Membership Sites for Selling Videos

OVERVIEW

Our basic business model is this: Create video training and coaching programs and sell them to customers. Easy right?

Well…how do you tell who is a paying customer and deliver the products & services they paid for yet keep that those products secure from un-paying eyes?

A Membership Site is an excellent way to go.

Here at LearnCamtasia, we have created a system over several years that consists of:

• Hosting our sites on a LiquidWeb Virtual Private Server (VPS) for about $100/month
• Running WordPress and the OptimizePress Premium Theme to create the websites ($197 for 10 sites).
• Hosting our videos on Amazon S3 Servers (super fast & super cheap!)
• Using the Digital Access Pass Membership plugin to create & deliver products securely ($297/year for support & upgrades)
• LeadPages for specialty funnel pages ($480/year)
• Various other WordPress plugins like security, video players, etc. ($1,200 invested ).

This kind of configuration is pretty common and you’ll see many hundreds of sites like it. Now, at first glance, it might seem like all of that stuff added up is a sizable investment AND fairly complex…and it kinda is. But nobody gets paid until something gets sold so it’s an effort and expense we gladly incur. It’s the cost of doing business and is a bargain.

Think about it…we run a world-wide media company with thousands of customers from our homes! Pretty sweet!

But there are a few issues (and newer alternatives) worth being aware of if you want to sell your products & services (video-based or otherwise) online:

1. Did I mention it’s complicated? I’m a 30+ year computer systems engineer and even I have challenges getting (and keeping) everything working.
2. WordPress is a Hackers Heaven. If you have a WP site with any decent amount of traffic…they will come. We are under constant bombardment and the only real down-time issues we have are because some numbskull from Russia or somewhere is (literally) attacking us!

In the last year or so, there have been a few all-in-one Membership Systems to come out that look to remove a bunch of the complexity and expense from the equation. These are systems that run in the “internet cloud” and there are some have some interesting advantages.

Let me be clear: We are pretty much “locked” into our existing sites. BUT…riddle me this: If I could create a new product (which I can using videos) and quickly & easily get a working site up to sell and deliver it? How many times would I do that?

The answer for me moving forward with new sites & products is…a lot.

I’ve recently gotten a few of these systems and put them through some testing. In this Strategy Review, I’ll point out some key points, pros / cons,  and experiences for those looking to do them same revenue-generating kind of thing. Do your own homework! I can’t tell you what system is best for you but I can let you know my thoughts.

The Test Product

To conduct my evaluation, I decided to use the same product in an effort to get a good “apples to apples” result. I created a short, 3 video tutorial series as a bonus for my Screencast Pro project with Joey Xoto called “The Ultimate Guide To Recording PowerPoint Videos”. A really nice, low entry price product that I can use to build a “buyers list”.

Systems Reviewed

Here are the systems I’m working with. Click the links for features & details (NOTE: these are my affiliate links):

1. FreshMember from DigitalKickstart
2. ValueAddOn from JVZoo
3. SwiftMember from Sam Bakker & OJ (a WordPress plugin but folks were asking for my thoughts…)
4. SmartMember – this one caught me by surprise so I’m not able to review & test it for this post but it launches this week also at a one-time price.

Also NOTE: Since these are currently test sites, they are not totally complete (i.e. final sales video, etc.) but they are functional enough to evaluate and will go live soon.

1. FreshMember

First, for any business system, I start by looking to WHO it is from and evaluate whether I’ll get good support. Mark Thompson and the DigitalKickstart team have delivered excellent products I use in the past (their PressPlay video player is one of my favorites). This product is no exception.

PROS:

• The software is clean & simple. I also rather like the text / image based tutorials which are easy to read & walkthrough step-by-step as opposed to video tutorials which are sometimes harder to follow & consume (ironic, eh?).
• It took longer to upload the content videos than to create the site. None of the configuring headaches of installing stuff…
• API connections are super easy to connect hassle-free with the product on JVZoo and I used GetResponse as an autoresponder. Two clicks and a copy / paste each.
• Inserting videos is clicking an icon and inserting onto a protected page. No player hassles.
• Some excellent bonuses are included to help build a membership / paid content business
• Unlimited sites at a great price during the launch!

