What Can I Expect From My Membership Site?

What Can I Expect?Unknown challenges and frustrations work together to create barriers for many, and this causes people to avoid establishing a membership site. Disaster is not an attractive thought when you want to expand your business with an innovative idea. Too many fears overwhelm your great idea if you listen to the naysayers. You have a lot more control over your destiny than you might imagine. Once you have created your membership site, you can make the situation successful for you and for your members.

Instead of wondering what could go wrong, keep reading to discover what you can expect from your membership site.

As an owner, you might feel a tremendous burden of responsibility to impress your members. High expectations are not necessary when you interact with your members, who are the best source of guidance for your site. Consider these important factors in membership site ownership:

Spectrum of members – You will be surprised to find that many of your members fall into one of three categories.

  • Serious business owners – These are the members who joined your site because they like you and want to continue the journey.
  • Members seeking knowledge – Sometimes your members are eagerly seeking more information about the niche you have chosen.
  • Casual observers – This group can be the most vocal or absolutely invisible depending on your nice. Some people will sign up for your membership and never sign into your site.

Questions & Answers – Your members will ask questions that deserve answers. Even if you do not know the answer, you can respond to the member and maybe together, you can make a discovery. Many of the people who ask you questions are dedicated people with more than a cursory interest in your niche. You will be amazed how much this special group of people will offer to you and to other members.

Hard questions are the best source for new material for your site. You might have to dig deep to find enough information for a new section of the site, but drawing your members forward is one of the reasons you established the site.

Expectations for updates – Some membership site owners are brave enough to commit to monthly, or weekly, content updates for the site. You might prefer to make updates as more content becomes evident in your search. Members are pleasantly surprised when they login to the site and find something new to read or use in their projects.

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Be an active member!Maybe you are a member of a site and you wonder what you can expect. Memberships vary widely because every niche requires unique approaches for presenting the material.

Imagine the number of people you know and try to picture how each one would do a membership site for their favorite activity. You might know a cook, a mountain climber, a survivalist, a swimmer and a knitter. How different would their membership sites have to be to retain members?

Some standard offerings are common across most membership sites.

Your money paid to the membership site owner does bring with it some of the expectations you know are valid.

Responses to questions related to the niche

After you have read the content posted on the site, you can ask direct questions to the owner. You might be pointed to an entry that answers your question. Sometimes, the owner appreciates hearing questions from you because those interactions provide guidance for new content for the site.

An enormous site with thousands of members can become overwhelming for the owner to manage alone. Responses from an assistant or other associate should be accepted when the member recognizes that the owner is working on future content and plans for the site.

Access to info according to membership level

Announcements about new content are not always provided and rarely promised. The owner will post content according to the rules he has established from the outset. Site management and availability are an assumed agreement between the owner and members. Each person has the individual responsibility to visit the site at regular intervals.

Paying a fee does not entitle any member to make demands of the owner. Consistent access issues should be reported through the support desk in an appropriate tone. Owners will be aware of issues when the site is down for maintenance. Most members are very patient when the site is unavailable for an hour or so.

Opportunities to upgrade

On various pages of the site, the owner can withhold content that is presented only to “premium” members. These sections of the website are designed to offer more value and require additional effort to produce. You might see notes on the other parts of the site that will give you access if you want to upgrade.

As your interest in the niche grows, you might decide to invest more money in the membership through a higher monthly fee. Watch for specials that the owner will run to increase the number of “premium” members. These are great opportunities to gain access at great rates.

Expectations that you use materials to answer your questions

Membership site owners post reams of material on the new site to address as many questions as possible. Inside the site, the members will find answers to countless questions about the niche. Almost every question you have will be answers on the site because the owner has experience in the niche.

This is where you must think like a site owner. Basic questions will tie up all of the owner’s time if every member does not use the content for answers. Although a quick question to the owner is easy for you, the owner cannot address direct questions that are already answered on the site. I share this point with you because of the number of people who are offended when redirected to the site.

Feedback about the posted videos and other content

At times, the owner will ask for ideas and feedback about the site. In these instances, you have the opportunity to offer great ideas and tell the owner how well the content has been presented. Most owners want to know if something is unclear or confusing. Every member will have a different opinion about the site content. Your feedback will stand out to the owner if you are gracious and kind in your messages about the site content.

Dealing with the attitudes and actions of members is one of the most challenging aspects of owning a membership site. Saving your feedback for important ideas and questions that will assist the owner with making the site even better. Unfortunately, the most verbal members are the least helpful to the owner. That might not be surprising, but great members are great listeners and offer invaluable ideas to the site owner at the perfect point in time.

To be a great member, think like the owner and participate in the efforts to improve the site whenever you are asked.

What experiences have you had as a member in any niche?

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