When I finished writing the Twitter content, I contacted several big bloggers to see what their thoughts on a Twitter product are. One of the comments was something like this:
Why not release a PDF report for free as a pre-sell to something bigger? Like a membership site that costs $30 per month?
Value in membership sites?
I did give it some thoughts, but decided to go for an e-book format instead. A membership site might be a good source of revenue, but is anyone thinking of the customer? Is anyone thinking long-term?
For me membership sites seem like watered down, prolonged effort to try and keep you paying as long as possible. Many bloggers have recently neglected e-books and other formats because everyone wants to sell membership sites which have potential to make money month after month compared to the one-time revenue of an e-book.
Cut the fluff
I am not saying that membership sites cannot be done well, but most of them seem to be just another method of trying to get rich quick by putting the least possible amount of effort into it while milking as much money as possible from the customer.
Most of paid products about Twitter are filled with needless filler. Instead of writing a lot of filler material, my upcoming Twitter e-book is highly structured and organized in a fluff-free manner. It is a short book of 55 pages and 11,300 words. The shorter the book, the less the bullshit. I have tried to remove all the fluff and have omitted all the needless words.
Earning income but providing value for money
I’ve been giving away 100% of my content for free. 110 articles with some 500+ words on average each, over the last seven months. The primary goal of my blog was to spread ideas, build a readership and help bloggers succeed.
Most people understand it’s reasonable for a blogger to earn income from the blog they are writing. I believe in providing value and giving people a reason to subscribe and to read my articles. The same goes for my upcoming Twitter product. I do not believe in watering down the content, increasing the number of words by including lots of unimportant descriptions, just to be able to charge you a minimum of $30 per month for at least 3 months.
What’s an e-book good for?
People are busy. Time is money. People don’t have the time or the patience to find and organize all the free information on the Internet. Discovering and structuring all the free information into a consistent format that you can learn from is very hard work. This is where an ebook comes into play.
Instead of surfing around looking for bits of information on the different blogs, people can save a lot of time by getting it all in one place – in an ebook. A simple ebook, in a consistent format, with tips in a logical order is a very valuable product, that is very convenient and can save a lot of time for anyone new to the topic.
How do you know what to create a product about?
This was the second article in the series of how to monetize your blog by creating your own product articles. First article looked at why selling your own product might be the right option for you. Next article in this series will focus on how you can find the topic for your paid product. Keep an eye out for that and for my soon-to-be-released Twitter marketing e-book!
Image by Jenny Downing.
Join thousands of bloggers and get all my blogging tips for FREE! Subscribe to HowToMakeMyBlog via RSS or via e-mail.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I think there is value in the membership site model, but the only ones we seem to hear about as bloggers are those related to the internet business and related industries.
In the end, you really need to pick the correct tool for the job. If it makes sense to deliver the content via an ebook, go for it. Likewise, if it makes sense to email it as a course, or create a membership site, go for it.
A membership site is basically like a big club. It would make sense to apply this same model in industries that already utilise this model in their core business. Such as fitness, weight loss (jenny craig, weight watchers, etc.), investment (shares, property.. it’s the same as investment groups really), and so on.
For your content on Twitter Marketing, I totally agree with you, and think you’ve picked the ideal format to deliver it. Good luck with it!
@Josh @Tumblemoose – Definitely. Membership sites can work but you should definitely think about the content and customer first and not just go for membership site because it has the potential to get you the highest income.
@Mike McEvoy – Thanks! Yes, there will be an affiliate program. More on that will follow shortly.
Hey Marko,
Great article on this fork in the road. I got Yaro’s newest stuff on membership sites and he really does a nice job of laying it all out there.
For me, the issue is valuable content – I don’t think I have enough to make it valuable to folks.
So, I’m e-booking it and thus far I’m happy with the decision.
George
Marko,
I think you are on the right track in choosing the eBook model. While there is a lot of junk content on the web, there is also a lot of high quality free content. Your site is a good example of this high quality content.
However if you told me that starting next Monday I would have to pay $30 a month for access to your site I would be very hesitant to join. Nothing personal, but I’d rather have the choice of buying or not buying your eBook instead of paying a flat monthly rate for access to your site. With so many quality people writing about blogging, bloggers, themes, WordPress, social media etc. I think that is a hard sell to identify one blog as so compelling that I would pay for it versus getting my content from other free sites.
If it is a matter of dollars and cents I would prefer to see you generate revenue via ads or eBooks rather than a membership fee. Speaking from personal experience I don’t have enough time in my day to check all the RSS feeds and article that I want to read. With my time spread so thin it is hard to picture a scenario where I’m going to start paying for access to blogs which I may or may not even have time to read.
