LESSON #32: How to Build a Membership Website

By | February 7, 2009
325 Comments

Within the past several lessons, I’ve covered a handful of different ways to build a website.

Today I’m going to talk about building a membership website…

(Watch this video…)

Join my coaching club

Main points:

  • Membership website = a website that contains a member area.

  • Memberships can be free, paid, or both.

  • Free membership sites: Often used for building a database of members, which can then be monetized in other ways. (Ex. facebook.com)

  • Remember, “the money is in the list”.

  • Paid membership sites: A membership fee is charged. It could be a one-time fee or a recurring membership fee.

  • Using recurring membership fees is a great way to add continuity to your business model.

  • Continuity = Cash Flow = Financial Freedom

  • Membership area is an ideal way to provide ongoing products/services.

  • (see video for behind-the-scenes of one of my 6-figure paid membership sites)

  • Multi-tiered membership sites: can give you the best benefits of both free and paid membership sites. (Grow a big list while generating income)

  • (see video for behind-the-scenes of one of my multi-tiered membership sites with over 30,000 members)

  • Tips for choosing a membership site script:

    – Get one that will install on your own domain.

    – Get one that is popular… there’s safety in numbers.

    – Make sure it will support your payment processing method.

    Possible choices:

    Membergate – high end solution with a great reputation. Runs about $4k-$30k.

    Amember – this is what I use for my paid membership sites.

    Butterfly Marketing – this is what I use for my multi-tier membership sites.

    Marketing Website Generator – This is a souped up version of Butterfly, made by my friend and programmer Nick Temple. Highly recommended.

    WordPress Wishlist – a membership plugin for WordPress (not shown on the video).

    Monthly Income Formula – A complete step-by-step home study course for setting up a membership site, including the script, ALL for much less cost than any of the scripts above.

    Action steps:

    1) Decide if you’re going to create a membership site.

    2) If yes, choose a script to run your site, and buy it.

    3) Install the script, or pay someone to install it for you. You can post projects and get scripts installed as cheap as $10 at Rent A Coder

    In the next lesson I’ll be covering WordPress!

    As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 🙂

    Have a great day!

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    • 325 thoughts on “LESSON #32: How to Build a Membership Website”

    1. Eric Post author

      absolutely, you should always read the fine print 😉 (btw, they did mention it right on the sales page too)

      Reply ↓
    2. nis

      I agree Eric, but many get a different impression. They think thats its only $1. I know its mentioned somewhere but with all those long sale pitch they get carried away.
      But hey thats the trick….
      Anyways Eric–I have been following your blog closely, and I m in the middle of coming out with some product and would like to share with you.
      Cheers.

      Reply ↓
    3. Michaela

      Yes! This is the lesson I am waiting for a long time, your lesson was exactly what I need. What is left is to make my mind about what I want to use. Thanks a lot.
      About the WordPress, I already use it on my last blog, but I’ll pay attention to see what I am missing… because I always learn something from you. I learned WP doing it, I am sure that not every angle was explored yet.
      By the way, I think you said that you are using WP a lot. Do you use it for non-blog, just regular sites as well? What about member sites?

      Thanks Eric
      Michaela
      http://michaelacernescu.com
      (this is my blog created with WordPress.)

      Reply ↓
    5. Dan

      Any more technical details about this membership script? Is it mysql driven or sitting somewhere like aweber autoresponder databases and stuff?
      I would have to customize it for German language …

      Reply ↓
    7. Henk

      Hi Erick,
      wow this is great stuff! As a buyer of the membership site program I am very pleased with all the info. And in my opinian it is almost the best info I have. Akmost because the 8 videos are about Amember and shure not about Memberfire. Nevertheless it is a very welcome program because I am already building my membershipsite. I will post a comment when its ready.
      Thanks.

      Good business to you all!

      Henk

      Reply ↓
    8. talon

      Hello Eric I love your post! They are so helpful. I know that I would like to have a membership site but I don’t know what topics would be profitable. Do you have any ideas ?

      Reply ↓
    9. john marrion udeagha

      from my bible, i understood that simple things are great.i appreciate the simplicity and greatness of ur lessons.now, i am learning. keep it up brother and god bless

      Reply ↓
    11. stan

      Eric,
      I was looking at Google cash detective and adspypro programs.
      I found your post here: http://www.ericstips.com/tips/adspypro/

      I know GCD came with another upgrade I guess this year.

      I did not buy GCD.
      Do you still recommend Adspypro now to buy OR something changed in the last couple of years.

      Thanks.

      Reply ↓
    12. Anonymous

      Hi Eric,

      When will lesson 33 be available? ( WP Blog ) I am working on my WP Blog now and welcome the chance to learn from the master!

