I’ve been a member of numerous sites over the years, ranging from small $10 a month sites, to sites charging in excess of $250 per month (you don’t want to know how high I’ve gone).

Here are some things I look for to assess the value of a membership site:

- Many sites have integrated blogs that give members news, commentary, or other information. See how recent the latest blog post is – it shows the owner’s level of engagement with their customers. I joined a membership site today and saw that the last blog post was nearly a YEAR OLD. FAIL. I won’t be a member anymore.

- Lots of these new sites like to stuff their sites with boatloads of training videos. That’s ok, depending on the kind of training the membership site provides. If the information is evergreen and long-lasting, no problem. However, if the information is very time-sensitive, these videos will have a very short useful life. If you see a set of videos that seem to be growing moss in a corner of a membership site that has rapidly changing information, then its time to move on.

- Some membership sites have member discussion forums. Make sure the forum is on-target, well-moderated (trolls and spamsters are neutered), and most importantly – that the owners are frequently VISIBLE and INTERACTING with the members. In many cases the owners/founders talk a good story, then effectively disappear from the site.

- Most important – is the information useful, actionable, timely, and understandable to you?

Lastly, don’t make the mistake of hanging on too long. If the site is not meeting your expectations for whatever reason, CUT THE CORD and leave………you don’t want it becoming a major drag on your time and money.

Mr. P