Special Fr-ee Offer: Membership Site Services Review Download

F-ree for loyal readers like you is this new Special Report: Membership Site Service Review spreadsheet.

It's a vendor comparison that lists 30+ different companies and web sites.  It can help you find the best software vendor to power your own online community or social network.

Membership sites can be a great way to build an online business with recurring monthly cash flow.  If you can identify a target market with common interests that are well-served by online communication, you can set up a gated subscription membership web site community. 

This approach to e-commerce can be a very profitable one.  To help you learn more about it, I've interviewed successful entrepreneurs making great money from online subscription membership sites on my Podcast Radio Show, online communities are discussed extensively in my first book, Internet Riches, and I've personally helped build multi-million dollar membership sites like BillOReilly.com, too.

Because of my expertise in online communities, I get lots of questions about HOW to build an online community membership site or personalized social network cost-effectively.

So, I've developed this vendor comparison spreadsheet for you.  This spreadsheet focuses on cost-effective software solutions for small businesses and entrepreneurs, not necessarily corporate level, enterprise (expensive) solutions.  I haven't yet found the perfect provider, but this research can help you find more effective solutions to grow your own membership site, too.

I'm still looking for a low cost, WYSIWYG editing, hosted (SAAS/ASP) online community membership site solution that includes integrated recurring membership billing.  Any suggestions?

Comments, updates, and suggestions for this spreadsheet are very welcome.  Just leave a Comment please!

(If there's interest, my team can expand this matrix, too.  Let me know your questions.)

[And be sure to sign up for my fr-e-e email newsletters to receive more fr-ee research reports and online marketing advice, too.]

 

** UPDATE - March 2009:

Thanks to a tip from one of my readers, I also now have investigated Subhub. This service actually meets ALL of my criteria for creating a turnkey membership site.  It includes integrated recurring billing (using Paypal), WYSIWYG online editing and hosting, multiple membership levels, message boards, and more.  SubHub offers a very impressive suite of services for only $97/month.

I like this service so much that I have personally used it to power the Instant Internet Business Secrets membership web site and become an affiliate, too. 

Check out SubHub's subscription membership site service here.

Comments

[Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound]

Scott, thanks so much for compiling this list.
It offers a great bird's-eye view of what's out there, and the wide range in pricing.

It's a great place to start my research.

[Scott Fox]

Hi Joan,
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Great to hear from you.
I hope that this spreadsheet is helpful to you.
Best,
Scott

[Dave]

Scott:

What is your opinion of subhub.com for a membership website solution?

Thanks.

[Scott Fox]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for visiting.
I don't know subhub.com. We will investigate.
Do you have experience with them that you can share?
Best,
Scott

[Mark Ramskill]

Hi Scott,

It's great to know that SubHub met all of your criteria and that you came on board with us.

Always nice to see positive comments like that!

Mark
SubHub

[Scott Fox, Author of e-Riches 2.0]

You're welcome, Mark. SubHub is a good service. You guys are way ahead of most in allowing network owners to monetize their audiences through subscription billing.

[Mark Ramskill]

Just to let you know as well that we are about to roll out our new affiliates module in the next few days, where we have integrated our platform with iDevAffiliate. Something we're extremely excited about.