What Membership Software Do You Use?
Do you run a membership site?
What software, plugins, and payment processors do you use for it?
I just setup a real recurring membership site. No more of this password protected blog stuff. I used aMember and WordPress, with Clickbank as the payment processor.
I was really surprised how many plugins are available for this stuff now. Even a year or two ago, you had to modify code and do custom scripting... "duct taping" the scripts together. Now you just install some plugins.
Pretty freaking cool!
I used a blog because I wanted to stockpile a bunch of content up. aMember has the most support (I'm a member of Membership Academy so that helps.)
And Clickbank? If you read my Membership Sites on Crack report, you'd know why I chose Clickbank. Affiliates (60% commission on a recurring product) plus the escape plan. If I can get enough content piled into that membership site so that I have a year's worth of content in advance, you better believe I'm selling it off.
Do you run a membership site? What software do you use to run it? Membergate, aMember, Visiongate? What processor... PayPal, Authorize.net, Clickbank, PayDotCom, 1ShoppingCart? How do you like it?
Please, show off the sales letter to your membership site as well since those can be tricky...
Filed in: Product Launches
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Just starting with Simplweb – Brian Clark fan.
And will definitely start with PayPal, only because it is easy from where I’m located – France
Hi Robert,
I use aMember on one of my sites, but my preferred choice these days is Robert Puddy’s Launch Formula Marketing. It’s a simple install, easy to set up and allows a lot of flexibility.
John
I have looked into this and really like the looks of wpwishlist.com
Its cheaper than amember and has alot of features, the ones I want in a membership script. Unless I find something more comprehensive for the pricer or less, I think I’m going with it soon. As soon as I purchase though there will be something better, probably free too.
Hey Robert,
For me, nothing beats the power and flexibility of FANTASOS.
It totally rocks, and just gets better with every update, which is pretty frequent!
Cheers
Richelo
It depends on what kind of membership you are setting up. I tried WP for one site that was geared towards newbies and they couldn’t figure out where to go once inside the WP set-up – it can be a bit confusing as the layout is not the typical membership site layout. And if you want a community with the membership, it is not the best.
I like Puddys LFM system – although the docs don’t exactly match the current version of the software, and the forum seems like a ghost town. It is a bit difficult to get any support but once you get it running it is good – drip feeds the content etc.
I am playing around with Hodgkinson’s script now (Instant Membership?) and it seems a bit easier to add content than LFM, but otherwise about the same.
Don’t have a live one to show at the moment – sold the big one, Womensnet in August, took a break, and just getting 2 more ramped up now – but they are geared more towards the ‘join free’ community model using Boonex Dolphin. Which is also a nice moneymaker and list builder with the right niche…and they don’t expect anything!! It’s the PlentyOfFish model in other niches 😉
Melody
Hey Robert,
I used to just run a customer aweber sub list and an unsecured “hard to guess” member area.
that’s how i ran my membership site for over a year.
payment processor has always been clickbank recurring billing.
Now i use a sweet blend I created of aweber, wordpress and clickbank.
basically what happens is people pay through clickbank, land on a registration page, that registration page submits customer data to aweber, which is the forewarded and autosubmitted into my “members only” wordpress blog.
and i was even able to add in an OTO…when people login the first time they’ll see a cookie based OTO.
the only “down side” is that it doesn’t automatically remove access to people who cancel…so i just do that once in a while when i get bored…gotta get a smart developer to make a clickbank/wordpress IPN script (hint hint)
my site is: http://easytechvideos.com
sales letter is at: http://easytechvideos.com/thankyou-ch.html
let me know if you’re interested and i’ll do a video showing my membership process and some various other neat features i’ve made…ie: reseller program capability, etc.
sincerely,
–Corey Lewis
A PHP wiz like you could make even the crappiest membership software work well, I think. The problem with most membership software is either:
a) Costs too much
b) Takes too long to install
c) Can take a while for a return on investment
d) Requires level of sophistication to customize
e) Majority require Linux box
f) Key features are often locked
g) Software is locked to a single domain
Your combination is good for you and your skills, but for me I went with Easy Member Pro. It works on Windows servers which is a must for me, has open code, and may be used on as many domains as you like. The interface is kick ass, too. Good support, too.
