Excuse the stupid title, but I’m sincerely excited about this…
Building and creating membership sites has been a popular subject lately, with some high-ticket courses out there explaining how you can teach people about anything from how to play the guitar to dieting to really almost anything – on an ongoing basis – earning a consistent income through monthly SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Not just one-off sales.
Some people make six figures monthly from just ONE site. Not too bad, if you ask me…
However, the problem with membership sites is that it’s NOT “set and forget”. It may be recurring income – but it certainly isn’t passive income, like with affiliate marketing from organic traffic sources.
You need to be creating – or have others creating – quality content all the time, continually, for as long as the site exists. So it’s more like a high-paying job. And it requires lots of maintenance, management, and all the rest of it.
This might sound alright in theory, it’s just that in some niches, you can really only teach so much stuff, without eventually having to simply re-package the same stuff and call it an “update”.
And traditionally, you also need to have the site pre-loaded with TONS of impressive stuff to justify the customer’s subscription while they anxiously await your updates.
The typical situation is one that likely ALL of us have seen. Someone launches a membership site, and it goes strong for the first few months. And then the updates start coming in a little less consistently. Eventually, the site owner skips a month here, a month there.
And then it turns into a ghost-town.
This happens for a number of reasons – but most commonly – they’ve simply run out of stuff to provide, things to teach, or perhaps even motivation to keep going if the monthly “attrition rate” (unsubscriptions) is greater than the amount of new member signups.
Not all of them turn out like that – but it usually takes some major planning, know-how and a niche that lends itself to ENDLESS updates, news and so on to actually build something that will pay you consistently for years…
And – hey, let’s face it – creating membership sites is also a hell of a lot of work.
And I’m lazy 
And that’s why what you’re about to read is going to be incredibly exciting and liberating if you’ve ever wanted to try the membership site strategy – but you’ve always been, like me, a little bit turned off by the problems I’ve mentioned above…
This approach to membership sites is totally different.
It’s SMART, and it’s FAST.
With this strategy, you can literally be taking orders for your membership site in as little as 48 hours from “idea” to “site launch” – and you only need ONE initial article or content-piece to start out with…
You’ll see momentarily why there’s not a single dose of hype in that statement.
Better yet -it’s ACTUALLY passive. It’s not a “job”. You set it up once, and it’s done in such a way that your members are never waiting on you to “create more stuff” on a monthly basis.
The way it’s set up also lends itself to retain subscribers more effectively than with traditional membership sites. (You’ll see why shortly)
It’s been pioneered by someone who I admire and trust, and someone who’s had a few of the most successful traditional membership sites in the marketing niche, as well as other niches: Jimmy D Brown
Perhaps the best part of all is that you don’t need to buy anything to see what this strategy is. Jimmy writes salesletters just like I do – we both provide a lot of free, actionable content directly on the sales pitch – because we know that people are done with “hype”.
It’s called “Membernaire”.
Find out why I’ve been up all night with torrents of ideas flowing through my lazy head – go to http://www.thelazymarketer.com/membernaire/ and check out the ULTIMATE, lazy and incredibly profitable approach to launching a full-scale membership income FAST.
Again, you don’t even need to join his site to see how this works – it’s described in full detail right here, and the site is a “live example” of the tactic as well.
This totally eliminates the traditional barrier to entry for creating a membership site, and if you’ve been wanting to take the membership site route anyway – then definitely check this out.
You might be a lot closer than you think to getting that idea off the ground…
Enjoy!
-Chris
P.S. These types of “membernaire” sites are a perfect upsell for feeder products (re: Part 5 & 6 in my ebook), with a much easier way to increase lifetime client value than trying to sell a big-ticket product.
Also, affiliates go crazy over promoting products/services with recurring commissions. That’s because psychologically, the prospect sees the monthly price point as a SINGULAR consideration. $19/mth is just “$19.00″.
And so as long as the value is there – this is an easy way to exponentially multiply visitor value with the same conversions, relatively. Again, if this interests you, check out Jimmy’s strategy right here: http://www.thelazymarketer.com/membernaire/
33 responses so far ↓
1 Ken Nubo // Jan 25, 2008 at 7:48 am
Chris,
I read the membernaire sales letter, it sounds friggin awesome.
