LESSON #32: How to Build a Membership Website
Within the past several lessons, I’ve covered a handful of different ways to build a website.
Today I’m going to talk about building a membership website…
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
- Get one that will install on your own domain.
- Get one that is popular… there’s safety in numbers.
- Make sure it will support your payment processing method.
Possible choices:
Membergate - high end solution with a great reputation. Runs about $4k-$30k.
Amember - this is what I use for my paid membership sites.
Butterfly Marketing - this is what I use for my multi-tier membership sites.
WordPress Wishlist - a membership plugin for WordPress (not shown on the video).
Monthly Income Formula - A complete step-by-step home study course for setting up a membership site, including the script, ALL for much less cost than any of the scripts above.
Action steps:
1) Decide if you’re going to create a membership site.
2) If yes, choose a script to run your site, and buy it.
3) Install the script, or pay someone to install it for you. You can post projects and get scripts installed as cheap as $10 at Rent A Coder
In the next lesson I’ll be covering WordPress!
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 
Have a great day!
I’ve been following all of your lessons since #1 and I can tell you that I have really learned a lot of things that I thought I already knew, but you seemed to make it easier or explained it better than it had been taught to me before. Thanks,
Brenda
PS: My brother has a link to your lessons on his blog, [www.tldnames.blogspot.com] that’s how I got started watching and following them.
Thanks Brenda, and I thank your brother for the link
I haven’t got a membership site of my own but belong to several. I am thinking of starting one though related to my blog http://homerenewall.com “Home Renew all” Just haven’t got there yet.
Thanks for the great info.
Sounds like it could be a good niche. Thanks!
Eric, I’ve been also following your lessons since day one and I thank you for making them freely available.
I’ve been marketing on-line for 8 years now and always have been nervous about operating a membership site. Now I have opened http://www.MyAdShowcase.com and it’s coming along quite nicely.
Admit there have been a few snags, but your lessons have helped me get over the hump.
Thanks again for creating them and I look forward to more.
- Kenney
Glad to hear it Kenney, keep up the good work.
Eric - I am very disappointed that all your tips require you buy another product and then another. I would really appreciate a Refund!!!!!!!
First… these lessons are currently free.
Second, if you follow them in order you will see that not all of them require you to buy something.
As I mention in lesson #3, you should not buy stuff unless you understand fully why you are buying it.
As I explain in lesson #8, there are some things that you need in order to run the type of business that I am teaching how to build.
In the case of this lesson… it just depends on whether you want to build a membership site. If you don’t, there’s nothing to buy.
If you do, then you need a script to run your site. It’s as simple as that.
In Eric’s defence you can even do it for free using word press and paypal.
It would be a little cumbersome if you started getting some decent traffic but to get started it costs nothing.
I built my first wordpress membership site using Erics tips yesterday and it was easy. Very easy.
The tough part will be filling the site with relevant information however thats not the point I actually only wanted to see how easy it would be to create a site following Erics tips and it was easier than I thought.
Thanks Eric.
To Anonymous,
The lessons are free with tons of valuable information. If building an online business is your vision, but you can’t afford to make a commitment and get started right now, here is what you can do. Make a folder in your Favorites browser and continue with the lessons. Save the links of the websites, products and software as they are presented. These are the tools you will need to build your house when you are ready. Then, make a folder in your email client and save all the lessons so you can refer to them at a later date. This is what I am doing.
The information and recommendations from Eric are invaluable. To date I have only spent 14.00 to buy a .com and host site because I wanted to and that is what I can afford at the moment. Take it one step at a time at your own pace and only buy what you need at each step as you can afford it.
Best wishes to your vision!
PS. Thank you Eric!
Wow! Great info! Answered allot of my questions I had about membership sites. I will take your advice.
i’m glad you found it to be informative
Eric,
Thanks for the info, I’m in the process now of setting up a membership site.
Question about TradingProSystem.com, I know that’s from David Vallieres, did you purchase rights from him on that, or is this a system you created? You mentioned AFfiliate for that site, where’s the affiliate link?
Thanks,
-Brett
The system is created by Dave, and I basically repackaged it. And now that I’ve been using it and doing well with it, I will most likely add some of my own material to it by the end of the year. The affiliate program is on clickbank, so your aff link would be http://YOURClickbankID.toplevel.hop.clickbank.net
Hi Eric
I can’t find that program on clickbank.
I wanted to create a hoplink and start selling some
That is the hoplink above. Just put your CB ID into it.
Hi Eric - I really like the price of your Monthly Income Formula product. Will it run on any webserver? (The hosting company I use has php/mysql etc).
Great training videos by the way - this one was a good overview & the idea of a paid memberships site is something I’ve been chewing over for some time.
Cheers,
Dez.
Yes it uses PHP/mysql. It should run on any cpanel host.
thanks:)
Hi Eric,
The membership model is good but I can’t figure out the way by which I can make money from a 100% free membership site. Take a example of 100% free dating site. Can you tell me the ways by which we can monetize and make money from the members list of such sites. All possible ways..
There are many ways to monetize a free membership, all of which I can not cover in this comment.
If you’re building a list, you can email them with related products and services.
You can put contextual ads, like AdSense, on the pages.
You can create a product (or series of products) that you sell on the back-end, inside your membership site.
A couple years ago I wrote about a guy named Markus Frind, who was making $10k a day from Adsense on his free dating site (plentyoffish.com). So it’s definitely possible.
The dating niche has been pretty saturated for years now, so its unlikely you’d be able to break into the market and gain a serious market share. But its a big enough industry (one of the most common reasons why people surf the web) that there is plenty of profit to be gleaned from it.
I think there is a typo in the link to rentacoder.com in the video.
