There are the obvious reasons - to collect money and to create a community. Ah, but it goes much deeper than that.

I provide web and email marketing for my international clients and for many years have recommended that they offer a membership component in their website for exposure, value, and insurance. But before we get deeper into why…let’s be sure that we are all speaking the same language. Then I’ll give you 10 reasons why to add membership to your site.

It's not easy being the boss.

Owners of small businesses, particularly those who have employees working under them, have many things to contend with: legal issues, business licenses, insurances, safety regulations, payroll, taxes, inventory, banks, vendors, hiring employees and marketing. The list goes on and on. There may be times when a business owner worries whether there will be enough income this week to pay employees, let alone the rest of the bills. So it might come as a surprise to hear an employee complain that the boss or company “doesn't care about me.”

There are people in this country who work hard every day
Not for fame or fortune do they strive
But the fruits of their labor are worth more than their pay
And it's time a few of them were recognized
Hello, America. Let me thank you for your time

                - Alabama

Do you remember learning about Labor Day in school? An American holiday since the 1880s, it celebrates what workers can accomplish together when they organize. Unions and the labor movement fought for things like Social Security, the 8-hour workday, unemployment insurance, and against child labor. While unions are on the decline nowadays, the American Worker is still out there, more often in the form of a self-employed individual, exhibiting that same spirit of risk-taking, ambition, and hard work that put Labor Day on the calendar.  

If you've established a Twitter account for your business, one of your main goals is to accumulate followers. But who should YOU follow?

While it seems like the polite thing to do is to follow anyone who follows you, oftentimes this isn't a very effective strategy. Neither is following people in the hopes of having them return the favor. You're setting yourself up for a Twitter feed that is cluttered with information that isn't helpful to you or to your business.

A great place to start following may be your competitors. Rather than looking at them as opponents, realize that people in your industry share many of the same issues you do, and can be a valuable resource. Even new businesses in your field can be good to follow—if they are unable to serve a customer for some reason, you could be in a position to get a referral.

“After all is said and done, more is said than done.”— Anonymous

If you Google “procrastination,” you'll get over 11.5 million results. It's a problem just about everybody encounters from time to time. Many people agonize over never seeming to get anything done or only finishing projects at the last minute. Not only does procrastination cause a lot of stress, but it can also deplete one's self-esteem and confidence.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. The truth is we DO usually (finally) accomplish things. But often we've put ourselves through so much emotional or mental tension that we only see that we've procrastinated once again. Most chronic procrastinators keep to-do lists with the hope that somehow it will change things this time; often they've put things off so long that the list is so long they'll never manage to finish it.

It's been three years since this article “5 Things to Know Before You Start a Marketing Plan” was published. Content marketing is still such a new creature to most of us that it might be a good idea to expand on some of that information, and look at how you can use it to finish out the calendar year on a roll.

What's in it for your customers? The main benefits for most customers are time and money—are you addressing both of these? Customers appreciate being informed of sales and other specials, but it's just as important to be considerate of their time. Are you delivering your messages in a timely fashion? Are you consistently reminding clients of appointments? Do you have a system in place to let them know their purchase is ready to be picked up? Are your customers able to access your content quickly? Marketing often involves tying up these loose ends.

There probably isn't a week that goes by when you don't notice an ad on a website or in your email talking about “creating killer content”. So what does it really mean, and why do you need to do it?

Content marketing is often sought out by customers. It offers them the information they’re looking for when they need it the most.

Here's how to make it work for you:

Herding cats is hard work. Just ask any of the ranch hands in the award-winning EDS ad made back in 2001. The slippery felines gave them all they could handle and more. Proud, independent and stubborn, every cat wanted to make its own way whether the ranch hands wanted it to or not. Does it sometimes feel like keeping your customers happy is a lot like cat herding?

A key recommendation by Dan S. Kennedy, the marketing expert, is to build a fence around your cats (customers) to keep out poachers and to prevent them from going off on their own. Just because your customer has made a purchase from you in the past doesn't mean he or she is your customer forever. It's important to try to offer your clients extra products and services -- extra value -- that will keep them coming back to you.

Pay attention to this quote from business consultant and ‘millionaire maker’ Dan Kennedy in this article:

“[The] big difference between wealthy and poor is that wealthy people get paid before they work;
 the poor get paid after they do work.”

Think about that for a minute. Would you like to have customers giving you money BEFORE you gave them a service or a product? Would you like to have them giving you money IN ADDITION TO being paid for your service or product?

The best way to relieve the stress that always accompanies the holiday season is to have your plan in place early—the sooner, the better.

Start circling days on the calendar. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are the big shopping days. While your business may not depend greatly on Halloween sales, remember that customers are already thinking about Christmas shopping, and it's another opportunity for promotions.

Even if you’re familiar with marketing on social media, you may still have questions about which platforms are best for your business. Content marketing is all about providing interesting and valuable content to your customers, so it's important to establish which networking site(s) your customers will be using.

B2B or B2C?

Check out current marketing information online, and you'll likely encounter the acronyms B2B and B2C before too long. B2B means you are selling your product or service “business to business”. B2C is “business to consumer”.

A few years ago there was an article on using email to increase your revenue on the Glazer-Kennedy Insider Circle (GKIC) site, an online entrepreneur marketing network.

The article emphasized three important ways to maximize the returns (ROI) of e-mail marketing:

1. Setting up automated email campaigns
2. Gaining valuable information from email
3. Using email to build brand loyalty

Not getting the results you want?

Entrepreneur recently posted an article about the to-do lists and people lists that business owners should keep. These are mainly lists of resources and projects that could mean the difference between success and failure.

The People Lists:

You know the old saying, "If you don't know where you are going, then any road is as good as any other." The same is true of a marketing and sales strategy. If you don't have a strategy that you are executing against, then any kind of marketing is as good as any other. Cost and ROI be damned!

Jordan Hatch, my long time friend at Infusionsoft wrote a great blog post a couple of weeks ago on "How To Create A Sales and Marketing Strategy" that I want to share with you.

In a recent blog post here, we talked about "Building A Fence Around Your Herd." One of the strategies there was having a membership site. I recently wrote an article published in the July 2015 issue of the Joomla Community Magazine, that offers 10 reasons why you NEED a membership component to your website. Check it out by clicking here to go to the article.

If you have a membership site, how do you use it? Paid? Free? How do you use it to drive traffic and revenue?