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information contained in this guide is strictly for educational purposes. Therefore,
if you wish to apply ideas contained in this guide, you are taking full responsibility
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Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 34
Resources ......................................................................................................................... 35
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Introduction
Also included with this course is our ‘Foundations’ module, a complete WordPress 101
video tutorial series that covers just about every aspect of setting up WordPress on your
domain.
We have also included our Moguls Worksheet and Checklist. Be sure to download those
now and use them as you work through the evergreen model you are about to digest.
If at any time you have questions or require assistance, simply send us an email to
support@membershipsitemoguls.com so we can help you out.
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1. Pick An Evergreen Niche
Because one of the best (and easiest) ways to generate money online is focusing on a
niche that has a long term life cycle.
1. Making Money
2. Health & Fitness
3. Relationships
4. Hobbies
Targeting any one of those markets at that level is quite frankly… a bad idea.
Why?
It’s just too big of a market. Making money online involves providing a specific solution
to a specific problem.
When someone says he makes money, not many people listen, but when someone says
he makes money selling antique PEZ candy containers, those interested in PEZ candy
containers stand up and listen.
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Let me give you an example…
Simply because one is too broad and untargeted - this makes it a difficult niche to
compete in. The other is more targeted and offer people a solution to a specific
problem or need.
Picking a good niche can be a challenge. It’s great to go where the money is, but if you
have no interest in that topic then it can get dull pretty fast.
Ideally it should be a niche that you are passionate about AND one that you can make
money in.
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Of course I had neither of those. So the end result was a
membership site that I still maintained but didn’t make any
money at.
That’s why it’s smart to pick an evergreen niche… one that will allow you to make
money over the long term with little ongoing effort on your part.
What I want you to focus on is setting up niche businesses that basically run on
autopilot. Niche products that you don’t have to update regularly and that you don’t
have to possess any special knowledge … you just know the topic is popular and can be
profitable to you.
Once you have selected a niche, then final step is to target a ‘demographic’ within that
niche. Demographics may be men, women, senior citizens, Mormons’, etc.
The perfect demographic to target for just about any niche is “beginners”. The
advantages to choosing beginners are;
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• It’s easier to position yourself as an expert in your niche
• It’s easier to satisfy beginners (since they are just getting started)
• You can move them through different levels of training from the beginning
(present them with a variety of offers)
Now let’s pull this together so you can see the big picture and apply it to your own
business. Here are some ideas... you can fill in the blanks.
I’ve prepared this short video for you. It’s actually an excerpt from one of my
Membership Site Moguls Platinum coaching program webinars.
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2. Set Up Your Membership Site
Probably the biggest mistake people make when getting started with their first
membership site is they over think it.
They unintentionally try to make it more complicated than it really has to be.
Membership site software is no exception. Way too many bells and whistles make these
membership site plugins heavy, complicated and require a lot of time to learn how to
use.
Listen, membership sites will always be the EASIEST way to make money online.
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In other words, allow a visitor to purchase access to protected content without any
manual effort on your part.
I’m going to give you the mechanics of a membership site in 3 easy steps.
At this point you should already have WordPress installed on your domain (if you don’t
then go back and watch the WordPress 101 tutorials in the members area).
When I was a freelance membership site developer, I helped countless clients setup
their sites. I’m still surprised at the number of people that don’t invest in a good quality
theme wit custom graphics/branding.
First impression is extremely important. You need to make your site pop for visitors.
Personally I use the StudioPress themes for almost all of my sites. This allows me to be
consistent in theme setup and easily make changes when I get tired of the look and feel
of the site. Whichever theme you select, make sure they offer good customer support
and have great backend functionality (like being able to change the layout, header,
background, color, etc).
At a minimum invest in a good logo for your site. You can find competent designers on
fivrr.com or on the Warrior Forum. I’ve included a couple of references in the resources
section for designers that I have used in the past with good success.
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Step 2: Create Your Sales Funnel
Collecting Leads
There are a number of ways to capture emails using a opt-in form .One of the more
common methods us using a squeeze page. A squeeze page is a web page that has as its
only function the opting in of subscribers. There are no other links, no other advertising,
and no alternatives other than opting into your list.
Another method is an exit popup. This can be effective to in capturing leads when
visitors attempt to leave your site.
Yet another method is an opt-in form embedded into a sidebar or even directly on your
sales page.
Ultimately the method you choose to use should be appropriate for your niche market.
I recommend you research what your competition is doing, and split test various
methods until you find something that converts well on your site (more on split testing
coming up).
In exchange for opting in you offer some type of a free gift which as relevance to the
niche in which you are targeting.
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The basic idea with an opt-in form is that it allows you to leverage your traffic and
introduce them to your sales funnel. Now you can communicate with them through
your autoresponder and sell them on becoming a member on your site.
