When developing your membership site, you must think about how it fits into your overall business enterprise.  Even if you don’t have many other websites and/or have little experience in internet marketing, you must consider what primary quality your membership site and business have that will differentiate it from all other online businesses in your  target market.  This is known as your Universal Selling Proposition (USP).

Ideally, you will want this USP to resonate through your entire business, not only your membership site.  Whether that is lower prices, better than average service, or offering products and solutions no one else can, your USP is key to your membership site and business enduring for the long-term.  This will enable you to gain the members you need to achieve the profits and credibility you are expecting from your membership site.

Frequently, it takes time to discover exactly what your own USP is.  It has to be a quality or benefit that truly sets you apart from the crowd. Something that will make potential customers remember you and even think about you when they think of your concept.  If you find it difficult to differentiate yourself from the crowd, then you likely have not found your USP.  Virtually every successful business and membership site has its own USP – you just need to keep searching for that USP that will define you, your membership site and your business.

Ask yourself, “Why would I join this membership site?”  After all, this is what potential members of your niche will ask themselves when they consider joining your site.

You need to consider what will make the members of niche take the action you are looking for and agree to pay a recurring fee to access your membership site.  You should consider what members of your niche would want in a membership site and include those features in your site.  You should conduct research, even asking for the opinions of members of that target market, what they are looking for in such a site before creating it and offering access to it.

In addition, you should look into other membership sites that focus on that niche.  See what qualities and characteristics they have that members of that market prefer to see in such a site. An even better approach, is to take particular notice of what is missing from those sites. Most success stories in internet marketing are the result of an aggressive business owner that discovers a void, or a need and creates a solution for that need.   Once you have found that answer, include those missing features and qualities in your website. Nothing is more powerful than satisfying a need or soothing a frustration to attract new customers and retain existing ones.

You should also think about what you would want to see in a membership site if you were a member of that niche.  Develop you own innovative ideas that no one else has used or can provide, this will likely get you noticed by niche members and others in your industry as being an innovative thinker and your site as being different from the mainstream membership sites.

For more information on membership sites, check out “Membership Sites Made Easy: How to Cash In On Your Own Membership Site.”