In our first article, we discussed creating a publishing business using the paid membership site model.
Essentially, this is where people on the 'net decide that your site contains information which they value, and pay you to have access to it.
Once you create one membership site, you can use the same formula to start numerous paid membership sites - most likely with subjects not even related to one another.
In this article, we'll be looking at how having a narrow focus on your subject matter will create interest, help select content for the site, and even make your site more profitable.
We'll be using "cars" as our example throughout the articles.
Consider almost any of the searches you've done for information on the Internet.
By using broad terms, you come up with a wide variety of hits, most of which will be unrelated to the specific topic you were researching.
At one point, I had a 1968 Ford Gran Torino fastback.
Let's say I wanted to see what information there was on the 'net about that particular model.
If I used the search term "automobile" I'd get links about trucks and cars, from the early steam powered models to the latest electric powered sports cars.
Some links would be on building autos, repairing them, gas mileage.
.
.
there are literally thousands of topics and sub-topics.
By entering "cars" I cut out a lot of the extraneous links, but I still would have to wade through thousands of off-topic links to find out information on my old Gran Torino.
The best thing to do is to put as much specific information in the search box as possible.
This will bypass all the information in which I have no interest, leaving me with a much smaller list of links.
What I'm really thinking about when I do my search is how much fun I had owning the car.
Perhaps I'm looking for a Gran Torino owner's group.
The obverse of this is also true.
As the publisher of a paid content site, you're looking for subscribers.
Not everyone interested in the very broad subject of "cars" will want to be a member.
You need to refine your topic so that the information inside your members' area will have a value to people who are searching for it.
If you were publishing a print magazine, you would have printing and distribution costs - paper, ink, labor, trucking, commissions for the sellers of your magazine.
As such, you'd need as broad a market as possible to cover your costs, and then hopefully make a profit.
You might want to put out a print magazine covering, say, "1960's muscle cars.
" As an aficionado of '68 Gran Torinos, I might buy your magazine.
Or I might not, since you'll have to put in articles on Chevys, Dodges, and even Ford Mustangs.
There's a lot of great info in your print magazine in which I have no interest.
The same goes for Mustang fans if you spend pages on my Gran Torino.
The more specific you make your publication, the fewer people who will be interested in it.
But, as a result, their perceived value of the information will increase! When you're thinking about a topic for your first membership site, you need to be as specific as possible.
There are millions of automobiles on the road, but very few Gran Torinos of any specific vintage.
If I were considering joining a membership site, I'd want to make sure that it contained a lot of information about Gran Torinos that I couldn't get elsewhere, written or produced by experts in the field.
That would make the existing content of value to me.
But obviously we're both looking for an ongoing exchange of value - you want to keep getting my money, and I want to keep getting information about my old dream car.
So your site topic needs to be narrow enough to grab my interest, but broad enough so that you can continue to find or create information for which I'm happy to keep paying.
You don't have to deal only with the written word.
While we're still behind many other developed countries in the world, many Americans have access to broadband Internet accounts, meaning they are happy to play online video content.
And with the nearly ubiquitous use of iPods and other MP3 players, downloadable audio files are a great hit as well.
If applicable to your content, consider adding technical drawings, photos, or other types of illustration to your members' area.
You might consider hiring an expert on your content topic to write a blog for you as well.
You'll want to break down your content into topics or groups.
Again, membership site software like Caribou CMS can help you segment the content so that it's easy for you to catalog as well as for your users to find and consume.
In the next article, we'll cover how to find and post content, without having to produce it yourself.
Essentially, this is where people on the 'net decide that your site contains information which they value, and pay you to have access to it.
Once you create one membership site, you can use the same formula to start numerous paid membership sites - most likely with subjects not even related to one another.
In this article, we'll be looking at how having a narrow focus on your subject matter will create interest, help select content for the site, and even make your site more profitable.
We'll be using "cars" as our example throughout the articles.
Consider almost any of the searches you've done for information on the Internet.
By using broad terms, you come up with a wide variety of hits, most of which will be unrelated to the specific topic you were researching.
At one point, I had a 1968 Ford Gran Torino fastback.
Let's say I wanted to see what information there was on the 'net about that particular model.
If I used the search term "automobile" I'd get links about trucks and cars, from the early steam powered models to the latest electric powered sports cars.
Some links would be on building autos, repairing them, gas mileage.
.
.
there are literally thousands of topics and sub-topics.
By entering "cars" I cut out a lot of the extraneous links, but I still would have to wade through thousands of off-topic links to find out information on my old Gran Torino.
The best thing to do is to put as much specific information in the search box as possible.
This will bypass all the information in which I have no interest, leaving me with a much smaller list of links.
What I'm really thinking about when I do my search is how much fun I had owning the car.
Perhaps I'm looking for a Gran Torino owner's group.
The obverse of this is also true.
As the publisher of a paid content site, you're looking for subscribers.
Not everyone interested in the very broad subject of "cars" will want to be a member.
You need to refine your topic so that the information inside your members' area will have a value to people who are searching for it.
If you were publishing a print magazine, you would have printing and distribution costs - paper, ink, labor, trucking, commissions for the sellers of your magazine.
As such, you'd need as broad a market as possible to cover your costs, and then hopefully make a profit.
You might want to put out a print magazine covering, say, "1960's muscle cars.
" As an aficionado of '68 Gran Torinos, I might buy your magazine.
Or I might not, since you'll have to put in articles on Chevys, Dodges, and even Ford Mustangs.
There's a lot of great info in your print magazine in which I have no interest.
The same goes for Mustang fans if you spend pages on my Gran Torino.
The more specific you make your publication, the fewer people who will be interested in it.
But, as a result, their perceived value of the information will increase! When you're thinking about a topic for your first membership site, you need to be as specific as possible.
There are millions of automobiles on the road, but very few Gran Torinos of any specific vintage.
If I were considering joining a membership site, I'd want to make sure that it contained a lot of information about Gran Torinos that I couldn't get elsewhere, written or produced by experts in the field.
That would make the existing content of value to me.
But obviously we're both looking for an ongoing exchange of value - you want to keep getting my money, and I want to keep getting information about my old dream car.
So your site topic needs to be narrow enough to grab my interest, but broad enough so that you can continue to find or create information for which I'm happy to keep paying.
You don't have to deal only with the written word.
While we're still behind many other developed countries in the world, many Americans have access to broadband Internet accounts, meaning they are happy to play online video content.
And with the nearly ubiquitous use of iPods and other MP3 players, downloadable audio files are a great hit as well.
If applicable to your content, consider adding technical drawings, photos, or other types of illustration to your members' area.
You might consider hiring an expert on your content topic to write a blog for you as well.
You'll want to break down your content into topics or groups.
Again, membership site software like Caribou CMS can help you segment the content so that it's easy for you to catalog as well as for your users to find and consume.
In the next article, we'll cover how to find and post content, without having to produce it yourself.
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