(the link in the video says rentalcoder.com)
good stuff though
inspiring to see how well you’ve done with the membership sites 
Good eyes! But actually http://rentalcoders.com is my affiliate link for rentacoder
Hi Eric,
Iam an old custemer of yours:-)
I am launching a new site with my wife, It is a skin care site, I would love to compine the site as an blog with skin care product reviews and skin care tips as also an skin care membership site,
The site will talk about, acne treatments, cellulite, stretch marks etc, you get the idea.
The thing is, I just simply don’t know if there is a market for it and how i can make desireble content that people are willing to pay for it,
Any suggestion or an ideas on how I can do this Eric ?
There is definitely a market for those topics.
The way to create desireable content is to provide the solution to your audience’s problems.
In the ones you mentioned above… people want to gid RID of acne, cellulite, stretch marks, etc.
So the key for you is to have LEGITMATE ways of accomplishing it, and if so, people will pay for it.
Hi Eric,
One phrase jumped out during your video. Have a business plan. I see we are getting into the goodies stage of online marketing. Time to go back to the first videos and do some souls searching. Thanks, Colin
Yes. here’s the lesson about making a business plan if anyone needs it: http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson15/
thanks
Great post Eric, and it comes just at the right time for me, I have been looking at different membership software for a site /i hope to build in the very near future. If amember is what you use I think I will use that too.
On another note I have some good information on wordpress setup and getting fresh unique content to your blog for free automaticly. drop me an email for details. Regards.
Thanks David, yes amember is great
Hi Eric…this is a little off topic…sorry for that!
What I would like to know, (and I can’t tell from your page source), is, do you stream your videos from a special server like amazon’s S3, or do you just run them from your regular hosting account(like Hostgator). I just built a membership site that has a lot of instructional videos in the members area (not the site my name points to here), but at this point due to my lack of web/video experience, I am making my members download them. This is o.k. as long as my members have fast connections, but anyone on dial-up is “hooped”!(The video files are HUGE downloads, both in individual file size, and number of files, probably comaprable to your “Trading system Pro” in number and size of vids).
Thanks for any comments/help you can give!
Michael Rytter
Vedder Mountain Hardwoods
Chilliwack BC
I actually do some of both. It’s actually cheaper to stream off my own server, and I do stream all of my lessons from my own server currently. But I do use S3 for some things, including many of the Trading Pro System videos. The main reason for this is to make sure the server does not get bogged down, as I am also using it to host sales pages ,etc. And if I put a video on a sales page, I generally stream it from S3 to help make sure the server hosting the sales page does not get bogged down and is able to serve the page itself quickly.
But I have not found S3 to be any “faster” than my own server. People on dial-up still will have trouble, regardless of where the video is hosted. The main benefit of S3 for me is that it automatically scales itself, so you never need to worry about how much traffic those files are getting.
I use a program called Bucket Explorer to manage my S3.
Thank you so much! You are a gentleman and a scholar, as always!
Michael Rytter
That’s what I’ve recently caught on to…the fact that a membership sites such as facebook, ebay, and youtube are really nothing more than list building programs. The success element is getting your membership to go viral.
Hey Eric thanks for the all the info. I have learned a lot from you lessons. I still go back and watch them over and over because I will find things that I missed when I first watched them.
Quite interesting topic - Building a membership website and monetizing it.
I like the way you answer the anonymous guest you demanded for a Refund.
Part of your reply “You should not buy stuff unless you understand fully why you’re buying it”.
Keep the good work going.
Adesegun Akitoye
http://www.repeatrich.blogspot.com
http://www.spiritualhymnsongs.blogspot.com
Hey Eric, priceless lesson as always!!!, I have a silly question now, what’s the difference between applets, plugIns, Widgets, and Scripts? How are they related? Is WordPress a script or a plugIn, or just a page template? Thanks in advance.
It’s a perfectly good question.
Some of those terms could be used interchangeably in some instances, but they do each have unique definitions…
A “script” is the most generic term out of the above. It is basically a piece of code or collection of code that is written in a programming language, in order to do something. When I talk about scripts in these lessons, I am specifically talking about web-based applications. It could be a small script, which is placed within a web page (for example, to display dynamic content). Or it could be a larger script, which essentially acts as a web-based software program (such is the case with a membership site script).
An applet is essentially a small script that runs within the context of a web browser. Most commonly we see applets.
A plugin is basically an enabler. For example, your browser may need to have a plugin in order for an applet to be enabled to run. But I think the term plugin has sort of been changed to take on a broader meaning. When we talk about Wordpress plugins, we’re basically talking about little add-ons. They are little pieces of script that you add onto the Wordpress script to enable it to do something more.
Widget is another word that has taken on broader meaning, as it seems to be continually used in new contexts… computer OS, websites, mobile phones, etc.
But in general, when we talk about a web based widget, we are talking about a snippet of code that anyone can paste into their website, and it will add something to the page. an example on this blog would be the “ShareThis” link.
Wordpress is technically a web-based application, which includes scripting, templates, widgets and optional plugins. I’m not sure if it is correct usage of the word, but I personally call it a “platform” because it is sort of a framework upon which you can build your site, add plugins, etc.
Hi Eric,
The membership business model, like most, has both pros & cons. Of course the residual income would be a major benefit… but I feel that continually adding different content each month could prove to be very stressful. Like anything else, its not for everybody. If its your “bag” pun intended, go for it!
Trudy Harris
Hey Eric, great lesson, I’m wondering if you will ever cover how you get traffic to your websites. It seems like you have so much out there, I can not imagine advertising all those websites individually.
Yes I am planning on devoting at least 10-20 of the lessons for traffic generation.
I would love to start a membership site. I have known for some time from other readings that membership sites are very lucrative. I believe I speak for many readers, or maybe not, but the thing that is stopping me is the feeling that I don’t have the specialized knowledge on any niche subject to justify a membership site. I don’t want to put up a site just to make money unless I can provide a real service to members. Shouldn’t providing a valuable service to customers be one of the primary considerations. If so do you have any pointers to help with assuring value to members.
