8 Ways to Monetize Your Membership Site
Membership sites are great for building deeper relationships with your audience and offering exclusive content they can use to solve their problems. But even better, you can monetize your site and create one more stream of income to add to your marketing mix. Here are 8 ways you can earn money through your membership site.
1. Membership Fees
The easiest method is to charge for membership. People pay either once when they sign up or on a recurring basis. There are advantages to each depending on the membership model you choose and the type of content you offer.
2. Exclusive Members-Only Deals
You can pitch offers to your members that are only available to them. This is important as it provides an added benefit to being a member. Examples of what you can provide include additional content, courses, coaching sessions, masterminds, and access to resources.
One variation is to offer services and products available to non-members (like group coaching) but at a deep discount for members only.
If you plan to monetize through deals within the site, you can offer free membership, which will lead to more members. You don’t have to charge membership fees and you can still earn.
3. Membership Levels
You can monetize your membership site by offering different premium levels with corresponding levels of access. A simple way to do this is to offer a free and premium membership option.
In this freemium model, the free version gives members access to a limited amount of content or access to the community, but with restrictions. By upgrading to the paid version, they can unlock the remaining features and access more.
4. Sell Affiliate Products
You can earn through your membership site by pitching your own products, but you can also sell others’ products as an affiliate. With this model, you don’t need to develop your own products. Find products and services your members would love and tell them about these offers. In return, you receive a commission. You can find products to pitch by joining affiliate networks.
5. Ask for Donations
Some membership sites have great success only asking for donations. Rather than charging membership fees, they provide value for free and ask their members to donate. They may hold drives where they call members to action during particular times of the year or offer recurring subscriptions.
6. Create Physical Goods
As a digital content creator, making physical products may seem like a foreign concept. Yet, with the right approach, you can make a solid income from doing so. More importantly, you can generate brand familiarity by selling swag like notepads, journals, sweaters, and pens that feature your company information.
The benefits of creating brand awareness and building community are worth far more than the revenue you’re apt to generate. And if you can pull together something relevant to your membership, that’s even better.
7. Sell Your Membership Site
If you have a huge site with a large and engaged audience, you’re sitting on a very valuable piece of real estate. You may be able to find another business in your niche that will pay good money for access to your warm leads.
The focus of your membership site should be to offer value to your target market. But whatever your overall goals, these monetization strategies can help you earn directly through your site.
8. Sell Services
For Membership Fix clients, providing coaching or therapy services is an integral part of their membership program. That way, people are funneled into their offers through two separate routes: Sometimes, the interest in a membership offering drives people to sign up, whereas other times, people join due to an interest in the service.
If you prefer not to make the service component so essential, you can provide a done-for-you element instead. In this regard, you may offer it as an add-on, or only for your upper tier members, as an extension of their learning.
Are you considering starting a membership business? Let’s have a chat. Check out my calendar, where you can schedule a time for us to discuss your goals and determine whether this business model is right for you.
