How a Membership Can Monetize Your Content
Are you looking to grow your business in 2023? A members-only area is a great place to start. It’s an easy way to monetize your content for your superfans — people who are obsessed with your brand — and build community.
A members-only area also provides a more accessible entry point to your larger audience. Most memberships and courses are priced at a lower cost than your premium, done-for-you signature offer. And while it is less expensive, creating an exclusive area on your website allows you to nurture that community who, in turn, is more likely to pay for your premium offer.
3 Reasons to Create a Members-Only Area
Adding paid areas to your website site allows you diversify your business revenue, give back more content to your loyal customers, build a private community and nurture your customers to become warm leads for your more expensive offer. Best of all, it creates recurring revenue for your business!
Monetize Exclusive Content
Member areas are a consistent source of revenue and are becoming more popular. From virtual classes and workshops to newsletters, podcasts, and video series, member areas help you build, harness, and monetize the power of your online community. You can create trainings or packages for your all community members. You can make the area completely free or charge a fee every week, month, or all at once.
2. Build an Engaged Community
Creating a free group on Facebook can definitely nurture leads. But, building a private community is a way to nurture and qualify leads. A members-only area can optimize your audience engagement through virtual events, email updates, shared event calendars and group workshops. For example, a members area allows you to educate, inspire and promote a group meditation workshop, virtual yoga classes, 1:1 life coaching and more.
3. Protect Your Content
As web usage soars, the protection of your content and your customers’ information is imperative. While some platforms allow users to bypass paywalls, a members area ensures a seamless and secure member experience. Social media, although important for marketing, can lead to copyright infringement. Protect your signature framework and premium learning content in a secure area.
Why You Should Launch Your Members Area in 2023
Greater Accessibility
With the United States in a recession, affordable learning opportunities are important for every community. Whether your audience is health coaches, meditation teachers or yoga instructors, online member areas are a valuable alternative to institutional tuition.
Growing Industry
According to the E-Learning Global Market Outlook Report, “The size of the eLearning industry was $176 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $398 billion by 2026. Additionally, the Covid-19 pandemic has further fueled the demand for online learning.”
Furthermore, Statista adds, “During a March 2020 survey, 22 percent of U.S. respondents stated that they had watched more online instructional videos due to social distancing and self-quarantining practices.”
Online learning grew exponentially in 2020 and has a healthy future in 2023 and beyond.
Existing Audience
Your audience is online— all you need to do is promote your member area! Statista found that, “As of March 2020, social media users in the United States were staying online more. According to a survey of U.S. social media users, 29.7 percent of respondents were using social media 1-2 hours additional hours per day.”
Want to build your membership on Squarespace Member Areas?
Member Areas are great for you if you have a Squarespace website and want to protect or monetize your content while allowing certain people to have access. Each person gets their own login to your site.
You can also host a simple course on Member Areas.
In summary, Member Areas can be a great way to get started with online courses or to build your community.
