The latest buzz around the Internet marketing world is all about the acclaimed continuity program and how to implement it as far as your business is concerned. But is it all that it is cracked up to be? Is it truly a smart move for you to make? Let’s take a closer look.
For those who don’t know, a continuity program is a way of generating recurring monthly (though it could be on other time cycles) income through some sort of a membership site. The point is that rather than making a single, one-time sale, you should focus on customer acquisition and retention via a continuity program that keeps that customer coming back and spending with you month after month. In theory, this is a great concept.
Continuity programs can be very lucrative because of the power of numbers. If you have a small membership site that only has 20 members, it could generate anything from $200 to $2000 per month (in some cases even more), depending on your niche and what you are offering. So yes, it can be very worthwhile. But don’t think that this is an easy endeavor to conquer. People don’t just fork over their credit card for $29.99 per month nowadays without expecting to get some real value. Providing customer value is the real key to success when it comes to the continuity program.
To provide value, you must first asses what it is that your customers want and then give it to them – for a price. Notice that you must focus on what the customer wants – in a lot of cases not necessarily what the customer needs. Don’t make the mistake of confusing things. Wants are what sell, not needs. We may need to lose 20 pounds, but we want that cheese pizza with extra cheese: which is more likely to win out? You have to keep this approach in the forefront of your mind when you design your continuity program. Solve your customer’s wants and your needs will be met (it’s ok to be creative but the moral component shouldn’t be neglected either: everything needs to have a limit).
Continuity programs, however, have a lot of hidden costs that are many times overlooked. First of all, you must be able to restrict access to your information if you are going to charge for it. That means that you will need some sort of security software or, better yet, a full-blown membership software to run your continuity program. Learning to use such a system or paying someone else to configure it for you, is not trivial and should not be taken lightly. You really need to asses the full cost that this will require in terms of time and money before jumping on the bandwagon. Furthermore, you will need to gauge your niche and survey your customers to see if it even makes sense. Let the numbers tell you everything there is to know, don’t just act based on your instincts. You need to know that the marketplace you’re getting into can support a continuity program and at what price point you can make the continuity program work for you. In closing, yes, continuity programs can be well worth the effort, just don’t make the mistake of underestimating the amount of time and effort required to get one going.
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