Building online communities around products or services is the new trend in the business world, offline and online. If you ask me where they hide the pot of gold on the Internet – it’s in membership programs.
Every blogger finally hits on one particular way to make money through blogging that works for them. I’ve specialized in two strategies that are related: online courses and membership programs. The focus of membership programs is community, whereas the focus of online programs is education.
The key to continued learning is having a community to stay in touch with. We all know how important it is to have someone who can answer our burning questions. And what really makes us soar is having friends who inspire us, and offer ideas, direction and challenges.
That’s why I personally like creating programs that combine communities with integrated training programs. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Think about online communities and training programs as a continuum, with pure membership sites without training content at one end of the spectrum, and pure training programs without online communities at the other end. There can be five levels of engagement across this continuum:
Building thriving communities around a skill, product, service or personality is the new trend on the Internet. What makes a membership program successful is giving people a bonding experience and/or offering skills training. Remember that people on the Internet are willing to pay for new skills. That’s why I think that success lies in combining ongoing training with creating a community.
1. Content:
“People come for your content, but stay for your community”. We know that this holds true for blogs, and I think it’s especially true for membership programs. When a membership program has good content and is skill-based, the interaction between members, and also the interaction between tutors and members has a clear focus.
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2. Communication:
If you have new content or a new initiative, you need to let your members know. Tip: it’s good to have many different channels of communication, such as email, Twitter, Facebook and so on.
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3. Connection:
Connecting with your members, and facilitating connection between members, is a vital component of a vibrant membership program.
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4. Contribution:
It’s important to let your members contribute. And this is really a question of power. In order to create a thriving community, we need to give away some power. I think a guru mentality doesn’t lead to lively communities. Once a training-focused membership program like A-List Blogging has been going for a while, experienced members have a lot to offer.
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5. Devolution:
It’s a great idea to devolve responsibility for some areas of a membership program. This can be achieved by employing staff, or by inviting experienced members to become assistant trainers or moderators.
6. Collaboration:
One of the most important keys to creating a successful business on the Internet is to collaborate with others. An example of this is the way Leo Babauta and I collaborated successfully with the A-List Blogging projects and with Write to Done. When you collaborate with another person, you tap into the power of synergy. One plus one becomes much more than two! A thriving community is a creative place. It’s vital to encourage innovation and to collaborate with members. When you do that, offshoot projects become larger and more successful than you could ever imagine or create on your own.
7. Self-similarity:
In terms of a community, your behavior is modeled consciously or unconsciously by members of the group.
There are several different models for membership programs. It’s very important to think carefully about which model you are going to choose before you embark on this venture.
You can mix and match these models. For example, A-list Blogging is a combination of the Modular Model and the Inner Circle Model.
It’s very important to think carefully about the model you plan to use, before you start setting up a paid membership program.
Tip #1: Build a community only on your own domain.
A successful community program will create a valuable piece of virtual real estate – something worth tens of thousands of dollars. Make sure that you own it!
Set up the program on a self-hosted WordPress blog, using premium plugins, like Wishlist Member and integrate it with Simple:Press forum software (free). Or buy a domain in order to start a companion site to your blog. I know it’s tempting to use a free site, but don’t do it. I strongly recommend setting it up on your own domain – right from the start – so that you can later reap the rewards.
Tip #2: Make your community website look professional.
If you want people to pay money, you need to offer a professional and attractive environment. Make sure that design and usability are as good as you can get them to be before you start a paid community.
Tip #3: Wait for momentum before you launch your paid community.
You need to make sure that you have a strong foundation on your blog. In addition, you will need to learn the art of launching. Quite simply, you’ll need to get to a minimum of fifty members straight away – and that only happens with a successful launch. With less than fifty members, a forum tends to be as flat as a duck pond. Even with fifty members, not much will happen, and you have to put in a lot of energy to keep members. It’s only when you get over one hundred members that a forum starts to become more active.
Tip #4: And the winners are … low-cost programs.
When you’re establishing a membership program, the temptation is to set the price point too high at the beginning. On the Internet, it’s the volume that creates income, not the individual sale.
All the way through your blogging career, you need to ask yourself a key question: “What is my primary product?”
Even if you’re at the start of your blogging career, it’s not too soon to start thinking about a possible membership program.
Author: Mary Jaksch