A membership web site topic or theme serves as the basis of your entire community's platform. For example, if one of your membership web sites is focused on weight loss, all of the content, tools and resources offered to subscribers would be relevant to losing weight, or fitness training. Topics for successful membership web sites vary, and it's likely that you can find a subscription community model for pretty well any topic imaginable.
However, when first creating any of your membership web sites, it's important that you focus on overall profitability, rather than simply developing a subscription site around a topic or theme that you are personally interested in. After all, you want to focus on a scalable community base that can consistently grow and maximize your overall income.
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Evergreen markets are focused around topics that are unlikely to change and can stand the test of time, and by choosing an overall evergreen theme, you can focus on longevity.
After all, you want your membership web site to continue to generate passive income for many years to come. Another element to keep in mind is the overall size of your target audience and niche market.
Will you be able to come up with fresh ideas for future updates to ensure that your website stays fresh?Is your market scalable with the potential for ongoing growth? Can you offer upgrade options to further maximize your income, or are products limited?Is your target audience able to solve their problems quickly (making it difficult to retain subscribers), or is your potential topic able to expand so that you can cater to a large-scale community?
These are just a couple of important questions to keep in mind when choosing your membership theme. Then, take it one step further by identifying what you are good at, experienced with or could offer to a potential customer base.
Are you experienced with a specific instrument?
Are you trained in specific programs or software?
Are you experienced with a specific sport?
Are you knowledgeable regarding a specialized topic?
Consider creating an e-course, informational series, ebooks, reports or training guides and developing them around a membership website platform. Keep in mind that themed membership web sites are always much easier to manage and monetize than generic communities. You want a strict focus on your membership community, so that you can expand on the topics, yet retain an overall theme.
The more focused your website is, the easier it will be to tap into your niche market and determine exactly what your target audience is interested in, and subsequently, give it to them.
Once you have created a list of potential ideas, you need to evaluate the overall profitability of the market before going any further.
While it's first important to identify what you can personally bring to the table in terms of content development, or material, you also need to make sure that other people are willing to pay for access to this content.
You can do this by browsing through existing marketplaces determine how many products are available, the communication and delivery channels that are being used, as well as the popularity of your potential niche.
Simply be evaluating existing membership web sites, you will get a good idea of the different platforms available, as well as what other merchants are currently offering the same target audience that you will be catering to.
From within ClickBank's marketplace, enter in your keyword search phrase and choose to sort by "Future $" which will showcase websites that are designed on a membership format only.
The idea is to create a reference file of existing subscription based sites that exist within your targeted markets.
The more thoroughly you evaluate existing models and successful websites, the easier it will be to create one of your own.
You want to search through existing membership sites and communities in order to determine how their membership site is structured (traditional, coaching, email based, etc), their price structure, affiliate program details (including commissions offered to those who promote them), as well as the specific content that is being offered and overall value on the site itself.
Is their content original and hard to find?
Are they pricing their subscription reasonably based on existing resources?
How can you improve on their existing platform?
Can you expand on the topic's coverage and provide additional resources, tools and information?
Write down any ideas that you come up with as you evaluate existing membership web sites in your niche market, for future reference.
This will help you thoroughly analyze the existing subscription sites in your niche so that you can create an enhanced version of your own.You should also research your market using Google by entering in relevant keyword phrases that will pinpoint existing subscription sites available, such as: "your niche+membership".
Wrapping your search query in quotations will ensure that Google's search engine generates a more accurate listing of results.You also want to pay attention to the amount of existing competition advertising within Google Adwords sponsored boxes.
If you intend on promoting your membership site within AdWords, you will want to first evaluate the average costs based on existing ads and targeted keyword phrases.
Repeat this process on Commission Junction and Paydot.
Another method of reviewing potential markets is by exploring http://www.amazon.com/ to determine the number of available products focusing on your subject matter. This is a great way to determine whether or not your market is a popular (and profitable) one.
And finally, SPYFU, is a great niche research tool that will provide detailed statistics on keywords as well as existing Adwords advertisers.
All of this research takes a bit of time but it's a critical step in effectively evaluating the theme and topic of your membership web site.
If you want to maximize your chances of being successful as a new membership webmaster, you need to give yourself a competitive edge by being thoroughly prepared to conquer your niche and dominate your competition!
Regardless of your overall topic, the one thing to remember is that you must provide specialized information, coaching, or a service that is hard, if not impossible, to find anywhere else.
You want your visitors to clearly see the value in your subscription service, so the more exclusive your content and material is, the higher perceived value it will have (and the more you will be able to charge for access).The information must be kept updated and it must be relevant to your subject.
Depending on what you are interested in, passionate about and have experience with, you could create a unique subscription based website that caters to people looking to learn a new skill, such as design tutorials, weight loss, parenting, design, or anything else you can think up where an existing market of potential buyers exists . While you can create a membership website within nearly every mainstream or niche market online, it's important that you speak directly to your prospective market, so that you are identifying their wants and needs and offering them access to a direct solution to their problems. Desperate buyers are a goldmine for membership webmasters, and by focusing on creating a community that offers information, tools and resources that is delivered on a regular basis, you will be able to maximize your profits while subsequently, maximizing retention rates.
Google Alerts is an exceptionally useful tool for locating hot topics and current trends that could serve as potential ideas for your membership site.
Yahoo Answers and Yahoo Buzz are also two very useful research tools that will help you come up with killer membership topics based on overall popularity.
With Yahoo Buzz, you are able to keep on top of current trends and hot topics.Just remember to keep your membership's overall theme VERY specific!
If you choose to start a membership web site about dogs, for example, you will need to choose a specific breed.
Instead of just dogs, your theme should be; Poodles with sub categories that could include: Tiny Toy Poodles, Miniature Poodles, or Standard Poodles, etc.
If you are really into video or computer games, start a membership site devoted to specific game genres. People all over the world and from every walk of life get really involved with a specific video or computer game and love to talk to others about the game and give each other hints.
There are thousands...maybe millions...of people who love certain crafts and hobbies.
However, those who love to quilt aren't interested in wood working so your membership site should be about a specific craft or hobby itself.Focused membership websites always out perform generic ones, so keep that in mind when laying the groundwork for your own.