There are infinite kinds and varieties of membership models that any group or business can use to maximize revenue and value offered to the world. You can have an education-based membership, a community-focused membership, a service membership, a subscription, a customer loyalty program, or other types of membership models. Most, if not all of these membership models do require a website to be functional. When properly executed, membership websites can be a great source of additional revenue for your business. Let’s take a look at a type of membership model that may not seem obvious, but that any business can make use of: education-based membership.

Membership Sites

Before we dive into what an education-based membership model entails, we need to clearly identify what a membership site actually is. To put it plainly, a membership site is a website with content that is usually protected by requiring a user to login in order to access the content. Most of the time, the content on a membership site would only be available to those who have paid a membership fee, which can either be a one-time fee or a recurring fee. One of the benefits of having users log in to access their content is that you can tailor the content to be user-specific, and truly personalize each member’s experience. Such personalization enhances the user’s experience and engagement with your membership website. With the advancements in technology, nowadays, there are very few limitations on the products or services any member can receive. We pretty much live in an age where if you can conceive it, you can achieve it. A membership website can go hand in hand with almost any industry. Restaurants, podcasters, dry cleaning agencies, plumbers, to name a few, can all implement a membership model to supplement their services.

Education-based Membership

A membership site is not one-size-fits-all. As mentioned earlier there are varying kinds of membership models that can suit a business, an enterprise or an association uniquely. A quite popular membership model is the education-based membership. An education-based membership is a model that almost any business or entity can adopt. As long as you have something to teach, you have the potential to offer online courses and grow your member base. Let me reiterate, every business or organization has something to teach via online courses. The simple fact that you have something to sell, a product or a service, makes you an authority in that domain. Share the knowledge that you have through an online class or several online classes.

The beauty about creating online courses is that you can set up the format any which way you’d prefer. They can be audio courses or video courses. It can be a one-time class or several classes that culminate in the dissemination of multiple certifications. The courses can even be pre-recorded or live. Although online courses configurations can widely differ, there’s a commonality among them all: a protected online area that only the course students have access to. This protected online area will house all the course materials, videos, workbooks, etc. Once your course students have purchased access to the course or courses, they can log in and receive the education that you have provided for them.

One of the cool things about teaching someone something is knowing that you have given them something valuable that will stay with that person for the rest of their life. Knowledge truly is power, and in this case, profitable power. As you go about your business, take into consideration implementing an education-based membership for your business or association. You might just change someone’s life. If you’d like to learn more about the various tools we offer to help you implement online courses in your repertoire, feel free to Book a Demo and don’t forget to subscribe to The Boss Blog to get more helpful tips for you and your members.