Top 14.5 Most Profitable Membership Ideas
There are all kinds of memberships you can run:
You can put out a simple monthly PDF newsletter or video.
You can drip feed content continually.
You can have your membership on your website.
Or you can have it in a social media account, such as a paid Facebook Group.
But regardless of how you set up your membership, what sort of content you give, and how often you update, you first need to choose your niche.
And all things being equal, it just makes sense to choose a niche that you know for a fact will be profitable.
In the last few months, I’ve been keeping an eye open to see what niches are the most profitable when it comes to paid memberships.
Your goal is to find a niche you like that is profitable, which just makes sense. If you choose a niche you don’t like, but it’s profitable, you’re probably still not going to do that well. It’s like having a job you hate – you never put in 100% effort.
And if you choose a niche you love, but it’s not profitable, well, that’s pretty self-explanatory. You’ll probably have a great time, but you won’t see much money coming in.
Here are the niches that appear to be the most profitable for paid membership sites, in alphabetical order:
1: Business – This can be how to start and run a small business, or any aspect of business ownership. Now more than ever, the dream isn’t to own a house or have a career, but rather to have a business.
People long for the freedom of being their own boss, and you can show them how it’s done, or point them in the right direction to get all the tools and coaching they need.
2: Collector’s Items – If there are people actively collecting something, then it might make a great paid membership site. For example, there are a lot of people who collect rocks. In fact, there are rock shows around the U.S., one of which lasts for a week and a half, and people come from all over the world to buy rocks and talk to other rock aficionados.
I’ve heard of someone who started a $10 a month 12-page newsletter on fossils. Each month he interviews an expert, has the interview transcribed, adds a few tidbits about where fossils are being found, a few photos, and so forth. Believe it or not, he has over 1500, members each paying him $10 a month.
3: Diet – This can be diet as in what you eat or dieting as in losing weight. It can also cover recipes, too. For example, if you choose Keto, then your membership would be all about the benefits, the weight loss, the tips to overcome things like the keto flu, as well as recipes.
These sites can be huge with tons of members. Generally, you’ll charge a low admission, such as $10 a month, and look for a large number of members. Be sure to promote appropriate affiliate products, too.
4: Dog Everything – Dog memberships are surprisingly lucrative. You might focus your site on training or agility, two profitable dog sub-niches. Post articles, videos, and lots of links to the various dog products – both information products and tangible products – and you’ve got your content.
People are eager to pay to find out how to train their dogs and to teach their dog how to compete in agility contests, and well as solving health issues, behavioral issues, and so forth.
Plus, they love to see dog pictures and videos, and read heart-warming dog stories, too. There are $25,000-$100,000 a month paid membership groups in this niche.
5: Electronic Deals – This can be a super profitable niche. You’ll want to sign up as an affiliate with the major sellers of electronics (Amazon, Walmart, etc.), and then every day when they post hot new deals, you put the information in your membership.
Facebook Groups works really well for this because of the immediacy. The only content you need to create is announcing the daily deals, and your members are there to buy.
This type of membership is simple to outsource to a virtual assistant, too.
And take notice: There are million-dollar paid membership sites in this niche.
6: Fashion – This could be clothing, handbags, shoes, make-up, and more. This is an extremely lucrative niche with a lot of money to be made.
And if you grow your membership to a good size, then brands may reach out to you and cut deals with you to review their shoes, handbags, and so forth.
7: Health – This isn’t weight loss, but rather how to get healthy and be healthy. Generally, the emphasis is on diet, herbs, exercise, and so forth.
You can make a fortune promoting herbal products, just be sure not to run afoul of any laws that say you can’t be practicing medicine.
You can also promote exercise programs designed to increase health, wellness, and longevity, as well as venturing into related niches such as meditation and sleep.
8: Hobbies – Golf is a classic example here because golfers spend a lot of money. But fishing, tennis, yoga, gardening, painting, and so forth can all be great.
Just make sure there are plenty of products in your niche that you can promote. And remember, they don’t have to be info products because you can also promote actual products, too.
9: Investing – This is another one that can be HIGHLY lucrative. You can take one of two approaches here – either you’re a financial expert, or if you’re not, then you’re in touch with financial experts and what they recommend.
This is a niche where you can easily sell expensive courses because you’re targeting people who already have money and want to find out how to make even MORE money.
10: Make Money Online – No doubt you’re familiar with this niche. Target people who are new to online marketing and teach the basics, since this is the biggest target group in this niche and also the one most likely to spend money.
11: Parenting – This is a massive niche and includes pregnancy, childbirth, infant care, toddler care, and all the way up to what to do when your 25-year old kid won’t leave the house.
This is a huge and highly lucrative niche. Behavioral problems, parents’ fears, advice to new moms, and so forth – this is a passionate niche with a lot of pain.
Just think about the problems that parents face at each stage of a child’s life, and how much they want to solve those problems as quickly as possible, and you’ll see the potential.
12: Personal Development – this has always been and always will be a highly profitable niche. People are dissatisfied with where they are in life and who they are.
If you can help them to achieve their goals or become who they want to be, then this niche can be highly lucrative for you.
Be sure to niche it down, at least at first, and target a specific group of people or tackle a specific problem. Once you become better known in your niche, then you can go on to become the next Bob Proctor or Tony Robbins.
13: Relationships – This could be dating, marriage, and so forth. For example, target men and show them how to pick up women, or perhaps target women and show them how to find the love of their life.
Or target married people and show them how to fix their marriage and make it a source of strength and love rather than acrimony and pain.
You might even try a new trend, such as targeting women who prefer to be single and how they can improve their relationships with themselves and their friends. New studies show that the happiest women are single and have lots of girlfriends and self-confidence, so that could be a timely winner for you.
And paradoxically, another great sub-niche that is currently hot is how to find your soulmate.
14: Retirement – There are two sides to this coin – either preparing for retirement, or products and services for retirees (think AARP).
If your niche is preparing for retirement, know that certain financial firms will pay you excellent money to talk to your members through your membership site. In fact, you will never lack for experts who want to speak to your members, and you can charge them for the privilege of basically creating your content for you.
Of course, you first have to build up your membership base, but in the meantime, you can still promote investment courses related to having a big nest egg for retirement.
14.5: Travel Deals – A travel membership can be super lucrative. Post articles about travel, and especially give alerts to travel deals using your affiliate links.
You might hire someone to write the articles, or write them yourself, and then get your virtual assistant to update it daily with new travel deals.
Anyone of these niches could be the basis for your next membership site, earning you an ever-growing passive income.
