swiftly running river. Most of the time I trying to find my way with just a map – sure would have been nice to have had a guide.
The products I appreciated – and the people I purchased from repeatedly – were the people who gave me step-by-step instructions that I could follow to get from where I was to where I wanted to be. They gave me guides – which were way more useful to me than maps.
Your “hook” is that in every word of your marketing, every paragraph of your sales letter, every headline and heading, you're going to let your prospects know that they're not about to part with their hard-earned cash for a map...
They're getting a guide.
Let's look again at what I've planned to do with my “Photography Studio Equipment” membership site. I know I've got people looking for “information” about photography studio equipment. I know they've got a limited budget. How do I know that? Because if they had unlimited funds they'd just go out and buy a bunch of stuff. But because their budget is limited, they've got to figure out what the essential studio equipment is. So, I would expect that in addition to finding out what the “Top 10 Most Essential Pieces of Photography Studio Equipment” are, they'd also need to know:
• the different brands and why they would choose one over the other
• where to buy the equipment at the best price (and whether they should consider buying used)
• the brand I use and why I chose it, what I like about it, and what it does and doesn't do (with detail information about features and function)
• how to use the equipment to get the best results – both photographically and financially
• what alternatives they have if they can't afford that piece of equipment
Now, wasn't that simple?
Ok. Your turn.
If you're working from personal experience (like I am with photography) think about the success you've had in this area and how quickly you can teach someone how to do what you do.
Then, figure out YOUR angle, how are you different from all the other sites offering similar information? There are review sites that will review equipment brands, there are photography sites that will show you how to take better photos.
But I have at least 2 things that will make my membership site different:
1. I'm going at it specifically from the point of view of creating a studio. When I've finished with them they'll have all the equipment they need to run a top notch, professional studio without busting their budget
2. I'm ----- ???
You got it! I'm giving them a guide and not a map!
So, what's your hook?
• What do you help people do faster, easier, more efficiently?
• How does it save them more money?
• What extraordinary results have you seen with your system?
• Why is your membership site better than the competition?
Along the same lines of creating a hook for yourself, what's your point of difference versus the competitions?
• Is your program simple to implement?
• Do you get results in half the time?
Think hard and write out a list of benefits of not only your membership site but your services. These “one-liners” will be useful when it comes time to writing sales letters and press releases.
That, my friend, is the driest tender. It's what you'll need to start your sales fire.
Now, all you need to do is strike it with a match. You've got to provide that dry tender with the spark that sets the whole process aflame.
That spark in marketing lingo is your “hook” - the thing that will get people to take notice of your membership site... to get excited about what you're offering... to pull out their credit cards and sign up for a membership.
This is another one of those critical steps in the process. If your “hook” isn't up to snuff, it's the same as trying to start a fire with wet matches. It won't matter how dry your tender is – heck, you could even douse it with lighter fluid. If your matches are wet, you won't get a spark. If you don't get a spark, you won't get a fire. And, in our analogy, if you don't get a fire – you die.
So, take your time – at least the whole hour – and create a really powerful “hook”.
Of course, creating a great hook isn't easy. If it was, everybody would have one! But it IS simple. You just have to put your “creativity” cap on, follow a few guidelines, and put away your fear of looking silly.
Picture this: You're presenting a serious marketing idea, and everyone in the audience falls down laughing. Rolling in the aisle.
That's the kind of idea I've always looked for. In fact, when I was president of the New Jersey Nets, we had a page in our company manual that said: If people fall down laughing when you present an idea, that idea has a chance of becoming a breakthrough idea. When an idea is so outrageous that it causes people to laugh at the idiocy of it, then it's time to push the outrageous envelope and see if that idea can be developed.
Jon Spoelstra – Marketing Outrageously
Got it? So, let's start on our powerful, outrageous “hook”.
Focus on your topic. Take your information and turn it into a process, a step-by-step formula that you can give to your members to solve whatever problem they're dealing with. For me, I'm not only going to tell them the “Top 10 Most Essential Pieces of Photography Studio Equipment”, for each essential piece of equipment I'm going to show them:
• the different brands and why they would choose one over the other
• where to buy the equipment at the best price (and whether they should consider buying used)
• the brand I use and why I chose it, what I like about it, and what it does and doesn't do (with detail information about features and function)
• how to use the equipment to get the best results – both photographically and financially
• what alternatives they have if they can't afford that piece of equipment
Wow! That was fast. How did I get there? It wasn't as difficult as you might think.