Absolutely… same as any product, you want to provide real value. If it’s a monthly membership, it will be easy to tell if you’re providing value, because they won’t stay subscribed if you’re not
I’ll talk about value more when we get into product creation, but always shoot to provide 10X the value of what you’re charging.
Monthly Income Formula
Error Open Tag..
page will not fully load to see your offer..
Thanks
what browser and OS are you using? I just checked it on browsershots and it should be OK in all browsers… Or let me know if there is a specific error message. thanks
Eric you seem to get to these lessons just as I am getting to needing them. I am currently in the process of developing a membership site, and needed this lesson. Currently My site is Free but still in development so I am updating it daily. I would like your permission to advertise these lessons on it. Thank You!
sure thing… links and referrals are always welcome
thanks!
Hi Eric,
Thanks, Eric, for some wonderful lessons.
Just thought I would let you know that Butterfly Marketing has been blacklisted as a spam site by Web of Trust http://www.mywot.com/
Just thought you might want to know.
Thanks again!
Jeri
Thanks for the comment. I just checked it out, and it’s nothing to worry about. Apparently mywot accepts anonymous spam complaints and doesn’t provide any documentation. BM is not a spam site.
Hi Eric,
Thank you for clearing that up.
Kind Regards,
Jeri
Just wanted to add, there’s another membership script (it’s free with ad links):
http://www.geniegate.com/listings/dolphin/
It is more designed to be extended (for customization) rather than have a million features only 1/4 of which are actually used. (I’m of the view that code bloat should be avoided - better to provide a framework that is easy to extend)
Eric,
i would like to thank you for the information that you so freely provide. As for anyone who believes that you are strictly promoting yourself with “new products” as the lessons progress, hasn’t taken into account the actual cost of time and investment that you are making. If anyone believes that it is self promo then indeed they do need to start on lesson one, watch and truly listen to what you are teaching.
Gurus, or any other so to speak individual consistently promote themselves and “products” that many times leave any person whether a newbie or a seasoned internet marketer scratching their head, whilst trying to decipher the data and information in front of them.
For those whose comment states that your lessons are right on time, I suggest that is a reflection of your “complete teaching module” as your grateful students are right on time in the learning curve that you have established.
Thank you a GRATEFUL STUDENT
Kaycee
Simply awesome!!!
I have been reading from you for a long time now… love your latest product: PushButtonMarketer.
This is the best lesson so far… You have been very honest with all you lessons and I have personally signed up to some of the freebies before (occassionally bought stuffs) and wondered how they were done. Nice one! Well done and keep up the good work.
One request though..
I used to write gospel based motivational news letter for a christian organization of over 200 membership and intent to build a free (social-networking) membership site. Can you recommend one the best scripts for social networking. I came across boonex.com though I am still exploring, but guess your input will be helpful because I count on every word of yours.
I have found a FREE script for a free membership website at http://www.interology.com. They cant beat Monthly Income Formula’s price for paid membership site script though. I will be purchasing that pretty soon here.
Hi Eric
It’s a wonderful piece of the IM you have cleared. There is really something to learn for anyone who is interested in going forward in the IM stuff. And your resources also are valuable.
Thanks once again
I just got an email from Eric since I have subscribed to his newsletter.
I know this is off this topic.
Today I got an email about “Breakthrough Profit Creation” and just for $1…It looks so atrractive. BUt guys do not forget to read the term sof condition before you buy.
Youwill be charged $39.95/month unless you cancel.
I know that might be cheap for some of you but I just wanted to bring that into attention.
This is also one clever way of doing marketing.
Good Luck.
absolutely, you should always read the fine print
(btw, they did mention it right on the sales page too)
I agree Eric, but many get a different impression. They think thats its only $1. I know its mentioned somewhere but with all those long sale pitch they get carried away.
But hey thats the trick….
Anyways Eric–I have been following your blog closely, and I m in the middle of coming out with some product and would like to share with you.
Cheers.
Yes! This is the lesson I am waiting for a long time, your lesson was exactly what I need. What is left is to make my mind about what I want to use. Thanks a lot.
About the WordPress, I already use it on my last blog, but I’ll pay attention to see what I am missing… because I always learn something from you. I learned WP doing it, I am sure that not every angle was explored yet.
By the way, I think you said that you are using WP a lot. Do you use it for non-blog, just regular sites as well? What about member sites?
Thanks Eric
Michaela
http://michaelacernescu.com
(this is my blog created with WordPress.)
try sites like http://www.hotscripts.com to search
Any more technical details about this membership script? Is it mysql driven or sitting somewhere like aweber autoresponder databases and stuff?
I would have to customize it for German language …
it’s mysql driven… hosted on your own site.
I have a blog and want to add a email subscription link to gather potential interested readers. Is a there a free service or script I can add to the blog to accomplish this?
The blog is http://a-zstocksadvice.blogspot.com
there are some free scripts you can use, but I don’t recommend them. I recommend using Aweber, which I will be covering in a future lesson. In the mean time you can check them out here
Hi Erick,
wow this is great stuff! As a buyer of the membership site program I am very pleased with all the info. And in my opinian it is almost the best info I have. Akmost because the 8 videos are about Amember and shure not about Memberfire. Nevertheless it is a very welcome program because I am already building my membershipsite. I will post a comment when its ready.
Thanks.
Good business to you all!