Another thought: if your content is displayed on a “member’s only” site it seems like people wouldn’t be able to Tweet or Stumble your content. Perhaps I’m not familiar enough about the specifics of this model. Also how do you get new members to sign up unless they can see the value of all your “members only” content before they buy? Sounds rather complex to manage.
Regarding your eBook, once published would you then allow affiliates to resell your eBook?
Just my two cents on the monetization issues. I’m wrestling with some of the same choices. Hope this helps. Best of luck with the eBook. If you need any help proofreading or want any pre-publishing feedback let me know.
–Mike McEvoy
Hi Marco
I have just found your site and reading your valuable content with enthusiasm as I am about to launch a blog site in the next month and have just bought the Thesis theme and got my hosting partner sorted. All that is holding me back is 1. being technically challenged on getting thesis from a zipped file to my hosting control panel and all that goes with it as I am not in any way technically literate – if you have any contact here in Ireland please let me know as I could do with the help. 2. trepidation, as this blog site will become my business site and I want it to work – now I am feeling more confident in having found your site where you very kindly have provided insight to help newbies like me to the world of blogging.
Really looking forward to the Twitter e-book and will be happy to pay the purchase one off cost for valuable information in one concise read.
Good luck
Sharon
@Sharon Hearty – Welcome to the Thesis world. As @Tony Frost said, there should be some tutorials on it at Thesis site. It is a pretty simple process.
@Adam Pieniazek – I agree. In membership sites you can include video / audio lessons where you can basically walk the customer through the process of setting something up / doing something.
@Sharon Hearty
Re the webiste; someone over at the Thesis forum should be able to give you instructions on installation.
There’s certainly value in both, they’re different products and should be looked at differently with different target markets involved. The membership sites might be more suited for customers who need a bit more hand holding while e-books are great for people who want to quickly ingest information and apply it themselves.
Definitely go for e-book format. In a membership site, you have to spend a lot of time interacting with members. I’m not saying you don’t interact with readers on your blog, but you’ll have to do it more frequently.
If it is $30 per month, people expect to get their money worth. If it takes you awhile to reply to members, they might get upset. Also, worst case scenario is what happens if you end up going to hospital for a month or two. In that case, now you are really pissing people off.
Definitely the e-book. After you publish it, you can go party and relax for a bit. In a membership site, you have to deal with good members and bad members. Bad members are obnoxious, but you have to deal with them because they are paying $30 per month. That is a lot of headache if you ask me.
@Kai Lo – Great point! Providing customer support to all the members could be a very demanding job.
@Mandy – Yeah, it is an interesting trend. Many bloggers will “buy” the earn money with membership sites dream, but I doubt many will succeed. It all comes down to your product and the effort you put into it. Nothing is easy, no matter how it may seem.
I think it can be very easy to jump on the band wagon and start a membership site, all the hype about earning $10,000 per month or more will definitely lure people in (after all we’re only human). But if the target market that it’s aimed at is wrong or if they’re full of fluff, in 6 months they’ll come crashing down because people won’t stay, they’ll ask for refunds!
It’ll be interesting to follow this new trend and see what happens? I’m glad to see you’re looking beyond this and thinking about your readers and not your wallet. Yes there is a place for membership sites but there is also a place for well written step by step ebooks. Good luck with yours I’m looking forward to it!
I really appreciate you writing on this topic. With several “gurus” offering product launches this week and next surrounding this very topic (membership sites, product launches, and info products) one can get a bit overwhelm on which path to choose. But as you mentioned it should be about the customer with long-term benefits for you and the customer (win-win).
You’ve really helped us realign our focus where it should be which is providing our customers/readers with valuable content in a quick, simple format and at this moment that’s e-books.
Thanks!
@TAG – Thanks! It is easy to get someone to subscribe / buy, but if you want him / her to stay or come back for more you must provide value. And I feel membership sites are done mostly from perspective of getting quick revenue from milking the customer, instead of creating a good product, providing value and building a long term relationship.
Marko,
I have to admit, when I first started blogging, I got involved with a membership blog coaching group, which will remain nameless. Also, they had good material at the time but it quickly became outdated. I do appreciate their advice and resources but for almost $90 a month, not only couldn’t I afford it but I’m likely to find the same or similar tips elsewhere (and for free).
I agree with your approach on this, and I understand the points others are making about membership sites. What would the internet become if we all launched membership sites?
Looking forward to your ebook release. I still have an ebook I wrote up a few months ago but haven’t ran with it yet. School is a beast for me at the moment. Really demanding… Anyhow, keep it up man. It’s refreshing to read different perspectives on this topic compared to seeing all the big boys earn their share of the pot.
-Mig
@Migs – Thanks for the comment. Hopefully the process I go through with this e-book release might help you / inspire you to release the book you have.