People are willing to pay for something good that isn’t available to just everyone. So memberships sites are a great way to get paid for providing the world with excellent, specialized content, information and knowledge.

But even if you have a fantastic idea for a membership site, you can’t just create it and rely on its fabulousness to keep current members and gain new ones. This is the issue at hand – membership sites are plagued by stagnating sign-ups.

Often people sign up for a membership site only to leave the site a month or two later, so site owners are left scrambling to find new members to replace those that have wandered off.

While you should never be discouraged from starting a good membership site, you do need to be aware of the inherent risks, and the answers to the question of how to get new members and retain them which will result in a growing site, and your growing income.

We know that people are willing to pay for good online content, and it’s a hot way to generate revenue. The key is to provide continual excellent content that is completely exclusive. Depending upon the type of site, you can offer articles, reports, eBooks, software, forums, videos and even games to your paying members.

The issue of losing members occurs when there either just isn’t enough new “stuff” offered on a regular basis to keep them interested, or they feel the membership fee is too high for the value they’re getting from the site.

The problem of gathering new members occurs when there simply isn’t enough to entice them to join up. There has to be a really compelling reason to get out that credit card and cough up the initial membership fee to gain access to the exclusive treasures that wait inside the site.

So here’s the bottom line: If you have a great idea for a membership site, go for it! But you have to commit yourself to creating a website that makes information and content available to your members that is truly above and beyond the things that they can find elsewhere, possibly for less money or for free.

Keep your content fresh and be sure to offer something new and exciting on a regular basis – it has to make your members feel that they are getting their money’s worth and make them glad every time they pay that membership fee.

When you’re working to attract new members, you have to make sure that the landing page(s) that you’re using to attract potential members give them a very, good reason for signing up and giving you their money.

You might want to offer a free taste of what they have to look forward to by signing up, discounts, or free samples. Do what it takes to get them in the door, but be sure that once they’ve joined your membership site, you’re giving them what you promised – plenty of exclusive content that they can use!

There are several things you can do to guarantee that you’ll keep your members and continue to bring new ones in. The basic key to membership loss prevention is always going to be site excellence.

What does site excellence mean? First and probably foremost, site excellence means great customer service. Without it, you’re not going to achieve the success with your membership site that you could have.

Customer service predominantly involves being available to your members. This includes answering questions they have about the site, or its content. You also want to have a presence and make yourself available on the forum (you do have a forum on your membership site, don’t you?).

Your members will like being able to “talk” to you via the forum – it will give them a feeling that you are truly invested and involved in the success of the site and their success, enjoyment or happiness, whether your membership is in a niche such as health, pet care, gaming, or Internet marketing.

Remember to provide your members a way to contact you via email, and to answer questions and requests promptly. This is another key to great customer service. Another way to prevent members from straying is to keep everything on your membership site current, fresh and new.

You don’t have to get rid of old content, but you should make sure that it’s kept up to date. Sometimes information changes and you don’t want stale or outdated information on your membership site.

Remember also that your membership site should be presenting members with new and fresh content on a very regular basis. Depending on the type of membership site you have, that could mean new videos, articles, images, games, tips and tricks, breaking news, and reports. If people are paying for membership to your site, they are going to want to see new content, or they’ll get bored and discouraged and give up their membership.

You can invite members to special events that are members-only. And be sure to let members know that as a benefit of joining, they will receive preferential treatment, such as being given access to content well before non-paying site members or the general public.

Conducting polls is a great way to keep members. This lets them know that you care about their opinion and that your intention is to give them the most valuable membership site possible.

Membership loss prevention involves going above and beyond in all ways for your members. That’s the bottom line. You’ll find that members appreciate your efforts to be available, and to provide them with some great value for their investment in your site.

Remember that keeping members and adding more is all about putting the needs and expectations of your members first, and then taking that an extra step in order to gain their loyalty for a very long time.

What can you give to your customers that will keep them coming back? If you have an affiliate program, then you are already learning about that. An affiliate program that doesn’t have much to help the affiliates to promote the product won’t do much business.

People are looking for gadgets, software, services and more to help make their lives a little easier. Let’s use the example of a fitness membership site. To get people to join, you offer them content on eating well and how to get started with an exercise program.

If you are working on a multilevel membership site platform, the members will get even more tools to help them when they upgrade. On level 2, they have access to an online nutritional guide that contains the information for thousands of foods. Also, there is a recipe finder and programs to help them track their progress.

On level 3, maybe they gain access to video and audio media. Here, they can listen to audio recordings of motivational speakers (like you) that they can download and listen to while they walk. Video media can be full-length exercise videos for home workouts or working out anywhere they happen to be.

Now, if we shift gears to a business membership site, the level of tools still needs to change with the membership. Maybe they gain access to brandable products that they can use and promote on their own website. Instead of charging $10 once for a special report, you are getting $29.95 per month for access to a new one every month.

Tools that you can use include:

• Brandable digital products (eBooks, special reports)
• Podcasts
• Blogs
• Affiliate Web Pages
• Videos and transcripts
• Audios and transcripts
• Software tools
• Private coaching packages
• eCourses and workbook materials

This is only the beginning. As you gain knowledge and new skills in your niche, so do your members. You are only limited by what you can create. And, when your tools accomplish great things for your members, they will be glad to give you a testimonial which further promotes your business.