2 admin // Jan 25, 2008 at 7:53 am
I wholeheartedly agree, Ken
3 Dhira | Internet Maketing Blog // Jan 25, 2008 at 8:09 am
I thought this was awesome till read it and realized…. you are promoting a membership… on how to create a membership… but you have to join a membership… to get the info over the course of a year’s membership…
Highly incestuous….. no thanks.
4 admin // Jan 25, 2008 at 8:13 am
Dhira,
No, that’s not the case.
Read Jimmy’s description of the “Fixed Term Membership” right on his site.
It’s all right there. You can literally just take that information, for free, and roll with it.
If you want to learn *more* about it and follow along with a weekly blueprint, then feel free to join Jimmy’s membership.
But you don’t have to.
The IDEA ALONE is profitable.
And for anyone who’s contemplated starting their own membership site, then this is literally a BREAKTHROUGH approach to doing it.
Thanks,
-Chris
5 HumbleDave // Jan 25, 2008 at 9:36 am
Hi Chris…first of all your products and newsletter is top notch….I actually ordered the membership……I will say this….your last post is right on the money! I learn from the concept….the actual membership….stinks. He gives you a crumb for $27 right now….then ask you to wait for another crumb next week…on a newbie topic? Lets keep it real. That reminds me of that IM Gurilla marketing where they ask you to sign up for a hard copy newsletter deliverd by snail mail once a month….this is the information digital age! I did some surfing and found a site called SubHub…they have a FREE all inclusive ebook on everything for a membership site and it is worth alot of money if you have your thinking cap on. I learn from the concept of PlentyOfFish dating site…its a Free membership….and they are pulling 5 million a year on the ads!
6 some reader // Jan 25, 2008 at 9:45 am
DHIRA… for someone who runs an “Internet Marketing Blog” and writes posts like “I hate Internet Marketers” and having the absolute non-creative boredom peel-away-ad to just sell “peel-away ads” yourself … YAAAHWNN. Better read websites before you comment on them.
7 Sukarto // Jan 25, 2008 at 10:50 am
Hi Chris,
thanks for sharing this membership. As one of your customers, I know you only sharing good stuff.
FTM is a great idea. I already belong to some membership like this which deliver the material each week. I also already setup a membership that sending DVD & CD every month to member. So I have perspective from both side here.
For the publisher / membership owner this business model is the best model. Just sending the information, no hassle. However, for customers, this kind of membership is not good.
Because usually member have questions that need to be answered and need some interaction around so the cross learning will speed up the learning curve and make some accountability to implement the information that is given.
So Chris, what do you think the best way to have a win-win situation ?
My thinking right now is if you just want to get lots of money with no hassle, the Fixed Term Membership is the way to go. But if you really want to help and change people lives, you still need invest times to help them implement the information that you give. That’s why membership like this has higher perceive value.
Just my 2 cent. Hope there is some feedback to make it win-win situation.
thanks.
Sukarto
8 Hayley // Jan 25, 2008 at 11:01 am
Interesting idea.
I guess my problem is coming up with ways to promote it. What are your ideas on this, Chris? (If you care to divulge
And as a constant skeptic, do people really pay for these things?
Thanks for the information, always look forward to your updates.
9 admin // Jan 25, 2008 at 11:05 am
Hi Sukarto,
That’s a good point.
I think what it comes down to is more or less the subject matter.
For internet marketing, it’s hard to be a “coach in a can”.
I know this all too well – I get around 20 support-related emails a day relating to the segment of my business that’s in the marketing niche (TheLazyMarketer.com, JV-Web.com, etc), and it’s far from being my bread-and-butter.
(Even though it’s the most fulfilling niche for me, honestly).
And so perhaps this model doesn’t suit niches where people need that level of support.
BUT – for things like:
* Diet plans
* Design Tutorials (Photoshop, etc)
And other topics that lend themselves more to “self-directed learning”, if you will – this approach is IDEAL.
So it depends on what’s being learned; who’s being targeted.
Jimmy’s Membernaire program is, I feel, more for intermediate marketers who already have experience with selling, website creation, etc.