My only problem is I am still dependent upon somebody else (or the software vendor) to set it all up for me. I am MYSQL and PHP illiterate.
I recommend SubHub – http://www.subhub.com
They pretty much offer a full membership/subscription solution, with content management, e-commerce, stats and anything else you could think of.
Went for the free 7 day trial, which convinced me. $97 a month, incl hosting, management and templates…
Right now I’m working on a launch using launchformulamarketing, LFM, as a membership / sales vehicle and paypal for payment.
I find LFM quite difficult since I am very much not a techie!
I am very interested in using the combo you’re using robert – wordpress / amember / clickbank and I’ll be interested in hearing how you’re doing with it.
🙂
Alex
I haven’t set one up yet so this thread will be helpful for sure. I have Marvin Haycock’s Viral Mini Sites software which is perfect for the set-n-go membership sites.
After wrapping up a couple of projects that are in front of me then I’ll get that one set up and I hope to learn a lot from this thread so for everyone to come please “spill your guts” on the ups and downs.
One project that moved up my list now thanks to Robert’s Instant E-course script will be my first shot at any kind of membership site. So I’ve got to go and tackle my to do list.
Regards,
D Dean Hall
The Marketing Gentleman
Clickbank? Dude, Authorize.net CIM is the way to go. Sure, you need to set up a merchant and bank acct, but in the long run, you save 7% of every sale. 8%!! Clickbank charges over 9% per sale for recurring products (plus $1).
Here’s a little ultra-secret trick: once you have your own promotions in order and are selling with a good conversion rate, put the same sales page on a different domain, create a new product with Amember, enabling only Clickbank as the payment option and viola! You’re selling on Clickbank, too and you can now take advantage of their affiliate base. (there’s a little more to this, email me if you’re REALLY interested).
Anyway, I do want to know (sent you an email)… can you use your action popup script more than once on the same page (for different applications)? My first glance says no, but I want to see if you have any ideas. It’s such a versatile script it’s a shame to only use it once on a page.
Hey Robert, i just opened a membership site for daytraders and am using aMember, a customized WordPress theme and 1shoppingcart. I didn’t even consider Clickbank. Didn’t know they offered a shopping cart.
So far we really like the combo along with using aweber for email campaigns. We use a hidepost plugin to protect premium content. A non-member can see the intro material but they are asked to login to see the rest of it. works well for us.
Trader Rick
efuturevision.com
I own LFM and Butterfly Marketing, plus tons of different WordPress solutions.
However I need specific features, plus a developer actively involved and who listens to customers and iterates product changes quickly.
Security, flexibility etc were vital, as were timely updates, such as already supporting wp2.7
Thus I went with Your Member from http://newmedias.co.uk
Clickbank integration is currently in beta, as are other geeky things like First Click Free.
It was also the first WordPress solution to provide private feeds.
How many scripts that claim Clickbank integration are looking to also support cancellations using the API?
How many membership site solution publishers have even heard of first click free, let alone understand the implications.
Tim also has a solution to prevent sharing of passwords that works with most membership site software, a major problem for many high end products.
Hey Robert!
I think you’ve made great choices and you know it :~)
For http://www.InstantSoftwareProfits.com we use Amember & PayPal
For http://www.NicheReviewTemplates.com we use Amember & Clickbank
I must say I’ve had more trouble out of Clickbank with the order being process correctly…
I don’t think the intergration between Clickbank and Amember is as smooth as PayPal and Amember…
I’ve just opened a Authorize.net account and I’ll be using that with our own affiliate program for our next
membership site…
You’re a programming genius though, so whatever you do will work fine…
See ya!
Bobby
I think you mad a good choice, amember is the best combination for clickbank.
But I guess there is a ton of GOOD membeship software out there:
LFM
RAP
Wishlistmember
there is even a free paypal plugin to create a membership site with WP.
I mean you could use .htaccess to protect a folder or deliver by email with Aweber.
The software itself isn’t that important. What’s really important is to TAKE ACTION and do it.
Congratulations for your constant and successful projects you are a great example of ACTION TAKING and Consistence too.
Cheers,
Richard
Hi Robert,
I don’t have a membership site, as of yet, but keep us posted on how it works out.
