Marketing tip

Another Way to Repurpose Content: Membership Sites

Though I love books, and have been in the book publishing industry for a long time, I'm very glad that technology now affords authors other ways to deliver their content besides a print book.

If you have a print book, the most profit you'll get from it is a few dollars. Usually between $1 and $2.

It's sad but true, that your book alone can't get you rich. Can't even pay the mortgage, usually.

However, if you keep in mind that YOU are the message, and that your message can be delivered in a number of different ways, then suddenly a whole world of opportunity opens up.

If you like to speak, you can do seminars, public speak at other people's events, and do teleseminars, radio shows, and podcasts.

If you prefer to write, you can publish articles, Special Reports, white papers, a blog, ebooks, and now, a new form of distributing your material: membership sites.

How Membership Sites Can Make Your Content More Profitable

Basically, with a membership site, you give people access only if they pay for it.

Membership sites can be structured in all sorts of ways.

If you have a book that can get outdated, your membership site can be a ways of keeping people abreast of the latest happenings.

For instance, a friend is writing a book on how to create profitable web sites. Since the material is such that it will change quickly, she will ask people who buy the book to register it at a special web site, where people will get access to all her newest tips and tools relevant to her topic.

If you've written a cookbook on gluten-free eating, you can give people access to new recipes and information on health issues related to this topic.

If you're a coach, you can offer people access to special teleseminars in which you interview experts on various topics.

Almost anyone can interview experts on their topic, and ask people to pay $10-30 per month for access.

Do you get the idea? How can your topic be expanded into a membership site?

Membership sites come in different types. I've heard a lot of things about membership sites, pros and cons. Some of the most successful people on the Internet, however, caution against membership sites. At least, certain types.

The Down Side of Membership Sites

I was all set to create a membership site myself, until I read something from someone who had created several himself. Jimmy D. Brown has been making a living online since 20000, and has created 4 membership sites.

His conclusion after all this is startling: he says membership sites are actually a bad idea.

Here's why, according to Jimmy:

1. Traditional membership sites require too much work setting up. One of the biggest reasons why people don't get their membership sites going in the first place is because there is a lot of work that goes into the initial setup. When you factor in writing a dozen or so original pieces of content to "stockpile" in your member's area, getting training materials in place, setting up a forum, installing scripts, assembling a "library" of materials and other things most membership sites include, it's just too time-consuming for the average person to ever get in place.

2. Traditional membership sites have built-in pressures to create content. It is so easy to burn out by running your own membership site. You think going in that you'll never run out of ideas to write about. As one of the most creative and prolific writers you'll ever run across, let me tell you that I myself face this problem. Almost everyone does. And, even if you are supernatural and can continue coming up with new ideas for years and years, the demands of updating your site 3-5 times per week with new content requires discipline that most of us just don't possess.

3. Traditional membership sites require pricey and complicated scripts. By running a membership site, you have to manage passwords, protect your member's area, keep up with who's active and who's stopped paying you, manage your content and at least two dozen other things. This requires a membership site "script". Have you looked at your options? Most inexpensive ones are either inadequate or incompatible. And others are way too expensive (thousands of dollars) or have so many "bells and whistles" that you need to join a membership site just to learn how to use them!

4. Traditional membership sites demand a large investment of time. You have a forum to moderate, cancellations to process, content to add, technical problems to troubleshoot, password problems to fix, and a variety of other tasks that usually get left out of the "sales letter" for a product or service trying to convince you to start a membership site. The truth is, a traditional membership site requires a large investment of time. Now, if this is the ONLY part of your business you'll have, you might pull it off. But, believe me, it will leave the average person with virtually no time to do list-building, traffic generation and develop other products.

5. Traditional membership sites include a continual battle to keep subscribers. Here's a figure most people don't tell you about: the "average" subscriber will stay active for 3-4 months and then they'll cancel. What, you thought they'd join and stay with you forever? It simply doesn't happen that way. With more and more membership sites being launched, this figure is probably going to get worse. People simply don't have the time nor money to remain active members in many different programs. Factor in indifference, a lack of effort, poor results and a never-ending amount of other enticing offers and you'll be lucky to get them to stay 3-4 months.

Perhaps Jimmy is exaggerating the perils of a membership site because he has an alternative he's selling.

On the other hand, his alternative is very interesting, and it's at least plausible that he created it to combat the very problems he's encountered.

The Answer: Fixed Term Membership Sites

Jimmy's alternative is what he calls a Fixed Term Membership site and I must say, it has a lot of appeal.

Here's his definition:

"A 'fixed-term membership site' (FTM) consists of weekly content shared via autoresponder to paid members for a specified period of time."

In my experience, the most successful kind of programs  are those that provide a specific result for a specific period of time.

People like to know exactly what they are getting for their money.

That's why I think Jimmy's program makes a lot of sense.

Read more about what a Fixed Term Membership site is, and how it "fixes" each of the above problems of membership sites, here.

Jimmy's method is very quick--he shows you how to start it within 498 hours. (Yes, it is possible.)

I mention this because Jimmy has just opened his Membernaire program again, for a short period. (it sold out very quickly last time he opened it up--six months ago.)

I've taken other courses by Jimmy and find him to be a very good teacher. He has a way of simplifying things so that anyone can do what he says. He breaks it down, step by step, and gives you specific, easy things to do each step of the way.

Two of the brainstorming techniques I suggested in my Writing Secrets Revealed teleclass, I learned from Jimmy D. Brown. The guy is very savvy and very creative.

So consider how your content—written in book form yet or not—might be right for a membership site. Read Jimmy D. Brown's take on it, and see it if makes sense to you. If it does, sign up for his Membernaire program. He's got a money-back guarantee, so you almost can't go wrong.

(And yes, I myself have two FTMs in the works, one for writing a book, and one for marketing. Stay tuned!)