Choosing The Perfect Membership Program Can Be A Daunting Task.

Membership programs can do a lot more for you than just protect your site from non-members.  There are many programs to choose from, and the decision process can seem almost overwhelming.  Here are a few things to consider when trying to choose the perfect program to run your membership site:

Is the program you are considering purchasing an established program?  Have the developers been in business and tested their program extensively?  The last thing you want to do is purchase a new program, only to find out that it is so new the developers haven’t found all the “bugs”, or you find out the company closed up shop and isn’t there to help you with your technical questions.

You may want to seek feedback from other membership site owners and find out what program they use and what their experiences have been.  You can find other membership site owners by visiting internet marketing forums and work at home forums.

Installing the membership site program script onto your server can be a bit tricky, especially if you are not technically inclined.  Some programs will install the script for you at no additional charge.  If you are hesitant to install this on your own and don’t want to hire a techie to do it for you, a free installation offer could be an attractive bonus for you.

When you compare membership programs, take notice of the payment integration they offer.  If you are just starting out, you may use Paypal for your payment processing, but as your membership site grows you may want to look into a credit card processing service such as authorize.net.  The reason behind this is that not everyone has a Paypal account, and Paypal is not available in all countries.  You don’t want to lose out on potential subscribers because they don’t have a Paypal account.

Since you may not know what processing service you will be interested in using in the future, it is best to choose a program that offers integration with a wide variety of processors.  When the time comes, you will be able to choose the best processor for you, rather than being stuck with the one and only processor your program accepts.

You may want to offer free memberships as a way to add people to your marketing funnel and offer them an upgrade to a paid membership.  Does the membership program you are interested in offer a choice of free memberships?

One of the biggest tasks in the daily maintenance of your membership site will be handling renewals and cancellations.  A good membership program will do this automatically for you.  This is one feature that can save you lots of time as your membership grows.

Of course, there really is no such thing as a “perfect program”.  Each program will have its own benefits and flaws.  The key to finding the best program for you is to find a program that offers the majority of features that you are looking for, as only you know what your needs are.

Copyrighted 2009, All Rights Reserved.marketing, online marketing, business, internet marketing, web marketing

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When it comes to running a successful membership site, a membership management tool is a necessity.  A membership management program will automatically sign people up, collect payments and grant access to private areas. 

Some programs will also automatically revoke or suspend access when a payment is missed or a subscription is canceled.  A quality membership manager will also allow you to automatically make members into affiliates and provide the flexibility for non-paying people to sign up as affiliates.

A great time management tool is a feature offered by WordPress.  Using their “delayed post” feature you can upload content and schedule exactly when you want it published on your site.  You can create the content for your membership site several months ahead of time and it won’t be displayed until the date you have specified.  Best of all, WordPress is a free, open source content management system that can easily be installed on your server through the push of a button.

An autoresponder is another very important tool.  An autoresponder is a service that allows you to create mailing lists and schedule emails, which will automatically be sent to the mailing list in the order you have requested.

Let’s say that Sally signs up for your membership on Tuesday.  She will automatically be sent any welcome messages that you have specified to be sent on the fist day of membership.  If Joe signs up for the membership site on Wednesday, he won’t miss any emails. He will also be sent that first day’s email on the day he signs up.

You can also use an autoresponder to send broadcast messages to your whole mailing list on the same day.  This is great for sending out newsletters or invitations to events.

A credit card processing service is another tool to look into.  Look carefully into the different services, as their rates can vary.  You can certainly start out with Paypal, but eventually you may want to go with a different service, as not everyone has a Paypal account and Paypal isn’t offered in every country. 

Shop around and compare the different automation tools and packages available.  It is a good idea to have your pricing strategy and a rough growth plan in place before buying anything.  You don’t want to lock yourself into something that will not grow or adapt with you.

Copyrighted 2009, All Rights Reserved.marketing, online marketing, business, internet marketing, web marketing

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