Hi! I've decided to make a membership site and build a list. I've joined some lists myself on list building recently and from what I've read many use their real names (some fake)and waffle on about previous experience in industry having degrees or at least experience in the field through offline/online work. I'm considering building an optin list with a membership site and a blog in a particular market. I've worked in the industry as a casual and attained almost a diploma. I've got tonnes of reference books as well as my own work to draw inspiration from for content. It would be easier for me to create content in this area than say dog training. Part of the market is business. Problem is i've never actually started a business. And the content would be highly technical.(not just 7 ways to do 'x'..but like nitty gritty stuff) There are already sites with huge amounts of content..although most is american based..which means i could just specifically build to the australian market. I've done keyword research..created several spreadsheets with huge lists of keywords gathered from google keyword tool,the looked at competitor numbers. It would be a hard market to break into. (except i have a couple ideas up my sleeve not yet done) Here's a few questions- my budget is $50 for hosting and domains. Should i just take the plunge and stick with the topic i know,and try and create a unique membership site and hope i can make the money? (I do want to try and create an e-course site ) I want to build trust with members in this future list-is it required to provide details about my own credentials to customers? Even if i was to start a blog..my about me page would seem pretty lame.. Do you who have optin lists,do you make up credentials in order to sell your products? From one list i'm on,the guy doesnt have a blog. to access anything requires signing an optin form. Another keeps a visio chart of all products and upsells for his list and he has a blog. Should i build a blog around the simpler stuff (like really dumb down the content) and the membership site more of the nitty gritty? Or a blog/optin and just use the optin list to sell separate information products? I"m a bit confused as to how to approach this. I apologise if this post doesnt make sense. it's almost 1.30am and the darn fish tank filter is making the most irritating noise. I'm going to stop here before i start repeating myself lol. Thankyou. Arcanus
You have to run both the blog and the optin. The optin is where you will provide them you services and the blog will be the place where you can display your credentials and a gist of you tactics. Link both of them and get traffic to both of them.. Take a cue from Yaro Starak of http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/ he is blogging expert and runs both a blog and a course called blog mastermind. You must have appropriate credentials in order to get members. You have to show them proof that you are an expert in what you are going to teach.
Thank you. So basically if i have a mix of pillar content with news,create separate courses and ebooks/paperback products and upsell through the optin..makes sense. And i would do this through the pillar content on the blog,is that right?
absolutely. but only content is not enought. If you are an expert in SEO then you have to show how took a website to the top page of google. If you are a PPC expert then you will have to show how you made profit from it. This will not only supplement your optin but also give you adeqaute hands-on knowledge of the field.
Hey mates. stop with the bul**it! Nobod's gonna ask him for his diploma and resume just to subscribe to he's list. @Arcanus just do it! start the list, the blog. Don't be afraid - all those questions are stopping you. You know the ins and outs of the industry, you can produce a decen content - than what are you waiting for. build your business now. Try to be as much open as possible. Tell he people exactly what your credentials are, don't try to be someone you're not. The people will like you for your open an honest behavior. p.s:and btw - $50 are probably not enough tostart, cuz you need atleast a godaddy domain($10 a year), hostgator hosting ($10 a month) and Aweber subscription($20 a month). Consider investing a little bit more in your business at the beginning. It will save you a lot later.
He wants to build a membershp site where the users will be charged to get his guidance. So i think its better to have credentials. If its just a free newsletter then you are right. Anything that is not free requires you to have proof. cos nobody will pay you in case you have no proof to show.
There is a difference between credentials and experience. Darren Rowse don't have a blogging diploma, but many people are paying him, cuz he have experience.
He has a very huge reputation and he didnt start blogging to get people enroll in his membership site. He started his membership site when he became renowned. The mere fact of being a problogger is a credential in itself. but if you want to build a membership from the very beginning then credentials are must. Not degrees or diplomas. But real examples of how you made money.
Thanks for the positive comments. (btw the topics i'm looking to focus on are retail management ) In light of the comments ,it makes sense for me to build a blog and a list to establish myself and build e-courses or/and membership site to accompany it down the track. I'm not sure whether to focus on startups or existing business persons as the target audience. In my position i need a niche thats profitable and for me its hard to tell if it would be. Especially in the current economic climate. btw,i'm a chick not a bloke hahaha..
Should i just take the plunge and stick with the topic i know,and try and create a unique membership site and hope i can make the money? Yes actually it best if you can only start with only the topic you interested in. I want to build trust with members in this future list-is it required to provide details about my own credentials to customers? The information is not mandatory.But you can give them a brief background of your specialty field and related education level you have Should i build a blog around the simpler stuff (like really dumb down the content) and the membership site more of the nitty gritty? Or a blog/optin and just use the optin list to sell separate information products? You should use a professional script coz it will make your customer feel safe when buying anything from the list you have to offer.
makes sense. I guess if i generalise my expertise and explain i worked in the industry and studied.. i was planning to. I'll most likely use aweber and i'll be designing the site layout and coding up myself for membership/ecourse sites and use paypal with payloadz or ejunkie or something. I want to give the best possible image.layout will be clean. After all impressions of professionalism occur within 30 sec. I've got no income from anywhere,I'm broke. So I need to get this right from start. (I'm currently designing/coding wp themes to get some income coming in) thanks