Your sales page should function similar to a squeeze page… it has one purpose.
While it’s not absolutely necessary, it can be advantageous to have your offer displayed
on a clean sales letter type page. Of course that can’t easily be done with just any
theme (some of the better themes now come with a landing page template).
So I’ve included a sales page plugin that will allow you to create a sales letter template
page for your sales copy (you can download it here).
If you decide that you want your sales page to be consistent with your existing theme,
then make sure you use a full width page with no sidebar, and minimize the use of any
external links on the page. The objective is to get them to invest in a membership so
minimize any distractions and possible exit points.
• Powerful headline
• Testimonials (social proof)
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• Clean & professional appearance
• Problem and solution
• Features & benefits
• Statement of guarantee
You can’t offer premium content without some means to protect it. There are
numerous plugins on the market (both free and paid) that will allow you to do this.
But I can tell you that our free version of MemberSonic is super easy to use.
MemberSonic ‘Lite’ will allow you to setup your membership site and sell your
products/courses using PayPal (Click here to upgrade to our ‘Pro’ version) on autopilot.
Once you watch the video in the members area for step 3, what you will do at this point
is simply create the content ‘placeholders’ – the pages/posts where your content will
reside (we will create content in the next session).
So let’s say you create a 5 part course for “Board Game Creators” on “how to make a
travel version of your board game”. Your placeholders may be 5 pages – one for each
lesson of your course.
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In addition to the content placeholders, you will also need the following WordPress
pages;
• Login – where members can login to the site (a front end login page)
• Members Only – redirect page for non members (required for the membership
site plugin)
• Dashboard - landing page after logging in (main hub to access content).
• Squeeze Page – the starting point of your funnel and lead generation tool
• Sales Page – the purchase point of your funnel for members
• Blog (optional) – primarily for SEO and organic traffic generation
Note: If you decide to use an alternative membership site plugin, then follow through
with their instructions and create the placeholder pages/posts for your content so you
can proceed to the next step.
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3. Create Content (Products) For Your Site
We’ve got our killer niche, and our site is ready for content.
I’m going to give you three ways that you can create premium content for your
membership site. There are a few others, but these are the most common and easiest
ways to get the job done.
Perhaps one of the fastest ways to create content for your niche membership site is to
use Private Label Rights (PLR) products. These types of ebooks and video content can be
sourced relatively easily and are surprisingly inexpensive.
A good source for PLR content is http://www.tradebit.com. They have a large selection
of content at dirt cheap prices. However a word of caution – sometimes you get what
you paid for. There are people that purchase products with resell rights and list it as
PLR. In these cases you may not receive the source documents so modifying the
content may be difficult. Make sure you spend some time researching the site before
you pull the trigger on a purchase.
What I like to do is pull useful content from various sources and fit it together to meet
my needs. Never take PLR content and use it unedited. Always add your own personal
style – reword/rework the content to match your writing style and the objective of your
product benefits.
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Note: Included in the resources area are a set of done for you blogs that can form a
great starting point for your membership site. If you haven’t yet selected a niche you
can jump start your site by using one of these blogs.
Of course, depending on what niche market you selected, you may not be able to find
related PLR content. If this is the case, then you need to create your own membership
site content or have it outsourced and created for you.
Creating content is not as hard as one may think. There is a logical thinking process to
creating content.
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1. Identify the problem you wish to solve.
2. Identify the solution to the problem.
3. Map out how your customer will get from point A (problem) to point B (the
solution) in 4 to 6 steps.
4. For each step, identify what the customer must do in order to move one step
closer to the solution.
5. Now each one of these steps becomes a lesson, or module. Frame each
lesson/module in a series of 4 to 6 sub-steps. Now start filling in these sub-
steps with some meat – 3 to 5 paragraphs for each sub-step.
6. Optional – now take this content and turn it into a video. Pull the main points
from the content (one slide for each step, with 4-6 sub-steps as bullet points).
While this can be the most time consuming, it’s the best way to teach and communicate
your message to your niche market.
When it comes to niche marketing, you may have selected a profitable evergreen niche
that you have zero knowledge on the subject matter. In a case like this, it may be best
to hire a ghostwriter.
If you have never outsourced before, then don’t fret… finding a competent ghostwriter
for your membership site content is actually quite easy. The key to doing it successfully
lies in your preparation.
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Here are the five steps I follow when outsourcing content creation;
1. Create your product outline. This step is crucial to getting a good end product
back from a ghostwriter. Never leave anything open to interpretation. Your
outline should start with the problem and end with the solution. Identify the
number of steps that should be covered and what those steps are. I suggest you
follow the structure I explained in “Self Made Content” to generate these steps,
and have your ghostwriter craft the ‘meat’ for each step.