I haven’t progressed to that point yet, so I am very keen on learning all I can.
Regards
Alan
Hi Robert,
I use Amember and PayPal. It was very ‘techy’ to get running, luckily my husband could do that stuff – no way I’d have sorted out the bugs…
By a quick look, my membership site is the most unusual one here – it is about diapers! Using less of them, anyway…
Looks like most folks are running fancy e-commerce related sites.
I’m wondering – I haven’t come across membership sites in general browsing, are there directories of them somewhere? Like, where I could search for membership sites on my interests and go and check them out for comparison before joining?
Charndra
Hi Robert,
I actually use two different membership scripts, one is Viral Minisites by Marvin Haycock: http://stepbysteptoriches.com/getvms/
And my more recent acquisition is from Simon H – and it’s called “Instant Member” which is loaded with features and all upgrades are free: http://instant-member.com
My problem is deciding WHAT to put IN my membership sites… which I know sounds really dumb, but it seems like there’s a membership for everything already – but that is probably the worst reason on earth for not setting one up after buying the scripts and installing them.
Where do you find all your time and energy? Perhaps it’s your youth, but I somehow think that you really know how to laser-focus – can you tell us HOW you do that?
Joyous Holidays to all,
Donna
Go with SMC Passport membership platform.
You can make it a full paid membership or instead, the best thing to do, is set up specialty groups inside of your membership site that you charge a membership fee for entrance and/or either set up events in your membership site that you sell admission and/or memberships to.
You can use any payment processor with the system.
I quit using blogs (WP). They were really only good for SEO. But I found better ways to get traffic back from the search engines.
I’m partial to SMC Passport, as I’m the developer.
http://SMCpassport.com/special
You don’t have to install anything. It’s your own domain. There are no SMC Passport trademarks. You never have to worry about upgrades (it’s all done for you). Easy to customize. There are no (at this time) extra charges for any modules, etc.. And it’s very affordable at the moment. You monetize it all that you want.
Robert, you’ll see on the page that I should be using one of your calls in the countdown box.
If I can help, let me know.
Charndra:
…too…much…information…
🙂
Seriously, I don’t even want think about how much I have spent on diapers for my kids!
As for your question:
You’ll likely need to try some different search terms, like:
“your subject” membership
Hi Robert,
I’ve bought and tried a few membership scripts and most of them have always seemed too much hard work.
Now I’m using Instant Member from Simon Hodgkinson
my first site is http://blogsitebuilder.net
I have a couple more ready to launch shortly. I find Instant Member pretty reasonable. It’s a bit like a simpler, working version of CMSI (Memberspeed), which I personally found a complete mess.
aMember always seemed a bit, how shall I put this, ‘clinical’. I did set a simple site up with DLGuard, which works great, but I never got round to doing anything with the site.
Payment processor is Paypal because I just never got round to doing anything with Clickbank, or 2Checkout. Paypal works fine for me, but I do get the sense I may be missing out a little by sticking to it exclusively.
Amin
I use Launch Formula Marketing. Excellent piece of software, powerful, flexible and does the job. I’ve tried a few others and found this the easiest to use.
On do have Amember installed on a couple of sites, though don’t find it as “noddy” as LFM.
Cheers
Jason
Actually as I learned RAP *could* integrate with CB but cannot as of now without an extra add on script (of which one has not been created yet for CB).
Best,
Justin
http://www.IMPressReleaseGenerator.com
locked area lite- its free -no monthly fee, guys, continually updated
xsite pro- for website – awesome for newbies like me and sophisticated techies too, way powerful.
paydotcom/paypal- pay the fees, its worth it, the two are totally integrated – no need for all that paypal IPN garbage.
this combo is too easy for words. did many, many months of research through all the schlock peddlers.
bUt, now, you gotta look at jeremy and simon’s (good guys) whole hog solution, membership millionaire software for $97/month. it does everything. developed by the genius pros at SK tech.
i am really thinking about switching.
another thought for newbies like me and these wacky member scripts.
first one i saw was locked area lite about 3 years ago. but i was just starting to research, but came back to it in the end.
installing was a bit easier than i thought with the help of an old louis allport on making a secure membership site.
i think you can get it at jeremy’s surefirewealth site for free… lots of great stuff there and a good share of schlocky stuff too
free advice about anything internet- keep it simple, low cost, test it, then test some more, after enough testing then you should really test again. why? well, you can’t think of everything. 🙂
roan
“Instant Member” from Simon Hodgkingson is the best, and I’ve tried them all. Simple to use and all inclusive (CMS, Admin, payment, etc.) Also has drip where you can schedule successive content for each new member who joins.
