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Starting a membership site in 2011

January 12, 2011 By marta Leave a Comment

There has been a lot of talk in the past year or two about membership sites, how to use them and how to make tons of money from them.

There are definitely entrepreneurs out there who make a lot of money from membership sites – to be honest from what I have seen they are few and far between. Don’t get me wrong, a well done membership site can absolutely be a money maker, the potential is there and there for the taking. However, what I see happening over and over again is the idea of throwing up a membership site, inviting some people and then the money will start rolling in.

Sorry, but it ain’t going to happen that way! Membership sites take work. They take planning, forethought and management after the fact. When I walk someone through the process of setting up a membership site they often get frustrated by all my questions. There are some that barely answer and some that realize oh, I didn’t think of that and will take a step back for a bit and put some foundational pieces in the plan.

I’m getting pretty forceful and determined about making this the first step in working with a client. I don’t know if I can emphasize enough just how important this step is… it is huge! I have seen too many great membership sites get started, working beautifully and then go nowhere because there was no plan beyond the idea of “if you build it they will come”. I’m raising my hand on that one – I have been guilty in the past of this exact same thing.

If you take the time, up front, you will save yourself countless hours of frustration and worry later on.

Here is just one example of a planning process. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Membership Sites, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: Marta Goertzen, Plugins, The Blue Jeans VA, Top 10 Membership Models, WishList Member

Mistakes Coaches Make When Setting Up A Website – Part 3

May 27, 2010 By marta Leave a Comment

In the first 2 parts of this series we covered the pros & cons of the All-In-One Package for coaches and the awesome pawesome custom designed WordPress site… until it isn’t so awesome.

The missing piece, not thinking long term

Now I don’t want to target coaches only with this problem, just about every entrepreneur out there when they are getting started, have this issue. It’s also perfectly natural.

You are getting started in your coaching practice, you have a million things to consider, organize and set up. You are most likely bootstrapping your business and every dollar counts. So you look at the very short term and set up only what is absolutely essential right here, right now to get you up and running.

In many areas this will work, you do what you can then, add features plus all the bells and whistles you need, as you need them. But are you looking ahead 1, 3, 6, even 12 months down the road? Have you laid out an action plan of steps and needs as you grow your coaching practice? This is essential for your online presence: Website, Social Media, eCommerce.

When you don’t take that peek down the road a bit it is very easy to get caught in a trap of a solution that “Will work for now”. I can’t tell you how many times that has come back to haunt many entrepreneurs… and yes I’m including myself in that statement. Of course watching the $$ is vital but when you skimp in important areas such as shopping cart, list management and website it will hurt you in the end more then it helps up front.

Your website will become your home base on the internet and it needs to have a strong foundation in order for you to grow and expand, without needing to re-do the entire thing in a few months time. As mentioned before, a self hosted WordPress site is my favorite foundation to get started with.

There are many who think a WordPress site is too “bloggy” looking and I can see that point. You want your site to stand out, be noticed and not look like everyone else’s. But you also want and NEED a site that can be up and running in a short period of time, is something that you can be comfortable working with and does not cost you an arm and a leg in the process. A WordPress site can do that for you… can your current site do all this:

Easily change the look by installing a new theme
Let you easily update the site
Allow you to easily add new marketing mediums, blogging, video, podcasting & social media
Expandable and adaptable website to allow you to add to new products, programs & features as you add them
Need a membership site? No problem WordPress can handle that with WishList Member or Digital Access Pass
Easily integrate your shopping cart and/or list building into the site
Add a forum in a matter of a couple hours… at most!

So make sure to plan

Take some time to look down the road and review the goals you have in place for your business. What areas of the business will you be developing in the next few months, what role does your website need to play? Will you be venturing into new forms of marketing? What features will you be needing with the new products and/or programs coming up in the next 12 – 18 months?

Do you feel you have a strong foundation in place to get started and grow with? If not contact me today for your FREE consultation and we can see if WordPress might be a good solution for you.