5 Membership Myths That Are Holding You Back: Busted!

Remember that Mythbusters show? I used to love watching them test out insane myths, launching cars into the sea and blowing up everything in sight. Since that show, I’ve been doing some myth busting myself, minus the explosions.

I’ve been membership myth busting. 

Although the misconceptions about membership websites don’t usually involve flaming car crash dummies, they are important to know if you run a growing business. 

Especially if you want to use a membership site to get more reliable income streams and take advantage of your existing audience. 

So which of these myths have been holding you back?

Myth # 1 – Anyone can build a membership site

Technically, this could be true. There are plenty of build-it-yourself membership site options out there. In theory, could you build your own DIY membership website? Probably, if you have some know-how, but there are a lot of hidden pitfalls that can trip you up.

Building a plain old website of your own is complex enough, let alone developing a site that can function as a hub for membership content. 

Doing it all by yourself can be super time-consuming and you need a general idea of how to build a website with membership elements. This means if you’re not totally tech-savvy, DIYing your own membership site is going to be a long journey – even if you opt for a templated solution.

In order to build a good membership site, you need to know what actually works and what’s going to be worth putting into your site. That’s where membership experts like Memberlab come in.

Myth # 2 – Membership sites are dead

Through lockdown and the global shutdown, loads of people jumped on the membership website bandwagon, wanting to share in the popularity of the membership format. Because of that some people got the idea that membership sites are dead – or at least overdone. They believe the saturation of membership offers online makes them less successful.

Well this just isn’t true – ask the businesses who have unlocked new earning potential through their memberships. The only real impact this influx of membership sites has had is that your membership site needs to be able to compete. 

You can’t just slap up some lazy content for your members and expect a good return. Your site needs to do exactly what your target audience needs it to do. And this is where a bespoke membership site has the real edge – it can be created to be exactly what your members need. 

Myth # 3 – You have to have tons of content ready to launch 

One of the most common problems that we see is clients thinking that they can’t launch a membership site until they have a tonne of content live and ready to go for their members. 

This leaves you totally stuck, with the daunting and time-consuming task of getting every little bit of content prepared and finished before you’ll even think of launching. 

This is a bad idea. 

What you really need is feedback from your members as you go on to develop and grow. The feedback they give should shape the types of content you create and add to your membership. 

In the beginning, start with a minimum viable product (or MVP), so that you can launch and start taking on feedback. Add more content as you move forward that is exactly what your members want to see.

Starting with your MVP helps you actually achieve your goal of launching a membership website, without getting stuck on all the little perfectionist details. 

Myth #4 – You can’t charge much for membership 

Membership can allow lots of people to access your knowledge and expertise at a low cost. But that doesn’t need to be your membership model. There are businesses that charge hundreds a month for their memberships, but the cost is entirely up to you.

It’s a myth that you can’t charge much for a membership, but the truth is that the level of value dictates the amount you can charge. How well you market that value to potential members also makes a big difference, because if your target audience isn’t convinced that you’ll deliver what they want, then it won’t matter what your membership costs – they won’t be interested. 

Focus on delivering high-value content that your ideal members will love, and make sure your marketing shows this. Then you can price your membership profitably. 

Myth #5 – It’s all about the content 

The quality of your membership site and the value you put into your content does make a difference. It’s the content on your membership site that will keep your members coming back and continuing to pay their subscription month after month. 

But content is irrelevant if your members have difficulty accessing your site, if they don’t find it useful, or if they don’t like the way your site works. All of this can lead to your members simply cancelling their membership. 

This is where it pays to have a bespoke and fit-for-purpose Memberlab website to host your membership. Because they can be built with user experience at the core. 

So now you know there is plenty of money still to be made from membership sites, as long as you have a website that works and is built especially for your audience’s needs. You don’t need to have all of your content ready to go, you just need to have the basics in place to launch so that you can continue to build upon user feedback. 

Ready to expand your business with a bespoke membership website? Get in touch for a free demo call by clicking here. No crash test dummies included.