Listening To My Market & Launching a New Membership Site

We’ve heard a lot of buzz about membership sites over the last year. For awhile it was ‘the’ topic in the internet marketing world, but that’s not why I’m talking about it. I’m not a ”latest thing’ marketer. Actually, I’ve been running membership sites for over five years now.

Today, I’m pleased to launch a new one.

Blog Internship was developed as a direct response to my readers, listeners and mailing list subscribers who have been keenly interested in how I work with my blogging interns at Mom’s Talk Network.

In my internship, I take brand new bloggers and teach them the basics of social networking and successful blogging. Week by week they learn new habits and strategies and put them into practice on my blog network. They get feedback and constructive critique on their writing and blog formatting. They learn how to make relevant, natural affiliate recommendations that help to monetize the content. They give me ten hours a week and in return I give them coaching and access to my learning resources. Basically, it’s a super sized barter agreement. We both give, we both get.

Naturally, I can only accept a small number of interns in each session. This past spring I received hundreds of applications and accepted ten. That left a lot of dissappointed baby bloggers out there – and they where among those who have been asking me if I would ever consider selling access to my intern’s training program.

These requests were interesting, but my first thought was that it wouldn’t work. The lesson plans are great – but the real benefit to my interns is in the group coaching sessions we have each week and the feedback and brainstorming that takes place when we’re communicating about their intern projects.

What’s more interesting to me and what ultimately spurred me into action is that I have been receiving multiple requests from other bloggers as well. Bloggers who did not apply for the internship and who are not interested in spending time working on someone else’s blog. They just want to help doing what my interns do on their own websites.

After chatting with some past interns and a few friends, I realized I could develop a curriculum that provides the best of the internship offered in three levels. I have recorded a special version of the ‘group coaching’ session to go with each week’s lesson plan so that a blogger that wants to go it alone can do so and still get the benefit of my explanation and encouragement. Bloggers who want more help can choose a higher level of membership.

I never would have thought about creating something like this if my market hadn’t asked about it. And sadly, I may have never acted on their requests if there hadn’t been a few who were darned persistent about it.

Are you listening to your people?

Do you regularly ask your readers, listeners and subscribers to talk to you? Sometimes it can be as simple as asking them what they want to know. Or just ending a message with a ‘what do you think?’

Over the years I’ve come to understand and appreciate that my personal mailing list subscribers are a mouthy bunch. They tell me what they think. They encourage me. They ask for what they need.

I can’t always give them what they ask for but I do pay attention. Sometimes the nuttiest requests lead to an amazing new idea. Hopefully, Blog Internship is one of them.