We spent most of last month talking about eCommerce on the WordPress framework.

We looked at payment gateways and pitted eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce and WP e-Commerce against one another.

This holiday season takes us into the gift that keeps on giving, website membership.

Here is a video detailing our jump into WordPress membership plugins as well as a discussion on how membership drastically improves mailing lists and customer retention.

Content Dripping

Content Dripping is the tagline that defines the art of keeping people coming.

By forcing users and customers to wait for content to release, they are constantly connected to you and your efforts.

If it’s a paid service that gives people monthly access to content and help, this is the moment to shine with dripping content.

Let’s use an example. I really like the show Dexter.

Let’s say Netflix, priced at $8/month, offers the first six seasons of the show immediately on their website. I, as a consumer, can pay eight bucks, watch all six seasons of the show in a few weeks, and cancel my subscription.

Let’s flip that and assume that Netflix only releases one season each month. Suddenly, I now need to hold my subscription for six months, or $48 worth.

With your own content this is even easier because you have a monopoly on your own thoughts and products!

Subscription and Mailing Lists

Though we spend a lot of time talking about how special a plugin like Wishlist Member can be for selling services to clients, there is plenty of promotional potential with these membership plugins.

For example, why not freely allow people to create a user ID on your website and give them a “members only” forum to participate in?  It gives people a sense of community and also enpowers you to grow a mailing list and build your platform.

Incentivizing different levels of membership also helps to bring in the sense of community by enabling certain features only for “Gold” members, as an example.

Landing Pages and Ads

Landing pages are also a great benefit of having users. Essentially, you can create pretty landing sections that advertise your website and other services to first time clickers.

By being a loyal subscriber or logged-in user, you are not subject to that introductory content.

In this instance, membership plugins benefit your website by creating a dynamic experience depending on the user present.

Speaking of Subscription

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