If you’re looking for free info on starting a paid membership site, have a look at the articles we have on this blog. So far, we’ve covered some of the issues in finding a good idea for your member site, as well as a look at the best software you can use to manage the admin side of your membership site.

What are the steps in starting your own membership site?

First, you’d research your ideas. In doing this, you’d analyze your potential market - is it a buyers market? Is there sufficient demand? Do you have enough interest in the topic to put in the time to answer members questions, and develop content?

Then, you’d have to decide on what sort of content you’re going to use (or what combination). How frequently are you going to update your membership site? Will you offer a free membership level, or just paid? Or both? Whatever model you choose, it’s a good idea to have an idea of what back-end products you’re going to develop or offer. Certainly, if you’re going to use a free membership model, you’ll need to look into this as it will be in your back-end that you make money.

Then you have to look at where you’re going to host your site. This is important as some hosts are better suited to busy, dynamic sites than others (We talk about this issue in the Easy Membership Toolkit ebook).

And, you’ll have to decide on what type of membership site software you’re going to use to manage members sign-ups, process payments, handle cancellations and missed payments. There’s an article here on what I think are the best membership site software solutions.

Once you’ve got everything installed and set up, you’re ready to start marketing. It’s a good idea to develop a marketing plan at the outset.

We cover all these topics (and more) in the Easy Membership Site Toolkit - as well as giving you the software you need. But if you’d like more free info on starting a paid membership site, check out our ecourse. It goes into a lot of what I’ve mentioned in a little more detail. You can sign up on the page here.