Monthly vs Annual Membership Site Billing

When creating your membership site, something you have to consider is how much you will charge for access.  You also have to consider if you will have various levels of access to your membership site.  In addition to charging for access, you have to consider whether you will charge on a monthly basis, an annual basis, both, or other (such as bi-annual, etc.).

When choosing to offer a monthly and/or annual membership option, you need to consider how much you think access to your membership site is worth.  You also need to consider comparable membership sites offered by competitors to see what they are charging and judge accordingly.  You can also see if they offer monthly, annual, bi-annual, and/or other payment options.

When choosing monthly and annual membership options, keep in mind that the monthly option needs to be a lower cost than the annual, but that an entire year’s worth of monthly payment options adds up to more than the cost of the annual payment option.  This is the benefit for those who decide to pay for an annual membership; they pay more upfront, but they save on cost versus paying monthly.

For instance, if you decide to charge $20 per month for access to your membership site, that would add up to $240 per year ($20 x 12 months).  Thus, the annual payment option you offer must be less than $240, as there is no benefit to paying the annual option if the cost is $240 or above.  The benefit to you for someone paying the annual option is that you get a higher amount of money now in one payment.  Thus, you should consider pricing your annual payment option at $200 or even less as a “discount” for paying in one payment right now.

You can also consider granting special access to sections of the site, getting additional content and/or resources, or getting special privileges and/or benefits for paying in one annual payment versus twelve monthly payments.  This can be an added incentive or “bonus” for members to pay in one annual, larger payment than in twelve monthly, smaller payments.

Thus, you have learned that charging monthly versus annual payment options for access to your membership site can encourage many people to join up and pay what they can afford.  You have to ensure the annual payment option is less than twelve times the monthly payment option or there’s no benefit to paying one annual, larger payment now, something that benefits you, the site owner.   You can also add extra benefits, content, resources, and/or privileges to annual payment members as a “bonus” for paying in one annual, larger sum rather than twelve monthly, smaller payments.  