Launching a successful membership site can be tricky. Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to ensure you will gain, and retain new members on a regular basis.

People join membership sites because they’re looking for answers to certain questions, or solutions to certain problems. The first thing you need to do is identify what questions you’re setting out to answer, or what problem you’re setting out to solve. In other words, identify your audience. Once you have a clear idea of who your audience is you will be able to figure out how to market your site, and how to present the information on it so that it will appeal to your target audience. A site dedicated to weight loss, for example, should talk heavily about the weight the user will lose if they follow your program, and how quickly they’ll lose that weight. By identifying your audience and the problem they want to solve, you can figure out how to present your site to them in an appealing manner, and as a result, entice them to sign up.

Once they’re signed up, it’s important to feed them the information you have to offer in the right way. Be sure to drip feed them the content so that they see that their membership will continue to have value over time. Let’s look at the weight loss site example again. If you give your subscribers three new healthy recipes, and one new work out routine each week, they will see the long term value of their membership.

It’s also important to show your subscribers exactly what to do to solve their problems, not how to solve their problems. In the weight loss site example, your customers want to lose weight – that’s their problem. By telling them to work out three times a week, and eat better, you’re telling them how to fix their problem, not what to do to fix their problem. Present them with three specific workout routines, and let them know that they should be doing them on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a half an hour, and that they should be eating the things you’re providing recipes for at dinner each night.

More and more people are getting online everyday, and they spend a lot of time looking for answers to their questions, or solutions to their problems. If you can provide some of the answers they’re looking for, you can build a successful membership site. Identify your audience, and drip feed them information about what to do to fix their problem, or answer their question, and you’ll have plenty of long term members in no time.

Popularity: 20% [?]

You’re attending a business conference, when across the room, you see a friend talking to someone very influential in your field. Your friend agrees to introduce you to this influential person, and you walk up to them, shake their hand and introduce yourself. Great, you’ve got your foot in the door, now it’s time to turn your opening into a long lasting professional relationship.

The most important thing to remember is that you should set out to be their friend. If you’re looking at them the same hungry way a wolf looks at a sheep while you talk, they’re going to pick up on, and be put off by that fact. Let your business needs take a back seat to establishing a strong professional friendship. If you’re friends first, professional benefits will come later.

Before you ever ask for any advice, or help of any kind from your new friend, be sure to do something for them. As you get to know them, learn their business needs, and see if you can fulfill some of those needs. They will very likely remember your help when it comes time for you to ask them for something, and they might just be willing to do a little more for you than they otherwise would have.

As you’re doing professional favors for your new found friend, make sure to follow through on any promises you make. If they ask you for something, and you agree, be sure to deliver whatever you agreed to in a timely fashion. In fact, deliver more than promised whenever possible. A good track record of over-delivering will make your new friend a little more likely to go out of their way for you.

While it’s important to work toward building a good relationship with your new friend, it’s also important to know when to cut your losses. If you’ve been going above and beyond the call of duty for them, and they haven’t reciprocated in any way, it’s time to stop trying to impress them. Don’t go out of your way to treat them poorly, just don’t give them any sort of special treatment either. After all, business is business, don’t get stuck in a one sided business relationship.

If you take the time to cultivate a good relationship with a new business contact, the long-term results will be well worth the effort. Not only will they take care of you, but you never know who else they know that you might wind up meeting. Each member of your professional network holds the potential to aid you in countless ways. Treat them accordingly, and you’ll reap the rewards.

Popularity: 18% [?]

There are a lot of advertising methods available on the internet. Social marketing, Google Adwords, viral marketing, and many other methods exist, and it can be difficult to figure out which one fits your needs.

The first step is to determine exactly what market your product or service targets. Are your customers teenagers? Elderly folks? High income? Low income? These factors (and many others) directly effect what marketing strategy you should use. For example, if your audience consists of teenagers, and twenty-somethings, a marketing campaign that leans heavily on social and viral marketing is going to be highly effective in reaching your customers. An active, and engaging Twitter account, or Facebook page is going to reach that group in a more meaningful way than a Google Ad would. Younger generations are more prone to ignoring ads, even effective ones, so dropping a lot of money on an Adwords campaign to reach them might not be worth it.