But, maybe one thing to include here for your OWN sites would be a profitable approach to support.
Much like how several programmers have scripts for one price, with “support & installation” at a fixed-price option once you’ve purchased (or while you purchase).
Not as hands-off that way, but as you say, Sukarto – providing value is of the utmost importance.
But I still think this is the ultimate approach to membership sites – you just need to structure it correctly so that your members are getting their money’s worth.
And that starts with your target audience, and what you’re teaching – focus on the “self-directed” topics.
Cheers!
-Chris
10 admin // Jan 25, 2008 at 11:11 am
Hi Hayley,
Yes, people DEFINITELY pay for these things
(I’m subscribed to several memberships at the moment.)
The best way to promote such a membership is via affiliates, and as your own upsell after the purchase of your feeder product, or several feeder products.
It’s a great way to increase visitor value across the board – and affiliates love promoting residual products.
Not to mention – you can weave some relevant promotions directly into your ‘membernaire’ content as well, for your niche.
Thanks,
-Chris
11 admin // Jan 25, 2008 at 11:27 am
HumbleDave,
Not all information is born equal.
Sure, there’s tons of free information everywhere on topics like membership sites. The difference is that much of it does not originate from people who have had PHENOMENAL success, running their own membership sites.
Jimmy has generated hundreds of thousands with the membership model.
And sites like PlentyofFish are a very rare exception. Making money from ads is wonderful – if you can get 300,000 visitors a day.
Again – this comes down to visitor value from realistic traffic generation tactics.
You don’t need Jimmy’s course if you have no intention of starting your own membership site.
But if it’s something that’s in the works for you and fits with your current business plan – it would only make sense to learn from someone who’s greatly successful – and has a proven track record for over-delivery in everything he’s done in this market.
Thanks!
-Chris
12 HumbleDave // Jan 25, 2008 at 11:56 am
Wow..great Conversation! I think we all win with this kind of honest, helpful communication. For me personally, I think I will apply a niche blog authority site to keep the viral capability of Social book mark sites, and other bloggers love to send traffic to a more non commercial website. Then at the same time, introduce a paid subscription option when I know my readers see value in the free content. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks for the prompt reply Chris!
13 John Geraghty // Jan 25, 2008 at 3:27 pm
When I landed on your front page, a lightbulb flashed – at last, a theme that looks right for me. I’ve lost count of the themes I’ve trialled and keeping my fingers crossed that they didn’t break up. Checking out the site I was very impressed and will use 1.1 3-column split with the random image; brilliant idea!
What I would like to know is if you’ve had any problems with the theme or any plug-ins you use and if so were they resolved OK? Although there seems to be issues raised in the posts and forum, I feel now is the moment when I move on from Blogger!
I look forward to hearing from you.
John
14 admin // Jan 26, 2008 at 12:55 pm
John,
I like the theme. “Cutline” I think it’s called.
I’m a total idiot when it comes to blogging, so I have no idea if it’s working with my plug-ins or not
(I sure hope so…)
But in all seriousness, it seems to be a solid template. I’ll be using it for my other sites as well.
Cheers,
-Chris
15 HumbleDave // Jan 28, 2008 at 4:40 am
I had to see if this website was as bad as it sounded, but this guy is brilliant. He has a free 90 day email program that forces you to promote his sites while he teaches you the ropes. Brilliant. He knows Howie of Bending the Web….so that tells me he has a clue.
16 admin // Jan 28, 2008 at 5:02 am
Dave,
Jimmy is one of the innovators in the info-publishing market. Ask anyone who’s actually a member of his sites (ListAndTraffic.com, etc.) and you’ll hear the same thing every time:
He delivers the goods, and then some.
By the way, I just asked Jimmy where he was at with the current available memberships.
About 800 people signed up so far, leaving 200 spots remaining for ‘Membernaire’.
So far, that’s a $21,600.00/mth income stream created from this ‘Membernaire’ site, not including the 50% affiliate payouts.
It works.
Jimmy’s got lots of backing and people glad to promote his stuff (like me), but there’s no reason why this model won’t work in other markets.
It already does with the traditional membership model.