I'm about to take five minutes out of your hour and explain a concept that is as close to a secret gold mine as I'm ever going to get. This concept is so important that I'm going to write it in bold, red letters so when you see it, you'll know it's REALLY important.
When people are on the internet looking for “information” - “information” isn't what they're hoping to find. Most of the time they already know what they want and have a pretty good idea of how to get it.
What they are looking for is someone who can show them how to get from where they are to where they want to be with the least amount of pain and aggravation**.
**Pain and Aggravation always take one or more of these forms:
• Money - they want to get there without spending more than they have
• Uncertainty – they want to get there without getting lost and confused
• Time – they want to get there as quickly as possible
Now, if you want to know how to satisfy that need, the way to get them to choose you over your competition is simple.
Be a guide -- not a map-maker.
As this country (the US of A) was expanding and people were migrating from the East Coast and Midwest to the West, most of the travelers didn't have a clue about how to get to where they wanted to be. Sure, they could buy maps, but what they really wanted and needed were guides. People who'd been there before and could lead them over mountain passes, across dry deserts, through hostile territory, and to their destination in the shortest time and with the least amount of pain and loss.
If you've spent any time with internet marketing, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I've spent more money that I'm willing to admit on ebooks and courses – all the while looking for a guide. Most of the time, what I ended up with were just maps. The authors hadn't really been to the places they were “guiding” me through. How could I tell? Because there was always a river on the map that said “cross this river” - but never any information about:
• how to find the shallowest place to ford
• how to prepare the wagons to get across
• how to prevent wagons from capsizing (and what to do if one does)
none of the tips you'd expect to get from someone who'd actually driven a rickety, unbalanced, overloaded wagon across a swiftly running river. Most of the time I trying to find my way with just a map – sure would have been nice to have had a guide.
The products I appreciated – and the people I purchased from repeatedly – were the people who gave me step-by-step instructions that I could follow to get from where I was to where I wanted to be. They gave me guides – which were way more useful to me than maps.
Your “hook” is that in every word of your marketing, every paragraph of your sales letter, every headline and heading, you're going to let your prospects know that they're not about to part with their hard-earned cash for a map...
They're getting a guide.
Let's look again at what I've planned to do with my “Photography Studio Equipment” membership site. I know I've got people looking for “information” about photography studio equipment. I know they've got a limited budget. How do I know that? Because if they had unlimited funds they'd just go out and buy a bunch of stuff. But because their budget is limited, they've got to figure out what the essential studio equipment is. So, I would expect that in addition to finding out what the “Top 10 Most Essential Pieces of Photography Studio Equipment” are, they'd also need to know:
• the different brands and why they would choose one over the other
• where to buy the equipment at the best price (and whether they should consider buying used)
• the brand I use and why I chose it, what I like about it, and what it does and doesn't do (with detail information about features and function)
• how to use the equipment to get the best results – both photographically and financially
• what alternatives they have if they can't afford that piece of equipment
Now, wasn't that simple?
Ok. Your turn.
If you're working from personal experience (like I am with photography) think about the success you've had in this area and how quickly you can teach someone how to do what you do.
Then, figure out YOUR angle, how are you different from all the other sites offering similar information? There are review sites that will review equipment brands, there are photography sites that will show you how to take better photos.
But I have at least 2 things that will make my membership site different:
1. I'm going at it specifically from the point of view of creating a studio. When I've finished with them they'll have all the equipment they need to run a top notch, professional studio without busting their budget
2. I'm ----- ???
You got it! I'm giving them a guide and not a map!
So, what's your hook?
• What do you help people do faster, easier, more efficiently?
• How does it save them more money?
• What extraordinary results have you seen with your system?
• Why is your membership site better than the competition?
Along the same lines of creating a hook for yourself, what's your point of difference versus the competitions?
• Is your program simple to implement?
• Do you get results in half the time?
Think hard and write out a list of benefits of not only your membership site but your services. These “one-liners” will be useful when it comes time to writing sales letters and press releases.
Collecting Ideas (Part 3)
Forums
You can also find more specialized info by performing a forum search in Google for your niche. This will bring up all the forums to do with your niche so if you are looking for some more in depth info you can find it there here is what you do to do a forum search.
Simply type “[your topic] forums” into your Google search box and you'll uncover any number of forums that specifically address your topic.
