5 Reasons Every Blogger Should Consider launching a Member Site
A majority of blogs are just an expression of passion. They're places where anyone can make themselves heard and share their thoughts on health, technology, recipes and fashion, finance and music or anything else they're passionate about. The thing is, they have to be something that's a passion because they don't bring in the most money.
If you're a blogger, you know that as passionate as you may be about your subject and readers, it might often seem difficult (or at times, impossible) to continue investing time when it isn't generating revenues from the site.
There are five great reasons to incorporate a membership into your blog:
- If they are done properly When done properly, membership sites could generate greater revenue than advertisements.
Advertising doesn't make much money unless you have a large amount of traffic (it's an unsavory secret to monetizing your website on the web). If you want to earn substantial revenue from advertising on your blog, you need to utilize highly relevant ads and you must have an abundance of traffic consistently washing over your website. In contrast, a subscription (even at a minimal rate) could generate an enormous amount of immediate and long-term revenue, especially when you are able to convince all of your existing readers to sign up. - It's easier than you think to produce premium content for your site's membership.
Perhaps you're not aware, but you've probably already got a great "product" that you can sell in the form of membership. There are plenty of people who take existing content from their blog and refactor it into high-quality articles. While we're not advocating that you take down the articles you have posted for free -- as that could have dire consequences for your Google rank -- however we do recommend that you combine, expand on, and incorporate existing content to create new premium content. - The members-only section will enhance the quality of your site's content.
Some bloggers do not offer high-quality content. The quality of your content makes you stand out. The old saying "That is obtained in a way that is too inexpensively, we take to a lesser degree," is very, quite true. If people are aware that you charge for some of your content, it boosts the value of ALL your content and your reputation. - Your membership helps you to better connect and grow your network.
When you get someone to raise their hand and choose to be a part of your blog (rather than simply lurking) You'll get more commitment and fans that are more likely to share the news about your blog.
Endless love for your blog, its topics, and audience are all definitely great reasons to stay devoted to producing great content... but money's also pretty awesome. And it doesn't hurt that it pays the bills.
Photo Credit: Alejandro Escamilla