Top Tips to Create a Successful E-learning Membership Website
Originally published at E-learning Membership Website
E-learning is not that easy as just you share and I learn. There are a lot of challenges and inconvenient situations e-teachers face and need to overcome. When choosing to become a part of the wide e-learning market, you should be familiar with and ready to overcome the challenges of online learning. For some people, it is the lack of learners; they need to make a lot of efforts to reach a wider market, for others it is the tech knowledge to manage to operate the e-learning platform or budget to afford to have one. The last one is a really huge challenge and to help people overcome it, membership websites are offered.
What is a Membership Site?
A membership website is a platform with a limited amount of features and tools available only for the subscribers to the specific plans. Such platforms are usually more affordable and provide tech support. In such an environment, you do not require technical knowledge to make your membership site ideas come true.
Membership sites are not just like an online course platform. This is a portal with the help of which you create a personal website and pay a monthly subscription fee. Here you may add as much content as you find proper and users will get access to it as long as your platform is live and they pay for the educational material (exceptions are when it is free).
Membership site software platforms are very common these days. You may have heard about WordPress membership sites, Wix membership sites or Shopify membership sites, etc. Of course, there are membership site platforms in the e-learning niche as well. Uteach is one you may rely on to start your online school.
How to Start a Membership Site?
Today it is very easy to create a membership site as there are a lot of membership site builders that are always there to help you. And the most fantastic, here you work on a no-code website so, do not worry about your tech background. Therefore, creating a successful e-learning website through a subscription plan requires some skills and detailed planning. Of course, there are platforms that will help you complete processes without a headache. Let’s go on and discuss the most important steps to create a membership site. I will share tips to implement that will also be considered essential steps in the process of creating a successful e-learning platform.
#1 Check out the Features
Membership websites usually offer several (2–4) subscription plans. You choose this or that one taking into consideration the requirements you have, features and tools you need, and also the amount of budget you may afford.
Check out the offered plans in different e-learning website builders and compare which one is the best that offers the features you need with the best price possible. Usually, such platforms offer a free trial where you may try any feature and understand how well it meets your expectations.
A piece of advice: No matter you use a free trial or the main subscription, prepare your material in advance in order not to miss your time. In this way, you may get an opportunity to earn money even during the free trial period. Besides, you may also check how functional the payment system is.
#2 Prepare the Material
As I have mentioned in the first point, it is recommended to prepare the material in advance in order not to miss your time after subscribing to a free trial. This takes from your valuable time and you should use it wisely.
Ou may plan the course material and start recording. When preparing the material, make sure to choose online course topic ideas that will be interesting and required in the target market. The next point is to focus on engaging course content.
Once you have the material ready, you may immediately upload it to your chosen membership platform and realize how it fits your needs and preferences.
#3 Give Օptions
Think about offering different forms of subscription. You may offer online educational material completely free, or you may choose between any form of paid options. Your course may require one-time payment for lifetime access or you may set a time limitation, such as payment for 1 month or 1 year (you decide the length of the period).
Here you get 2 ways to make more money: either you focus on reaching more learners or you make each student spend more. A really smart strategy to increase the average spend per member is to create multiple membership levels. This may be related to the time limitations or different subscription plans if your membership website offers such an opportunity. In the first level of membership, you may give access to just the core content, while at the next level, you may take into consideration offering monthly free webinars, or group coaching, etc. The number of subscription levels, the way you name them, and what you cover in each of them, all depends on your business needs and the goals you want to achieve with several levels of membership.
#4 Offer Several Types of Content for Your Membership Site
The preferences of people differ. Accordingly, one may find your video content useful while someone else may think it is not as much value for them. To organize the process effectively, you are recommended to offer different forms of teaching material. The most common and effective types, of course, are:
- Video Course Material
Visual content is better memorized in the human brain. This form of content helps people better understand the matter and remember for a longer period of time. Besides, video courses are good for selling. You create the material and publish it for sale. From then on, it may generate income for a lifetime.
- Live Lessons
Some people prefer to be in real-time connection with the creator when they learn something. Virtual classes are more preferable for them to receive the topic explanation and immediately ask all the concerning questions.
- Webinars
Especially in recent times, webinars are very effective for online education providers to reach their target market and establish connections with their potential learners. This form of connection is very useful for the people interested in the topic. Accordingly, the level of engagement increases, growing the level of brand awareness.
- Quizzes
The testing system is an essential factor to take into consideration when teaching online. Learners like to check the level of their acquired knowledge. Choosing an automated test checking system will make the process easier and help you save a lot of time.
- Certification
When passing tests with positive results (the level is chosen by you) learners like to get certificates as proof of their acquired knowledge and skills. Certification is important in education, no matter which is the specific niche you share experience about.
#5 Invite Potential Learners
When creating online teaching material or preparing for a live lesson, include some learners in the list of participants and invite them. This should be done with their emails. If you do not have the email addresses of people who may be interested in your topic idea, create surveys or useful pdf files and ask for their subscription. Once the list of email addresses is ready, you may invite the potential learners.
You may make the process even easier. Create a CVS file of the list and import it into your website. The system will automatically create student profiles for each email address included in the list and let the participants know via an email letter. This is one of the advanced features of Uteach. You may also try to create your professional e-learning website with this platform and make use of this and many similar features. Starting with Uteach is free.
Good Luck!