If you’re going to attempt to tackle a social marketing campaign, be sure that you do more than just post ads for your service or product to Twitter or Facebook. Your accounts on those sites should have a more human feel to them. Customers should feel like they’re interacting with a real person. If someone writes on your wall on Facebook, or @replies to you on Twitter, be sure to give them a response. Don’t get me wrong, you absolutely do want to promote your product or service, you just can’t do it in a way that feels cold and automated to the reader.

An older audience is less likely to spend a lot of time on Twitter or Facebook, but they’re more likely to click on a Google ad. If you’re going to invest in a Google Adwords campaign, be sure to do your homework before dropping the money on an ad campaign. By researching keywords and seeing which ones are over-saturated with ads, and which ones are getting a lot of searches but few advertisers you can be sure to get the maximum return for your investment. It probably goes without saying that you should also make sure your chosen keywords are directly related to your niche. If your ads are tied to keywords that don’t represent your product or service, the effectiveness of the ad will drop significantly.

This article paints in broad strokes. There are a lot of different markets out there to be tapped, and each one is going to require a custom tailored advertising campaign. The internet is flooded with ads, but if you take the time to do some research and build an ad campaign that speaks to your audience, you will see your time and effort rewarded.

Popularity: 18% [?]

News and articles must be worthy of reading as a starting point for using both on-site and off-site SEO. The content must be able to provide something that readers will want to read all the way through and will wish to learn more from the content. This way when the back links are produced they will be an accurate representation of what is available in the article on both Google’s side through the automated indexing and what the readers will actually see when they arrive to the page or supporting pages.

Frequent updates to content are important and provide more for Google to be able to index. Each page will provide new indexing opportunities for different keywords which could all tie in with the overall ranking on Google and other search engines. Images, being content as well, can be search engine optimized by using the alt and title attributes in the html coding for display. The html is also crawled by Google and information such as keywords in the image name, directories, description and title. This provides a way to index into Google images which also helps to pull in additional traffic through image ranking.

Organic optimization is the major key to success as most people will search for items organically using their normal speech patterns. If you can rank for phrases and keywords used in a certain way, you may be able to pull in a large amount of traffic while increasing the ranking on Google substantially. Try to rank with as many phrases as possible but without keyword spamming or stuffing in your content. The better that the content utilizes the keywords or key phrases organically, the more likely that it will show up when a search inquiry is made by a normal, everyday person. One of the best ways to garner traffic from Google and other search engines is using long tail keywords.

For example, if I sell Monkey Wrenches by the dozen to Monkey construction workers I would use a long tail keyword to market to those Monkeys. Say the term “Monkey Wrench” has 500,000 results when you search google for it. But when you search for “Money Wrenches For Monkey Construction” there is only 2,000 results. Interesting right? Usually you go for the most results, but when you have such a niche product, focusing on that niche is important. So I will then use a Keyword tool and see how much traffic that long tail phrase gets, then use those keywords instead of the short one, to try and dominate those who are actually looking for that niche product and getting their eyeballs on my site.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Sometimes on page SEO is looked over in today’s internet marketing world for some reason, but it remains one of the most important parts of SEO for your website or blog.
If you think using Wordpress Plugins such as “All-in-One SEO” is enough, then you are very wrong.
Just using SEO for the content on your page is not enough. Your links need to be in check, your navigation easy to follow, a sitemap generated, and your site pinging search engines with products such as Ping-O-Matic on a regular basis.

Remember, on page SEO is possible and still provides some of the necessary elements on how Google and various other search engines and directories categorize and rank the sites. Unique and accurate page titles for sites are always important because they provide information which is taken directly by the robots/spiders/web-crawlers that deep index websites. This helps to prevent duplicates in search engine listings so people who are searching for information are not bombarded by the same information by multiple websites.

