Lesson #26 Maximum Member Profits - Part #1
Written By Titmowse

The cool thing about your paysite members is they’ve proven they’re willing to spend money on your stuff. You probably love each and every one of them, particularly when they sign up for additional months. You’ve already learned in the previous lesson how important (and profitable) it is to give your paysite members quality product and superlative customer support. You want to treat your members well because doing so makes you money.

What you may not consider is that your profits don’t have to plateau at the membership level. It’s true a surfer shouldn’t be inundated with advertising once they become a paying member. Its true members should be able to access the deepest realms of your paysite. What isn’t true is the belief that membership fees are all you’ll get from your already-paying clients.

Even More Member Money!

Naturally you want to treat your members with care. One of the privileges of membership is access without ads. Surfers who become members deserve special consideration. However, it would be foolish to let such a fertile source of income get out the door without a little last chance pimping.

Have you ever noticed how a restaurant displays gum for sale right by the register? How about the clothing store? Any good salesperson will try to sell a tie to go with that new shirt. Practically every salesman will try to pad their commission with a few extra bits of merchandise. Why shouldn’t you? You can do it and it doesn’t have to be intrusive or even obvious.

When marketing to paying customers the soft sell is the best sell. Soft selling is selling without looking like you’re selling. Soft selling is displaying a product in such a way that the customers feel they’ve discovered it all on their own. Soft selling means to predict what your site members want next.

They’ve got your content, so what else could they need? If you assault your paysite customers with blatant advertising inside the member’s area, they won’t like it. You’ve got to be subtle. You’ve got to offer additional products/services they’ll actually want. You’ve got to at least give it a try.

The bucks don’t have to stop at mere membership fees. There are many products -both adult and non-adult- that can be successfully marketed to your paysite members. You can gather supplementary green by appealing to your captive audience. In the second part of this two-part lesson we’ll show you some of the alternative goods out there that work well inside a paysite.

Think about your members. You know what they want and how much is too much sales-wise. You just have to stay on the side of the soft side of the sale. Make your extra goodies as ambiguous yet functional as a pack of gum at the coffee shop cash register.