      Thanks,

      Tom / Atlanta

      Reply ↓
    13. Shawn

      Eric,
      Looking at the Monthly Income Formula salesletter leaves me with a question. Do they show you specificaly with the membership script they give you how to set up the site and monetize it? Inside the salesletter they specify Amember in one of the manuals. Also, how sophisticated can you make the membership site with this script? I would like to do an educational site with password protected how-to videos.

      Shawn

      Reply ↓
    14. Eric Post author

      Yes they show how to set up a site with their script. And yes, it coveres Amember too. The same principles apply to both scripts, they are just different scripts. The package contains instructions for setting up both types of sites. As far as sophisticated… it just depends. For an “educational site with password protected how-to videos”, I think it will do what you want to do.

      Reply ↓
    16. Eric Post author

      I am not currently using it personally, but as far as I know its still a good program.

      Reply ↓
    19. Eric Post author

      there are some free scripts you can use, but I don’t recommend them. I recommend using Aweber, which I will be covering in a future lesson. In the mean time you can check them out here

      Reply ↓
    21. Shawn

      Thanks Eric,

      I picked up your Push Button Marketer as well and am looking at the Monthly Income Formula, as well. I hope they can work synergistically.
      God Bless,

      Shawn

      Reply ↓
    22. JEROME

      Hello, Eric.

      Thanks for the lesson. Even before litsening to this particular one, I’ve been thinking about setting up dating sites. Of course, I’ve already study your Monthly Income Formula and would like more info.
      I want to create more than one site for various niches but possibly with the same database: how do I run all of them with the same script? Should I buy the formula for each site? In that case, it will be quite costy.
      I would a lso like some advice about how to promote my dating sites: which other software of yours would do? And from the beginning which formula would be efficient? Paid or free?
      Thanks

      Reply ↓
    23. Eric Post author

      You can use the Memeber Fire script for all of your sites.

      If you choose to go with Amember, then you would need to buy a license for each site.

      As for dating sites… that’s a tough niche to break into. There are various strategies, but in general I’d recommend free over paid, and then monetize the back end.

      Reply ↓
    24. Alan Gottlob

      Great stuff Eric. I have not seen any of your other videos but I was searching info for a Membership Website & stumbled upon your video. Very glad I did. I have tried to figure out how to get one set up with a forum, chat area and other goodies! You have given me an extra added incentive to continue my pursuit of my dream! Many thanks.

      Alan

      Reply ↓
    25. Eric Post author

      i’m glad you found it! I’ve done forums in membership areas. You can do this with most membership scripts… it’s especially easy to do with scripts that use htaccess to protect areas (amember is good at it). You can set up any forum just like you normally would (such as phpBB which is free, or a purchased script like vbulletin or IPB)… then you go into the admin of your membership script, and protect the entire directory containing the membership site. In that example, the members would have to register seperately for the forum. But there are also ways to fully integrate it so that they are automatically registered for the forum. I believe Amember has a plugin to do that too.

      Reply ↓
    26. D.T.

      I have been looking for another outlook way to make money. This looks like a good Idea I am going to study this concept and possibly try it I will let you know how it goes. You have great ideas Eric please keep up the good work !!!
      D.T.
      http://www.surefire88.com

      Reply ↓

    27. Pingback: LESSON 34: WordPress Recommended Settings | Eric’s Tips

    28. Bo Tipton

      |great information. I went to Monthly Income Formula and was impressed with their site. I am going to give them a try and see if their script is better then what I have been using.

      Thanks
      Bo Tipton
      The Ornery Marketer

      Reply ↓
    29. Bryan Hee

      Membership site is the great way for recurring income. Anyway you need to maintain it and continuous provide valuable update information and not “junk” information.

      To Your Success
      Bryan Hee

      Reply ↓
    30. Roy

      Eric, I am not able to get any email to you, is there a way to contact you with a JV offer?

      I would like to offer your tradingprosystem as well as offer to you my service site.

      Reply ↓
    31. Eric Post author

      I am not currently seeking any JV’s, but you may submit it to my helpdesk (ericsupport.com) for possible review. Thanks

      Reply ↓
    32. Bruce Selin

      Hi Eric. I’ve completed through lesson 34 but can’t access any more lessons. I thought there were 100+. I’m making a career change after 30+ years in my now chaotic industry (yeah, construction) and on s short fuse so would like to plunge ahead as quickly as I can. I’m still tweaking my WordPress blog but would like to move ahead aggressively as I have 6 mouths to feed, 3 in college, and I’m putting in 10-12 hours per day trying to absorb things and not waste time. If there are no more lessons, what would you suggest to study? I’m 57 years old and totally new to Internet Marketing/Biz but going after it!! But, without your lessons, i don’t know where IT is! Help!