CONS:

• Doesn’t include a sales page builder. It handles all the actual payment & content stuff nicely but you’ll need to complete your sales funnel with a front-end. Fortunately, during the launch, a Sales Page Wizard software is included as a Bonus. It’s…ok I guess. I’d probably use LeadPages or something to build a page.
• This does mean however that as an “all-in-one” solution requiring no additional hosting for web pages…FreshMember falls a bit short. Easier yes…but all-inclusive? Not at this time.

I’m happy with the software for what it does which is all the technical junk I don’t have to duct tape together. Check it out during the launch to see if it fits your needs:

==> FreshMember Cloud-based Content Delivery System

Because it requires a sales page to front-end it, I don’t have a complete working demo but my testing of the back-end membership & product delivery has been successful!

RECOMMENDED as an unlimited site value play during the launch pricing IF you already have a server to host sales / funnel pages. Launch and bonuses end June 18th, 2015.

2. ValueAddon

ValueAddOn is from the folks who built JVZoo. As such, they know a bit about what businesses need to deliver their content as products for profit. The investment in the development is obvious and they provide good support and will be around for awhile.

This system was a breeze to set up. One spot, start to finish, no muss, no fuss.

PROS:

• All-In-One. Everything included in one place. All hosting, Amazon configuration (it uses THEIR Amazon account so there are no “buckets” or secret keys…nada), and a nice default (but customizable) sales page.
• Smooth & simple integration. I created my product on JVZoo (10 minutes) and just plug it directly into the membership platform. Boom. Same for autoresponder and Facebook integration.

CONS:

• I got my 10 site license for a one-time fee during the launch (which is now over). New customers will pay monthly for the features. You can get started with 1 site and 500 members for $37/month or the 10 site, unlimited members option is $97/month. Considering this includes ALL your costs (except an autoresponder) for a fully functioning, highly scalable, great looking site(s) that will actually be up & running? Great value.
• Customization is not really strong. Ya, you can do colors & stuff and some custom CSS if you want but there are no really beautiful themes or templates to choose from.

In spite of the lack of customization, I do like the look & feel of the sites this creates! Think your very own UDemy platform where you keep all the cash.

Here’s a link to the almost finished sales page: http://pptvideo.valueaddon.com/

This is “straight-out-of-the-box” what you get after uploading content, filling in some forms, checking a few boxes, and copy / paste a few fields.

A few screenshots from inside:

Minimal but clean. I’ll be sprucing it up a bit but I love that everything just works.

==> ValueAddOn Features & Purchase Page

NOTE: I will NOT be replacing my existing sites with this but…for new products and ideas I want to crank out in a hurry? Yes, this is:

RECOMMENDED

3. SwiftMember

This is actually a WordPress plugin and not cloud-based. I did get it and install it. It is ok if you already have WordPress and NO other membership plugin but certainly not the BEST one out there.

I’m only including it here because it is on a Launch Special this week. Check it out for yourself :

==> SwiftMember WordPress Plugin

Not Highly Recommended but better than nuthin’…

4. SmartMember from Chris Record

It seems that THIS is the week for all membership developers to release new products! Geeze!

I haven’t been able to test & review this one but frankly? It LOOKS pretty sweet!

Hate to do it but I’ll have to leave you to your own homework on this one but felt you should at least be aware that it is Launching and that the pricing will likely go up afterwards.

==> SmartMember Launch Video & Demo

SUMMARY

This post will actually be a “work-in-progress”. I plan on updating it periodically with new findings and results as I get more experience and data to add to my evaluations.

Of the two I was actually able to test, I have to give the “functionality” nod to ValueAddon although it costs a bit more and the “deal value” (at least during the launch which ends June 18th, 2015) to FreshMember.

I’ll be contacting the developers of SmartMember to see if I can get evaluation access and will post any results.

Anyway…hope this helps a bit but it can be extremely frustrating to sift through all the options and decide what to do!

Believe me…I feel ya!

My best parting advice is probably this:

If you struggle, toss-n-turn, and agonize over every little feature & do-dad a software provides trying to pick the “best” one? I can promise you that it decreases your chances of DOING that which is necessary to generate income from your efforts:

Getting something UP and running.

Pick something and roll with it.

😉

Lon Naylor