Henk
Hello Eric I love your post! They are so helpful. I know that I would like to have a membership site but I don’t know what topics would be profitable. Do you have any ideas ?
the same lessons for selecting a niche for an infoproduct would apply to selecting niche for a membership site:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson19/
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson20/
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson21/
from my bible, i understood that simple things are great.i appreciate the simplicity and greatness of ur lessons.now, i am learning. keep it up brother and god bless
Hi! Eric, do you have any info, opinion about Mass control of Frank K. Please let me know!
michaela
I talked about it at http://www.ericstips.com/tips/mass-control/
I am not a member of it, so I can not speak from experience. I do think it’s probably a top notch course, but I decided not to invest in it personally for the reasons mentioned in that post.
Eric,
I was looking at Google cash detective and adspypro programs.
I found your post here: http://www.ericstips.com/tips/adspypro/
I know GCD came with another upgrade I guess this year.
I did not buy GCD.
Do you still recommend Adspypro now to buy OR something changed in the last couple of years.
Thanks.
I am not currently using it personally, but as far as I know its still a good program.
Hi Eric,
When will lesson 33 be available? ( WP Blog ) I am working on my WP Blog now and welcome the chance to learn from the master!
Thanks,
Tom / Atlanta
soon!
Eric,
Looking at the Monthly Income Formula salesletter leaves me with a question. Do they show you specificaly with the membership script they give you how to set up the site and monetize it? Inside the salesletter they specify Amember in one of the manuals. Also, how sophisticated can you make the membership site with this script? I would like to do an educational site with password protected how-to videos.
Shawn
Yes they show how to set up a site with their script. And yes, it coveres Amember too. The same principles apply to both scripts, they are just different scripts. The package contains instructions for setting up both types of sites. As far as sophisticated… it just depends. For an “educational site with password protected how-to videos”, I think it will do what you want to do.
Thanks Eric,
I picked up your Push Button Marketer as well and am looking at the Monthly Income Formula, as well. I hope they can work synergistically.
God Bless,
Shawn
Hello, Eric.
Thanks for the lesson. Even before litsening to this particular one, I’ve been thinking about setting up dating sites. Of course, I’ve already study your Monthly Income Formula and would like more info.
I want to create more than one site for various niches but possibly with the same database: how do I run all of them with the same script? Should I buy the formula for each site? In that case, it will be quite costy.
I would a lso like some advice about how to promote my dating sites: which other software of yours would do? And from the beginning which formula would be efficient? Paid or free?
Thanks
You can use the Memeber Fire script for all of your sites.
If you choose to go with Amember, then you would need to buy a license for each site.
As for dating sites… that’s a tough niche to break into. There are various strategies, but in general I’d recommend free over paid, and then monetize the back end.
Great stuff Eric. I have not seen any of your other videos but I was searching info for a Membership Website & stumbled upon your video. Very glad I did. I have tried to figure out how to get one set up with a forum, chat area and other goodies! You have given me an extra added incentive to continue my pursuit of my dream! Many thanks.
Alan
i’m glad you found it! I’ve done forums in membership areas. You can do this with most membership scripts… it’s especially easy to do with scripts that use htaccess to protect areas (amember is good at it). You can set up any forum just like you normally would (such as phpBB which is free, or a purchased script like vbulletin or IPB)… then you go into the admin of your membership script, and protect the entire directory containing the membership site. In that example, the members would have to register seperately for the forum. But there are also ways to fully integrate it so that they are automatically registered for the forum. I believe Amember has a plugin to do that too.
I have been looking for another outlook way to make money. This looks like a good Idea I am going to study this concept and possibly try it I will let you know how it goes. You have great ideas Eric please keep up the good work !!!
D.T.
http://www.surefire88.com
[…] examples: lesson #32 is a POST. My products page is a […]
|great information. I went to Monthly Income Formula and was impressed with their site. I am going to give them a try and see if their script is better then what I have been using.
Thanks
Bo Tipton
The Ornery Marketer
Membership site is the great way for recurring income. Anyway you need to maintain it and continuous provide valuable update information and not “junk” information.
To Your Success
Bryan Hee
Eric, I am not able to get any email to you, is there a way to contact you with a JV offer?
I would like to offer your tradingprosystem as well as offer to you my service site.
I am not currently seeking any JV’s, but you may submit it to my helpdesk (ericsupport.com) for possible review. Thanks
Hi Eric. I’ve completed through lesson 34 but can’t access any more lessons. I thought there were 100+. I’m making a career change after 30+ years in my now chaotic industry (yeah, construction) and on s short fuse so would like to plunge ahead as quickly as I can. I’m still tweaking my Wordpress blog but would like to move ahead aggressively as I have 6 mouths to feed, 3 in college, and I’m putting in 10-12 hours per day trying to absorb things and not waste time. If there are no more lessons, what would you suggest to study? I’m 57 years old and totally new to Internet Marketing/Biz but going after it!! But, without your lessons, i don’t know where IT is! Help!
I am still making the lessons (there will be 100). The next one will be posted soon, and you’ll get an email if you’re on the list. Thanks
Eric, Thanks for your reply. In light of the fact that i’m running ahead of your lessons, what other resources would you recommend for me to study?
As I wrote, I’m spending 10-12 hours, 6 days per week trying to study and learn. I need to stay on track, aggressively pursuing this career because I have no other source of income.
I’m kind of floundering, trying to find out which are the top priorities for my study. I don’t know where to concentrate first and trying to sort through the hype.
Any specific suggestions what I need to focus on next, ie., post lesson 34?
Briefly…
Do you have a website online yet?
A product?
Building a list?
Hi Eric,
I own a few websites and have plans for several more. The challenge is that I do not know HTML. I have not yet found a good source to build them myself that does not require a LOT of recoding to rid the sites of spaghetti code. I was considering Xsite but had seen some reviews that it may also produce convoluted code. I don’t know enough about code or Xsite to judge the validity of these opinions. What do you think?
From what I’ve seen, Xsite’s code is pretty clean compared to other site builders I’ve used. Xsite is probably a decent option for you. Also keep following the lessons, as you may want to try WordPress also.
