Jeff Smith's
Online Marketing Success
Secrets Revealed!
April 29, 2004 Edition
Expert Interview
(c)Copyright Jeff Smith 2004
(
http://www.highertrustmarketing.com)
jeff@infoproductcreator.com
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How You Can Start Your Own Membership Site, Generate A Growing Avalanche of Money and Turn Your Passions Into a Lifetime Of Security!
Welcome back everyone.
Today's exciting interview is all about how to take your knowledge and turn it into an income-generating membership site that pays you over and over and over again -- your own personal cash avalanche.
I wanted to make sure we got someone who has created successful membership sites, has been through the trenches and understands exactly what it takes for you or I to turn out their own income-generating membership program fast.
Man - did I find him!
Ansel Gough of Membershipsiteadvisor.com has built his own profit-generating membership site and has proven that he can help others get their own profit-generating membership site to market in less than 21-days!
As he suggests in the interview, "would you rather sell a $29 eBook or make $29/month (that's $348/year!) for the life of that customer?"
I know what my answer is.
Find out what it takes to produce your own automated membership site, what sorts of topics you should consider and discover two closely held, previously secret case studies that Ansel throws out after I pressed him for real examples.
This could be your ticket to job freedom, the business model that lets you finally escape the daily grind, your own personal retirement plan!
Be prepared to be blown away!
Jeff
http://www.highertrustmarketing.com
http://www.infoproductcreator.com
http://www.creating-infoproducts.com
http://www.infoproductcreator.com/hypnotic.html
Contact Jeff:jeff@infoproductcreator.com
Today's Expert Interview
=====================================
"How You Can Start Your Own Membership Site, Generate A Growing Avalanche of Money and Turn Your Passions Into a Lifetime Of Security!"
Did you know...
There have been well over 30 interviews included in our
newsletters over the last 2-years!
If you've missed some of our past POWER Interviews with
the experts, then you'll want to hear what Joe Vitale,
Yanik Silver, Marc Goldman, Damon Zahariades, Willie
Crawford and many others are doing to create, and
grow their own Infoproduct Empires. Check out our
archives right here...
http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/ezinearchives.html
This Week...
Ansel Gough shares his deeply-held secrets for generating a flood of income from pay-for-content through membership sites.
Discover the secrets that led to his own highly successful membership sites, the content behind is highly successful site Membershipsiteadvisor.com, and real-world case studies on money-making membership sites you probably have never even considered!
Let's get started...
Jeff [Question]
Ansel, awesome to have you with us today, let's get
right to the good stuff! Can you give us some background information
about yourself and how you came up with the idea for
http://www.membershipsiteadvisor.com
Ansel [Answer]
Thanks Jeff, it's a pleasure to be here.
My background is in marketing. I first got started when I studied
advertising in Sacramento California about 12 years ago. From there I
decided to launch my own publishing company. We produced books, videos
and audio tapes on a range of topics - we even did a 'how to' video on
dog training.
Everything we produced was sold via direct mail and mail order. So I
studied
all the advertising and copyrighting Greats - to learn the trade, so
to speak.
As the Internet grew in popularity we moved online. We kind of started
from
scratch, because things are a bit different online. Most of the copyrighting
rules and general marketing methodology apply, but lead and traffic
generation... that was all new. We were used to just running ads in
Magazines and Newspapers. But where do we advertise online? That took
a bit of research.
Our first 'successful site' was a membership site. We started a
membership site that offered various tools for people who market a
health drink. Not only tools, but also information on marketing,
template ads, marketing ideas, etc.
The site was launched using viral marketing and joint venture
marketing concepts. The one joint venture that we did really launched
us, and we received hundreds of sign-ups to our site. It happened very
fast.
We started testing ideas, running advertising campaigns and building
membership software to handle our site. Basically turning our
membership site into a smooth running (we're still working on that :)
business.
We documented our ideas (and still do) and really loved the recurring
income
of a membership site. We also noticed the rapidly growing trend or
should I say, transition from free to "pay-for-content".
We decided to take what we had learned and publish it... thus
MembershipSiteAdvisor.com was born. A site that would teach others how
to turn their passions into a paid membership site, based on what we
had learned running our own site.