      Reply ↓
    33. Eric Post author

      I am still making the lessons (there will be 100). The next one will be posted soon, and you’ll get an email if you’re on the list. Thanks

      Reply ↓
    34. Jim

      Hi Eric,

      I own a few websites and have plans for several more. The challenge is that I do not know HTML. I have not yet found a good source to build them myself that does not require a LOT of recoding to rid the sites of spaghetti code. I was considering Xsite but had seen some reviews that it may also produce convoluted code. I don’t know enough about code or Xsite to judge the validity of these opinions. What do you think?

      Reply ↓
    35. Eric Post author

      From what I’ve seen, Xsite’s code is pretty clean compared to other site builders I’ve used. Xsite is probably a decent option for you. Also keep following the lessons, as you may want to try WordPress also.

      Reply ↓
    36. terry

      In Eric’s defence you can even do it for free using word press and paypal.

      It would be a little cumbersome if you started getting some decent traffic but to get started it costs nothing.

      I built my first wordpress membership site using Erics tips yesterday and it was easy. Very easy.

      The tough part will be filling the site with relevant information however thats not the point I actually only wanted to see how easy it would be to create a site following Erics tips and it was easier than I thought.

      Thanks Eric.

      Reply ↓
    37. terry

      Hi Eric
      I can’t find that program on clickbank.

      I wanted to create a hoplink and start selling some 🙂

      Reply ↓
    39. Bruce Selin

      Eric, Thanks for your reply. In light of the fact that i’m running ahead of your lessons, what other resources would you recommend for me to study?

      As I wrote, I’m spending 10-12 hours, 6 days per week trying to study and learn. I need to stay on track, aggressively pursuing this career because I have no other source of income.

      I’m kind of floundering, trying to find out which are the top priorities for my study. I don’t know where to concentrate first and trying to sort through the hype.

      Any specific suggestions what I need to focus on next, ie., post lesson 34?

      Reply ↓
    40. Eric Post author

      Briefly…

      Do you have a website online yet?
      A product?
      Building a list?

      Reply ↓
    41. I.M.

      Eric,

      I noticed in the salesletter that it mentioned
      Ian DelCarmen’s membership script. Is that the script used and is there any variations to it being that its bundled with this product?

      I.M.

      Reply ↓
    43. Roy

      Hi Eric,

      As I have been surfing I came across a program called viral email marketing and it was a sort of this person told that person, and they told two, and on and on. First, is that an acceptable way of gaining email addresses? Second, if it is, do you have one or recommend one?
      thank you

      Roy

      Reply ↓
    44. Eric Post author

      It sort of depends on how you’re doing it. It’s not OK to use someone’s email address unless they personally opted into your list. But “tell-a-friend” scripts have been around a long time and sometimes they work well. The way most of those scripts work is the email does not come from you, but from your friend. But some of them actually send the email from you, and just mentions that their friend made the referral. I’d say those systems are questionable. Plenty of people use them (including big companies), but you could get in trouble if a recipient accuses you of spam. It’s got the potential for abuse, because an unscrupulous person could put all sorts of email addresses into your system.

      If you look at the “share this” widget here on my blog, you can see that there is a tell a friend function built into it. But I don’t think it gets used very much.

      Reply ↓
    45. John Taylor

      Eric,
      I have in mind my Domain Name,How do I register it?
      And also,how do I go about building a Web Page
      then putting it on line?
      I`m a 70 years young rookie finding the PC hard
      work, and have been bitten by many a so called
      “Millionaire Maker”,that has almost drained me
      dry.
      Thanks for being an honest guy.

      Yours Greatfully,

      John Taylor.

      Reply ↓
    48. Eric Post author

      I haven’t, but it looks very cool. I might try it out, and I’d be happy to hear anyone’s experience with it.

      NOTE: I added my affiliate link to your comment.

      Reply ↓
    49. Barry Nelson

      Hi Eric,

      I am a long time fan and have purchased your products. I have a question and i am about to purchase the Monthly Income Formula product. Is the script you offer in the product all i need to get started? I have hosting and all but i want to make sure i dont have to spend a fortune past the $97.

      All the Gurus should follow your leader in helping people out like you do. I just want to thank you for all you do and the time you spend helping people out, you are a true professional Internet Marketer… my hats off to you

      Reply ↓
    50. Eric Post author

      Yes the included script is sufficient to start and run a membership site. I’m assuming you will be able to figure out how to install it yourself using the provided instructions. Thanks

      Reply ↓

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