Sisters sharing knowledge – Develop a passive income stream using the internet and membership sites

Diane Corriette from England

Last week I talked about**** creating and selling information products **** online well there is another way that can help you develop a passive income stream using the internet and that is with a membership site.

There are all types of different memberships currently being run online:

• You can send out a new report every week
• You can put together an online course and send out the materials
• You can put everything together in one place and let people login to view it all

Your membership site can charge a monthly, quarterly or yearly fee or a combination of all three with different membership levels. The main thing to ensure its success is that it teaches something that solves a problem. Always remember online we are problem solvers. So you are not a massage therapist – you help people overcome back pain using massage. You are not a personal trainer – you help people lose weight in time for their wedding.

You have to focus on the problem that you solve or solution that you provide and use that as your focus online.

It can take some work to put a membership site together, you need to write out all the material and make sure it has taken people through the steps you have promised. Most importantly it needs to have an end goal and it must meet that for the people who buy it. As long as you can make that happen you will have an endless supply of members.

Here is an example using my membership site – you can take a look at http://www.om4b.co.uk

It helps speakers, life coaches, practitioners and small business owners in the health and wellness industry develop their own online presence.

I use the exact steps that I would take a client through when I build their online presence and I put it into the membership site because not everyone has the income available to pay me to do the work for them. This solves a problem for people who want to get on the internet but they don’t know how to do it and they don’t have the money to pay a professional. Once they are online they now have the ability to bring in clients (as long as they follow the training).

I charge a yearly fee because it is important to stay up to date with changes online – things move so quickly. Right now (Feb 2011) it costs just £67 a year – which is great value when you consider what people are learning and what the end result is – more clients.

Think about how much you could charge for people to get access to your knowledge through a membership site. If you decide on 10.00 euros a month that is 120.00 euros a year x 250 members = 30,000; 67.00 euros a year with x 800 members = 53,600 a year.

These are realistic figures if your material is right and is something people want. It might take some time to build up to 250 or even a 1000 members but the potential is always there and this is additional passive income added on to what you already earn in your profession.

You have the skills and the knowledge already in your head. Whether you choose information products or membership sites – or both, the internet is a real opportunity for you to help people, attract international customers and enjoy a regular passive income.

How do you think a membership site would benefit your business? Leave a comment below and let me know.

Diane Corriette helps business owners and professionals use the internet to bring in more visitors, leads and business. If you are an entrepreneur looking to build a persona online that will bring in work for you or a local business who wants to use online marketing to attract customers call her on +44208 242 4339 or via Skype at local.business. She is a regular speaker at events and seminars, as well as online webinars and shows. Runs training workshops in online marketing in London and offers a 45 minute coaching session for anyone wondering if the internet is for them. Visit http://www.littlefishmediacompany.com