Top 3 Membership Site Mistakes to Avoid

There are many moving parts involved in setting up and running a membership site. The best possible situation is to have everything ready and under control before you launch and start signing up new members. To make the process run more smoothly, here are three major mistakes to avoid.

1. Having the Wrong Membership Site Model for Your Customers

Before we look at the types of membership sites, let's take a look at the different membership platforms that you can use to provide content to your members. There is Kajabi, Podia, Send Owl and others. It's important to pick a membership platform that has everything you need.

Once you decide on the membership platform you will choose the membership site model for your customers.  There are sites that offer a wealth of resources and content, those that offer the latest news, ones that are community-based, and so on. If you choose the wrong membership model for your audience, you'll have a hard time getting people to sign up and use the site.

What does your audience want to do on a site like yours? Do they want up-to-the minute industry news and information? If so, you should create a membership site that drip-feeds them content.

Does your audience want a community where they can share their experiences, pick the brains of others, and network? In this case, your site's main course should be a forum where your members can connect with like-minded people. It shouldn't be an archive of content.

You can also have a monthly membership for your online course and allow access to your course videos for as long as the members are subscribed.  You may even want to include a private FB group to keep members engaged.

Get to know your audience well and understand their needs. If you know what they need from your website, you can figure out how to give it to them.

2. Not Having a Content Plan For Your Membership Site 

You can crank up your marketing and create a membership site your audience can't refuse. You can get them to sign up, but what happens if they don't find what they're looking for there? If the content doesn't meet their needs, they'll cancel just as quickly as they joined.

The strength of the content you provide through your membership site will determine whether people sign up and stay or not. Membership sites vary a lot  in the type of content they offer, but you need to have a solid content plan that matches the needs of your members.

Research your target market to discover what information they need to solve their problems, and how they'd like to receive that information. A membership site could offer text-based content like articles and case studies; it could have videos or online course videos or the content could be resources or templates your members can use. Even if the focus of your site is a community forum, you'll still need a plan for providing content.

3. Not Creating an Automation for Your Membership Site

There are all kinds of things you can automate for your membership site. If you don't take advantage of automation, you'll find yourself working much harder to maintain the site, handling tasks that could easily be taken out of your hands by a software program.

You can automate:

  • The entire sign-up process
  • New member onboarding
  • Switching membership types
  • Drip-feeding content
  • Purchases made through the site
  • Member renewal reminders
  • Simple email communications

All of this can be managed with a simple dashboard program, and this frees you up to take care of the more important tasks, like communicating personally with your members and creating content.

The key to a successful membership site is proper planning. Make sure you have everything covered for the long-term before you start seeing sign-ups.

And if you're looking for a platform to host your membership site, one of my favorite membership sites is Podia.  Not only do they offer membership plans for your members, but you can sell digital products and courses on the platform too. They even have an e-mail marketing system built in. It's an all-in-one system at a great price. And their customer support is one of the best around. 

 

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