Eric,
I noticed in the salesletter that it mentioned
Ian DelCarmen’s membership script. Is that the script used and is there any variations to it being that its bundled with this product?
I.M.
Yes he is the creator of the script that is bundled with the package.
Hi Eric,
As I have been surfing I came across a program called viral email marketing and it was a sort of this person told that person, and they told two, and on and on. First, is that an acceptable way of gaining email addresses? Second, if it is, do you have one or recommend one?
thank you
Roy
It sort of depends on how you’re doing it. It’s not OK to use someone’s email address unless they personally opted into your list. But “tell-a-friend” scripts have been around a long time and sometimes they work well. The way most of those scripts work is the email does not come from you, but from your friend. But some of them actually send the email from you, and just mentions that their friend made the referral. I’d say those systems are questionable. Plenty of people use them (including big companies), but you could get in trouble if a recipient accuses you of spam. It’s got the potential for abuse, because an unscrupulous person could put all sorts of email addresses into your system.
If you look at the “share this” widget here on my blog, you can see that there is a tell a friend function built into it. But I don’t think it gets used very much.
Eric,
I have in mind my Domain Name,How do I register it?
And also,how do I go about building a Web Page
then putting it on line?
I`m a 70 years young rookie finding the PC hard
work, and have been bitten by many a so called
“Millionaire Maker”,that has almost drained me
dry.
Thanks for being an honest guy.
Yours Greatfully,
John Taylor.
lesson #25 shows you how to register a domain:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson25/
lesson #26 shows how to get it hosted:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson26/
lesson #28 shows how to build a web page:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson28/
lesson #29 shows how to upload it:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson29/
(or instead of lesson #28-29, you could try lessons #33-36 to install a WordPress blog)
Does anyone use a Wordpress membership site using WP Wishlist. http://member.wpwishlist.com/
I haven’t, but it looks very cool. I might try it out, and I’d be happy to hear anyone’s experience with it.
NOTE: I added my affiliate link to your comment.
Hi Eric,
I am a long time fan and have purchased your products. I have a question and i am about to purchase the Monthly Income Formula product. Is the script you offer in the product all i need to get started? I have hosting and all but i want to make sure i dont have to spend a fortune past the $97.
All the Gurus should follow your leader in helping people out like you do. I just want to thank you for all you do and the time you spend helping people out, you are a true professional Internet Marketer… my hats off to you
Yes the included script is sufficient to start and run a membership site. I’m assuming you will be able to figure out how to install it yourself using the provided instructions. Thanks
I should be ok installing it, im a little techy but im sure i might have a few questions in the long run, thanks for your prompt reply.
(no website yet)! i belong to empowerism and want to have “hits” and also have people join my member #. i have difficulty “getting it together.” i have made money doing practically nothing but not enough. Can you give me some simple ideas on getting people to my website?
It all starts with providing good content. Beyond that, there are many ways of driving traffic to your site. I like to use PPC, affiliates, and opt-in lists. I’ll be covering traffic generation extensively later in the lessons.
Hay Eric: today you where speaking directly to me.
I wanted to say I love reading your blogs and find them very informational. I was wondering if you would consider looking into MMT(MY Music Ticket). As they are to launch any day now.
I am not familiar with MMT. Thanks
Hey there Eric. I have been enjoying all these lessons and I appreciate the time it takes for you to put them together.
My question today is do you know of a free membership site script that you would be comfortable enough in recommending since I am on an extremely tight budget right now? I am kind of looking at a free site that will be monetized on the back end.
Thanks for your help and keep up the great work.
There are a couple ways I can think of for you to run your membership site for free (only pay for hosting).
1) cpanel has a built in password protection feature. You can use this with any cpanel host, including my recommended web host (see lesson 24). You can protect directories, and give the username and password to your customers via email, or directly on your thank-you page. If it’s a high priced membership, you might want to setup unique usernames and passwords for each customer. You can use a low cost payment solution such as Paypal to do recurring billing.
2) You could use wordpress. I talk about wordpress in lesson #33-36. You can make it so only logged in members can view the posts, and you can create a unique login for each paid customer.
With any free solution comes a trade-off… generally more work for you. But if that’s what it takes, it can be worth it.
Hi Eric i have been looking around for membership sites to learn about affliate marketing. i came across Maverick Money Makers.
maverickmoneymakerhotstuff.com
have you heard of Mack Michaels? I’m a newbie and found his site to be full of very useful information, in fact its saturated with information. I’m paying for it though $97 a month. he seems to care alot and makes sure he updates his information monthly. what are your thoughts about this Eric?
Many Thanks
Alison
I have not been through his course, so I can’t really say. If it’s working for you, then it’s probably worth it. His videos seem to be good quality. I am skeptical that Mack isn’t his real name… and it’s certainly hyped. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. The one thing I do know is that he’s one of the all time best sellers on clickbank, and he’s made over a million $ from it so far this year. I would proceed with a high level of caution.
one step at a time- have an overload of info-but I wonder about the sites to send ‘THOUSSNDS-MILLIONS’ OF EMAIL A DAY. they claim it’s not spam! One free one is used by a co. in the health/med. equip. biz- says he will ‘mask’ the site. got any ideas why? Al Whaley You know i’m impressed if I stay up half the night after a full day’s activities. God is continuing to bless you. And myself.
Don’t do it. Those are mostly scams.
There are legitimate “safe lists”, but if you found out about it through a spam email, it’s probably not legit.
and if he says he needs to mask your site, I’d avoid it.
Again, there are some legit lists that you can mail to… but they are not a magic bullet.
Much better to focus on building your own list.
I still can not believe that it exists …
Hi Eric,
I have been waiting for this lesson since you comment on my previous questions on my Dad’s mystockpoint.com site. However, I still am on the planning stage (building the website) and don’t understand how things work together.
