TOP 21 Questions Asked About Membership Sites and WishList Member (Audio)

Questions Asked About Membership Sites Introduction

In this webcast recording with Stu McLaren and Tracy Childers, WishList Products co-founders, you’ll discover the top 21 membership questions ask by WishList Members customers and subscribers. Question like:

• What type of membership model should be used?
• What WordPress theme should you select?
• How you should price your membership site?
• How to create content?
• What content to display on your site?
• How should you promote your membership site?

Plus strategies on membership retention:

• How do you keep your members?
• How to engage your members?
• How to build your community?

Also discussed  are the different plugins you can use to automate the process of running, maintaining and managing your membership site.

Notes From the Top 21 Questions About Membership Sites Training Webcast:

The following are my notes from the webcast, I’ve include any links mentioned in the webcast.

 

Module #1 Q&A Membership Planning Strategies

How to Get Started, Membership Planning Strategies

Q1: (04:00) What type of membership model should I use?
A1: The type of membership model you select depends upon the product you are selling. There are ten standard membership models which can be mixed to product hundreds of combinations. The top membership model is the, “Publisher Membership Model”. With this membership model you are creating new content on a regular basis.

Q2: (08:15) What WordPress theme should be used with my membership site?
A2: The type of WordPress theme chosen for your membership site depends upon the membership model you have selected. If you select the, “Publisher Membership Model” for example, it would be best to select a premium magazine style theme. Stu McLaren recommends themes from the following companies because their themes can be easily customised.

• SoloStream
• WooThemes
• ithemes
• ElegantThemes

Q3: (14:15) How should I price the membership section of my site?
A3: Firstly, the best strategy is to create a large membership community and them monetise the membership site at a later stage. Examples of this strategy are Facebook and Twitter. So when it comes to monetising your membership site the best method is to start low and have a graduated or tiered set of price points for differing membership levels.

Module #2 Q&A Content Creation Strategies

Q4: (18:30) What type of content should I create for my site?
A4: The type of content for your membership site depends upon your skill-set. You need to ask yourself, am I a great writer, can I produce great audio content or can I make fantastic videos. Depending upon your answer will depend upon the type of content you produce for your membership site.

• Kodak Zi8 (Stu McLaren recommends)

Q5: (23:45) Should I give members access to everything on the membership site?
A5: No. You need to prevent people for signing up for the minimum period allowed an then downloading everything on your site. You also need to give people a reason for wanting to remain as part of your membership.

Q6: (25:35) How do I create a test to control member levels?
A6: Within WishList Member every time you create a membership level a membership registration URL is also created. Using a program such as Adobe Captivate or Camtasia Studio a quiz can be created at this point which will test the members knowledge of the module they have just completed. Depending upon their success or otherwise they will be passed to next relevant module.

Q7: (28:35) How can you protect your content?
A7: Don’t worry about this. Concentrate on the dollars, not the dimes.

Note 1: The latest version of WishList Member has download protection built-in.
Note 2: WordPress Download Monitor plugin for uploading and managing download files, inserting download links in posts, and monitoring download hits is available.
Note 3: The Broadband Download Monitor was discontinued on Thursday 6 September, 2012

Module #3 Q&A Promotion Strategies

Q8: (33:00) What is the best way to get people to your site?
A8: Promote and market through joint ventures and/or co-operative relationships.

Q9: (40:20) How do you attract affiliates?
A9: The easiest way to attract affiliates is to give a good return to affiliates. Who makes the best affiliates? The people who make the best affiliates are those who already use your product.

Q10: (45:40) What is the most under utilised promotion strategy?
A10: The most under utilised promotion strategy is the use of video. The recommended tools for video distribution are:

• Traffic Geyser ($47 per month)
• TubeMogul (Free – with restrictions)
• Content Buzz ($97 per month)

Module #4 Q&A Conversion Strategies

Q11: (48:50) How do I structure the outside of my site compared to the inside of my site? How do I mask content to non-members?
A11: Give non-members a taste of member content utilising the WishList Member <more> tag protection. Provide an enticing title and first paragraph which everyone can read and a <more> tag link which only members can access. This generates desire for non-members and increases conversions.

Q12: (53:55) Which is the most effective strategy for getting people to sign up, a free bonus or a 7 day trial period?
A12: Utilise both, but only for promotions. Try a $1 seven day trial period as a “down sell” to those who did not want to buy your product. Do the same with bonuses. Also use bonuses as a way to generate excitement for short periods.

Q13: (57:25) How can I display pages depending upon whether a person has opted in or not?
A13: Use the WordPress plugin, Cookie Logic. (Not yet released!)

Module #5 Q&A Retention Strategies

Q14: (1:00:00) What is the expected drop-off (attrition) rate for membership sites?
A14: The drop-off rate for the average membership site should be less than 10%. If your attrition rate is more than 15%, then you are doing something seriously wrong. In all probability either your content is not living up to the hype or you are not communicating the content to your members.

Q15: (1:04:10) How do I improve member retention?
A15: Ensure that you outperform the expectations of your members and ensure that you do not overwhelm your members with too much information. Enable previews of future content.

Q16: (1:08:50) How do you allow people to cancel their accounts?
A16: Always make it easy for members to cancel their membership. Always handle the membership cancellation for them. This enable you to ask the question, WHY? This gives you the opportunity to correct any problems and save the sale.

Module #6 Q&A Engagement & Community Strategies

Q17: (1:12:10) How can you actively engage your members and build a community?
A17: Rule: Members come for the content but stay because of the community. See…

• WishList Products Webcast (Free)
• Simple Press WordPress Plugin (Free)

Q18: (1:18:05) Can you create a facebook wall?
A18: The easiest way to create a Facebook type wall is with the, Buddy Press WordPress Plugin (Free).

Module #7 Q&A Outsourcing and Automation Strategies

Q19: (1:19:50) What plugins can be used to automate the membership site process?
Q20: ()
Q21: ()
(1:20:50) End – Sorry last few questions/answers missing from audio module!

Final Notes About Wishlist Member Training

Chances are, after listening to this WishList Products webcast you’ll think of even more question. If so, just pop over to the  WishList community blog and ask away. Well, I hope you found something useful and enjoyed this session, please don’t forget to let me have your thoughts on this item. See you soon.