Saves doing the work with each individual program like amember, paypal, and a cms like joomla for instance. Instant Member is simple!
Second choice is Kim Standerline’s Easy Member Pro (she has a half-prioce offer on Warrior forum running on this now).
Hi Robert,
Think I’d better get my http://enterpriseinternetsystem.com up and running.
It’s PHP software and it does everthing – using it myself on http://rapidnicheblog.com
Working well 🙂
Regards
Kevin Brown
This is one area that you do seem to really get what you pay for.
I have two Membergate sites – both have been up a couple of years now running several hundred members.
Yes, the up-front cost was more – in the low thousands, but that was paid off in the first few months of membership site revenues and now I have a powerful, secure, SEO optimized, highly flexible CMS and Membership site that is growing with my business.
And yes, I can sell it off at any time…not that I have that intent, at least not in 2009 anyway.
Jeff
You did good Robert.
I’m using Easy Member Pro on http://www.PrivateNicheEmpire.com and while it is my best membership site I do not like Easy Member Pro nearly as well as Amember that I used on http://www.TerrificNames.com because it is not nearly as robust.
Amember may be a little more complicated and more difficult to install but the extra features are worth the extra trouble.
Warmest regards,
Ellery
Hi Robert,
I am using derrick vandyke http://www.Thesurefireprofitsystem.com It is still in the preluanch phase and I have been using it for a few months.
It is easy to setup and it is an all in one solution.
Yes I will surely recommend you thesurefireprofitsystem
I use amember + wordpress + paypal. Initially amember was tricky to set up, once you get it done, it’s a breeze. Now I’m considering switching to amember + wordpress + clickbank so that it’s easier to get affiliates.
I run a number of membership sites and like a couple of the comments above. Fantasos is king. Thanks John D.
JVManager then Fantasos rock solid, central management.
Add a new membership site in a flash on any domain anywhere. All controlled from one place.
for quick and easy memberfire works well.
I am building some instant membership sites for people with memberfire right now.
cheers.
Eric, I completely agree with you! 🙂 Fantasos is King!
I use Fantasos + Paypal for my site http://www.QuickProfitVideos.com and planning to use Fantasos for all my sites.
Initially it seemed like a very confusing piece of script to me, and that’s what kept me away from using it. But, when I decided to use it, I found it to be very easy. The reason why I like it is because it has really powerful feature. You can use this one script for different types of needs and need not limit it only for membership sites.
The best thing is it allows you to centralize your online marketing.
yes Amar, it has a bit higher learning curve that is for sure. I remember reading a comment from John along the lines of….
“dont just think about the one or two sites you have. What happens when you have 50 sales pages and 10 memberships. How do you manage that. Central control is the key.” I didnt think I would have 50 sales pages but I have many more than that. LOL.
Now at http://instant.membership-sites.net I am creating memberships for others….
Something else to consider. I had an issue and had a server rebuilt. you can setup your members areas again, and tell Fantasos to refresh them.
All member accounts are reattached. Cool.
Hey guys,
Stop bloody pitching your stupid crap sites! (Even in the most indirect manner.) If you have a resource link or an example of a membership site, it’s alright.
But when you keep putting up your shit, it’s very obvious that you’re trying to promote your shit, that’s annoying.
Go spend some money to buy traffic to your sites if you promote it rather than messing up the conversation here. This is a blog, not a classified section for crap.
Hi Robert,
I use Robert Puddys LFM and Paypal. The only thing lacking as others have said is aftersales support via the forum, Puddy should be ashamed.
Version three launches in the new year though so hopefully things will change.
LFM also works with Clickbank.
The drip feed content part of the script really is a winner though. Just set it all up, tell it when to make it visible and hey presto a hands free membership site.
Haven’t put any links cos I don’t want Mike shouting at me!
