Publishers are making millions with their membership websites
Shouldn't you be a membership website millionaire?
Dear publishing colleague,
If you're puzzled about membership websites, you're not alone.
Publishers in every category and niche have been asking the same questions for more than a decade. It all boils down to this:
How can our company make money with a membership website?
To discover the answer, we took a hard look at dozens of membership websites. Some are attracting thousands of subscribers, renewing them regularly and generating excellent revenue. Others are not.
What makes the difference between success and mediocrity?
We uncovered more than a dozen common characteristics -- 14 membership website best practices -- that separate the winners from the losers.
And we deliver an in-depth review of 12 highly successful membership websites, with specific examples of the best practices, in Mequoda's new Membership Website Publishing handbook.
Strategic Intent vs. Blind Faith
A successful membership website requires loads of planning. That begins with a vision of your success and a clear strategy that will take you there.
The business model for a membership website rests on clearly identifying your target subscribers' needs, offering them incentives to join, providing valuable premium content and renewing members regularly.
Secret #1 — A membership website should be trying to fulfill the users' and publishers' goals.
The The Accounts Payable Network has a clear strategic intent.
It does not offer advertising, so most of its revenue is generated from membership fees. Its homepage fulfills this goal by immediately offering a free trial membership.
The site is also prominently capturing email addresses that will encourage return visits. Typical visitors to this site have a goal of finding solutions to their accounts payable problems and the solution is presented to them immediately -- join this service.
Should you create an association, affinity group or online community?
Membership websites can bring together communities of people interested in a common topic. If you provide news, advice or technical information, and offer a discussion forum or two, you have the basic ingredients of a membership website.
Knowing precisely how to build a community is critical to your success.
Secret #4 -- A memberhsip website should build community.
Outstanding Example: BabyCenter invites visitors to become involved with other members. Its side bar is clearly equipped with links that send users to bulletin boards, birth clubs and the "bargain board."
Making it easy for visitors to browse, sample content and join
Membership websites spend thousands to drive prospective subscribers to their websites. But all too often, prospects are greeted with poor website navigation when they arrive.
If your customers can't figure out your membership website instantly and intuitively, they are likely to click away in frustration -- never to return.
Secret #7 -- A membership website should have good affordance.
Proper affordance means that links should look like links -- and regular text should not have underlining or color-coding. Poor affordance means that you are making users mouse-over the page to look for links.
Outstanding Example: The typical user has no problem figuring out what is a link, what is not and where links will take them on CooksIllustrated.com. The site uses the conventional underlined blue text and a rollover on the navigation links.
Has anyone ever joined a member site whose content looks old or irrelevant?
The Internet is a 24/7 medium, and visitor attention and enthusiasm can be very short-lived. Credibility plummets if the homepage promotes an event that occurred two months ago.
Users -- especially paying subscribers to a membership website -- expect regular quantities of fresh content. Even a few out-of-date links can undermine the image of an otherwise up-to-date website.
Secret #11 -- A membership website thrives on fresh content.
Websites should have frequently updated content to keep from boring visitors and driving them to a competitor. Daily is good. Hourly is better. The more consistently information is posted to a website, the more repeat traffic it will generate.
Outstanding Example: The Wall Street Journal Online has an inherent advantage in this category because it is always posting new information, at least on a daily basis.
You can download a virtual membership website owner's manual -- right now -- for just $197, plus get a valuable bonus
In the new Mequoda Membership Website Handbook, you'll discover 12 explicit profiles of some of America's most successful membership website publishers.
You'll read a detailed analysis of each website, evaluated against 14 specific website design criteria. And you'll understand -- clearly and precisely -- what works, what doesn't and why.
Plus, as a bonus, you'll receive the Mequoda Membership Website Interactive Excel Spreadsheet. It's an indispensable tool for creating and managing your membership website business model.
The price for all this is only $197, and as with all Mequoda products, it's covered by our 10X guarantee.
That means at any time during the next 12 months, if you're dissatisfied in any way with the new Mequoda Membership Website Handbook, you can get your investment cheerfully refunded.
If you're not absolutely convinced you received a minimum of 10 times the value of your investment, simply write to us, and we'll send you a prompt refund of your entire purchase price.
With my sincere wish for your publishing success,
Don Nicholas, Managing Partner
Mequoda Group, LLC
P.S. Remember, there's absolutely no risk. If the new Mequoda Membership Website Handbook disappoints you in any way and you are not completely satisfied with it, we will refund every penny of your money.
No arguments. No hard feelings.
That's more than a guarantee, that's a promise.
P.P.S. This is really a great value. The Mequoda Membership Website Interactive Excel Spreadsheet alone is worth $97!
