Membership sites and continuity programs have been around a long time.  Well before the Internet was.

Years ago, I was a member of a Record of the Month Club.  Back in the days when records were made of vinyl, they were played on a turntable with a needle running in physical grooves in the record, and spun at 78 rpm.  Yeah, I’m old!

Every month they’d send me an LP (record) in my chosen music genre and bill me.  I could keep it and pay, send it back and not pay, cancel at any time, etc.  As part of the membership, I’d also get a monthly catalogue of all the albums they had available, and could buy them at a discount.  I thought it was great.

You can probably think of something similar you’re in, have been in, or that your parents were members of.  Book of the Month Club, recipe cards, craft cards, Reader’s Digest, magazine subscriptions, even gym membership.

It’s a great concept.  For members, there has to be some benefit or perceived benefit.  “Get a pack of 25 full colour recipe cards each month that build into a complete library.  Get your free plastic storage box in month 3, and a complete cross-referenced index in month 5″.  By paying a small monthly fee, members get a complete, simple to use recipe system on cards.  Notice the extra free benefits at month 3 and 5.  That’s designed to keep members enrolled.

For the company involved, it’s great too.  They make the sale once, then all they have to do is keep the customer interested enough to stay a  member.  Each month, they make money. Ka-ching! They don’t have to find new customers each month. And that’s why they are also called Continuity Programs.  Everyone wins.

Naturally, this very successful off-line marketing concept has also found its way into Internet Marketing.

A while ago, all the major marketers were singing the praises of membership sites and continuity programs, and either setting them up themselves, or selling software to set up your own.  Many didn’t survive.  There’s a right and wrong way to set up such sites, and I’ll talk about that in a future post.

By the same token, many did very well, and have produced a substantial and consistent income.  It might be something to consider to differentiate you in your chosen niche.

Some people also made huge amounts of money by selling their successful sites.  More on that later, too.

There is one other huge benefit for the owner of a membership site or continuity program: a captive audience to whom you can offer other products, programs, and services.  They already know you, trust you, and like you — they will certainly open your mail.  Response rates are far better than marketing to the usual e-mail lists.  Imagine online success?  Consider membership sites!

Next post I’ll talk about Forced Continuity Programs.  Are they ethical?

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Membership Sites