Cheers,
Richard
Hi Robert,
If you talk of membership softwares only, then there are a number of good options; and aMember is definately a good choice on many counts, including the superb (A+) support qualities of the developer.
This said, anyone full time into IM should have multiple profit lines and should have one script that will handle all business sites, not just one or two membership sites. I played with butterfly in the begining and then a few others including MemberSpeed, and was happy with my finds… until I stumbled on Fantasos 😉
I have taken to Fantasos about a year back and although it made me mad at times (and lot of times)- now that I have successfully set my first product, I am glad that I made the best choice.
Why I call it the BEST choice?
Consider the basic structure of the script as to:
1. How it will evolve (vertically and horizontally) as your business and the technology evolves. This can be easily found out by examining the level of genius, commitment and ethical values of the designer-developer of the script. Why is this important? You don’t want to be involved in shifting from one script to another year after year because your needs have evolved over the period and because the earlier scripts have fulfilled their existing capabilities.
2. How it interacts and integrates with other, third party scripts. You may at times need to communicate your existing database with/into another script, and there should be a provision to do this easily.
3. How it will provide unfathomable opportunities to replicate itself to play a fortune maker at the hands of the owner: this is something that only fantasos owners can understand best; but again as I say, its not easy ….in the begining.
In my over 2 years association with JD’s sites and products, I have seen how much he is committed to continuous development of his products, and Fantasos is the pristine example of the same. Of course I cannot forget to I add that I find him unfathomingly genius and ethical.
In my opinion Fantasos is not meant for those in a hurry, but for those who have a long term comprehensive vision of where their business may take them, and are prepared to work harder now and enjoy “easy” “centralised” control for ever than to go easy now and be in mess once your business/es is/are on roll.
Hope this helps.
Here here Ashish,
Another vote for the Fantasos club. 🙂
Mike your comments seem a little over the top. The links are related to the topic, I personally checked out many of the sites referenced just to see what people are up to.
Hey you don’t have to follow the links.
Cheers.
I have two licenses of http://MemberGateSoftware.com. One runs PilotWorkshops.com and one is for http://QuickieProfits.com.
I chose MG because it is a full-featured system with everything I needed built right in. I didn’t have to install extra scripts, mix several systems, etc.
It integrates with authorize.net and my merchant account.
To me, it’s important to have single source responsibility so that if something goes wrong, there is one company to support it and not the finger-pointing that often happens. Support at MG is superb.
MG has been around for years, is a full-time venture with multiple support employees, and is now about to release Version 7. Major companies like GM use it.
It has content management, affiliate program, shop cart, forum, multimedia, multiple membership models and pricing, etc. A big bonus is MG is extremely SEO friendly, bringing me lots of long-tail search engine traffic.
For small or quick sites, it is not appropriate because it does cost more up front. But if you are planning a membership site with a long term outlook, I think it should be on your short list.
Jeff Mulligan
I use Robert Puddys LFM (see the review at: http://www.workathomeonlinebusiness.com/robert-puddy-launch-formula-marketing-review.php )and highly recommends it to anybody.
Looking forward for the latest update.
To your success,
Sam O
Since no one mentioned anything but *nix stuff that I could see. Here’s the one I use for Windows servers.
ASP.NET 2.0, and an MS SQL database required.
DotNetNuke: http://www.dotnetnuke.com/
Currently v5, sites at v3 were supporting up to 100,000 members.
Plenty of free modules/plugins available.
Plenty of paid ones too: http://www.snowcovered.com/
Most expensive module I’ve seen was a complete SCORM package (online training standards) for $10K.
Configuration is completely wizard and template driven.
Completely skinnable
Built in scheduler.
I set up a membership site at http://realtorsonwordpress.com using Tim Nash’s “Your Member” which I found to be terrific and it has some pretty clean and easy admin functions too.
My site is yet to fire up and in fact I may even trash or morph the membership idea but… the plugin works great in WP2.7,..got it set up to work with Paypal wonderfully.
I’ve set up some protected posts/pages/partial posts and got different membership levels set up too as well as free and expiring trial. It was easy to work with and so far haven’t found any glitches.
The only negative at this stage is the limitation on integrated payment gateways.
For a flat fee of $49 I couldn’t find better value.( and I looked at quite a lot first)