Membership sites Archives - Totally Content - Business PLR

So yesterday we looked at how to get new members into your membership site. But this is only part of the challenge. The other part of the equation is keeping the members you already have! Over time, your members will inevitably start dropping off and it’s important to continuously bring in new members (don’t worry, there are simple ways to do this). But it makes sense to retain as many existing members as you can, too. Here are five ways to keep members in your membership site:

1. Give them really great value

It sounds obvious, but the best way to keep members is to give them such great value that they don’t want to leave. If you are making a content-based subscription, make sure your content is valuable and usable. If you are offering a service, make sure it’s timely and reliable. Make delivering value your priority and be responsive to your members’ changing needs.

2. Grandfather your members.

Offer lower introductory prices that stay low for existing members while still making sure your the prices are still profitable. When you raise your prices, ‘grandfather’ older members with their lower price and state they will keep that price as long as they keep their subscription active.

The strategies can keep members faithful to you for a long time. Ron and Alice – owners of the Member Site Live course – have memberships they started many years ago and still have a lot of charter members because of the value they get. These people are also great cheerleaders for what they offer and refer new members as well. It’s a win-win for a number of reasons.

3. Create a valuable community

If you build a community that offers valuable support and information then members won’t want to leave. Your membership will be the only place they can hang around with that group which is a powerful ncentive for them to stay. I’m a member of a couple of groups who are like friends to me and the advice I get there is worth far more than the subscription I pay each month.

4. Offer more goodies as costs and time allows.

As you grow and have the cash flow to invest more into your membership, bulk up the value of your subscription on a regular basis. It could be by providing more content (even if you sell a physical product), support and interactivity. This will keep your current subscribers hanging on because they keep getting more value and it will also attract new members who are getting extra perks.

5. Give them products and services which make it tricky for them to leave

Of course, we’re not talking about holding your customers’ credit card numbers hostage, but about creating types of products and services that discourage them from making the decision to cancel. For example, storage of their data, content they’ve published, a service you perform that they need, etc.

It’s much easier to serve current members and have them refer new members to you than it is to constantly work to sell a new product.

If you haven’t grabbed Alice Seba and Ron Douglas’s free guide with 24 ideas and examples of winning membership ideas, here is where to get it. (It’s only available for today).

Membership sites are great for building recurring income, because as long as you give members value they will continue to pay you every month. But how exactly can you get new members for your membership site?

1. Tell them about the benefits

Clearly illustrate the benefits of your membership site. Yes, the features of your product, membership, or service are important, but when asking them to sign up for ongoing payments, you really need to let them know the benefits. For example: will they save time, have less stress, build more stamina…?

2. Give a low-cost or free trial

Even if your subscription offer can be cancelled at anytime, people are often wary of getting hooked into a subscription of something not yet sure of. You can offer a free or a very low-cost trial to try it out. For example, when I promoted my Online Business Club I offered the first week for $1 and almost everyone who signed up to that stayed for a few months at the very least.

3. Offer a Satisfaction Guarantee

A guarantee can go a long way in giving you prospects the confidence to buy. In the case of membership sites where you are delivering digital content, there are minimal costs per member so that offering a 30-day money back guarantee, for example, is easy enough to do.

4. Let them cancel at any time

In addition to giving them a guarantee, make sure they know they can cancel at any time. Some offers need commitment to see results (such as coaching), but in the case of a straightforward subscription there is usually no reason to make it hard to leave. Prospects will be more likely give it a try if they know they can get out easily. Then you just wow them with your content, so they’ll stay.

5. Ask your customers to help you promote

Why not set up an affiliate program? Some of your members may be experienced with affiliate marketing, but for those that are not, make the concept of the affiliate program easy to understand. It’s simply a referral program where they can refer family and friends. Make it attractive by telling them they can earn enough cash to pay for their monthly membership, or even more.

So there are a few ideas to get you going. And if you haven’t grabbed Alice Seba and Ron Douglas’s free guide with 24 ideas and examples of winning membership ideas, here is where to get it . (It’s only available for a few days).

Five ways to keep members in your membership site

5 Ways to get new members for your membership site