How to Map Out Your Membership Site

Creating a successful membership site begins with mapping out your website. There’s no question that there’s a huge market for membership sites. That’s great! Since this means you have the potential for generating recurring income. But now what’s next?

The most important step to start with is to map out your membership site – what your product will look like, what your site will look like, etc. When you have a clear vision right from the start and you know what benefits and features your membership site will offer, you will focus on these things rather than spending time on things that are irrelevant. Ultimately, in the end you will create a membership site that is targeted to your audience and offers the maximum benefit. 

Use a mindmap tool like Mindnode or Mindmeister. Break your site into four separate sections.

#1 Content – Determine what the goal of your membership site is going to be. Then decide how you plan to achieve your goal. If there are other membership sites that are similar to what you are planning, you need to determine how your site is going to stand apart from these other. You should also think about what you can do to improve over what other similar sites have already done. Think about the key features your membership site should include. 

#2 Pre Launch – You need to determine what will interest the people that find your membership site. Think about how you are going to generate a buzz to create interest and then decide how early you want to start the process of launching before your site goes live. 

#3 Site Launch – You need to decide when you are going to launch your membership site. Determine the date that will be. Figure out what your affiliate strategy is going to look like. Then think about how you are going to get the most people to write about your membership site and how you can get others to promote your site. Figure out what your marketing strategy is going to be. This needs to be so good that you can actually convince people to crawl out of bed at 4 am, so that they can be one of the first people to have access to your site. 

#4 Continuity – You need to be able to continually drive sales so that you build a recurring income. You have to figure out how you are going to do this. How are you going to get the initial users to keep returning. This needs to be a win-win for your members, your affiliates, and you.

The time you spend creating a mind map of where you are going with your project, is time well spent. You will reap the benefits with a site that’s successful.
