Membership Site Software

With membership sites gaining popularity by leaps and bounds in the marketing arena, it's obvious that at some point or other you're probably going to want to get in on it too.

After all, who wouldn't?

Unfortunately, this desire often ends up staying as nothing more than a pipe dream - and that's because the biggest stumbling block that you're going to face is actually choosing (and using!) a membership site software.

At this stage, it is important that you realize that although many people talk about 'membership site software' rather generally, the truth is that they come in many different shapes and sizes.

Some require tons of technical knowledge to use, while others do not. Some have tons of great features, while others are fairly minimalist.

If you're going to ever get past this stumbling block, what you need to know is how exactly you can go about choosing the right membership site software.

And to do that, you need to think about a few things in particular:

1. Scalability

Imagine this scenario: You've picked some random membership site software that you read about somewhere and it seems to suit your needs just fine. So you start your site, and things are growing great.

But then you find out that the software you've picked can't support more than a certain amount of members.

This is why scalability is so important. When you pick a membership site software, you need to be certain that it's not just going to be enough for your site today - but that its going to be just as good once your site has grown.

2. Content Management

To be perfectly honest, there are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to content management.

Needless to say, you'll want a system that allows you to 'queue' and 'schedule' content, but on top of that you should choose one that allows you to have 'timed releases' as well.

For example, you might want to have a certain piece of content appear to subscribers 2 days after they've signed up - regardless of the date at which they actually signed up.

3. Membership Levels

Have you ever seen membership sites that offer 'Regular' and 'Premium' membership (with the 'Premium' obviously being more expensive)?

That is what membership levels are all about, and if you have the option to create unlimited membership levels - great! In fact, you could even have a free basic membership, and then upsell a premium membership to your basic members later on!

4. Autoresponder Integration

Even if you don't intend to email your members much - having the option to do so is very, very important. After all, you never know when you might want to contact your members in a hurry, and being able to integrate your membership software with your autoresponder could help that immensely.

5. Affiliate Program Management

Last, but certainly not least - if you want your membership site to truly 'boom' in terms of subscribers, you're probably going to want to set up an affiliate program so that others can do a lot of the marketing leg work for you!

Being able to create and manage such a program is a valuable addition in any membership site software.

As you can see, choosing a membership site software is really about identifying what you need, and then selecting a software that actually fits those needs.

Even now, we've really just scratched the surface. If you dig deeper, you'll find that the a truly great membership software will offer more in terms of security and customization.

With this knowledge however, you should at least be able to spot the right type of membership software for your purposes.

One of the reasons why every Tom, Dick and Harry doesn't end up launching their own membership site is because of the fact that most people think it is technical.

The truth is - it isn't technical at all, at least not nowadays.

Instead, nowadays setting up a membership site has become exceedingly easy - with the help of various types of software and platforms.

And the latest (and gradually becoming the most popular), is Wordpress.

Frankly speaking, this isn't all that surprising. Because so many people are so familiar with Wordpress, the idea of being able to use it as a basis for a membership site definitely holds a lot of appeal.

Unfortunately, there are a few things you should know about the downsides of doing so before you commit yourself to Wordpress!

Security Issues on Wordpress

Although Wordpress is really a very, very good piece of software, the fact of the matter is that it isn't completely watertight in terms of security.

From time to time, not-so-nice people do find 'holes' in Wordpress that they can exploit maliciously for various purposes. When you're running a paid membership site, this is definitely a big risk considering the fact that you're going to be storing your members personal information.

Normal Wordpress sites avoid most of the bigger security issues by updating regularly. Even the smallest of Wordpress updates often contain dozens of security fixes.

However - when it comes to that you'll find yourself facing yet another problem.

Keeping a Third Party Plugin Up to Date

No matter how you try to slice and dice it, the undeniable fact is that whatever membership software you're using for Wordpress is essentially going to be a third party plugin.

The problem with this is that when you attempt to update your core Wordpress package (to fix all those pesky security issues) you need to first check whether or not your plugin actually supports the new version of Wordpress.

And if it doesn't, you'll find that you're not able to update until the plugin itself is updated, making yourself vulnerable to attack!

As you should be starting to see, these two security issues alone should be more than enough to make you think twice before you start using Wordpress for your membership site.

Just to recap:

Yes - Wordpress is a great blogging or Content Management System (CMS).

Yes - Wordpress is easy to use.

No - It should not be used to a paid membership site just because the security risks are too big!

Being realistic for a minute though, the main reason why you were considering using Wordpress in the first place is probably because you figured it would be the easiest and most non-technical way to get a membership site up and running.

And that isn't entirely the case.

Nowadays you can easily find a standalone membership site software that is just as easy to use as Wordpress, and probably comes with a host of additional features as well!

So at the end of the day, the disadvantages of Wordpress coupled with the availability of other options means that it is probably best that you take the time to check out what choices you have first!

One of the biggest roadblocks people have when they want to start a membership site is the difficulty of setting up a script. Either they don't have the ability to install the script, or they're confused about how to use it once it is set up. The good news is that Easy Member Pro has solved both of those problems!

At first glance, Easy Member Pro might be a little bit intimidating because it is a membership site script. However, the product comes with both a user manual and step-by-step videos. The videos are a what we especially liked. It doesn't matter if you've never installed a script before, Easy Member Pro will guide you through. You really have to try it to believe it; even if you are a technophobe.

After the script is installed, you'll find that the membership interface is incredibly powerful as well. It has its own content management system; which is very well developed into something your customers will really enjoy

What really sets the script apart is the way it automates tasks for you as the owner, for the customer, and for affiliates. Your admin panel will allow you do everything from mass e-mail your customers to changing the colors of your website. It really doesn't get any simpler than that.

In fact, we were quite surprised at the low cost of Easy Member Pro -- many of the top membership site scripts cost a pretty penny these days. When we started using Easy Member Pro, we weren't expecting much because the price is a lot lower than others out there. However, when you get to utilize the full script you'll see that it integrates many of the features of the higher-end scripts, but for a much lower price.

There is no doubt about it; no one has an excuse to not start a membership site anymore! If you've been putting it off because you're scared of the technical aspects or you just don't know how you make it work for you, Easy Member Pro is the right choice for you. After you've browsed through the full list of features and benefits, the chances are good you'll choose this script and you won't look back!

Click on the link below to get one of the best membership software scripts you'll ever get your hands on at a 20% discount: Easy member Pro Discount Link