Using page title tags is appropriate but should be done in a specific manner. Never keyword stuff and do not use all capitalized letters in the title tags. Use of description meta tags is also important and helps to provide the search engine indexing services to pull appropriate information for cataloguing.

The next thing that should be done is a URL structure revamp. Websites that have insanely long URLs to the content destination are not easy to index or remember by users. The best way to offer content that is easy to find is to use keywords as directories on the hosting. This way, when search engines index the URLs, they get keyword targeting in the link text as well. Usually the structure will be best in a generic URL as: “http://www.yourdomain.com/base-subject/secondary-subject/keyword-content.html”. There are many variations that you could take on the URL with top level domain extensions, sub-domains and structure for the URL which all help search engines to index the website.

Easy navigation of the site is a key method of allowing visitors to see what they came to see on the site. Menu items and tabs must be clearly marked and they should navigate to URLs with clear keywords in them. Content optimization of the sites is also recommended to additionally offer to on page SEO practices.

Popularity: 10% [?]

One of the most complicated, easy things to use in your internet marketing is Ezine Articles.

How can something be easy and complicated?

Well, it is pretty simple, Ezine is a complex beast of algorithm and human scrutiny. You can write a great article, post it up and have it rejected for more reasons than you can count on both hands and feet. But you can also write a plain, simple article and have it submitted no problem. The reason is that Ezine has strict guidelines, and to use it correctly you need to push the guidelines without getting rejected. Below you will find some tips and information on how to make you a better Ezine publisher.

Once you get this, Ezine will be really easy and one of the most beneficial, profitable, parts of your business.

The foremost thing that those who are interested in marketing on Ezine must do is take advantage of high quality content. Rubbish content would be a terrible prospect and would even cause for a rejection to occur from Ezine itself. The content must capture the attention of the reader and will then cause them to follow through to any anchor text and links. Taking the time to review and edit content to where it is acceptable by Ezine and provides what readers wish to read enough to want to learn more, then the content is in fine order.

Keeping the content in order with the niche that you will be marketing is the next thing you will want to do. It does no good to create content that is completely different than what you will be marketing. If you will be writing for an affiliate program to try and gain commissions, you need to write about the niche the affiliate provides. If you are marketing for exposure and SEO for websites, you need to make sure that the content syncs up with what will be at the website so readers have something to look forward to. It does not make sense to market cosmetics in the content then lead them to technology products or vice versa.

Anchor text is the final and very crucial step to marketing on Ezine. Not having the correct format or text will make it difficult for readers to see the links that they will want to follow through. If you do not provide links at all, then there is no use in even submitting the article other than for notoriety on the subject. The common mistake is creating anchor text without the article keywords because then the links are not indexed correctly for search engines. Make sure you do your research on what anchor text you should use.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Maybe you have a niche in mind already, but you simply don’t have the time to create the products – such as reports, eBooks, blog posts, etc. – that you need to market in that niche.  That’s where PLR materials step in.

Private Label Rights providers have done all the leg work for you and created all the documentation that you may need.  In exchange for a fee, they give you the “right” to “private label” this material with your own information. 

When it comes to PLR, there are three “roles” (or maybe “opportunities”) that you can take advantage of: 

• PLR Resellers:  As a reseller, you maintain a website that offers access to individual products.  In reality, you’re much like a bookstore.  Potential buyers can search, see what you have, and buy what they need.  This is a good choice if you want a central location where you can place all the PLR content you want to sell.  It can become a “hub” of sorts for repeat buyers.
  
• PLR Memberships:  With a membership site, you charge a monthly fee, and then offer a regular supply of materials to your members.  While these types of sights offer a great value as you pay one fee for access to a lot of content, the downsize is that there may be a large amount of what’s offered that you don’t want or will never use.
  
• PLR Providers:  Providers are usually the “source” of all PLR products. In other words, all the PLR materials that resellers and membership sites have comes from these folks.  This is where original content is created; however, realize that even though it leaves the provider as original, it is going to be offered as a PLR package and it no longer becomes original once more than one person begins using it.  (This explains why you sometimes stumble across 2 or 3 web sites that look almost the same, selling exactly the same things!)