4. Shortlist the candidates and select a ghostwriter. Once you have received
proposals on your project listing you can shortlist candidates based on relevant
experience, testimonials, and of course… price.
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5. Polish the final product. Once you receive the finished product from your
ghostwriter and you are satisfied that they captured the essence of the project
requirements, you will need to then add your own style to the content. Often
times you will find ‘fluff’ that adds no real value to the content. Removing this
content will mean you need to rework the connecting points to make the product
flow properly. It’s also a good idea to inject some “I’s” and personal experience
into your content.
I’ve given you three methods to creating content. Now it’s time for you to take some
action and get it created… then load it into the placeholders you created in Step 2.
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4. Drive Traffic
I’m going to give you 3 of the most successful traffic techniques that I personally use to
promote my membership sites.
1. Affiliates
Probably one of the best ways to leverage someone else’s traffic is through an affiliate
program. While there are many platforms available to choose from, ClickBank is one of
the most well known platforms and is perfect for promoting an evergreen niche
membership site.
One advantage of ClickBank is that it is easy for affiliates to find your offer and promote
almost instantly. The disadvantage is that you don’t always get quality affiliates
promoting your offer.
The trick is to actively seek out good affiliates, but there is a right way to do it and a
wrong way to do it.
John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying “Don't ask what your country can do for you, but
what you can do for your country”.
In other words…
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If they have a newsletter, become a subscriber so you can
better understand this marketer.
If building a relationship first isn’t possible, then at least make yourself visible in the
niche before approaching potential affiliates.
Seasoned affiliates always have their eyes on the products and marketers in their niche
– if you make a big “splash” in the niche, they’ll notice.
• Proof
• Numbers
• Tools
“Super” affiliates don’t even have time to work with all their friends and acquaintances.
That means that if you want this person to promote your products, you not only need to
make him a good offer, you need to prove that you have a good offer.
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The first bit of proof you should give a potential affiliate is access to your membership
site.
Don’t even question this one. Just offer free and unlimited access. A good affiliate won’t
promote something he hasn’t seen. And the top affiliates generally don’t need to pay
out of pocket to get a copy of the product.
If you’re asking the person to help you with a launch then make sure the product gets
into his hands in plenty of time, along with a solid group of tools that will equip them to
properly promote your membership site. These tools typically include;
• Email swipes
• Banner images
• Free reports (with their embedded affiliate link – click here for a tool for that)
Tip: Make sure you use “recurring billing,” “membership site,” “passive
income” or similar in your affiliate program description. Smart affiliates will
search these terms because they know the power of recurring commissions
from membership sites.
2. Solo Ads
Solo Ads are a great way to get an immediate traffic hit to your membership site. There
are some key differences between the use of Affiliates and Solo Ad providers;
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Affiliates Solo Ad Providers
• Will drive unlimited traffic • Will send X clicks for a set fee
• Typically want to send to a paid offer • Typically want to send to a free offer
• Expect at least 50% commission • Make no commission
• Ongoing relationship • One time service
I like to use safe-swaps.com to find quality solo ad providers. Generally this is the way a
solo ad placement works;
• The solo ad provider charges a fee for x number of guaranteed clicks (ie. $40 for
100 clicks). That means they will guarantee that at least x number of people from
their list will land on your offer page.
• You pay that fee upfront.
• You provide the email swipe (make sure it aligns with your squeeze page)
• Good solo ad providers will track these clicks and send you the statistics when
complete.
• The best results will come when you drive then to a squeeze page with a free
offer.
The goal of using solo ads is to introduce visitors to your sales funnel and get them on
your list. So you need to have a solid squeeze page with a good free offer that is
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directly related to your evergreen niche. There must also be synergy between the
email swipe, squeeze page, the offer, and the niche.
I recommend you use a split testing plugin like Max A/B (free) to monitor your traffic
and test different squeeze pages until you get the highest converting offer possible.
3. Facebook
400+ million users all gathered in one place. And best of all, they are generally organized
according to their interests… in other words by niche.
How do you tap into this pool of prospects for maximum profits?
Here are the steps you can follow to accomplish this (this works like gangbusters)…
Step 2 - Create an opt-in page on your membership site (offering a free membership
providing access to free niche content).
Step 3 – Create an autoresponder sequence with free niche content. Close each
email with hints of what they will learn by joining your membership site.
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Step 5 - Place a targeted FaceBook ad to drive traffic to your fan page for a ‘like’.
Step 6 - Make regular (2-3 times per day) posts to your fan page.
Step 7 - Use ‘cute’ images in your posts prefaced by an optin link. It will look
something like this…
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Here’s what happens…
Once you have a couple hundred likes to your fan page, this thing will take off.
People will start sharing your posts, and every post that has the optin link at the top
of the image gets shared with their friends. This drives them to your membership
site when they opt-in and get on your ‘lead’ mailing list. From there you provide
value added content, and promote your membership site.
