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…)
Main points:
– 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!
Hi Eric,
I received your request to follow me on twitter, but after accepting your request twice I notice you’re still not following me. I don’t no why. If you send another request I will try again.
Sorry:0
Jack
What’s your twitter name?
Depends what you mean by affiliate site. Are you talking about promoting other people’s stuff as an affiliate? Or you have affiliates promoting your site? Either way, there are ways to tie the two together…
Hi Eric,
I’m interested in a Membership site. Can you send me info on how to start this. I have been researching it but don’t know which way to go.I’m interested in a recurring monthly charge.Is Tradingpro your site can you sign up as an affiliate How do i build a site to promote this.Please let me know asap.
Thnx,Brenda
Eric–as always good stuff! Yep, I’m a little disappointed at the cost of the scripts it takes to run a full-fledged membership site. I understand that at the end of the day, it takes money to make money so for now I’ll bookmark the websites you suggest and soldier on through these lessons. They are a great source of inspiration to get that point ‘to take the plunge’. Thanks, Ray.
As shown in the video, there are various ways of building a membership site.
you can become an affiliate for TradingProSystem here: click here
There’s many different ways you could build a site to promote it. One of the easiest would be a combination of a wordpress blog and article marketing.
i puchased your meembership stuff but cant find it now. Can I get it again? I’m very frustrated with my overall web presence and really need some management. Was hoping your e-course could help direct me.
I sen this e-mail yesterday but don’t see it today. Where did it go?
Please open a ticket at the helpdesk and we can get you the download links again: http://www.ericsupport.com
Hi, Eric. I appreciate all of the information you provide and plan on using many of the strategies you teach. But when I found Eric’s Tips, I was actually looking for information on the best way to start and build a profitable Ebay bussiness. Do you have a lesson that covers Ebay. If not, what information can you provide?
I will not be covering it in these lessons, and I actually sold my ebay-related business, so I do not have a product for it any more.
Here are some Ebay resources:
Silent Sales Machine
Tom Barnes
Salehoo Wholesale directory
Thanks for your great efforts for the community, I am watching all your videos like a crazy.
I have already taken an initial step towards online business but still would like to take your suggestion as you are a wizard of online marketing.
I have a plan to prepare a website which will take at least 4-6 months to get ready because of big information database, I just want to consult you once before getting indulge into it.
It would be great if you can provide your email or contact number to make me discuss the same with you.
I know you must be busy with lot of other stuff but I expect 5 minutes of your time to help a newbie, after all we are social animals and shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help when required and to help obviously:)
Regards,
Goldy Arora
India
Thank you very much for this lesson. I am very interested to set up a membership site, and I already have an idea in which niche I am going to do that.
All the best,
Arne
Eric,
Thanks so much for these AWESOME tutorials, the are well worth the time and your efforts are most appreciated. I’ve been a WP junkie for years- it is a great CMS!
Question- let me see if I have this straight. You started an account with Clickbank, signed up to be an affiliate of TradingProSystem, created a sales page (landing page)/ membership site and drove traffic to it? Is this accurate?
Many thanks,
Dave
Eric,
Thanks for taking the time to produce these videos. They are ever so informative and uplifting – i look forward to them daily! the info is priceless, especially for a newby like me. Keep up the good work and God bless you and yours.
Al (Kent, England)
Hi Eric,
I’m trying to decide which script I should get. It will probably be either the rap script or the memberfire script that comes w/ your member course (or both).
The rapscript has a really powerful way of sending new customers through the funnel, but memberfire has the option to use clickbank as the payment processor… and CB already has the affiliates there to promote.
So, it comes down to:
– The power of rap
– The CB marketplace
…Which do I want more…
Thanks. Actually TradingProSystem is my product, rather than something I am an affiliate of. So yes I do send traffic to it, but a good portion of the traffic also comes from affiliates of my product.
Hey Eric:
I am embarrased to say it. I am a jack of all trades and master of none as far as IM is concern. How could someone like me create a membership site and provide contents that members wants to pay? or Do you know where can I find CONTINUOUS CONTENTS to sell in a membership site?
Does your membership course provide good support response like the way you do it here which is fantastic and targeted response.
Lastly, there is sooo many moving parts in IM, what is your secrets in staying ahead of the game all the time Eric? I have always been puzzled by how all the gurus makes themselves stay ahead of others. I study for many many hours but never seem to get close to it. Would appreciate your feedback on this. As always, thank you.
Hi Eric,
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer. If this is the case, you mentioned in previous posts the product is a originally from Vallieres. Did you private label/ repackage and/ or get a licensing agreement from him? If so, will this process (licensing) be covered in future tutorials?