The tools and resources that you offer on your membership site are what the members have signed up for. Don’t skimp on quality or quantity.

Maybe your idea for a membership site is to get people to come and partake of your exclusive products. They can be privy to content that gives them more than the content they can find on other sites for free. The content is also well-written and informative. You can also offer them eBooks or special reports on various topics that they can use for personal growth.

If your membership site is in the business of showing people how to go into business for themselves, you have another unique opportunity. Let’s say that with their membership, they receive access to content and other resources that teach them the basics of starting their own business. You can leverage that content and create a variety of other informational resources that you can offer to those who would dare to purchase a higher membership.

Those products could be for the intermediate online businessperson. This person already has a business but wants to know how to increase their profits. To do that, they would need to view some of the free videos you have available for an upgrade in membership.

Better still, is the highest membership level that includes other perks. Each level of your membership needs to be more enticing and deliver greater products than the level before. The information at each level will be enough to get them started and make them want more. Even include previews of what they can gain access to with a higher level membership.

This is just one example of a multilevel membership. Depending on your topic you can offer a variety of different perks that increase as membership does. But, you have to be prepared to give what you promise. If you want to appeal to everyone from the novice to the expert, you have to have that level of expertise within yourself.

Don’t forget your affiliate program. Performing well here can earn them an upgrade in membership for a certain amount of sales completed. For you, your traffic and membership increases. For the member, they earn a commission as an affiliate and get a better membership without paying a dime out of their pocket to do it.

Give your members something to strive for with a multilevel membership program. If you don’t have one now, you can always implement such a program to keep your members motivated to stay with you.

Try these steps to begin your promotion. Some of the same marketing strategies that you used for your online business will work but they may need to be tweaked a bit. You’ll see what we mean in a second.

1.Target the correct market. This usually goes without saying, but your market may have changed a bit with the membership site. If your target market was those interested in fitness, the group that would pay for a fitness membership site may be a more focused group of fitness buffs who are serious about staying in shape or who want to be fitness trainers. You’ll have to modify your sales pitch just a bit.

2.Use unique content. Your visitors already get the run-of-the-mill stuff everywhere else. Present them with something that is innovative or has a new twist on an old problem. Use snippets of your articles on the home page so that they get a taste of what they will see if they sign up to become members. And, don’t forget about SEO marketing. High search engine rankings, as you know, draw more traffic to your membership site.

3.Network like crazy. Use all of the avenues open to you. Guest blog for some of your business associates. In your bio, promote the membership site. Find your way onto guest spots on online radio shows and business podcasts. Use social networking venues like YouTube to start a viral marketing campaign using video media. It can be a simple video using an animated PowerPoint presentation set to music or with audio.

4.What about an affiliate program? This will be promoted from within the membership. Introduce the affiliate program to your members as a way to make a profit from the membership with your site. Also offer incentives at various levels as their sales increase like a second tier affiliate program that gives residuals for referrals.

5. Offer a free trial membership. For three or four days (a week if you want), offer those who will sign up for emails and newsletters limited access to the membership area. Entice them by giving them access to a few articles, but when they click on links for eBooks, special reports or video for more in-depth information, they are redirected to a page that says those items are only accessible with a paid membership.

To drive traffic and increase your membership, you will have to promote a lot. But, if any of your current customers are interested in taking their knowledge to the next level, invite them become members and bring their friends.

Finding a topic is not that hard but it does require some research. That is always the most important first step in any business venture. If you don’t know what else is out there, how can you compete? How can you improve on an existing model?

Finding Your Topic

Start with what you know. English teachers always tell you to write what you know. That philosophy goes for business as well. If you are interested in fitness, begin your research there. Are there other membership sites on the topic of fitness, nutrition or both? If there is, find out what makes them stand out.

Within each topic there is room to move around. You can choose a niche within that general topic (fitness for example) to specialize your membership site. Maybe the site will offer fitness tools for women or men’s fitness. One advantage that your niche membership site would have is a more focused approach to fitness for that particular gender.

Choosing Your Price

What is it about $0.95 or $0.99? It’s almost as if people are saving a lot with only a few cents. Someone is more likely to pay $9.95 than $10.00. It must be a psychological thing but it works. Knock off a few cents and you are in business.

Your price will depend on two things: competitive prices and your offerings. If another fitness site offers membership for $9.99, you will have to have something spectacular if your price is higher. And, that might be possible if they offer the basics for their members. Choose membership tools that make life easier for your potential members.

Testing the Waters

If you already run a website or a blog, use that forum to gauge how much interest there is in your niche topic. Poll visitors; send survey links to customers and post engaging blog entries that beg feedback on your possible new enterprise. You don’t want to sink money into a venture that won’t even get off the ground.

Want to start a membership site that will make you a profit? Research topics for your site and explore niche possibilities that will bring you the traffic and the money. But, when you find a worthy niche, you will see a recurring income each month from your hard work.