For example, “photography studio equipment forums” returned:
As you can see there is 1,350,000 results which should be plenty enough for every module of my Photography Studio Equipment membership site!
You can also use forums if you need a specific answer to a problem that you cannot find anywhere else. All you need to do is sign up as a member of the forum and ask your question and you will get plenty of answers.
When you complete this exercise, you should have a really good handle on what your membership site will be offering and the kind of headlines that attract readers.
That means you're ready for the next step!
You can also find more specialized info by performing a forum search in Google for your niche. This will bring up all the forums to do with your niche so if you are looking for some more in depth info you can find it there here is what you do to do a forum search.
Simply type “[your topic] forums” into your Google search box and you'll uncover any number of forums that specifically address your topic.
For example, “photography studio equipment forums” returned:
As you can see there is 1,350,000 results which should be plenty enough for every module of my Photography Studio Equipment membership site!
You can also use forums if you need a specific answer to a problem that you cannot find anywhere else. All you need to do is sign up as a member of the forum and ask your question and you will get plenty of answers.
When you complete this exercise, you should have a really good handle on what your membership site will be offering and the kind of headlines that attract readers.
That means you're ready for the next step!
Monday, 15 February 2010
Collecting Ideas (Part 3)
EzineArticles (and other article directories)
I bet you'd like know the secret to creating content for your own membership site super fast, right? Then, how about a bit of really good news...
ALL THE RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE FOR YOU!
You just need to know where to find it and the first place I go looking is EzineArticles.
http://www.ezinearticles.com
EzineArticles has thousands of articles that can provide content for your product.
We're not talking about copying other people's work (that's illegal) but you can by all means take the main points from an article and re-work them as you create your own content.
Lets start out with the EzineArticles homepage. Scroll down to the bottom of the left sidebar until you find the search box with “Advanced Search” link.
I'm certain that, to boost revenue, EzineArticles wants people to use the Google search box that is strategically placed at top center of the page. Unfortunately, that's not the search box we need. To use EzineArticles' Advanced Search, you'll have to scroll about halfway down the page.
Once you're there, you should see a box on the side of the page about halfway down that has a search feature.
Click on the “Advanced Search” feature and it will take you to a screen like this:
All you have to do then is type in your search term in the box and it will return all the articles in the EzineArtcles database.
Try to use the exact phrase of your main keyword for instance I typed in “photography studio equipment” and received 286 results.
Now, you don't have to read every article, but here's what you're looking for:
1. an interesting headline – I found one that read “Photography Equipment – Five Key Pieces You Can't Do Without”. That sounds like a headline I can use with modifications
2. an effective headline – What's the difference? #1 is what's interesting to ME. An effective headline is one that's interesting to EzineArticle readers. You can tell what headlines interest viewers by scrolling down to the bottom of any article and you'll find: “This article has been viewed XXX time(s).”
The “Photography Equipment – Five Key Pieces You Can't Do Without” article was posted on December 10, 2008 and has been viewed 333 times (as of this writing). Which means this headline is interesting enough to draw viewers in at a rate of roughly 1 a day – pretty good in my book.
When I'm using this method, what I'll do is:
1. click on an interesting headline
2. skim through the article
3. if I like the content, I'll print the article (or bookmark it in a special folder)
4. if the content doesn't excite me, I'll just copy the headline and paste it into a word document that will become my “headline swipe file”
If you want more ideas than you get from EzineArticles, you can do the same research using other article directories like:
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.articledashboard.com
http://www.searchwarp.com
I bet you'd like know the secret to creating content for your own membership site super fast, right? Then, how about a bit of really good news...
ALL THE RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE FOR YOU!
You just need to know where to find it and the first place I go looking is EzineArticles.
http://www.ezinearticles.com
EzineArticles has thousands of articles that can provide content for your product.
We're not talking about copying other people's work (that's illegal) but you can by all means take the main points from an article and re-work them as you create your own content.
Lets start out with the EzineArticles homepage. Scroll down to the bottom of the left sidebar until you find the search box with “Advanced Search” link.
Once you're there, you should see a box on the side of the page about halfway down that has a search feature.
Click on the “Advanced Search” feature and it will take you to a screen like this:
All you have to do then is type in your search term in the box and it will return all the articles in the EzineArtcles database.
Try to use the exact phrase of your main keyword for instance I typed in “photography studio equipment” and received 286 results.