Thanks,
Dave
Yes I did a private label deal with him, and did repackage the product.
I do talk a little about PLR in lesson #45. I’m not covering it in depth, but it’s pretty simple.
Whenever I see someone offering PLR rights to a product that I think I can sell, I buy it.
Secondly, I make my own PLR deals. If I see someone selling a product that I wish was my own (and I think I could do a better job selling it than the product owner), then I email them and make them an offer to private label it from them. The cost of the private label deal just depends on what it is. I’ve paid anywhere from $500 to $25,000 to private label products from their owners.
The specific rights of the deal are negotiable, but generally I want to sell the product as if it were my own, under my own brand, with no mention of the original owner.
The methods of finding continuous content are really the same methods as finding one-time content which I explain is lesson #45 (make it yourself, get a partner, outsource it, get contributors, etc.)
For example I have a membership site called Daily Market Advantage, and I do not create any of the content for it. I partnered with an expert, who creates the content for it. And he makes a percentage of the profits.
I generally do not provide the type of personal support like I provide here on my blog. The reason is because it’s just not possible. That’s why I have a helpdesk with support staff.
I think it’s best not to focus on keeping up or getting ahead of others. The internet is getting too big to do that… you’ll drive yourself crazy 😉
Instead, just focus on what YOU can do each day. Get a vision, set goals, and work hard each day. At some point, things will most likely gel in your mind, and it will feel more like you’re surfing the wave instead of getting pummelled by it.
Hi Eric,
Thank you so much and last question on this topic. Will you be covering how you find PLR’s in a future lesson, if not do you have any suggestions for the novice?
Thanks,
Dave
Basically you can find PLR material for sale easily by doing a google search for it. But keep in mind that a lot of the PLR stuff you may find for sale publically has been widely distributed. So I generally like to look for “limited” sales.
And of course if you can arrange an exclusive PLR deal for a product that has never been offered as PLR before, that ensures that you won’t have competition from other resellers.
I also do a few of my own PLR sales throughout the year, so keep an eye out 😉
Hey Eric:
Thank you for your advice and feedback Eric. Seriously, what is your secrets of becoming so good in what you do? In terms of your IM skills, knowledge as I truly want to be a great IM myself like you with my own niche. Do you have a roadmap you can share?
Lastly, do you know a site where I can search for willing contributors, good sourcing places and partners. Is it taught in your member course?
Thanks.
Seriously- these lessons are my roadmap.
As for finding contributors and partners… if you’re in the internet marketing niche, then I would recommend going to some live seminars to meet people and do networking.
But regardless of what niche you are in, a good place to look is your competitors. They could be good partners and contributors. Also your customers. Since they are interested in the topic, they could become contributors. Online forums focused on a certain niche are also a good way to meet other people with similar interests.
As always, thank you.
11am / feb 04m 2010 (Philippine time)
I am a Filipino. Just can merely afford below $50 to invest at first time.
I need to start now a membership site that makes invests onetime,but less than P$30, then if possible legally and validly makes me earn if i got or not the personal referrals and as much as possible with positive feedbacks and forums and easy to follow steps for me as a starter. I have n not yet joined any one membership site with the fear that there are lots of scams. Hopefully , please don’t give me scam or illegal. I hope it’s transparent and with NO FALSE PROMISES. Thanks -jonsihay
Hi Eric, I have been going for 2 months now and I have made one $43 sale. My problem is that I am jumping around so much that I don’t have clear direction. I realised early on there is a significant learning curve which has to be gone through(& I sometimes get stuck here). Since I discovered “Erics Tips” it is going a lot better. THANKS. Any piece of advice for me??
I would say keep taking it step by step, and I think you will fill in some gaps that you may have been missing in your overall business strategy.
Hay Eric. I am having a hard time thinking of a nitch. i have a variety store on line ( J and B Variety store. You could probley gues as to who the supplier is. I have had two bu invitation sites wich dident worl. Now I have one that the customer don’t nead a gist card to buy something. The problem is with so many diferent items in the site I am haveing a hard time finding a nitch that would cover such a variety. We do handle items from in the garden, threw the house into the garadge. Also for every body in the house hold. That is berty much our slogan. So my problem is to find a nitch to cover so much. One good point is that I have joined AWeber to get a list going. I would like any coments
Thanks
Wilbur
I’m glad you joined AWeber, I will be covering it in depth.
I would recommend choosing ONE item to focus on rather than any kind of variety store.
It is certainly possible to make money with e-commerce variety stores, but I think most people have a better chance of success if they focus on one product at a time.
