Membership sites have really started to come into the internet marketing mainstream. However, unlike adsense, and to some extent affiliate marketing, there is little chance of saturation of the market. This is for the simple reason that they take a little more planning and work than throwing up an adsense site, although there are ways to outsource and minimize the time taken to a members only site.

But, why are membership sites becoming so popular? The driving force behind their popularity with webmasters, is their ability to make consistent, good money. You can make a very regular income with the membership fees alone. And, though membership sites do require upkeep, they are still less taxing than trying to think up, research, and produce new products constantly.

Sure, you have to keep supplying new content, answering members questions, manning the forum. But that’s still easier than creating a product from scratch. And your members can provide a great guide to what content you should be giving them. This really cuts down research time.

Also, you don’t have to produce new marketing materials every month - yet income keeps coming in. And membership sites are popular with affiliates too - which is no surprise given that they stand to make some residual income from each sale as well.

How much money can you really make with membership sites though?

You often see the little tables showing you the potential income you can make in a year. As a broad guide, this is true. But, unless you have a niche that supplies essential information of very good quality, you’re unlikely to have a member ‘forever’. Nonetheless, if your site offers value for whatever price point it is, you should keep your members for 3 to 6 months at least. So, even with the normal attrition, if you keep doing a little marketing each month, your membership income will really grow.

There are other sources of income than just the membership fee, and this also helps explain why membership sites are so popular as an online business model. It’s easy to recommend other products related to the membership. Quite a few paid membership sites I looked at had a small amazon affiliate store attached to their site. One, on machine embroidery, had sewing and related hard goods. Another, on multimedia, even had a selection of digital cameras and videos. They’d make a nice commission! And the beauty of this approach is that it will often tie in very naturally to your paid content.

For example, the multimedia site provided reviews and tutorials on various pieces of hardware and software. It’s natural then to link to the product (if it’s good) in your affiliate shop.

Another reason why membership sites are such a good idea, is that they are worth more if you wanted to sell them later on. Established membership sites have a very dependable income, and this increases the value of the actual business. Additionally, member sites have all their customer details, like address and email. This is important if you want to sell your site later.

If you’d like to learn more about how to set up your own membership site, click here. The Easy Membership Toolkit provides the tools and the know-how to get your members only site set up and running - all for under $50. You won’t need to spend another cent on software to manage your membership site. - The Easy Membership Toolkit.