This post is less marketing and more comments to save you time and hassle if you are considering launching a membership site.

When I launched the Virtual Buzz Assistant Network, I knew I would use a WordPress Blog for the marketing front end.  WordPress is too powerful as a marketing tool, and I do not know of anything that compares to it.

However, to manage my community I wanted really good membership management software.  I wanted to keep the cost low because I did not know how the community would grow.  So I started playing with open-source solutions for membership sites/learning sites.

#1 Moodle – I liked Moodle, but I was putting in a lot of hours to customize it.  Also, there were a lot of features but I was not sure what features would ultimately matter to the members.

#2 Ning – To simplify things, I set up a version two of the network on Ning.  While setup was easy, it was hard to customize elements and was not easy to lay out training materials.  It was far more of a community-only kind of portale.

#3 DontNetNuke – Initially I really liked DotNetNuke because it was easy to set up, had powerful features and could be customized.  I bought a nice template and relaunched the membership site in DotNetNuke, only to find that the next version of the browsers was doing funny things with the layout and most people were not using many of the features in there anyway.

#4 Litmus – I experiemented with Litmus, but decided against it because of the higher cost of ownership and the lack of community features, such as a message board.  (Athough they are adding that feature)

#5 WordPress - I found myself coming full circle to appreciate just how powerful wordpress is for hosting a community site.  I added a message board plugin and a membership management plugin and now have a site that I am much more happy with.  It is steam-lines and easy to update.  It has fewer features, but I found from those past experiences that those features do not get used anyway.

Now that I have a great template and understanding of how to use WordPress for a members site, I am thrilled with the possibilities.  If you are thinking about launching a membership site, I hope this summary helps you avoid the many months of research and experimenting I needed to go through so that I could finally realize the obvious.

To make the whole thing easy, use WP-Wishlist.

In some ways, this post is a “Most Embarrasing Moments” post.  You come here because I am a marketing expert, but the only way this post if effective is if I am willing to write about my failures.

How to Avoid Costly Marketing Mistakes

#1 Have a Maketing Plan

I do not mean a big plan, but I do mean a clear plan.  If you do not know what you are trying to achieve, you will not know what marketing is working.

#2 Don’t Buy Marketing that Finds You

I dabble with new things occasionally.  But I have NEVER made money when marketing found me instead of the other way around.  For example, I had someone cold call me and offer to sell me ad space in Sky Magazine.  Originally he wanted $2,500.  I told him if he had any remainder space I would pay $500.  He ended up having the remainder space so I gave it a try.  Result?  Book sales dropped that month because money was diverted from the strategy to a random ad that people could not take action on.

Another example is Northwest Publishing.  A salesman walked into our office and talked us into an ad that would appear in a bunch of restaurants.  We decided to try it for one of our clients.  The end result was that the company is fraudulant, traps you into a contract and does not run the ad you send to them (3 times, because they kept losing it.)  If I did the research, I would have seen that they do not have a website and go by a variety of names including, Table Topics, Northwest Publishing and The Trivia Pages.  Lots of smoke and mirrors to get money.  The sales guy was good, though.

The news here is that I was smart enough to hedge my bets and only pay what I could afford to lose.  But the reality is that when marketing finds me and not the other way around, it is always a loss.  Never let the marketing find you.

#3 Decide what you want and go find it

If you have a good marketing plan, you know the audiences you are trying to reach.  Then you start researching and finding the best places to reach those people.  It could be Sky Magazine or an ad on a blog, but the point is that you are going to be much more successful with marketing if you chose the marketing and the marketing does not chose you.

Related articles

• How to Plan a Complete Internet Marketing Campaign – an Advanced Overview
• Internet Marketing Plan-A Blueprint to Your Success

More than 10 years ago I began doing internet marketing.  Not like those crazy guru internet marketers that blast you with affiliate links and offers all the time, although I would probably be more wealthy today had I went that route.  Instead, it was 10 years ago I started helping companies build websites, publish eMagazines, and built audiences on the internet.

I am telling you this for a couple of reasons.  I am going to tell you a secret that will change the way you think about internet marketing, whether you are selling internet marketing services or looking to get internet marketing results.