So this strategy drives up your Facebook Fans, and drives those fans to opt-in to your
mailing list… getting them into your sales funnel!
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5. Make The Sale
Now for the exciting part… actually making a sale and seeing the money hit your PayPal
account!
The coolest part of a membership site is that once it is setup, the delivery process is
pretty much automated. However, it’s still important that you watch the site for the
first few days to make sure the transactions are being completed and the member is
being added to your site. In this way you can make sure the system is working properly
and head off any potential issues with customers/members.
One way to minimize customer support is to provide clear instructions on what your
members need to do if they encounter problems with billing or accessing the content.
There are a number of things you can do;
• Provide them with a link to your support desk or your support email address. A
simple contact form can suffice (I used this free plugin for 2 years before setting
up my first help desk software).
• Create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page for visitors.
• Have a clean member’s dashboard page with a welcome message and links to all
of the content they have access to.
• Create a tutorials page that explains such things as; how to download content,
how to unzip files, how best to view videos, what to do if…, etc.
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The initial contact with your members can go a long way to retaining members. It’s
imperative to your long term success that you demonstrate that you provide prompt
support to your customers.
Managing the backdoor of your site is just as important. The objective of every
membership site should be to keep members paying as long as possible. The reality is
however, that members will eventually cancel their membership.
But you would be surprised at the number of times that members have no idea that it
happened!
Just a few months ago I launched a high end coaching program. I had several of my
subscribers inquire about a payment plan option, so of course I obliged and set it up for
them. About ¾ of the way through the course I received a notification from PayPal that
the payments were suspended – probably due to lack of funds in the account.
So I sent out an email to them and they asked to rejoin because they didn’t want to
leave the course, and didn’t notice the PayPal email regarding the subscription
cancellation!
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6. Add More Products
The easiest way you'll ever make more money online is with up-sells and cross-sells.
Getting leads and new buyers is great, but they usually cost time or money... instead, in
step 6 we focus on getting buyers to buy AGAIN.... and more often.
Now you have your first product created and ready for selling to a steady stream of
targeted traffic to your evergreen niche site.
Let’s say your niche site is targeted at “Interior design for homeowners”, and you are
offering a 7 part course on “How to select colors to match your décor”. How can you
add another product/course to your current offering?
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Example: One way to upsell to the interior design for
homeowners niche would be to create a “Color Certification”
course, where you hold a series of live webinars and at the
end of the course they receive a certificate of completion
from you.
Take a moment to consider my plugin business. I don't sell ONE WordPress plugin.
Instead, I have many RELATED products on the market. Most of my customers buy
several of them in time. A large number of my customers have bought them all.
I create related plugins that will be of interest to my existing customers. And I create
courses that I upsell to my customers.
The key to success in any business is to establish and grow a customer base that
continues to make additional purchases from you.
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7. Scale To Another Niche And Repeat
In the first six steps we covered everything you need to do in order to create a
membership site that is ready to generate passive income.
Now in final step I’ll show you how to leverage your newfound knowledge and scale
your membership site business.
Having one membership site under your belt makes launching a new one MUCH easier
for two reasons;
1. Niche Selection
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Example: I recently launched a membership site where I show Chiropractors how to
service more clients with existing resources by eliminating the waste in the process.
How could I tap into a new niche market and leverage the existing content for the
Chiropractic “demographic”?
I could create…
2. Setup Time
Another advantage of already having a built membership site is that you can clone the
site to a new domain. This can save you some time in the setup process.
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There are several tools on the market that allow you to clone WordPress sites (I think I
own just about all of them). Some work better than others. Some cost a lot more than
others too!
The good news for those of you on a budget is that there are a couple of free plugins
available that will allow you to clone your sites.
• Duplicator Plugin
• WP Clone Plugin
Once you have cloned your site to a new domain, you just need to change the logo,
membership name, protected content, and your sales funnel content.
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Conclusion
Now is the time to take massive action and make it happen. 95% of online businesses
fail because they never finish what they started.
My goal is to see that you are in the 5% that finish… and finish strong.
I’ve created a special private FaceBook group for our MemberSonic tribe. This group is
for you to learn about membership sites, collaborate with fellow Moguls and ultimately
help you make more money with your membership site business.
Make sure you sign up. I’ll approve you within a few hours.
And don’t be concerned about being flooded with offers from me inside the group.
That’s not what it is intended for.
This is my way of helping to hold you accountable to getting your site up and running.
You see, when you succeed then I succeed. It’s a win/win for both of us.
Now take some action and get started with your site.
Best of Success,
Andrew Hunter
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Resources
The following is a list of membership site related tools and training that I highly
recommend for your business. If you decide to purchase any of these items and have
questions on intended use, just drop me an email at support@pluginresults.com and I
will help you out.
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