Membership Sites Page

How it gets its name

A membership site is also known as a social networking site. It is given the new name due to the fact that the interaction between community, computers and society is being referred to as "social networking".

Reasons for its popularity

Social networking is making a lot of waves on the internet, and big investors are throwing millions of dollars into popular social networking sites.
People did not realise its power in its older form as membership sites, it can help to add thousands of signups to your list. The entire concept is viral, members inviting friends, who are inviting friends. This is unbelievable, especially if you have a social networking site devoted to a specific niche.
Most people seek connection. In fact, most people harbour the need to bond with others. Some of us have a significant need to create community or some kind of shared experience. This has occurred throughout the history of the online world, whether in the form of Usnet newsgroups, email lists, chat, instant messaging, and Peer-to-Peer technologies.In recent years some new offerings have been added to the mix, and they are reviving interest in community in fresh ways.

Examples

Here are some examples of popular social networking sites:

Ryze
Adrian Lang started http://www.ryze.com in 2001.It is a business networking site where members get their own pages.The can upload pictures, join groups, start new groups, invite other members, and network to establish new contacts. currently, Ryze has over 80,000 active members. There is really not much for a free account member to see in this site.If you want, join as a paid member,then maybe you will find it useful. I don't really know what is in it because as a free member,I was denied access almost every corner I went.

Linked In
http://www.linkedin.com was started by Reid Hoffman to target professional business people.He has designed his site purely as a networking medium for business owners, executives and entrepreneurs.As a matter of fact, you have to be screened and accepted before you are able to join.Wihout any advertising Linked In signed up well over 30.000 people since its start in May of 2003.Currently, membership is doubling every six weeks and they are in around 80 different countries.

Friendster
Jonathan Abrahams started http://www.friendster.com as a way for friends to meet friends through friends.It is rumoured that he got the idea for the site after getting dumped by his girlfriend.
The site reported over 1 million members and continues to grow each day.

Facebook
This new social network site with the unlikely name has quickly replaced Friendster as the most popular networking portal now.
You may link to my account here Benson Law on Facebook

Twitter
Another social networking site which is gaining popularity fast. It is different from the others in that the users are only allowed 140 charecters for each post.Therefore users are forced to submit a few posts (tweets in Twitter term) if they have long messages.
Here is my link :Benson Law on Twitter

An example of niche social networking site
Dogster.com
This is a site where dog lovers can upload pictures of their pets, share ideas, and invite other dog owners.This is not one of the big commercial sites, but they have over 17,000 members and an average of 285 people sign up per day.

Cartel
Groups of internet marketing Gurus have joint ventured and set up membership sites with names such as "Masterminds","Elite Teams".They form a cartel to promote each other's products, by posting elaborate reviews and testimonials for these products. As a member, you are assured of reaching thousands of loyal readers through the Gurus' faithful followers. But to enter such cartels is not easy, they charge you thousands of dollars for entry. Yet there are people rushing to apply whenever the door is opened to accept more members. Crazy!

Reasons for setting up a social networking site
If you are a smart internet marketer, you'll take advantage of the social networking sites for the following reasons:
#1. It is a quick viral way to get tons of people to sign up for your newsletter.Members have incentives to invite others because everyone gets a free page and community to interact with others.Imagine how many sales you can make from having a huge list.
#2. With all the commotion going on about spam and email laws, developing a social networking site is a good addition to your marketing plan.With social networking sites, you have the ability to commnicate with all your members within the site without sending emails.
#3. Operating a social networking site gives you the tools needed to position yourself as the authority in your chosen niche market.

Conclusion
Social networking sites are simply the best recruitment tools beside an auto responder.
If you can make sure to provide fresh timely resources like useful information, tips, tools and softwares on your networking site where members can download for their own use, you may charge your members a monthly fees.This will become a stedy stream of recurring income for you.