Jeff [Question]
Ansel, really like the fact that you channel your first-hand experience into your current project, that has to be incredibly valuable. Many of our subscribers are interested in turning their knowledge
and content into a highly successful online venture - what
opportunities does a Membership based site offer that say - producing
an eBook would not?
Ansel [Answer]
There's a number of advantages to starting a membership site as
opposed to an eBook. Here's a break down, the way I see it...
i). The most obvious one is the recurring income. Membership sites
usually offer predictable income every single month (or whenever your
billing
period
is). With today's economic uncertainties, it's great to have a solid
reliable source of income. Experts agree that the big profits are in
the back-end. Membership sites have automated recurring back-end sales
from subscribers.
ii). A membership site establishes a 'community' - one that shares
ideas and
reacts with one another. People like to belong to something. You can't
belong to an eBook. This in turn builds a loyal base of subscribers.
And I like that kind of connection with my members.
iii). An eBook, is not current. Once it's published and you buy it, if
something changes it's outdated. A membership site is dynamic, meaning
it changes with the times. It grows. People want updated, timely
information. They want to be the first to know. They want to know
about new developments or new techniques. Give them what they want.
iv). eBooks are limited to content (usually). But a membership site
can be full of content, tools, resources, presentations, discussion
forums, audio and video presentations, tutorials, downloads, etc. A
membership site is very versatile. It's not limited to one form or
medium. It's multi-faceted.
It allows people to learn in different ways.
v) A membership site will always have a much higher value than an
eBook.
You might be able to sell one eBook for $40. But you can sell a membership
on the same topic for $40, on a recurring basis, each month or each
quarter. It's like selling an eBook to the same person every single
month. Which would you prefer?
With all that said, eBooks still have their place. Not everything can be or
should be a membership site. eBooks are also great as premiums, lead
products and backends. Sometimes a membership site can be the backend
product to an eBook.
Jeff [Question]
You have studied and developed highly successful membership sites -
what are the 3 most important elements of successful membership sites?
Ansel [Answer]
Good question. We currently run 3 membership sites with another one
under construction. We've found that the 3 most important elements, in
order of importance are...
a) Find out what people are already buying and give it to them: You
can be the greatest copyrighter, and know all the marketing tricks -
but if you produce something that no one wants to buy, you'll fail -
guaranteed. You can't be successful. But even if you're not so good at
marketing, but you produce a membership based on what people are
already buying and you know where to FIND them, you'll have a high
chance of success.
[Editor's Note: As with any online business, you need to pick a high
demand opportunity, to help you along check out "Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Success Package"]
b) Make sure it's something that you are passionate about. One of your
biggest challenges will be to continue to find exciting and new
content. If you're passionate about the subject, you'll absolutely love that idea. If
you're not passionate, it will become a burden. Your subscribers will
pick up on it and your subscription retention will suffer.
c) Use quality membership management tools: It's important that the
ordering and login process are smooth and seamless. Starting off with the wrong
kind of membership management program, can really hurt your business. Not
only that, but as you grow it becomes harder and harder to upgrade
(I'm talking from experience). This is one of the reasons we give all
of our subscribers a powerful membership site management application as soon as they
join. We want them to get started on the right foot. It really makes
getting started and keeping the thing running a whole lot easier.
Jeff [Question]
All great points Ansel. OK, so say we have decided that the membership model is the most
profitable and lucrative model for monetizing our content, what else can we
expect to get from your site that will help our road to success?
Ansel [Answer]
Our claim at MembershipSiteAdvisor.com is that we can show anyone how
to Turn their Knowledge, Skill, Hobby or Profession into a Membership
Website - In 21 Days or Less. We've done it in 21 days. That's why we make that
claim.
It requires a bit of work, but it's well worth it.
Subscribers gain immediate access to our exclusive members only area.
We feature real-life case studies, audio interviews, reviews, tutorials and
of course we're well known for giving away a free copy of powerful
membership management software. With a membership to our site most
people don't have to buy anything else to get started.
Here's a few things we focus on:
* How to pick a hot topic - and know before you do any work, if it's
viable
* Instant membership site templates you can use. Be up and running in record time
* The difference between a 'service based' membership site or a 'content based'
membership site, and how to set up both.
