Can you make money online ? Sure. Is it easy? Not exactly. However, one of the most consistently profitable ways to secure a passive income comes in the form of a membership site. And to build a membership site, it’s important to know the best WordPress membership plugins .
With a membership plugin, you can Membership Plugins lock down some or all of your content, allowing users access when they pay an upfront or recurring fee. And that’s the key to a steady cash flow: recurring revenue . When you sell individual products or services, you need to convince each customer that they should buy again, whether through email marketing , abandoned cart messaging , or social media.
Companies that collect automated payments (think Dollar Shave Club, Netflix, or your cable company) don’t have to think as much about sales and marketing. They’re more focused on making existing customers happy (maybe not the cable company).
Recurring memberships like these tend to trap some of those customers who never use the service or product, but keep paying.
In short, membership websites can be a big money-maker, as long as you find the right niche, focus on offering quality products/services, and choose the best WordPress membership plugins to guide you along the way.
What types of membership sites can you build?
An idea for a membership site is just that, an idea. Obviously it takes a lot more time, money, and effort to set up a reputable and profitable membership business. That being said, it’s nice to be able to bounce ideas around and get the creative sparks flying. Here are some ideas of the types of membership sites you can build.
- An online course with one or more topics. Courses can include projects, documents (such as PDFs), videos , and quizzes.
- A product membership, where digital or physical items are sent to members on a recurring basis or as a one-time situation. “Box of italy email list the Month” clubs are popular examples of this type of membership.
- A service-based membership program, where members pay a certain amount for services per month or per year . An online or telephone coaching program is a good example of this.
- A fixed-term program where the client pays for a short membership. For example, a quit smoking program might end after three months.
- An online community with forums , live chats , articles, and other resources that are not available to the public. Users pay Membership Plugins membership fees to have full access to chat with others and learn about niche topics.
- “All-in-one” membership , where selling cell phone cases: how to start your business members pay fixed or monthly fees to receive everything you offer on the site. This isn’t all that common, but you may find that some of your e-commerce customers are willing to pay a high, ongoing fee to get basically all, or a large portion, of what you sell. This is what we like best for smaller online stores.
- The drip feed model , where content is slowly revealed to members depending on how far they get in a program. It’s also common for new drip content to be revealed on a monthly basis. Think online courses or premium belgium numbers blogs. Many podcasts are starting to do this too, with extra content outside of episodes.
Are there certain features to look for in WordPress membership plugins?
Of course. The good news is that most of the WordPress membership plugins we’re highlighting today cover most of the required features. It’s still a good idea to go through the following list, tick off the items you consider most important, and then make the decision on the plugin based on your needs.
