Recent word out of Google tells us that they are considering the establishment of a “micro-payment” option, enabling a new payment structure to download individual pieces of information, such as an article, newsletter, feature or video. This news should give you additional cause to think about your own membership site. Online content is in constant and heavy demand as people seek answers to their problems and solutions to their issues, right here and right now.

If you have something of considerable value, especially if it is in digital format, then you should consider setting up your own membership site. This can represent a lucrative income and a wide variety of websites, software solutions and plug-ins exist to help you get going. Advances in the technology used within these various platforms allow us to choose whether to create our own or to buy into someone else’s design. WordPress has become so advanced these days that you can use it as the perfect content management system and take advantage of specific plug-ins to help you structure and organize your theme and content.

You will notice when you research the options available to you, that some offer a one-time purchase price while others indicate a monthly charge. Generally speaking, the one-time fees allow you to download the software and operate on your own server, while the monthly fee option includes an element of support as well as remote hosting. This is a matter of personal choice. You may also notice different price points according to whether you are using the software on a single site or on a multitude and this latter option may be of interest to those who are considering setting up some kind of membership site template and “franchising” out to others.

You will normally have a tremendous degree of flexibility, especially among the better choices. You can opt to receive payment via a number of gateways and product or service resellers, such as Clickbank, PayPal, 2checkout or your own payment processor. You can also establish an affiliate program allowing you to gain additional members in return for a commission fee to be paid to new affiliates.

Amember is the top script available, supporting plug-ins that allow you to link your database through your Joomla or Wordpress platforms, for example. These scripts are very sophisticated, user flexible, and feature an unlimited number of product or service subscription types, each with its own parameters, such as automated account sign-up, expirations and terminations.

Have you set up membership website?

Adam Toren