My questions to you:
Do I have to first build a website first (building and planning the web pages flow) before I add the membership module or script (various methods you recommended here) to it?
How does this lesson using the various methods (amember, butterfly marketing, word press etc.) to build a membership website compares to or different from the squeeze page with opt-in using Aweber you mentioned to me previously to build a list? I’m a bit confused how these two work together or I only need to concentrate on one and then eventually move to another?
Appreciate all the help and guidance you provide.
Shirley
As far as building the site first, or adding the membership script first… you could really go either way…
If you use Amember, you can build the site first (the internal membership pages, etc.) because you can turn any directories of on your domain into password protected membership areas.
However, if you use the Butterfly script, or Wordpress script– you should install the script first. In the case of Butterfly, your membership pages will be built with the Butterly “templates”. In the case of Wordpress, you will actually create the pages from within your Wordpress admin panel.
In any of the above cases, you will integrate Aweber to build your list.
I would suggest start with Aweber and put up a squeeze page so you can begin to build your list even as you create the inner workings of the membership site behind the scenes.
Then when you actually launch the membership site, you can integrate Aweber into it. All of the above (Amember, Butterfly, and Wordpress) have ways for you to capture members onto an Aweber list.
Eric,
It’s great to build a membership site with Aweber to attract targetted traffics without handling so much hassles in person but we mustn’t totally ignore the importance of, besides cloaking affiiate links, how do we hide our email links and IP address from hackers committing phishing scams at our expense? Please share with us of what you know?
I’m not sure what you mean about hiding your email and IP? Hackers can always find out your email and IP, but that’s generally not a problem. The best thing to do is make sure you’re using a very reliable script to run the membership site.
i`ve seen your ad for membership websites,but i have no idea`s on what sort of a membership site i would run.i`ll have to think on it for a while,but it does sound like a good idea.
Being newbie is really hard in the blogging arena. Thanks to your lessons, the pains are made bearable
I am saving your lessons’ links because I can’t keep up, newbie as I am, with the pace. Will be getting back to them soon as I am ready. Keep ‘em coming though. Again, thanks.
Why are you not makining this an affilate website, I would promote it.
If you are wheres my link .
$00.50Cents for a sighn up. CAN,T GO WRONG
IVE NEVER MADE ANY MONEY ONLINE BUT THIS SITE IS GIVING ME THE INFO.
I will eventually add an affiliate program to Eric’s Tips. In the mean time I do have affiliate programs available for several of my products.
excellent ideas again just wonder how i can add a membership to my site!!!
Eric, many thanks for lesson 32.
Look forward to tomorrows lesson.
Anne
This information was awesome, I have been looking to put up a membership site for a month now. I have some great ideas for my company and my non-profit, that I wanted to put out. i just didn’t want to charge an arm and a leg for it.
Thank You Eric
Eddie
P.S. I love the porno music in the video….lol! Keep up the good work!
Hey Eric,
I’m a newbie and am making a real effort on trying to learn Internet marketing, thanks to you. I been trying to find a free or real low cost Membership script. I don’t know if I can install it on my own or not. and if i did install it.. how do I link it to my Blog? I want the membership to lead to my blog. All free membership of course.
Hello Mark,
Here is Eric’s most inexpensive recommended membership site solution:
http://www.monthlyincomeformula.com/
You could include links in the member area to your blog, or even host the membership on the same site as your blog if you wanted to.
Instructions are included to guide you through the installation process.
Hi Eric I get a lot out of Erics tips, But I dont have much time to impliment everything that I learn,I am lagging behind,But I am looking forward to your wordpress coming up .thanks Eric
Hi Eric how come the explaination that you gave tonight was the same as lastnight?
Hmmm… I’m not sure, it’s different from the previous lesson…
Eric,
great information. I was thinking about building a membership site in the past. I am about to setup an ecommerce site.
Hi Eric, Great information on membership sites…I’m thinking that a membership site would be something I would like to try so
I bought your membership course. I have to say that THIS course is SO good, I feel really comfortable buying your stuff. Sometimes, I look at other programs and wonder if I am going to get anything that would compare to this course. I’m used to high quality with you…(actually, the few things I have bought have been disappointing in comparison.) I like the way you speak very precisely and I can understand you. You don’t speak too fast and I feel comfident after hearing your lesson that I can accomplish what you’ve talked about. You give me a sanity check and help me feel that I can master this material. One foot in front of the other!
I got the MagicListBot software and it came with 2 Ready Money Sites…well they require a knowledge of Wordpress 2.8.4 so I can’t do much with them … I’m anxious to hear your next lecture on Wordpress so I can understand what I downloaded! I looked at the WordPress site for install directions, but wasn’t sure
if I am hosting my stuff at Host Gator if I put Wordpress on my computer or install it somehow on the server???
Best Regards!
Cool, thanks! My Wordpress lessons will explain it… With hostgator you can easily install Wordpress from within your hostgator control panel (Cpanel).
Hi Eric! Can I have permission to put your link to my web design related site http://www.anilinks.com
It would mean much to my clients…
Hello Priya,
Your link appears in your post. We wish you all the best with your site!
Thanks, i saw your website http://www.monthlyincomeformula.com and it was really ok great information and the process of starting it look ok abit, but if i really want to start and i don’t know html or php, can i do it or how do i get started.
Hello Aigbedo,
If you sign up at the following link, you will get free access to an HTML instructional ebook:
http://www.ericstips.com/join/
hey eric good stuff, i want to know is it a good idea to create a membership site that integrates other membership sites? Each one will leverage into the other one into the more lucrative paying one. Also,does monthly income formula go over this material and if not is it possible in any way?
