Also keep in mind that even if the forum is the main thing you are known for, a lot of people learn in different ways. So it is helpful to offer a variety of fo

Also keep in mind that even if the forum is the main thing you are known for, a lot of people learn in different ways. So it is helpful to offer a variety of formats to be more remarkable. In addition to our forum we offer: a monthly newsletter, private paid tools, free public tools, blog regularly, videos & training modules. Another point I would add are that brand matters a lot ... if you are asking people to pay for something were there are free offerings in the marketplace (even if the free ones are far worse) then people really need to believe in you to want to buy from you. Thus we offer a good number of things for free, including some tools & our blog. The last thing I would say is that many private membership websites are quickly ghost towns that die. The hardest part is building up the initial critical mass. You can always raise rates later, but sometimes it helps to have lower rates off the start to buy that marketshare and help build momentum. For example, we charged only $50 a month for the first 100 customers & gave our ebook customers a free trial...these meant we had a vast active community right out of the gate. Then over time as we kept adding more value (more tools, bigger archives of information, etc.) we raised prices.