The internet marketing secret is: To do internet market right, you have to continually do it and add to it and keep up with technology.  And you need a lot of hours or money to do it well.

The good news is that you can start small and grow your internet marketing effort over time.  But you need to have realistic expectations.  Starting small probably means getting small results.  You have to be disciplined and keep doing it.

Now you may wonder why I am telling you it is expensive and time consuming.  I am not doing a very good job of selling internet marketing services, am I?

Well, ten years ago when we started doing Internet Marketing, we were thrilled when we got our first client willing to spend $500 per month with us to do Internet Marketing.  Of course, we were fairly new at it and we tried everything to see what worked.  Eventually, he saw he was not going to get the marketing cost back each month in sales – he was selling a book -  and we lost the account.

What I learned from that is that Internet Marketing is hard if you are starting from scratch.  And while $500 may seem like a lot to some people, it is usually not nearly enough to make an impact.

How to get Internet Marketing Results

I am going to list the ways that you can get real internet marketing results.  You have a lot of options, but if you are looking for a quick, easy and cheap fix, it is not in the list.

#1 DIY Internet Marketing

You can do it all yourself.  However, there is a catch.  You have to have an automated business that is profitable and runs itself with little effort from you.  Why?  Because internet marketing is now your full time job.  You also should have some good money coming in, because to get good results you will need to do training courses, attend workshops and buy lots of books. Plus you will loose money experimenting with tool and advertising until you get your techniques down.

#2 Outsource Internet Marketing Tasks

If you have the time and desire to do strategy and management, but do not want to spend your days writing blog posts, doing keyword research and hanging out in social media sites, then you need to craft your strategy, identify your high value tasks and hire a team of Virtual Assistants to help you.

The mistake someone makes here is thinking one person working ten hours a month is going to make a big fast difference.  Remember what I said earlier, Internet Marketing gets results when you make a big effort.  I love the virtual assistant route, but you need a good plan, patience to find the right virtual assistants and to built a team that work on your behalf.

#3 Hire a Full Time Internet Marketing Employee

Certainly hiring and training a full time internet marketing employee is a great option for some people.  Just be sure that you document everything (right, I have never seen this happen) and cross train people.  The problem with hiring a full time internet marketer is that as soon as they get good at their job, they have the skills to go out and make a lot of money for themselves.  So there is a good chance that once you get them where you want them, you will lose them.

#4 Hiring a Professional Internet Marketer

When you hire a professional internet marketer, you are paying a lot more.  But don’t feel like you are getting a bad deal because of the cost.  If they are any good at their profession, they have spent MANY hours researching, learning and experimenting with internet marketing.  Trust me, I spend most of my day doing non-billable internet marketing activities to learn and increase my own income.  When I am billable, you are paying for the experience, not just the hours.

Remember that internet marketing secret?

Remember that unfortunate internet marketing secret?  It is not fast and cheap, despite the hype you read from people trying to sell you things.  It is going to either be someone’s full time job or you are going to have to assemble a team or hire someone that can do the full time job in less time (but at a higher rate).

The good news about Internet Marketing is that it grows and builds on itself and gets stronger when done well.  An advertisement starts at zero every month and you hope to get ROI.  An email list just keeps getting more powerful for you.  A blog will keep getting more search engine traffic if you work on it.  You can keep modifying your adwords and landing pages to increase profits until you get the perfect formula.

Internet Marketing has the best long term ROI, but getting from here to there is no easy task.  And it is definitely not something you buy once and forget about.

So you have some time to come and read a blog?  How about I give you a quick marketing to do list.

Your Quick Marketing To Do List

1. Leave a comment on this blog and at least one other – and be sure it links back to your site.
2. Email 3 people you have not talked to for at least 3 months to touch base.
3. Post a message with a link on twitter.
4. Add a friend to facebook
5. Add a connection to LinkedIn
6. StumbleUpon 3 Things Not Yours, and one thing yours  (Maybe this blog, hint hint)
7. Sign up for the free Buzz Marketing course if you have not already done so.
8. Set up a blog and start publishing.