Hello Spencer,
This is not only possible, but a very good idea for any membership site you create. We always provide bonuses on member pages that people can use. Often people will join another membership because they found value in the bonus!
Hi Eric, I’m a newby in the sense that my experience of the internet is bying a couple of things of ebay. I am on lesson 30 at present and have not written on the blog until now but I recently clicked on the archive and listened to lesson 32, I then read the blog following the video and read the “Refund” comments and have to say yes I have brought some of the products you mentioned but the problem I have is that their instructions are not very clear to someone like myself, which is why I am very grateful to you not only because I am learning so much but its free. Thanks again
Eric - the lessons and information you post cannot be valued enough! Thanks for making things so clear and also for offering support. Yours is one file I keep returning to for ‘how to’, time and time again.
Hi Eric,
I have been away from your lessons working hard over the summer to learn html and css. I now have my Dad’s website (stock picking) backbone ready all written from scratch with html and css.
I am now getting close to sign up hostgator so that I can load my pages and fine tune the website.
I am now considering whether to start relaunching the site as a membership site right away or shall I start with Aweber first and then add in the membership piece (probably using amember) later when I have a sizable list.
I have a few questions and need your advice: 1. If I use aweber to collect a list and add amember later to start membership on my site, will I have 2 sign in form on the website? Or one can be integrated into the other?
2. If I just use html and css to build my site and host my hostgator, will it work with amember? I read it somewhere that there are requirements for amember that it has to be PHP, mySQL or something.
I like to know beforehand how things work together before I dive into it and want to avoid a lot of tweaking afterwards especially I’m such a newbie. When I have my draft site uploaded to the host, will appreciate your comment.
Thanks again for your advice as always.
Shirley
It’s up to you… you could go in either order. I would probably start with Aweber because list building is priority #1, and it’s easier to start building a list than it is to build a membership site.
to answer your questions…
1) you can integrate it, because there is an aweber plugin for amember. However, you will still probably use more than one form on your site. You’ll want to build a prospect list with Aweber (capture as many people as possible who visit your site), and then you’ll have a separate paid customer list. You can have Aweber automatically remove subscribers from the prospect list when they are added to the customer list. I’ll be covering this in a lesson.
2) Yes HTML and CSS will work just fine with Amember. That’s the thing I like most about Amember… you can protect ANY kind of content. The PHP/MySQL requirement is just for your web sever, and if you’re at Hostgator you’ve got it.
I want to build a membership site and become an affiliate for your products like, Trading Pro System, Monthly Income Formula and more. I also plan to build a site exclusively for them to promote them. Pls guide me on how to do it. Ty
I will be covering affiliate marketing near the end of the lesson series. In the mean time feel free to become an affiliate of those products.
Hi Eric,
Thanks for your great info. I plan to run a membership site.Today I came across Joomla membership site which is free to use on as many domain as I have. The problem is that I have to learn how to install all the free software on Joomla. Do you give training tutorial on this?
Can you give me comparision between using Joomla membership site and Amember pro membership site? Thanks.
I’m not planning on covering Joomla. It’s a good CMS though, and it can be installed with a few clicks through Fantastico in your Cpanel with Hostgator.
There are a lot of resources available at:
http://resources.joomla.org/
http://resources.joomla.org/
http://forum.joomla.org/
However, I will say that Amember is designed for Internet marketers, and it’s probably going to be easier to configure your site with Amember, in terms of integrating the sign up process, payments, membership levels, etc.
Hi Eric,
About the http://www.monthlyincomeformula.com/
The script is only for one domain or can be used for many domain?
Thanks.
You may use it on multiple domains. Thanks
love your tips Eric.
How can I incorporate a membership site with an affiliate site? Could they be the same site and a diffrent page or should they be completely seperate using a link or an autoresponder.
There is so much info I get confused.
Depends what you mean by affiliate site. Are you talking about promoting other people’s stuff as an affiliate? Or you have affiliates promoting your site? Either way, there are ways to tie the two together…
Hi Eric,
I received your request to follow me on twitter, but after accepting your request twice I notice you’re still not following me. I don’t no why. If you send another request I will try again.
Sorry:0
Jack
What’s your twitter name?
Hi Eric,
I’m interested in a Membership site. Can you send me info on how to start this. I have been researching it but don’t know which way to go.I’m interested in a recurring monthly charge.Is Tradingpro your site can you sign up as an affiliate How do i build a site to promote this.Please let me know asap.
Thnx,Brenda
As shown in the video, there are various ways of building a membership site.
you can become an affiliate for TradingProSystem here: click here
There’s many different ways you could build a site to promote it. One of the easiest would be a combination of a wordpress blog and article marketing.
Eric–as always good stuff! Yep, I’m a little disappointed at the cost of the scripts it takes to run a full-fledged membership site. I understand that at the end of the day, it takes money to make money so for now I’ll bookmark the websites you suggest and soldier on through these lessons. They are a great source of inspiration to get that point ‘to take the plunge’. Thanks, Ray.
i puchased your meembership stuff but cant find it now. Can I get it again? I’m very frustrated with my overall web presence and really need some management. Was hoping your e-course could help direct me.
I sen this e-mail yesterday but don’t see it today. Where did it go?
Please open a ticket at the helpdesk and we can get you the download links again: http://www.ericsupport.com
Hi, Eric. I appreciate all of the information you provide and plan on using many of the strategies you teach. But when I found Eric’s Tips, I was actually looking for information on the best way to start and build a profitable Ebay bussiness. Do you have a lesson that covers Ebay. If not, what information can you provide?
I will not be covering it in these lessons, and I actually sold my ebay-related business, so I do not have a product for it any more.
Here are some Ebay resources:
Silent Sales Machine
Tom Barnes
Salehoo Wholesale directory
Thanks for your great efforts for the community, I am watching all your videos like a crazy.
