The Reality of Online Membership Sites
by Theresa Cahill
I field emails and phone calls weekly from people who have signed up for a program or programs online and need help.
More often than not, the caller has actually joined a program that was created to address the same questions I am being asked. I think to myself, "What's not right here?"
In order to be considered a viable program or service online, the website owner is required to provide something in return for your hard-earned dollars. Typically, that something is information. Information in the form of ebooks, software, or training are the most common kinds of membership sites.
As you explore all your various choices online, when it comes to picking a membership (or product or service), ask yourself (at a minimum) these two questions:
1. What is the program selling you for your money?
2. Is there more to the program than just telling others about it?
Hence the dilemma presented above. This person arrived at the membership site sales page. They had predefined reasons for hunting for a membership in the first place. Then, hit with an offer they cannot refuse (vast amounts of cash for telling others about that membership) they totally forgot why they needed it in the first place.
Sad but true. Somehow, somewhere along the lines of reading an action packed and powerful sales letter, the hunter forgot what he or she was hunting for - direction to help him or her build their own business online.
Conversely, the other scenario is the hunter had no intention of building a business. He or she was merely looking for an "easier road." Find something to promote and tell others. This creates a problem though, you are an affiliate only and not the owner of the membership or product.
When you elect to sell to others, ethically shouldn't you know what it is in the first place?
Simply put... the details are completed avoided. It's not hard to pinpoint which category I'm talking or writing to... someone really wanting to make their dream of making money online a reality or someone hoping to get by on the bare minimum of knowledge.
Keep your priorities firmly in mind. If you joined to learn how to build your own business, sure tell others about your membership, but use the tools (assuming the site delivers the goods) to do just that... build your business.
If, conversely, you joined purely for the allure of telling others and thus gaining financial benefits for yourself in the telling, at least know what you're offering. Believe it or not, morally you do have that responsibility. Know thy product.
If your reason for joining was just the allure of making money with that membership or program, then at the least learn everything there is to know about what you propose to sell. When others join under you, I would hope that you'd agree that you have a moral responsibility to that downline individual to help them succeed, too.
People can sense the difference.
Explore the unique qualities of online marketing membership programs as presented at Molten Marketing Click here for other unique 'membership' articles.
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