The Best Way To Build A Lucrative Membership Site
Follow these steps and thank me later
A membership site is the hardest kind of business I’ve ever had to build
When I first bought Copyblogger, I knew I wanted to build a membership program and build a business around that. However, it ended up being harder than I could have imagined.
What makes membership sites so difficult is that you have to work through a conundrum. Obviously, you want to get members and subscribers. Yet no one wants to sign up for a membership program that has no members or subscribers.
So you need members to get members, but you don’t have members so you can’t get members.
I stumbled through Copyblogger because I did not understand the sequencing of how to build a membership. That failure was frustrating at the time, but it forced me to learn the right steps in the right order. Those lessons became invaluable when I launched The Machine Method. This time, the sales process was far more predictable.
If you are planning to build a membership site, follow these steps. This has allowed me to generate an extra $125k in profits, and I only just launched it in March.
It’s possible. You can do it too.
LFG. 🔥
Start At A Very Low Price Point
When I first started The Machine Method, it was simply a membership inside my Substack. I published my first two courses there as a separate community. I charged $99 a year, which was affordable and got people in the door.
This created a small but active community inside the Substack chatroom feature. Once people were comfortable paying a small fee and engaging, it gave me the confidence to build a better experience for them.
Move To A Bigger Platform
The next step was to move everything to a membership platform. Mighty Networks and Circle are the two I most recommend. This platform will provide a much better experience for members.
But if you do not yet have a robust community, a membership platform can actually work against you because the lack of engagement is obvious.
It is the equivalent of renting out a giant hall for a small party. You could have the same group of people in a living room and it feels lively. But put ten people in a banquet hall and the party feels like a dud.
Still, once I had momentum, Circle gave me the right structure to keep scaling. And with a better platform, I had the proof of value I needed to justify raising prices.
Start Increasing Prices
At this point, I raised the price to $299 for the year. I kept creating content until I had an entire library of courses. The key here is to build as you go.
Offer pre sale access before the platform is complete. Buyers benefit from early access at a discount. You benefit by earning revenue while building your program. In other words, you are getting paid now to build something that will pay you later.
As the library grew, I increased prices again and added more products. I split the membership into two offers: The Launchpad at $697 and Sales Training at $2500.
Turn The Membership Site Into A Full Community
After building the platform, pricing, and content, the final step was to turn the membership into something bigger than just me. I created a free course to bring people into a free community where I can engage with them and upsell the paid products.
This step is crucial because ultimately, you want the community to become a stand alone brand. Many people create a course or product and then try to sell it through their personal brand. While that can work, it limits you because it lacks the specificity of solving one clear problem.
Now The Machine Method has its own free course, its own community, its own weekly newsletter, and soon more products to expand the ecosystem.
This system requires patience because it takes time for the community to become active. But the momentum, and more importantly the confidence you gain from making sales along the way, puts you in a position to keep growing.
Closing thoughts
At first, building a membership site felt impossible. But after working through the process step by step, I see it as just another business skill. I will not create more than one because I do not need to, but I could replicate the system again if I chose to. In fact, I may create a course inside The Launchpad to teach others how to build their own membership programs.
It is just like everything else in business.
It feels impossible until you do it. Then it becomes another skill to add to your toolbox.
Love you guys. Talk to you tomorrow.
Tim
Start Building Your Dream Business With The Machine Method
Join The Machine Method community today. It is completely free, and it is designed to help you finally get your business off the ground and making real money.
Inside the community, you will get access to …
a free 7 part course on how to use The Machine Method to build your dream business
weekly lessons and newsletters that show you how to generate sales, market your offers, and stack up dollar signs
networking opportunities with other entrepreneurs who are on the same path
step by step guidance on creating offers, building marketing systems, and closing deals
accountability and support so you can keep moving forward even when it gets hard
This is a no fluff, no BS community. If you want to learn how to start a business that pays you, The Machine Method is the best place to begin.