I have already taken an initial step towards online business but still would like to take your suggestion as you are a wizard of online marketing.
I have a plan to prepare a website which will take at least 4-6 months to get ready because of big information database, I just want to consult you once before getting indulge into it.
It would be great if you can provide your email or contact number to make me discuss the same with you.
I know you must be busy with lot of other stuff but I expect 5 minutes of your time to help a newbie, after all we are social animals and shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help when required and to help obviously:)
Regards,
Goldy Arora
India
Thank you very much for this lesson. I am very interested to set up a membership site, and I already have an idea in which niche I am going to do that.
All the best,
Arne
Eric,
Thanks so much for these AWESOME tutorials, the are well worth the time and your efforts are most appreciated. I’ve been a WP junkie for years- it is a great CMS!
Question- let me see if I have this straight. You started an account with Clickbank, signed up to be an affiliate of TradingProSystem, created a sales page (landing page)/ membership site and drove traffic to it? Is this accurate?
Many thanks,
Dave
Thanks. Actually TradingProSystem is my product, rather than something I am an affiliate of. So yes I do send traffic to it, but a good portion of the traffic also comes from affiliates of my product.
Hi Eric,
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer. If this is the case, you mentioned in previous posts the product is a originally from Vallieres. Did you private label/ repackage and/ or get a licensing agreement from him? If so, will this process (licensing) be covered in future tutorials?
Thanks,
Dave
Yes I did a private label deal with him, and did repackage the product.
I do talk a little about PLR in lesson #45. I’m not covering it in depth, but it’s pretty simple.
Whenever I see someone offering PLR rights to a product that I think I can sell, I buy it.
Secondly, I make my own PLR deals. If I see someone selling a product that I wish was my own (and I think I could do a better job selling it than the product owner), then I email them and make them an offer to private label it from them. The cost of the private label deal just depends on what it is. I’ve paid anywhere from $500 to $25,000 to private label products from their owners.
The specific rights of the deal are negotiable, but generally I want to sell the product as if it were my own, under my own brand, with no mention of the original owner.
Hi Eric,
Thank you so much and last question on this topic. Will you be covering how you find PLR’s in a future lesson, if not do you have any suggestions for the novice?
Thanks,
Dave
Basically you can find PLR material for sale easily by doing a google search for it. But keep in mind that a lot of the PLR stuff you may find for sale publically has been widely distributed. So I generally like to look for “limited” sales.
And of course if you can arrange an exclusive PLR deal for a product that has never been offered as PLR before, that ensures that you won’t have competition from other resellers.
I also do a few of my own PLR sales throughout the year, so keep an eye out
Eric,
Thanks for taking the time to produce these videos. They are ever so informative and uplifting - i look forward to them daily! the info is priceless, especially for a newby like me. Keep up the good work and God bless you and yours.
Al (Kent, England)
Hi Eric,
I’m trying to decide which script I should get. It will probably be either the rap script or the memberfire script that comes w/ your member course (or both).
The rapscript has a really powerful way of sending new customers through the funnel, but memberfire has the option to use clickbank as the payment processor… and CB already has the affiliates there to promote.
So, it comes down to:
- The power of rap
- The CB marketplace
…Which do I want more…
Hey Eric:
I am embarrased to say it. I am a jack of all trades and master of none as far as IM is concern. How could someone like me create a membership site and provide contents that members wants to pay? or Do you know where can I find CONTINUOUS CONTENTS to sell in a membership site?
Does your membership course provide good support response like the way you do it here which is fantastic and targeted response.
Lastly, there is sooo many moving parts in IM, what is your secrets in staying ahead of the game all the time Eric? I have always been puzzled by how all the gurus makes themselves stay ahead of others. I study for many many hours but never seem to get close to it. Would appreciate your feedback on this. As always, thank you.
The methods of finding continuous content are really the same methods as finding one-time content which I explain is lesson #45 (make it yourself, get a partner, outsource it, get contributors, etc.)
For example I have a membership site called Daily Market Advantage, and I do not create any of the content for it. I partnered with an expert, who creates the content for it. And he makes a percentage of the profits.
I generally do not provide the type of personal support like I provide here on my blog. The reason is because it’s just not possible. That’s why I have a helpdesk with support staff.
I think it’s best not to focus on keeping up or getting ahead of others. The internet is getting too big to do that… you’ll drive yourself crazy
Instead, just focus on what YOU can do each day. Get a vision, set goals, and work hard each day. At some point, things will most likely gel in your mind, and it will feel more like you’re surfing the wave instead of getting pummelled by it.
Hey Eric:
Thank you for your advice and feedback Eric. Seriously, what is your secrets of becoming so good in what you do? In terms of your IM skills, knowledge as I truly want to be a great IM myself like you with my own niche. Do you have a roadmap you can share?
Lastly, do you know a site where I can search for willing contributors, good sourcing places and partners. Is it taught in your member course?
Thanks.
Seriously- these lessons are my roadmap.
As for finding contributors and partners… if you’re in the internet marketing niche, then I would recommend going to some live seminars to meet people and do networking.
But regardless of what niche you are in, a good place to look is your competitors. They could be good partners and contributors. Also your customers. Since they are interested in the topic, they could become contributors. Online forums focused on a certain niche are also a good way to meet other people with similar interests.
As always, thank you.
11am / feb 04m 2010 (Philippine time)
I am a Filipino. Just can merely afford below $50 to invest at first time.
I need to start now a membership site that makes invests onetime,but less than P$30, then if possible legally and validly makes me earn if i got or not the personal referrals and as much as possible with positive feedbacks and forums and easy to follow steps for me as a starter. I have n not yet joined any one membership site with the fear that there are lots of scams. Hopefully , please don’t give me scam or illegal. I hope it’s transparent and with NO FALSE PROMISES. Thanks -jonsihay