I know of a guy pulling down around $200k monthly from a “learn guitar” membership site. And that’s just one example. There’s heaps of others (just search ClickBank’s marketplace categories by the “recurring billing” filter for more ideas).
And most importantly – this isn’t about how “bad the site sounds”, or someone’s affiliate recruition tactic.
THIS IS ABOUT HOW YOU CAN PROFITABLY BENEFIT FROM THIS HIGHLY EFFECTIVE MODEL.
Regardless if you join or not.
-Chris
17 Richard Carr // Jan 28, 2008 at 8:24 am
Hi Chris
Maybe I’m missing something here but this to me doesn’t sound like a membership site, sounds more like ‘a slice-up-your-info-and-get-more-money-from-it site.’ One of the key elements of memberships is the interaction, help, support and sense of community of fellow subscribers. Where does that fit into this membership model?
Richard
18 admin // Jan 28, 2008 at 9:08 am
Richard,
You’re right. Membership to this kind of site, then, is more of a “correspondence” (self-directed study) course, rather than a club that you pay your dues to remain a member.
The fixed-term aspect, though, makes the information more “urgent” to the customer, because it’s not a life-time, open-ended membership. And it’s not just about bringing up the price point by breaking up information. More work is definitely involved on your end, because you’ve got to deliver major value the whole way through. (More value than money spent – as always).
The powerful difference here, though, is that like an ebook, you only have to set this up ONCE.
AND – you can start taking orders (if you want) with just a few things lined up initially, so long as you complete the autoresponders, teaching materials and whatever else before they need to be distributed for the first wave of customers
It’s a one-time gig, and so with each month, they’re not going to be evaluating the WORTH of a forum membership, for example, to see if it’s worth maintaining their monthly dues.
Instead, if the weekly courses are of great value, they’ll be more apt to stay subscribed for “the end of the story”, so to speak.
I’ll be testing this approach, but it actually seems MORE effective, both for the students and the developer.
And also – there’s no reason why a forum can’t be incorporated into this, either.
It’s completely up to you – but this type of approach is FAR MORE appropriate for marketers who have their fingers in a number of pies.
-Chris
19 Hayley // Jan 29, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I would think of it less as a “membership” and more as a magazine subscription.
But I’d probably market it as a membership.
Anyway, here’s a website that goes into some more detail about this tactic.
http://freebusinessmodel.com/
Thought that might be of some interest to you folks.
I think I might try to set one up and see how it goes.
And that’s crazy 200k a month from a learn guitar membership site? What’s the site Chris? If you know offhand
~Hayley
20 admin // Jan 31, 2008 at 9:28 am
The one I’m referring to was mentioned in that recent “Membership Bootcamp” launch a while ago.
Magazine subscription – that’s another good way to look at it. Except more targeted; for a very specific purpose.
Cheers,
-Chris
21 Steve // Jan 31, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Totally cool idea and one I’m going to implement myself. However, I wonder if being fixed term really comes into play in the mind of potential customers at the time of purchase? It would be a shame to shut off the flow if its a niche that you can keep providing content for. I guess the only way to find out is through testing, right? You know, set up two identical sales pages with one fixed term and the other ongoing. I know this complicates the model a bit, but if its a tight niche (like the site I’m going to convert to this is), then perhaps an active forum might be enough to keep their subscription going and going and going??
Steve
22 admin // Feb 2, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Steve,
You could always have a more specialized coaching program or something that would be available for the member after the membership expires.
I agree, it’s best not to leave an eager customer “hanging”.
But at the same time, the whole point of the FTM model is to make the residual nature of a membership site PASSIVE on your end.
So let’s say your FTM is $29 monthly. At the end of the course, you could have a very small-sized “ongoing” coaching program or something for a small number of members at any given time for a much higher monthly subscription, being as they’d be accessing YOU directly.
Again, think about the ceiling issue in regards to customer support and expectations.
You don’t want to be starting something that you either can’t carry on with, or won’t get enough profit from from your exisiting memberbase to justify your commitment.