Hmmm, ok that last one will not be quick if you have never done it before.

Why not develop a quick marketing to do list that you will do every week at the same time.  This is exactly the kind of thing we do with virtual buzz assistants.  They develop a list of quick online marketing activities that help you keep your profile high and they do the activities for you.

Then you can evolve this group of marketing activities into a social media marketing plan once you start measuring the results.

Litmos is a training system that for many of you will be a warm, happy relief.  It is funny that no one has done a good job of this in the past, considering how many people are out there trying to build training and learning programs. I have used Moodle and other options to build training systems, and they just have too many options and take forever to customize and make your own.

Here are the key reasons I really like Litmos, and the things I would like to see them add as well.

1. I love simplicity.  You will be building a course in minutes.
2. I love low cost of entry.  Because they are charging $3 per user, you know how much it will cost whether you are doing small audience or large.
3. They charge per ACTIVE user.  So having users in there that never log in do not cost you anything.
4. Litmus has a great, easy interface.
5. Litmus has the option to host big video files (small $ amount more per month)
6. Nice assessments.
7. Incredible support and involvement – they have been emailing me to ask how I like it, what I would like to see added, etc.  They have even made a couple of changes based on my recommendations.

My Litmos Wishlist

Of course, there is a fine line between simple and having everything I would like to see.  Here is my wish list for things that would take it from good to perfect (for me.)

1. API to log in from another location.  Right now user management has to be done from the Litmos system and users must log in there.  I find it hard to build a community of users if they have a bunch of different logins.
2. Messages – It would be great if they built in a message board or at least messaging on each learning module.  Currently it is a one way street.  I think something as simple as leaving comments on modules would work – and it can be turned on or off based on the module setting.
3. Audio Uploads – I know this will be there soon, but currently you can upload Powerpoint, Flash, Video but not an audio as a module.  They did say it will be there soon.  You can currently upload audio as a resource, but not as a module in the course.
4. Ability to sell my course directly via Litmos – It would be wonderful if they would let me set the price of my course and sell it within their catalog.  Then I could create couses and promote them, and they would get $3 from each person that takes the course, and I would get the difference on what I am charging.  That would save a huge amount of work for me.

Long ago I accepted the fact that one application is not going to appear and integrate everything that I could ever want.  Instead, if you find a tool that is simple and takes minimal effort to add users into, then you have a winner.  Litmos is a winner, and I am confident that it will continue to get better.

Hopefully by now you are getting some visibility as an expert in your industry via your blog and other web resources.

One of my favorite things to do is be a part of someone else’s efforts.  This gets easier as all the other visibility stuff kicks in.

For example, I was invited to submit a contribution to an eBook on growing your business in a recession.

The author made it easy by asking specific questions so that I could hone my message and spend minimal time contributing.  He gets free content, I get buzz, plus he is allowing affiliates to get 65% of the sale.

Note a bad deal for me since it only took a few hours to think about the issues and write my portion.  And since this has gotten rave reviews from business owners, it is selling well and I am getting buzz and visibility.

So how can you do the same thing?  Here are several ways.

• Write a testimonial for something you like and send it to the company or person.
• Write a guest post on someones blog.
• Contribute to an ebook
• Contribute to a book
• Participate in a case study

When I get a testimonial, I love to promote it and the people that give it.  It really is a win/win.

This comes down to asking one simple question:  How can I encourage other people to market me?

It is easier than you think.

I am copying over my article from the Virtual Buzz Assistant Blog.  You might want to follow the link for two reasons -

#1 – If you or someone you know is thinking about starting a business, that Free Business Launchpad eBook will help.

#2 – To download the eBook, you sign up for an email tip list on creative ways to use virtual assistants to enhance your Buzz Marketing.  Now all the visitors here should be interested in THAT.

30 Day Virtual Assistant Business Launch Pad

Thinking about launching a Virtual Assistant Business?

I started out writing this eBook as a members-only kind of resource.  Then I realized it could be very valuable to anyone starting any kind of home-based or small business.

