The term membership has been gaining strength in recent years due to the adaptation of new businesses to the digital world. Creating an online membership or membership site is increasingly popular, as it is a business that allows you to have recurring income.
What is a Membership Site?
It is a closed platform with a subscription service, where by signing up you join a group and gain access to exclusive member content. These types of subscriptions can be free, paid, or have multiple payment levels, offering different benefits.
How do I know if my business is suitable for a membership?
The first thing we need to do is ask ourselves some questions:
- Who is our potential customer or audience? If you are going to create a membership, you must be clear that your potential customer is suitable for this type of business. When we create a membership site, we are creating an exclusive community.
- What type of product/service are we going to offer? It is also important to know if our product or service fits well. It is not the same to have a membership where we send a product to our subscribers every month as it is to create courses to keep the platform content growing. We must know what we are going to offer to prepare properly and maintain an updated platform.
- Will our platform be paid? Will it have different subscription types? This is another very important point to consider before deciding to launch a membership. Consider whether your services or products should be segmented into levels.
Advantages of a Membership Site
Such a platform has many advantages. Since 2019, with the start of the pandemic, membership sites have grown considerably and become very popular. The main advantages are:
- Like any online business, it is a platform that, being on the internet, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- Recurring income. Being a subscription, this allows you to have income month by month, year by year, or in whatever period best fits your business. By roughly knowing how many subscriptions you have, you can better plan your work.
- Community. In many membership site examples, a community is created where there is strong support and all kinds of help among members. A good example is a membership forum where all members share their knowledge and experiences. Relationships, loyalty, and customer commitment are encouraged.
- Exponential growth. A membership site, in most cases, does not limit you. This is probably one of the biggest advantages. Even if you are alone, you can have thousands of clients.
- Incremental value. The longer the time passes, the more your business value increases. The lifetime of a membership site increases the value of your paid subscriptions.
An online membership is not only a business with high income potential and scalability, but it also gives you freedom and flexibility to grow your business without many restrictions. The combination of all these advantages makes it a truly rewarding business model.
What types of membership exist and which are the most popular?
Although nowadays almost any type of business can launch a membership, some types are more popular due to their versatility and exponential growth.
- The most used today is the academy format. Selling courses remains a very profitable business model, but with academy memberships you can find real treasures, where for a monthly subscription you can access a huge amount of content and many different courses. Additionally, it is relatively easy to create a community where students can help each other and, of course, the course creators. It has all the advantages mentioned earlier: 24/7 365 days a year, recurring income, community, exponential growth, and incremental value.
- Has anyone in 2021 not heard of Netflix? Well, this type of platform is also a membership; in the end, you are paying a monthly subscription to watch your favorite series and movies. They have multiple subscription levels, either to allow several users on the same account or to have extra image and sound quality.
- Streaming platforms. If we analyze, we find membership sites in the largest platforms on the internet. Streaming platforms have also seen very high growth in recent years and offer subscription services to access exclusive content.
- Can a traditional eCommerce become a membership site? The answer is yes, although usually there is a base online store and another subscription base for more recurring products. An example could be a sports supplement store that sends you a protein package every X months and also has a community to help members with diet or even gym routines.
Setting up a membership on WordPress
Not only is it possible, but at Dos Setenta we highly recommend WordPress to create a membership site. The ease that WordPress offers today for different payment platforms, different content, and subscription level management makes it a great option. There are many plugins that will help you set up the platform, some paid but definitely worth it.
And what do you think? Do you think it’s a good business model? We are clear: it is the most profitable online business type today.
Are you thinking about launching your subscription platform or membership site and don’t know how? At Dos Setenta we will be happy to help you.