Cheers,
-Chris
23 Davion | Secrets of Affiliate Marketing // Feb 9, 2008 at 3:43 am
Hi Chris, I tend to agree with you. Membership sites come and go, and the market is too dynamic. Very often, changes have to be really fast to stay competitive. This is where many membership sites fail to pull off. They may come on strong at first but die off just as quickly. We have seen enough of these.
24 Steve // Feb 13, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I have a site that sells 2 ebooks I wrote that caters to a very narrow niche. This site makes me about $1000.00 per month. Not a lot of money but it is auto-pilot income and soon I’ll be adding 3 training DVD’s as upsells that should significantly improve my monthly income. I was thinking of converting this same site into a membership site similar to Membernaire.
At this point I’m not sure if I’ll make more money or less from converting this to a membership site and it would be a shame to lose the income from that site if it doesn’t work well.
So I was thinking that instead of converting the existing site, why not leave it as it is and build an entirely new membership site with a new domain using my existing materials? That way I could capitalize on this narrow niche even more.
What do you think? Convert the old site to a membership site or leave it alone and build an entirely new membership site within the same niche?
Thanks!
Steve
P.S. Your ‘Lazy’ book is the BEST internet marketing book I’ve ever read! Thank you!!!
25 David Ledoux // Mar 9, 2008 at 9:54 am
It’s amazing how people who have never bought a product can slam it so vigorously. Clickbank gives a money back guarantee.
I bought it. I’m using it. I think its brilliant. I guess the secret is in IMPLEMENTATION…I applied a secret technique that made the difference in under 15 minutes.
How can broke people complain so loudly about something they really don’t know anything about?
26 admin // Mar 9, 2008 at 2:06 pm
“How can broke people complain so loudly about something they really don’t know anything about?”
Because it internally justifies their situation.
Rather than making an honest effort, it’s easier and “safer” just to mock from the sidelines.
The internet marketing niche has its fair share of slimeball product-pimps and hype-fest salesletters that sell the equivalent of a dressed-up pig…
…but it’s also chock-full of “hardened veterans” who secretly can’t get enough of the market’s latest offerings, regardless of their alleged sob stories.
These are the kinds of people who feel entitled to succeed “just because”. And when they don’t, then it’s someone else’s fault.
But really, as we all know, this stems from some deeper issues, usually revolving around lack of confidence or effort.
And in a logical, top-down view, the truth is plain and simple:
Those who work to build online assets will succeed. Those who don’t, won’t.
That’s the reality, and the strategies and tactics for doing such (building assets) are diverse and plentiful.
The fixed-term membership concept is just one of them.
And of course, it’s inevitably met with a small wave of violent opposition from people who could only dream of being in a position to ACTUALLY know what it’s like to see success from something.
(Even though they could if they got off their ass and gave it a fair shot…)
Take care,
-Chris
27 Mayank - Make Money Online // Jun 9, 2008 at 3:23 am
This is an interesting idea really. I have toyed with the idea of putting together a membership site in the past, but did not implement it.
There should already a base on which you can launch your site, otherwise it may be a long time before one sees any profits.
28 Consumer Opinion Reports Dot Com // Sep 18, 2008 at 6:38 pm
This looks GREAT! Chris, how do you find this stuff? I just signed up for Article Automation a few days ago and now this! You simply, continuously, provide fabulous resources for us IMers.
Keep on Keepin on brother!
William
29 Jeff // Oct 27, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I’ve actually been using a membership method like this, but I didn’t think to add an ending day – this alone will allow me to keep members longer.
-Great Concept
Thanks Chris for sharing you always seem to have great stuff!
30 Josh // Feb 2, 2009 at 1:19 am
Anyone want to share success or non-success stories of doing this now that’s it been a year since this posting originally went up?
31 Brenda // Apr 28, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Just curious about the length of time of the membership. Do you think many people really want or are able to commit to a year before they get the whole picture. In this day and age of instant gratification, wouldn’t most people want to learn something as quickly as possible?
Also curious if there is an independent review site for membernaire, i.e., not an affiliate site?
32 sandrar // Sep 10, 2009 at 9:18 am
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
33 Jason // Jan 15, 2010 at 4:54 pm
You can be that lazy you made this website lol. Affiliate marketing is great especially when you have it running on autopilot.
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