Test Your Membership Idea Before You Commit
Have a great idea for a membership site sure to enhance your image and enrich your bottom line? Wonderful!
Before you dive in and give it your all, though, you need to do a few things to make sure your membership site idea has the potential to succeed... Or, if you need to make a few tweaks and adjustments first.
While you don’t want to invest a ton of time in the validation process, it is important to evaluate your idea for a membership site before you invest your time and money developing it.
Why is Validation Important for Membership Site Ideas?
The number one reason it is important to validate your idea for a membership site is because it’s your baby. You had the idea and you fell in love with the idea.
As far as you’re concerned. It’s perfect in every way.
The problem is this: not everyone is going to share your love and adoration for your membership site idea. At least not without a few major tweaks and changes that you are too close to the idea to see.
The validation process will help you identify a few key details that can help you transform your idea into the membership site people in your niche have been searching for... or to skip the idea in favor of something else entirely.
Either result can save you endless hours of money, time, and frustration if you make the decision on the front end of the project rather than after you’ve launched or as you’re preparing to launch.
Strategy One: Gather Your Flock
Begin collecting email addresses and contact information from the audience you feel will benefit most from your membership site idea. These are people who will be most likely to benefit from the words of wisdom, tips, tools, and techniques you teach your members.
It doesn’t end with the building of a list, though. You need to begin early developing a relationship with the people who subscribe to your list. Ask them what they want from a membership site and listen to what they have to say. Surveys are outstanding tools to validate your idea. Just make sure you're asking unbiased questions with your survey.
You might discover that your idea is close to what your target audience is looking for and that you can make a few minor changes to give them what they really want. Or you could discover that you’ve missed the mark completely and need to go back to the drawing board.
Strategy Two: Seek and Improve
If your idea for a membership site is a real winner, chances are good that there is already a membership site on the topic. Perhaps even several. Seek out your competition. Look at what these sites have to offer. Sign up for free trials, newsletters, etc. to gain insights into the tools they make available to their audience and how well-operated the membership sites seem to be. Ask the following questions:
Is the audience energized?
Are people excited about the results they’re getting?
Are their information and material gaps?
Can you do it better?
The last question is perhaps the most important. If you do not have the time, energy, expertise, or patience to offer something better than what already exists, then there’s no point in launching your own membership site. If you believe you can do better than what’s available, though, you might be on to something.
Strategy Three: Give Your Audience a Glimpse Behind the Curtain
Offer an abbreviated version of your membership site to gauge interest. This is a more advanced form of gauging interest in your idea and should only be attempted after you’ve completed Strategy One and Strategy Two.
It involves creating a nuts and bolts mock-up of your membership site and inviting your audience to test out a mini course or version of your membership site to gauge interest in a more robust and feature-rich sites that is packed with information.
With this strategy, you also need to ask your free members to offer insights on the features they’d most like to see, how much they’d be willing to pay for the full package, and improvements they’d like you to make for greater value.
Will your idea for a membership site in 2019 fly? No amount of waffling and debating will tell that particular tale. You must act to get your site up and running before you can determine that for sure. However, following the strategies above can help you determine how viable this idea is and whether you’re willing to pursue it further.
If you want to blow past your income goals and work smarter, not harder, then schedule a breakthrough strategy session with Membership Fix. On the call, we will help you get clear on three things: The top 2 barriers to growth that you’re currently experiencing, how you can position yourself with greater authority within your niche, and an exact game plan for moving your business forward in the next 6-12 months.
