Choosing the right topic for your membership is really important…
Talk about an understatement, right?
Your choice of topic is fundamental to everything you do thereafter.
And it's a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly…
Because if you get it wrong, then you’re starting your membership with a pretty unstable foundation.
So how do you go about choosing the right topic?
Well, there are four key components to consider when deciding whether or not your idea is the right fit for an online membership…
And this is something we recently explored when creating our brand-new Membership Roadmap course that we've just rolled out inside Membership Academy.
Something we're so excited about that we've decided to share a little sneak peak with you…
This blog post is based on content taken from one of the lessons.
So keep reading for a special preview…
What’s your membership even about?
This might seem like a redundant question…
A lot of people who come to memberships know they want to start a fitness membership or a website design membership…
They already come into this process knowing exactly who they want to serve.
However, some people may have two or three potential topics they could start a membership about.
So many membership topic ideas to choose from!
Or they might just know they want to start a membership but aren’t sure on what topic to pick.
Whichever one of those people you are, it's important you pick the topic that fits the membership model – and you – the best.
Don’t just go for whatever’s popular
Whichever topic you do pick, it’s important that you don’t just pick whatever’s popular at the moment.
That’s how it was back in the early days of the internet…
It was a sort of gold rush where people just jumped on whatever was the hot thing at the time, throw a few web pages together, and they would sit back and wait for the cash to roll in…
The problem with this approach is that it just doesn’t work in the modern world of online memberships.
You can't just pick a hot topic and then be assured that your membership will be a success…
That's just not how it works.
To really succeed, your topic should be one where you have a degree of expertise and experience.
Which leads us nicely on to our next point…
Pick something you’re an expert or have some experience in
Most online memberships will involve you tapping into your knowledge, skills, and experience to help someone on their journey to achieve a specific goal, result or outcome…
So your topic should be one in which you have a proven track record…
Now, that doesn’t mean you have to be at the absolute top of your industry before starting a membership…
But you need to know what you’re talking about…
You need knowledge that you can give to others.
Be like Moira Rose…
If you don’t have that knowledge and experience…
Then ideally need to partner with someone who does.
Another way around it if you’re not an expert is to act as a host…
In this case, you’d bring in some guest experts to do the teaching…
Even then you’d ideally have a base level of knowledge on the topic.
Without someone’s experience, you’ll be looking at an uphill battle…
And it’ll be much harder to get potential members to trust you to help them.
Make your membership topic evergreen
A great membership topic is also evergreen…
In other words, it needs to stay relevant over the long term…
It’s a topic that doesn’t become outdated or outlive its usefulness.
This means two things:
1. Your topic should address a long-term need
So, a membership that helps people pass a driving test might sound like a nice idea…
But once the member has passed their driving test, they won’t really need to be a member anymore…
Because this is a membership topic that has a natural ‘end date'…
There’s no longevity to it…
And it outlives its usefulness.
2. It needs to have longevity as a subject
It should also be a topic that’s not just a fad or a flash in the pan…
Do you remember that time in 2017 when everyone was obsessed with fidget spinners?
Maybe you managed to erase it from your memory…
But I would bet money that at least one person out there created a fidget spinner membership…
I also bet it's not around anymore!
Your topic needs to fill you with enthusiasm
Memberships are a long-term game.
If you are successful, you’ll likely be doing this for years to come.
That means you really need to love this topic.
Your membership topic needs to bring you joy…
You need to be happy to eat, sleep and breathe this subject…
Creating content around it…
Engage with a community about it day in and day out…
And teach people about this topic for the next five, ten, or more years.
If that sounds like absolute hell to you..
Perhaps the idea you’ve got isn’t right for you!
You need a real passion for your topic.
As Confucius said, “If you choose a job you love, you'll never have to work a day in your life.”
What if your membership doesn’t tick all of the boxes?
Of course your membership topic doesn't need to tick all of the boxes I've outlined above…
But what if you have a membership idea that you love, but it doesn’t tick any?
Then a rethink is definitely in order.
At a basic level your topic should have these four ingredients:
- It should be one you have expertise in
- You have experience in it
- The subject matter should be evergreen
- It should fill you with enthusiasm
On top of these are a few things that can help you decide if this is the right choice for you if you're struggling to choose what to focus on…
One is that you’re already creating content on your topic…
Whether it's publishing a blog or a podcast or creating YouTube videos…
Whatever it is…
You’re already getting used to producing content and getting it out there…
This gives you a head start because you already have a body of work out in the public realm to demonstrate your expertise.
Another thing is to have an existing following (ideally from the content you’re already creating).
You don’t necessarily need thousands of subscribers…
If you've followed us for a while, you'll know that we're big fans of the 1000 True Fans principle…
It doesn't even need to be 1000…
But some interest in the form of email subscribers is a great place to start.
This also helps you assess the market need for your type of content.
Another thing to think about is how specific your topic is…
A lot of people are scared to niche down.
But if you don’t, it can be a lot harder to sell the idea to people.
Being specific lets you target specific people with specific problems, rather than trying to capture everyone.
The chances are you already have an idea of what your topic is going to be…
Hopefully, after reading this post, you've been able to really crystalize those key attributes that make for a great membership idea…
It’s not about jumping on the hot new trend or picking whatever makes the most money…
It’s about really thinking through what you bring to the table, the opportunities that exist…
And the long-term plan of your membership…
A lot of content from this blog has been taken from our recently revamped Membership Roadmap.
Which is the ultimate course for starting and launching a membership business.
So if you're thinking of starting a new membership site…
Or if you want to re-evaluate the membership you already have from the ground up to ensure you have everything in place…
Then the Membership Roadmap course is essential.
Remember, you need to be a member of Membership Academy to access it, so if you’re not already, you can sign up here.
