Membership sites and newsletters, both online and offline are becoming more and more popular both for customers and for marketers. Customers like them because they can consume information in bite-size chunks over time AND they have access to current content, not information that’s been sitting on the shelves for months, and sometimes even years.
Marketers like continuity because of the residual income. It’s nice to know that you can count on $X.XX per month as long as you continue to build your subscriber base. For instance, if you have a $47.00/month newsletter and you want to create an income of $47,000, you know that you need to get 1000 members — and keep them! So naturally, every marketer needs some sort of newsletter site or membership site.
But, what most people don’t realize is that there are dozens of other ways to make even MORE money than with the subscription itself. In fact, if you’re not doing at least 1-2 additional things for/with your subscribers each month, you are literally leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars — if not MILLIONS — on the table.
While people are willing to pay for a subscription, they are also more likely to spend money on additional products or services that compliment or enhance the subscription. Here are 5 quick strategies that you can use to generate more money with your current subscribers (and all future subscribers)
- Ride-along offers. Include something “extra” that might be of interest to your subscribers each month. This may consist of a “sneak peek” of one of your own products, a recommendation to one of your affiliate products, etc. In the offline world, we typically send along a flyer that’s printed on bright-colored paper. online, consider a popup window that they see when they log into the site throughout the month.
- Coupons. Coupons are EXTREMELY effective right now. Include a coupon in your mailer or send a special “Members only” coupon to your members. Make it time sensitive and actually set it up like a coupon where they have to ‘redeem’ it rather than just go to a separate link. The perception is that it must be special if they have to enter in a “unique” code.
- Advanced pay access. This is an opportunity for your customers to save money by agreeing to pay for a full year of access up front. For instance, if your membership is $99/month, you may of- fer 1 year at $999.00. Even though you are only collecting 10 months worth the money and delivering 12 months of service or content, since most members will stay between 3 and 8 months depending on your niche, service, quality, price, offer, etc. you’ll virtually always wind up ahead of the curve.
- UpSell into coaching. If you happen to offer a coaching service to your clients, always include a section of your newsletter or your membership site – that is clearly visible when they sign in – that is dedicated to your advanced access. This could be snippets of content, a chart, etc. But always let your subscribers know what the “next logical step” is and how to take it. Your subscribers will be happy and you will make more money.
- Advertising & Sponsorship. If your membership base is large enough, you can get other companies to pay to advertise or to sponsor a month of the subscription. Depending on the size of your subscriber base and the industry, you can generate anywhere from a few hundred extra dollars to tens of thousands of dollars by offering advertising spots and/or sponsorship.
The key is to be creative in finding ways to give your customers more of what they already want. Your subscribers have already raised their hands to show they are interested in your product or service or niche. This means they are most likely interested in other items that relate. So by thinking strategically, it’s possible to make 2X, 3X, even 10X the amount you earn on your subscriptions on additional revenue opportunities.
