Membership sites....time to move from idea to implementation

Hi everyone. I am relatively new to the community and am just starting to participate. I have a few ideas for various membership sites where subject matter knowledge is my product. I completed my research and have spoken with potential members about their needs and "what keeps them up at night". Currently, I am going through the steps of finalizing my overall strategy for the site, developing initial content and starting to develop my thoughts on how to market the site.

I realize there is a great deal of expertise here and I am hoping to connect with others that have either been down this road or are currently on a similar path. Obviously, my biggest question is how to move my ideas from my head, to paper and then to something real. Any advice is appreciated.

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Group LeaderPermalink Reply by Terry Hadaway on August 29, 2016 at 6:27am

David,

At CWE, I spoke about four types of content entrepreneurs should create…public (blogs, freely available); exchange (tips sheets, ebooks you exchange for email addresses); engagement (courses, paid content); and empowerment (membership sites and masterminds).

I would look for ways to create and deliver all four (if you haven't already). People who know you might jump straight into the membership site. Growing your audience, however, will require intentional trust-building. That's where the content matrix becomes a valuable tool.

I wrote a blog post about this topic. You can get more information about it here.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Bonham on August 29, 2016 at 8:01am

Terry,

Thank you for that resource. It's exactly the clarity I needed, as I'm also looking to start a new online platform and business. I have never seen such a great explanation of the different types of content!

David,

I'm interested in the responses you will get here. Thanks for asking a relevant question, and best wishes for your new site. Keep us posted.

Heather

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Permalink Reply by Allan Dubon on August 29, 2016 at 7:01am

David,

Are you planning on building this on your own, or having someone design it for you?

Having a coach that is familiar with this type of market is a good thing. This way you save yourself the headaches that most newcomers have.

What is your site going to be about?

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Group LeaderPermalink Reply by Jen McDonough "The Iron Jen" on August 31, 2016 at 8:18am

David,

If you haven't already posted this in Jeff Long's online course group HERE, that might be a great start. Also Terry Headway has a great group HERE that may be helpful.

Dan also sent out a email on Stu McLaren’s new video series - The Recurring Revolution that talks about membership sites that may be helpful. He also shared that you can now watch the first two videos for free by clicking here.

Best wishes on moving forward.

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Permalink Reply by Plasticine Porter on Wednesday

I think sites full of subject matter knowledge are a great idea. Years ago, I actually worked on expertise-rich website projects that, for various reasons, never got off the ground, and I wish they had. There is so much useless content and outright misinformation online that you are providing a valuable service just by writing an informative blog or site. Making it generate income is the bigger challenge. I like Terry's idea of offering both free and paid content. I wish I had more helpful advice, but I have only worked on the content writing side of these products, so I don't have any experience with the financial side.