Now, you don't have to read every article, but here's what you're looking for:
1. an interesting headline – I found one that read “Photography Equipment – Five Key Pieces You Can't Do Without”. That sounds like a headline I can use with modifications
2. an effective headline – What's the difference? #1 is what's interesting to ME. An effective headline is one that's interesting to EzineArticle readers. You can tell what headlines interest viewers by scrolling down to the bottom of any article and you'll find: “This article has been viewed XXX time(s).”
The “Photography Equipment – Five Key Pieces You Can't Do Without” article was posted on December 10, 2008 and has been viewed 333 times (as of this writing). Which means this headline is interesting enough to draw viewers in at a rate of roughly 1 a day – pretty good in my book.
When I'm using this method, what I'll do is:
1. click on an interesting headline
2. skim through the article
3. if I like the content, I'll print the article (or bookmark it in a special folder)
4. if the content doesn't excite me, I'll just copy the headline and paste it into a word document that will become my “headline swipe file”
If you want more ideas than you get from EzineArticles, you can do the same research using other article directories like:
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.articledashboard.com
http://www.searchwarp.com
Collecting Ideas (Part 3)
ClickBank
The ClickBank Marketplace is the last of the 3 places you'll go to find out if people are buying the kind of information you're planning for your membership site. What's great about ClickBank is that it deals only in digital products – products that are delivered electronically. So, if ClickBank products are being sold for your topic, it's a good indicator that your membership site will sell as well.
http://www.ClickBank.com/marketplace.html
Here's the downside of using ClickBank – since it's a resource created primarily for people to RESELL digital products, the results you'll find often reflect the current digital product “fads”. Take for example Magniwork. It's a “free energy” device that seems to be selling like hotcakes. It's also a SCAM – the thing doesn't work – but affiliates are selling it like it's the solution to global warming.
On the other end of the scale is a book you'll find on Amazon titled “How to Shit in the Woods”. It's a very specific title that you'd think only a small number of people would be interested in. Check it's Amazon.com Sales Rank, though, and you'll find it's at 33,250 (very good) and has sold over 1.5 Million copies (a number I uncovered elsewhere). This is obviously information people are interested in and paying for – but you won't find anything like it on ClickBank.
So, if you find products in your topic area on ClickBank with good numbers – that's great. If you don't find many products on ClickBank or the ones that are there have less than stellar numbers – that's not necessarily an indicator that your product won't succeed. If the information from Google, Yahoo, and Amazon is favorable, that overrides any disappointing ClickBank results.
NOTE: The numbers for my “photography studio equipment” topic that we uncovered this hours are just Ok. They're not bad... but they are not stellar either.
I would be much happier if the SpyFu Clicks/Day figure was higher and there were more varied questions in Yahoo Answers. And, of course, there wasn't much in ClickBank
So, if I were doing this for real (instead of as an illustration) and I wanted to make sure my topic would be an instant money maker, I might consider ditching the “photography studio equipment” for one with stronger numbers.
Get Your Free Secure Membership Site For FREE!
The ClickBank Marketplace is the last of the 3 places you'll go to find out if people are buying the kind of information you're planning for your membership site. What's great about ClickBank is that it deals only in digital products – products that are delivered electronically. So, if ClickBank products are being sold for your topic, it's a good indicator that your membership site will sell as well.
http://www.ClickBank.com/marketplace.html
Here's the downside of using ClickBank – since it's a resource created primarily for people to RESELL digital products, the results you'll find often reflect the current digital product “fads”. Take for example Magniwork. It's a “free energy” device that seems to be selling like hotcakes. It's also a SCAM – the thing doesn't work – but affiliates are selling it like it's the solution to global warming.
On the other end of the scale is a book you'll find on Amazon titled “How to Shit in the Woods”. It's a very specific title that you'd think only a small number of people would be interested in. Check it's Amazon.com Sales Rank, though, and you'll find it's at 33,250 (very good) and has sold over 1.5 Million copies (a number I uncovered elsewhere). This is obviously information people are interested in and paying for – but you won't find anything like it on ClickBank.
So, if you find products in your topic area on ClickBank with good numbers – that's great. If you don't find many products on ClickBank or the ones that are there have less than stellar numbers – that's not necessarily an indicator that your product won't succeed. If the information from Google, Yahoo, and Amazon is favorable, that overrides any disappointing ClickBank results.
