How to get the most from membership sites
You’ve taken the plunge and bought a membership site. You haven’t used it since you made your purchase, and you feel like you wasted your money. This can be avoided by committing to using the site with the following tips.
-Pick a goal: before joining anything, decide what you want out of it, then pick which one best suits that need. Don't just say "I want to learn how to make bread." Figure out if this is something that can be attained in less than 2 minutes on Youtube or if being part of an active community of bakers is better suited for your goal-building process. Also think about how much money you're able to put into marketing the site to reach your goal.
-Set a realistic schedule for your goals: Figure out how much you want to be doing with the site per week and make sure that is the minimum amount of time you are logging into it. If you look at something once a month, don't expect it to work. If you do go over, increase your schedule until you reach a balance between your goals and program time.
-Be realistic with yourself: You are not going to wake up one day and suddenly have an overnight success because of a membership site. This is especially important when using courses as part of your learning process. Don't expect to get rich, famous and have all the girls/boys chasing you overnight because you took an online course. These things take time and work. That being said, the people that eventually have success have used membership sites as part of their long-term plan to build a business or career. They have used the site as a small part of their overall growth, not their entire plan.
-Take seriously what's happening in your program: If this is something you are going to be doing for 6 months or longer, take it seriously. Don't joke around about it with friends. Stick to your schedule and treat it like you do when you are working a 9-5 job (which many people who use these sites do).
-Keep a calendar: this helps you remember your commitment to the site and makes sure that you are following the program. It also helps you know what time of day everything is happening.
-Be yourself: be yourself when using membership sites, not just a different version of yourself that "you are here to build a business". You will be instantly able to tell if you are actually committed, or if it's just some time-wasting scam and they will get rid of you fast.
-Know when to move on: know when it's time for another site or course. Will it take longer? Yes! But only if it's done right, not half assed. It's better to invest more time in finding the right program rather than wasting your time on something that's not right. If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you have already tried and given up on one or more membership sites, which means you know what things don't work. It is important to know when it's time to move on from these sites and what you need from the next site.
When using membership sites make sure that it isn't your only plan for success, but rather a small part of building your career or business. Don't have an unrealistic expectation of how fast things will happen because of these programs. Be fully committed and make sure you are doing the little things to let others know that you are serious about being part of the site.
Membership sites have been around for over a decade, have learned from their mistakes, and are willing to help you learn how to use them properly. Just remember that joining one is just the beginning. It takes hard work, dedication, and time to get any results from them. Don't expect your membership site to save you weeks, months or years of hard work. It will come with time, but only if you are doing the small things (keeping a calendar, posting and responding to messages, taking the classes seriously) and not letting things get out of control.
Once you do it right though, they can be an awesome tool for building a business or career!
Title: Five steps to making a complete member site package
-You need 2 kinds of content: one content that is relevant to your program and one that is not (be patient with this part). Unless your site is something that almost everyone thinks is silly or uninteresting; there will always be people who want something from it. The content that got you to sign up is the first kind. The second set of content will come with time, patience and work.
-Don't let your site get out of control: Make sure you know what's going on with all the parts and pieces of your site. If you are paying a VA or blog writer, make sure they know what they are doing or this can get out of control fast!
-Make sure every piece of information, about your program and about you, is updated. This way it's easy for new people to find out about it and for current ones to keep up with the changes. This includes things like courses, website information, workbooks, webinars and videos.
-Make a schedule that fits your goals and your time. This is important because it makes sure you are "in control" of what's going on with your program and how much effort you are putting towards it. Remember, this is not something you want to do for a month or two and then let go of.
--Make the commitment: If committing to something isn't enough to get you serious about making progress, then don't expect any results! If you are not ready to put in the time and effort you will get nothing out of it. .
--Find what works for you: A member site can be a great way to make money or promote yourself as an expert in your field. It can also end up being a waste of time and money if you don't do it right. The key to being successful with them is putting in the time and effort to find out what works for you.
--Be patient: Unless you are an overnight success, realize that things take time. Just because it took this long to get the site started doesn't mean it's going to happen overnight (or even after 6 months). Be patient and keep doing what you are doing!
--Know when to move on: Knowing when it's time to move on from a site is just as important as knowing where to go next. Not every site will be a fit, but keep looking and you will find one that fits. There is a reason for everything!
--What's in it for me? People like to feel that they are getting something out of something they do (including joining a site). Make sure that you are giving out something of value with each level, which can be anything from webinars to workbooks or even discount codes.
Conclusion
In the end, using membership sites can be a great way to make money as an expert in your field or to help promote yourself. It can also be a way to build your business or career at a pace you are comfortable with. The best part is that you have all kinds of membership sites available to you! It doesn't matter what niche or area of expertise you want to focus on, there is a site out there for it.
It's important though not to get hung up on joining the right one right away either. For that reason, I'm going to give you my list of 11 places that I personally use and would recommend checking out (depending on what type of site you're looking for).