So now that you know who the players are, what are the rules of the PLR game:

1. Can you edit the content and claim ownership.  If not, they don’t get it.  At a minimum, you want to be able to put your name and web site on the material.
    
2. Is the content consistent with the market?  Nothing worse than buying a PLR package that is talking about something that was “in fashion” 2 years ago.
    
3. Are you paying for more than you need?  What do other say about the provider, membership site, or reseller and the usability of their PLR packages?  If the trend seems to be that all the stuff is low quality, out dated, or just not relevant, pass it by.
    
4. Do you get what you pay for?  If you’re paying hundreds of dollars for a PLR package that will require you to make 100 sales before you get your money back, that’s probably not a good investment.  On the other hand, if you’re paying hundreds of dollars for one package that contains everything you need to hit your niche at full speed (e.g., ebooks, reports, video, articles, blog posts, graphics, newsletter, etc.), then there’s a good chance you’ll recoup that investment.

PLR selling can be very lucrative.  You can garner a large profit for a small investment of time and money.  Just know what you’re buying ahead of time.

Popularity: 8% [?]

One of the reason’s you’re on the Internet with your business is to sell things.  A vital part of this is capturing the information of visitors to your web site and then, once you have them as a customer, keeping them updated with information.   This is where an automated email delivery system comes in.

In internet terms, these automated email delivery systems are called “auto responders.”  This is because they can automatically respond to incoming requests for information.   For example, if a visitor comes to your web site and provides his/her name and email in exchange for a free report you’re promising, your “auto responder” will accept this data, place it in your email database, and then automatically send out the correct information.  It happens 24/7/365 and you literally never have to touch the system once it’s setup.

There are lots of auto responder services available:  www.Aweber.com, www.ConstantContact.com, www.iContact.com, www.GetResponse.com, etc.

The great thing about auto responders is the ability to automate them in several ways.

For example, perhaps when someone request your free report, you want to send 3 followup emails to this person.  With your auto responder, you can enter the email message text, and tell the auto responder application when to send the followup messages.   So, followup message #2 might go out 3 days after the initial request, message #3 might be sent a week after that and so on.  This allows you to stay “in front” of the person and build a relationship that encourages interest and purchasing of your products/services.

Another great use of an autoresponder is that it allows you to create one message and send it to everyone in your email database at one time.   This feature is typically used to send out ezines – aka “electronic newsletter” – weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.   Again, the goal is to keep your subscriber informed and interested in what you’re doing.  Plus, you can use this mass email feature to send out notifications about sales or specials you are having.

Autoresponders are the most powerful Internet marketing tools available. They are easy to use, and once they’re set up, the entire marketing process is automated and instant.

Popularity: 9% [?]

What if there were a force in the universe that, when used correctly, would attract happiness to your life?  Well there is such a force and it’s called the Law of Attraction, and the principles upon which it is based can assist you through many of life’s difficulties.  Most importantly, it can assist you when it comes to the area of internet marketing.

The law of attraction is based on the premise that the universal force will draw whatever you think of or wish for regularly to you. The main problem, though, is that should you regularly have negative or pessimistic thoughts and beliefs, then bad luck is drawn to you. The unfortunate part of this is that the more bad things that happen to you, the more negative you become.  Thus, the opposite should be true.  Have you never noticed good things happen to happy people, and the more good things that happen, the happier they become?  This logic shows the law of attraction makes sense.

If you have problems believing in things such as fate, then think of it more logically.  For example, fear is a debilitating condition and – generally – people who live in fear are not happy. However, if you have a positive outlook on life you, you probably do not have a high fear level. The less you fear, the happier you are.

Let’s take the example of work. If you fear your efforts will not be recognized, rewarded, or criticized, you will try harder to get it right.  As you try harder, you become more stress and this on outward appearance to others as an inability to perform well under pressure.  However, if you are confident and happy, you will get the task done quicker and probably better.  The result could be a promotion or even a raise.