NOTE: The numbers for my “photography studio equipment” topic that we uncovered this hours are just Ok. They're not bad... but they are not stellar either.
I would be much happier if the SpyFu Clicks/Day figure was higher and there were more varied questions in Yahoo Answers. And, of course, there wasn't much in ClickBank
So, if I were doing this for real (instead of as an illustration) and I wanted to make sure my topic would be an instant money maker, I might consider ditching the “photography studio equipment” for one with stronger numbers.
Get Your Free Secure Membership Site For FREE!
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
How to Start a Membership Site In 24 Hours (Part 2)
Give Your Site the Best Chance to Make Money
Ok, so you have your 15 potential topics that people are searching the internet to find information about and solutions for.The next thing we need to find out is if any of the topics will make money! Will this process guarantee that you'll make money with your product? Nope. But, if you follow this step you'll know for sure that there is a market for the taking!
It'll help you keep things in order if you make a folder on your Desktop to keep all your work together. Just call it your “topic name” product for example “Photography Studio Product”.
How do you find out if you will make money from your product? Easy. We just need to figure out if the people searching for your topics are buying “stuff” as well.
There are many different ways to do this but this is the way I like best:
First of all go to http://www.google.com and type in your top phrase (the one with the most searches) for instance I would type in “photography studio lighting”.
This is what Google bought up for me:
Look at your results and take note of the number of search results the query has.
In the example above I have highlighted the search results and there are 15,800,000 results for the phrase “photography studio equipment”.
This is a lot of results and that normally means there is a market there.
The next thing you should note is the number of adwords advertisements the phrase has.
I have highlighted the Adwords on the page. Adwords are small advertisements people place on Google for certain phrases. What we're interested in is how many advertisers there are and what sort of price they are paying to be there because the more profitable a market is the more people will bid to place their ads.
So all you need to do now is type each one of the five phrases you picked earlier and make a note of:
1. The number of search results
2. How many people are paying to be their on Google Adwords
Next we need to get a rough idea of how much people are willing to pay to be there on Google Adwords as this is a good indicator of how much money is in a niche.
Also make a note of what the Adwords are selling as this is a good indicator of WHAT people are buying in the niche and this can help you with your product creation.
For instance what is the top Adword Ad? For the photography studio topic it is “Product Photography Kits”. This isn't necessarily the best product to copy but it will give you an idea of what people are selling for that topic.
When you're finished checking out the search results for each one of your phrases and the competing ads, we next need to know how much people are paying for those ads. For this we'll use Spyfu.
Spyfu lets you see what people are spending on Google Adwords for specific phrases.
Type your main phrase into the Spyfu search bar, click search, and Spyfu will display the information we want. You will need to do this with each of your phrases but first, I'll go through the process with my example phrase “photography studio equipment”.
This is the info that SpyFu bought up for the phrase “photography studio equipment”:
Let me explain what this data means and how it is relevant:
Cost/Click: This tells us the average cost to the advertiser per click, so you can see that the average advertiser is spending between $0.98 and $5.10 per each click. The higher the number the better. $5.10 per click is a pretty good figure since if an advertiser is spending $5 per click they're probably making sales.
Clicks/Day: This shows us the average amount of clicks per day an advertiser is getting for that phrase. Again, higher is better.
Advertisers: This shows the number of advertisers bidding on this phrase. This number will never go above 21 because SpyFu doesn't drill down past the second page of ads.
Cost/Day: This reflects the total daily cost to all advertisers that bought this keyword/phrase this just shows you how much an advertiser is prepared to pay to stay at the top. Normally the more the better, as if the advertiser is willing to pay more than they must think the keyword is profitable!
Search Results/Search Volume: These both come directly from Google. The Search Results number is the total number of pages that satisfy the search criteria. The Search Volume is the number of searches for the particular phrase in the last month. Ideally, you're looking for a high Search Volume with a low number of Search Results. But, at this point in the game, the Search Results aren't too relevant.
So all you need to do is go through each of your 5 keywords and see the results using this tool.
Ideally you will be looking for all the figures to be high and the competition low (lower than 10 competing ads can be a goldmine!). However as long as people are spending money and there is a market there you will make money 99% of the time.
You should find a niche this way that tells people how to solve a problem or offer some solution.
Now, don't get too caught up on analyzing the numbers. Just take each of your topics, type them into Spyfu and note the results and see how much people are spending to be there.
The next step will show you how to get started creating your product.
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