People were getting lost in what seems like overwhelming issues, so we lay it out day by day and make it easy to move from idea to income in 30 days.

We are giving it away.  Click here to get your copy.

Since we have launched several ventures, we know the basic stuff you need to get in place, and how important it is to focus on generating revenue quickly.  If you are thinking about starting a business or are trying to figure out what things need done for a business you recently started, this resource is for you.

Because online marketing is newer than other forms of marketing, it is easy to think of them as two different worlds.  However, if you think of business being about relationships and providing value, that barrier breaks down right away.

The question is not whether online will work for you.  The very legitimate question is, Do you have the time and inclination to use online tools to extend what you are doing?

I do not do direct mail.  I don’t want to, and while I may be losing out on some clients, I do not care because I do not believe in direct mail as an effective marketing tool in most cases.

For many business owners, they have a website, but they do not believe in internet marketing.  That is fine as well.  It is your choice, and it is less about whether it works or not, and more about your inclination to try to do it right.

Something that is often lost is that online extends off-line.  Here are some ideas on how to use your real-world marketing and online marketing to form a great marketing alliance.

1. Speech Teaser – When you give a speech, mention the limited time but let the audience know where to go on your website to find a video of 5 more secret tips.  Ideally it is after they sign up for the newsletter.
2. Direct Mail – Go to the website and sign in to get your secret discount code – or to see if you have won a prize.
3. Brochure – Expand your paper brochure with a website address that has video of your product, service, etc.
4. Business Card – Don’t just list your main website.  List your blog or other resources.  Use the back of your business card to add value.
5. Networking – When you have a chance to meet people and work with people, use sites like LinkedIn to connect and leave testimonials and endorsements.
6. Cold Calling – When you call someone and they are interested in your offer, get their email and send them a link or two to video or resources that will interest them but not be too sales oriented.
7. Print – Always have ways to get more information by visiting the website.  I recently saw a whole proposal done as a public blog to demonstrate the companies commitment to social media.
8. Advertising – No matter what your advertising, they should be able to explore the topic more by going online.

If you are doing all of these things, you could say that you are doing Internet Marketing, you could say you are doing traditional marketing, or you could just say you are a damn fine marketer.

It is easy to get caught up in all the social media tasks that you have.  If you are successful, your list of tasks keeps growing every day.

What are 10 things you should outsource to a virtual buzz assistant?

1. LinkedIn Approval - If you are openly linking to people on linked is, as I do, it is silly to be approving those links yourself.  You could get a lot more mileage if you have that approval and polite email reply outsourced.
2.  Asking Bloggers to Write About You – If you are researching blogs in your industry and sending them a polite request to link to your site or write about your product, do not do this work yourself.
3. Reciprocal Connections – I tend to follow people that follow me on twitter if they are active.  I also approve friendships in many networks and return the connection.  But I do not need to do those things myself.
4. Light Blog Writing – If you want to have more blog posts, consider hiring a virtual buzz assistant to write a daily summary on industry news – in addition to your regular posts.
5. Account Creation – Do you need help creating and managing your many social network accounts?  Don’t do it yourself unless your time is worth next to nothing.
6. Interlinking – All your accounts and sites perform better when they occasionally link to each other.  An assistant that is managing these accounts for you can also link to a few resources every day.
7. Correspondence – View Yaro Starak’s piece on this. Reducing your activities to critical business building activities is best for you in the long term.

Keep in mind I am a huge fan of creating great relationships.  But given the choice of a few stronger 1 on 1 relationships vs. more free time to create more great content for all readers, I will usually take the free time to write.  And a good assistant will forward me the connections that make sense.

I use and love aWeber for my email system.

I could hand build a great pop up window with aWeber, but it was going to be a lot of work, so I kept putting it off.

Then I tried Floating Window.  It more than doubled my sign up rate, it integrates with my aWeber account and it really is as simple as they show in this video.

There was one thing that I did not like.  I could not have it only pop up once per visit.  So to solve that, I added it only to the front page, but not the sub pages, that still use a simpleraWeber form.

If you want to save time, impress people with a great pop-up email offer and get more people to opt into your email list, I recommend Floating Window.