Here is another example.  Suppose you are shopping, and the salesperson in the first shop is negative and miserable.  Would you buy from that shop?  Probably not.  Instead you would you go to the next shop.  Here the sales staff is happy and eager to help.  As a result, the second shop is where you will spend your money.  It’s the positive attitude at this second shop that has brought it greater success.  Furthermore, it’s likely that you will tell your friends about your experience at the second shop and they too, will shop there.   The example shows the effect of positive attitude.

Using this positive approach in your own life will definitely make you happier. Yet, how do you go from a negative lifestyle to a positive one?  It simply takes PRACTICE!

Put reminders around your home that cause you to think in a positive fashion. Don’t hope or pray for what you want. Think as though you already have it.  When anything happens, try to see the good side of it.  In fact, look at the world through rose tinted glasses.

Imagine how your life will be once you have achieved your goals, simply because you believed you could?  Someone once said “to achieve greatness, you must have great thoughts”.  It doesn’t matter if you believe the law of attraction is a state of mind, a universal force, or simply an attitude.  It’s simply a matter of getting what you want by thinking that you can!

Popularity: 9% [?]

It’s surprising that there are people in the world who think they can simply sit down and craft some clever and motivational sales copy for their product or service.  Granted, you know your product or service better than anyone else does, but that doesn’t give you a free pass to simply “have at it”.

On the other hand, maybe you’re in that group who feels you can read a quick web page or watch a tutorial and get up-to-speed.  Wrong.  It doesn’t happen that way either.  The #1 thing for writing great sales copy is PRACTICE.  In addition, you must be sure the method you learn for writing your sales copy is correct from the get go.  Otherwise, you’ll be practicing with the wrong approach.

Here are ironclad tips to follow each and every time you write:

First, when creating sales copy, the headline is everything.  Forget this or botch it up and you’re sunk.  A headline needs to be exciting, enticing, and intriguing.  If it doesn’t grab your reader’s attention right away, they won’t read the rest of the page and will probably move on to something else (like someone else’s product or service!).

For your headline, try using a little shock value. Tell the reader what pain you’ve experienced that landed you in this predicament.  For example, “Six months ago I came out of bankruptcy and thought I could never make a large purchase again.  Boy was I wrong!”  This type of headline appeals to someone who “feels your pain,” and leaves him or her wanting to know more about the solution that you found for this problem – a problem that is possibly very similar to the one they have at present.

Now that you’ve captured the reader’s attention, begin sharing all the key points that validate your headline while taking the reader right down the path to the outcome (or “sale”) you want.

Make sure very paragraph leaves the reader wanting more.  Put some emotion into it.  This gives the reader a reason to want to connect with you as a person.  In reality, someone is more likely to buy from someone whom they feel a connection with versus someone they don’t know at all.

As you continue, expand on the benefits you received from your solution.  Bypass the inclination to want to simply toss out some facts and details.  If you do, the reader is going to lose interest because it will seem too complicated or be a major turnoff.  The reader only wants (and needs) to hear the good stuff.  The good stuff is what will get them to both buy into what you’re selling and buy what you’re selling.  (Pretty smart, huh?)

Finally, flaunt your tremendous success in front of them.  Make them green with envy.  Make them wish they also had the same result you did.  Tell them how great it feels, and share how amazing it was receiving accolades from family, friends, and strangers about your achievement.  Appear to be “the” person who has the answer to this problem.

Once you know they will follow you anywhere (because they’re spellbound with your story), tell them what you can do for them.  What secrets you’ll divulge?  What knowledge you will impart?  What wisdom will you share?  Emphasize these key factors by presenting them in a user-friendly form so that it sticks in their mind.  Why not create some unique acronym for them to remember tied directly to the benefits.  Perhaps use graphics to create a mental image in their mind.

Finally, tell them what you want them to do.  That’s right: tell them.  Do they need to buy this now because of a timing aspect (perhaps a milestone event in their life or a holiday)?  If they don’t buy it, what will the consequences be?  Share how you would feel for them if they had to continue being in this situation one minute longer.

Remember: the goal is to sell the solution that you found.  Your great sales copy is your best chance of making that happen.

Popularity: 8% [?]