Being There for Your Members

For the majority of marketers running a membership site is a way to brand yourself online. You provide your members with lots of valuable content and in return they help spread the word about what a great site you run!

While this makes common sense some people open up a membership site and then expect it to run itself. The worst mistake you can make is to not visit the site and be active on it. Whether this includes leaving messages and chatting with members or just uploading new content and bonuses.

When you set up your membership site you need to have a clear purpose in mind for it. Is the purpose to use the site just to allow your customers to download their purchase? Or do you want to use it to provide them with a learning experience or to deliver them fresh new content each month?

If your membership is for delivering content or a learning experience then you need to be seen on the site. You want to make yourself available to your members so they can ask for help or for advice.

Not all membership software has the ability to install a forum. If this is not possible then just create a closed Facebook group or invitation only community. It is still private and accessible to only your members.

You should also set up a help or support center as well. This allows members who are having download or technical difficulties to get support. Plus it keeps any issues out of the main members area. Your hosting company has help desks that you can easily install on your site.

Another way to be there for your members and give them encouragement and support is to create some type of reward system. This can be as simple as giving them a badge that appears after they complete certain tasks. Or after they have posted X number of messages in the forum.

One of the main purposes of your membership site should be to brand yourself as an expert. So being visible to your current members is extremely important.

Encourage your members to refer their friends by setting up a reward or affiliate program for them. This way they can refer a few friends each month and have their membership paid for. A fantastic way to retain members as well as getting a constant flow of new members for your site.