The content that is provided on your membership site can come from a variety of sources. It can be freshly written by you, freshly written by a ghostwriter, rewritten from private label rights products, or it can come from free resources and not be rewritten.

 

You must be careful here, however. Remember that if someone can get something for free, and it is easy to find, they have no reason to pay you for it. Really consider using fresh content that is not available from other sources, if possible.

 

Hiring a ghostwriter is much easier and affordable than one might imagine. Surf over to Rent-A-Coder and place a bid request for ghostwriting services. Be specific about the number and length of articles that you need. State the topic as well. You will be amazed at the bids that you receive. The average cost of an article at a site like this is under $10 per article.

 

Also note that content does not have to be written/printed content. Content comes in a variety of forms. For example, a database is content. Audios and videos are content also. Tools could be considered content. Content can be created and in place for your members – or your members could create the content, as is the case with a subscription based forum.

 

Sit down with a pen and paper – or open up a text document – and start planning the content that is needed for your site. Make a list of the topics that should be covered. For example, for medicinal herb gardening, you might want to include a database of herbs, what those herbs cure or alleviate, and how the herbs are to be used.

 

You might want a database of dangerous herbs that are not to be used. You would of course want to include information for selecting seeds or young plants, preparing the soil, etc. Again, you can go in numerous different directions with just about any topic. Just remember that your site is going to grow over time, so while you do need a good collection of content for your members to start, you don’t have to have the whole ball of wax to open for business.

 

One of the biggest mistakes that Internet Marketers can make is to not ask their future customers or members what they want. The surest way to sell anything is to ask the market what they want, and then to provide that very thing to them.

 

Hopefully, you’ve tested your niche market, and you’ve built an opt-in list in the process. If you have, you can put that list to use, and determine the content of your website in one free shot.

 

Make another freebie that is related to your niche. Set up an opt-in list, and a survey question. Not all autoresponders will allow this, so it may have to be done on two separate pages. If so, put the survey question on one page and the autoresponder opt-in box on the next page. The page after that should offer the download for the free gift.

 

The question you ask is up to you, but you will want to do a little research first to find out what that question can be. Visit forums, and pay special attention to the questions that are being asked, or the problems that people seem to be having concerning this niche, over and over again.

 

You can, of course, ask more than one question. Just remember that people don’t like to give information out. Try to limit it to no more than five questions. Three questions seem to be the most acceptable. Also, make the questions simple yes or no questions, but provide a text box for your visitors to give more details, should they choose to. Multiple choices also work – just include the text box option as well.

 

When you are ready, send an email out to your list and invite them to answer the survey question, in exchange for a free gift. You can also choose to run another Google AdWords campaign to get even more responses.

 

As the survey reports come in, start organizing them and analyzing them. You might be surprised to find that your market doesn’t want what you thought they wanted. In fact, they most likely want something that you didn’t even think about. It happens fairly often – and had you gone with what you thought they wanted, instead of asking, your site probably would not have done very well.

 

With this information from your potential members, you are ready to start creating or acquiring the content that they want. Sometimes this can take less than a day – and sometimes it can take several weeks, depending on the scope of the topic and the content that is needed.

 

The important thing to remember is that the content must be quality content. This is not an article that you are giving away for free. This is information that you are charging for. If the information is top-notch, you will have fewer cancellations and fewer requests for refunds.

 

Again, the idea is to give your members something that they can’t get elsewhere easily. It does take some thought and planning on your part to produce or provide such content.

In today’s niche marketing world, you need a very specific niche for your membership site, in order to enjoy success. As an Internet Marketer, you’ve probably seen dozens of niche membership sites that relate to Internet Marketing. However, other topics also have membership websites.

Obviously, you want to choose a topic that you are passionate about, but you also want to make sure that the niche is profitable. You also want to make sure that the niche is not overly crowded with membership sites – although you really can still make money from crowded niches. It is easier, however, to do it in un-crowded, profitable niches.

 

There are a variety of ways to choose a profitable niche. Again, start by making a list of things that you are passionate about, and go from there. The next step is to go to Google and do a search for the main keywords associated with that topic. Look to see what sponsor ads are running. One thing you can be certain of – if there is money being spent in advertising, this is a strong indication that there is money to be made in that market.

 

Next, look to see how many searches are performed for those keywords each month. This can be done with tools such as Good Keywords or Word Tracker. The number does not need to be in the hundred thousands for the market to be profitable.

 

Also look at print magazines that cover your topic, paying special attention to the advertisements. Again, if money is being spent consistently, there is money to be made. Use the research performed by the mega corporations to your advantage. They don’t spend money where there is no money to be made.

 

Next, work to narrow your niche as far as possible. For example, instead of choosing the gardening niche, choose organic gardening. Instead of organic gardening, choose organic herbs. Instead of organic herbs, choose organic kitchen herbs – or organic medicinal herbs. The more focused you can be within your niche, the more success you will enjoy.

 

Before you go through the trouble and expense of creating a membership site, test your market. This does require money, but it will be money well spent. Visit Click Bank or Commission Junction and choose a good affiliate product for that niche.

 

Create a simple website with a sales letter for that product. Also, set up an opt-in page, and create a free gift to give away. When people visit the opt-in page, and submit their information, they should be taken to the sales page and receive a free gift. After reading the sales page, they should be redirected to the affiliate sales page.

 

After you are set up, go over to Google, to the AdWords program, and set up a campaign for that affiliate product. Activate the campaign, and watch the results. Is money being spent in this market? If not, choose another market – but make sure that your ad and sales page were good enough to pull in sales. If it is, and the sales aren’t happening, it is wise to seek out a different niche – or to target the niche either farther or wider.

 

One thing that many people don’t realize about the Internet Marketing industry is that the successful marketers are constantly testing markets to find those that are profitable. You need to do the same thing before investing time and money into a membership website.

 

If there is more than one profitable niche that you are passionate about, choose one to start with, and put the other one on the back burner for just a little while. You can come back to it after you have the first one up and running. Don’t feel pressured to dive into both niches right from the beginning.

 

For many, this is the hardest part – choosing the niche. The possibilities are endless, and the choices are overwhelming – to say the least. It is easy to get caught up in it, and to spend months trying to make a decision. The only thing you can do is to pick one and get started – after you have done your testing of the markets, of course.

 

Once you’ve chosen the niche that you want to start with, you are ready to move forward. It is wise to learn as much about that particular niche as you possibly can. Remember that you will be establishing yourself as an expert – and as an expert, you need to know as much as possible.

 

The next thing you will be doing is choosing and creating your content. So, once you’ve chosen the niche, take the time to read as much content as you can find concerning your topic. You need to know what is already out there – for free – and what is out there in terms of information that is not free, as well as the price that is being charged for that information.