I’m focusing on information products in these lessons, but it wouldn’t necessarily have to be an info product. It just needs to be one thing that has demand, fills a need, and lends itself well to direct marketing.
But honestly I would recommend trying the info-product route. The cost of entry is so low that it’s much easier to make a profit than it is with physical products.
I HAVE GONE THROUGH ALL LESSONS AND I HAVE NOT YET STARTED ANY INTERNET BUSINESS. I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE TO DIRECTLY START IT. PLEASE COME IN IN ANY FORM.
THANK YOU.
You need to do the action steps at the end of each lesson. Your business will not start itself, and I will not build it for you. Some marketers may claim to build your business for you, but those are generally “turn-key” bizops that rarely succeed.
Great information Eric. I have enjoyed your training. Man, I am blown away by your stats for The Trading Pro System. I can’t imagine generating the kind of traffic required to generate that many members.
Honestly it didn’t require that much traffic. Some came from my own list, some came from affiliates, some from PPC. It’s a level of traffic that is attainable for most marketers if they work hard for it, and I’ll be covering traffic in depth later on.
You mention in the video that you can integrate forum scripts into aMember. I was looking at the member fire script but didnt see that feature mentioned..is it possible?
Thanks.
There are some forums that specifically have Amember “plugins”, but the nice thing about Amember is that you don’t need a plugin. You can use it to protect ANY area of any website, including any forum.
I am not too sure about Member Fire, as I have not tried to protect a forum with it.
I think it may be possible to set it up to protect a forum that is contained within a directory, but the member would need to log in twice.
Of course some forums also have their own integrated protection, where login is required to view it. So in some cases a membership site script may not be necessary.
But if you are protecting a member area that contains a forum as well as other various elements, I would recommend the Amember script due to it’s flexibility.
My membership doesn’t work….maybe there’s too many competitors out there at the moment.
I’m trying to figured out how to attract more customers and maybe provide a service to them…hmmm
Eric,
I found this to be very informative! Thanks for the advice and keep up the great work!
ERIC,
YOU ARE A REAL GURU. GOD BLESS.
I HAVE A SILLY QUESTION .
I AM FROM INDIA AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO OWN-OPERATE MEMBERSHIP SITES FROM INDIA ? I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING A GREAT DEAL ON FEW LUCRATIVE NICHES WHICH MIGHT BE OF GREAT INTEREST TO WESTERN MARKETS. THEN CERTAINLY I WILL BUY YOUR STUFF
It works the same way from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. The only potential complication is payment processing in some countries, but I believe you can use Paypal or Clickbank in India.
All good Eric, the only thing missing is content… Did you buy the rights to the trading content and then present it under your banner?
Basically yes- I licensed it.
I am restarting my online business…too much wrong before. So, I have 50 domains available to me; however, I want to use maybe one or two as my “branding” known name sites which I will be able to be identified by online. Right now, I need to build monthly income, so QUESTION: should I use a good domain name and have the niche websites as a subdomain even if it does NOT pertain to the main domain I would use for my niche marketing. EXAMPLE: mydomainname.com/nichewebsite1 or fireyourboss.com/makinggoatcheese Also, if I decide to make a membership site, same question…would doing it like this be smart or would it hurt me in the Search Engines? I need to reorganize my online business somehow.
By the way, I appreciate ALL the information found within your tips and thank you so very much for the straight-forward and clear methods you present.
There are situations where you could use subdomains for niche sites, but in your case I would not suggest it. It sounds like your niches are too diverse and such a strategy could be viewed as being spammy.
However, I also think you need to focus on one niche at a time. Instead of simultaneously planning many niche sites, I would start with just one (whichever one you think has the most profit potential). See it to completion and make it profitable. Only then move on to the next niche, make it profitable, etc.
Yes, sounds like a plan…Thanks so much Eric. Your site offers a wealth of information and I even learn a lot from the comments of others, so thanks a ton every day!
Hi Eric,
The butterfly marketing script is now opensource (free):
http://butterflyopensourcecode.com
You are right, it does not include the full home study course, but the site script is free.
Hello Eric,there is something I want you to help me with and that is, how do I create an advert space on my website now that you’ve taught me how to creat website I really needed to create an advert space please help me.Thanks
I,ve followed your great lessons from the start. I was renaming the links off of the actual opened page but when I try to open it afterwards, the link will not open the lesson for my review. Are the links designed that way or am I doing something wrong?
As an example, I have yesterday’s lesson filed as:
[Training, Video & Article Series] (Eric Holmlund) – ”Eric’s Tips” – Lesson #032 – ”How to Build a Membership Website”
The system is great for filing, but not if it won’t reopen.
Help Please