* How to promote your membership site - through other websites, ezines, etc. Viral
Marketing techniques & zero cost software to help you achieve word of mouth marketing
* How to keep subscribers active
* How to get membership management software tools for free
Jeff [Question]
Can you give us two quick case studies (a paragraph or so on each)
of successful membership sites? Are there examples outside of the
Internet Marketing topic?
Ansel [Answer]
Sure, I enjoy sharing case studies. Especially outside of the Internet
Marketing area. I'll give you a summary on 2 case studies. Both of
these membership sites have been featured in our members area. Both
are profitable, successful membership sites.
--------------------------------------------
REAL-LIFE CASE STUDY #1: 'Disney style' illustrator
sells paid subscriptions using Word-of-Mouse marketing
--------------------------------------------
DrawShop.com sells annual memberships to their downloadable database
of 'Disney style' illustrations using nothing but word-of-mouse
marketing.
Poul Carlsen, founder of DrawShop.com, is a web illustrator and well
known throughout the webmaster/clipart communities.
Poul registered a good domain name: DrawShop.com. People worldwide
went crazy with his talent to draw in the special "Disney Style".
Making his membership site very unique.
"When I started DrawShop.com, I didn't provide customized jobs as a
service - we only sold pre-designed graphics". Says Poul, I quickly
realized
I was missing back-end sales by not providing customized work. So I
added this service to my site.
"The Membership download section was first started a year ago. That
really improved my cashflow, as membership orders for DrawShop.com
rolled in."
On a normal day Poul gets about 2-4 new subscribers. (That's about
US$490 - US$980 per week of new sales. Not including recurring billing or
back-end profits from customized work).
Poul's active promotional activities include: Word-of-mouse marketing
/ Joint venture marketing and search engine marketing (Google).
--------------------------------------------
REAL-LIFE CASE STUDY #2: From zero to 3,000 paying
subscribers in 7 months
--------------------------------------------
With more than 170 new sign-ups each week, Jon Myers and his business
partner John Davenport, offer one the largest downloads of movies,
music and games online.
5scom.com provides information and tools used in downloading media and
providing multimedia tools - like games, music and movies.
"I have always been big on video and conversion software. It hit me
one day that if I developed a site that sold information about what I know,
people would buy it," explains Myers.
5scom has over 3000 paying subscribers. With an average new membership rate
of 175 per week, they primarily use pay-per-click advertising to
maximize search results.
Myers has found Overture.com to be the most effective pay-per-click
search engine for their industry. Mainly because he can guarantee a top 5 position.
"5scom opened on 5/14/2003 and as of 12/28/2003 had received 11,548,213 hits
to our site. Or about 500 unique hits every hour," says Myers. Most of
our traffic comes from search engines and secondly from links on other sites."
Note: Jon Myers is an active member of MembershipSiteAdvisor.com
Jeff [Question]
Exciting stuff Ansel! I have hundreds more questions for you, but
I know your time is valuable. Let me finish up with this question -
What sort of timeline should we plan for to build a
membership site that will earn the equivalent of say a $50,000/year
income? While there are many variables, what would you say is a
reasonable timeline for achieving that goal?
Ansel [Answer]
As you said Jeff, there are many variables. I can only talk from
personal experience and from the people I've interviewed.
We started making profits the first day with all of our membership
sites. However it took roughly 4 - 8 months to start generating a
decent full-time income. Of course we make a lot more than $50,000
now, but it takes a little while to get established initially.
What's exciting is that you can see your income grow each month and
it's more likely to grow each month simply because a membership site
provides recurring income. A large percentage of the new subscribers
you get today, will be with you next month, and the month after, and
so on.
It really is a great business model.
[Editor's Note]
Thanks very much to Ansel for filling us in on this incredible business
model - looks like anyone that is currently, or plans to, produce
information-based products needs to seriously consider the recurring
income model of a paid membership site. There is no better place to
help make your content sell than at this site: Membership Site Advisor
WRAPPING IT UP!
I hope you are as pumped about Ansel's information as I am.
Take membership sites seriously - it can be a terrific way to
start your own business and gain the stability you need to
go full-time online.
Feel free to email me comments or questions right here:
mailto:jeff@infoproductcreator.com
Jeff Smith
http://www.highertrustmarketing.com
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Editor Online Marketing Secrets Revealed
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oproductcreator.com
http://www.highertrustmarketing.com
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