How to Start a Membership Website in 8 Steps

Are you a content creator looking to boost your engagement and revenue? Starting a membership website may be the answer for you. When you let followers become exclusive members, you motivate them to stay connected with your personal brand by giving them special benefits, exclusive content, and discounts. 

In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know to get started on creating a membership site in just 8 simple steps.

What is a Membership Website?

A membership site is a website that offers exclusive content, products, and services to members who have paid a subscription fee. Membership sites are used by content creators, entrepreneurs, and businesses to monetize their content, engage with their audience, and create a sense of community. With a membership site, you can restrict access to content, create different membership levels, and offer exclusive perks for members.

Why Should You Create a Membership Webite?

• Additional Stream of Income: A membership site provides a recurring income stream by collecting subscription fees from members in exchange for the exclusive content you will provide. 
• Predictable Business Model: A recurring income stream and a loyal customer base make it easier to plan and forecast your revenue.
• Increased Engagement: Members are more engaged with exclusive content; a community that feels valued by their membership will encourage them to become more active members of that community.
• Loyalty: Membership sites promote a sense of community among members, helping them to feel more connected to the content and to other like-minded individuals, which can translate to repeat sales and increased brand awareness. Some platforms, like Fourthwall, allow creators to integrate specific member-exclusive Discord roles for their servers where their subscribers can connect with one another. This engagement can lead to increased loyalty, sense of community, and a sense of connection for creators with their audience. Read more about One Podcast's Quest for a Better Members-Only Experience.‍
• Creative Control: You control the content and access of members to your site, this could be a great way to share content and bloopers you love but weren’t willing to post on your main platforms. Showing a more broken down and authentic version of yourself for your most loyal followers.

How to Start a Membership Website in 8 Steps

1. Identify your audience: Be sure to analyze your audience to figure out exactly what they want, and what type of content they are willing to pay for. We suggest reaching out to your followers through social media to ask for their suggestions and requests. 

2. Pick a membership model: Choose a model that works best for your audience and content. For example, if you’re a Twitch streamer, perhaps exclusive streaming content or bloopers are something your followers would be willing to pay an extra fee to view. Read more about How Twitch Streamers Supercharge Revenue with Memberships

3. Choose the right membership website platform: Choose a platform to build, manage, and host your membership site. Some popular examples are:

Fourthwall: 5% flat fee

Fourthwall provides an all-in-one platform for creators, enabling them to build their own website, sell merchandise, and offer custom memberships to their supporters. It combines elements of web development, e-commerce, and community building into one seamless experience, without taking a cut of your sales or donations. Fourthwall also allows your community to gift memberships through Twitch Gifting. 

Ko-fi: 5% fee or $6-8 per month

Ko-fi is a platform that allows creators to receive one-time or recurring donations from their supporters. It offers features like personal shops, and social media integrations, all while taking zero fees from donations.

Fanfix: 20% fee

Fanfix is geared towards creators who want to offer exclusive content behind a paywall. It has a strong focus on content monetization through subscriptions, tips, and pay-per-view options, but also takes a commission on earnings. 

Patreon: 8-12% fee 

Patreon focuses on a membership model, offering various tiers that supporters can subscribe to for monthly perks. The platform has options for posts, analytics, and goal-setting, but takes a cut from your earnings.

4. Set prices: Decide on the prices for membership levels. This totally depends on what content you’re providing. Check out tiers from other creators to get an idea of how you should price your membership. 

5. Create a launch plan: Plan your release date, how you’ll advertise your membership site to your audience, and whether or not you’ll offer discounts for early adopters. 

6. Create content: Produce the content that you can gate and restrict access to non-members. These can be videos, polls, text posts, etc. 

7. Manage your membership base: Welcome new members, manage email communications and keep your membership content up-to-date. This is extremely important, as your members will likely be paying monthly and will want consistent content.

8. Continually create engaging content: Continue producing content that is valuable to your members and makes them want to stay subscribed. If you need inspiration, check out 5 Memberships Strategies from Fourthwall Creators.

Membership Sites vs. Subscription Sites: What’s the Difference?

Membership sites and subscription sites provide regular content to subscribers in exchange for a regular fee. However, subscription sites typically have a fixed output and let subscribers access all of the available content, more than a membership site's gated content. Membership sites, on the other hand, provide exclusive content that changes over time and has different levels of access. A membership site may involve a subscription, but it’s not always necessary or fixed, you as the creator have the liberty of deciding what is a fair price for your followers.

Successful Examples of Membership Websites by Creators

TMG Studios: TMG creates a feeling of exclusivity for their loyal fans by offering an array of gated, members-only content. In addition to access to this content, members can conveniently watch ad-free, improving their listening experience. The team offers access to a members-only Discord so loyal followers can connect within the community. They also provide early access and discount codes to exclusive merch drops.

ASMRxBABEE: Julia utilizes the tier model for her membership site, offering four tiers of memberships ranging in price from $3 to $11 per month. Each tier provides a different type or quantity of exclusive content as well as discounts on merchandise. She also advertises an annual membership by offering 10% off for opting to pay for a one-year membership instead of month to month. 

Abdallah Smash: Abdallah Smash also utilizes the tier model for exclusive content and discounts as we’ve seen before. However, what he does differently that resonates with followers is directly sharing how and why signing up as a member helps him as a creator. He makes it clear to his followers that platforms like YouTube claim up to 30% of donations or subscription fees to his channel if made directly on their platform, whereas if you sign up as a member on his website, 100% of the money you are paying will be supporting your favorite creator.

Create a Membership Website with Fourthwall

Creating your custom memberships can seem like a daunting task, but Fourthwall provides creators with a simple and efficient way to set up and manage their membership sites. Build recurring revenue, monitor growth and activity, access powerful monetization tools, use their intuitive drag & drop page builders and offer your fans a seamless, secure experience. Sign up today and begin creating exclusive content for your supporters.

Check out some more helpful content about memberships from our blog:

• How YouTubers Can Maximize Revenue with Memberships and Digital Products
• 5 Memberships Strategies from Fourthwall Creators
• Finding the Best Membership Platform for Your Community
• The Power of Customized Memberships
• Memberships for Musicians: Engage Fans with Exclusive Content & Community
• Why Creators Should Switch to Fourthwall for Memberships