How To Get Others To Join Your Membership Site

Posted on by

You’ve created a membership site with quality content that your prospects want. You’ve put up a compelling sales page and an order button. 

Now what? How do you convince your prospects to become a member?  

Like this:  

  1. Specialize and Focus Like a Laser 

It seems almost counterintuitive – you’d think that if your site would appeal to as many people as possible, then you’d get more members. But it doesn’t work that way. Instead, you’ll get more members once you focus your site and all marketing materials to focus in like a laser on one niche. 

Example: Let’s say your site teaches people how to build a website. You should focus on one niche, such as “web design for ebook marketers” or “web design for private practice doctors.” 

Now think about it… 

Let’s say an ebook marketer wants to learn how to build a site. Is he going to go to “Joe Blow’s Web Design” membership site… or to the “Web Design for Ebook Marketers Site?” That’s right, he’s going to choose your site because it’s geared for his needs.  

  1. Give a Free or Low-Cost Sample 

You can get more paying members if you first give people a free or low-cost trial membership (such as $1 for one week). 

Doing so gives people a chance to get a look at the inside of your site to see if it’s right for them. And since you collected their credit card info before they joined the site, you can automatically start their paid subscription once the trial is over. 

  1. Share the Benefits 

As mentioned previously, you’ll need a sales letter to help turn prospects into members. While you’re sharing all the benefits of your membership content in general, don’t forget about the benefits of the membership site itself. For example: 

  • Small price. A monthly fee (such as $10 or $20 or even $50 per month) sounds small compared to a one-time fee such as $297. As such, you can get more members by focusing on this small recurring fee. You may even break it down further by reminding your prospects of the daily cost (e.g., “just 75 cents a day – about the price of a candy bar…”). 
  • Not overwhelming. If you have a training site and you’re tackling a big topic, then let prospects know that they won’t get overwhelmed since you’re offering a step-by-step course in weekly installments. 
  1. Let People “Peek” Inside the Site 

Whether you offer free trials or not, you can get more members simply by letting prospects “peek” inside the site. There are multiple ways to do this, including (but not necessarily limited to): 

  • Providing partial content, such as the first paragraph of an article with a link or a description of report with a link. When people click on the link, they’re encourage to become a member.
  • Screenshots of the inside of the site, which shows the materials available, the community forum, etc. 
  • Video of the inside of the members-only area of the site. Just use a screen recording software like Camtasia Studio and record yourself “touring” the site. Very compelling. 

There you have it – four surefire ways to get more members into your paid membership site. Just create good content, put up a good offer, write a good sales page – and then apply these four tips!