Sure, if that’s what you want to do. You wouldn’t make a bundle on subscription or membership fees, but there are quite a few ways to monetize free sites.

1.If you have products to sell, a free membership site is a good place to do it. Provide great free content to your members, and mix it with marketing efforts to sell your products.

People are more likely to buy from people they know and trust. Use your free membership site to build a connection between you and your members. But don’t offend your members by becoming a spammer.

Sending numerous marketing emails per week to your members will surely drive them away. We’re talking three of four emails per day, five days a week. Warning! Most people are really turned off by constant emails asking them to buy something. Use this tactic with caution. If people get tired of your constant emails, your membership will dwindle to nothing. 

2.A free membership site can include a paid upgrade. The free membership won’t include all the goodies of a paid membership. You don’t have to beat your members over the head, but remind them from time to time that the paid membership is a much better choice.

If free members think your site is worth it, they’ll be more likely to upgrade to paid memberships. So make sure your free content is good enough to show the quality of your paid content. Be careful not to give away too much or no one will be enticed to pay.

The Cons of a Free Membership Site from a Member’s View

Spend any amount of time discussing free membership sites online, and you’ll discover that many people hate them. Some people expect too much for free. And those are the ones unlikely to become paid members anyway. But others have legitimate complaints that deserve your attention. Here’s a list of some of the most common complaints about free membership sites:

The content sucks and is downright horrible
The pages are covered with AdSense ads and banners
Crappy products for sale
Three or more daily emails recommending even more products
Too many “One Time Offer” pages
Constant requests to upgrade to a paid membership
No thought put into design or ease of use
No updates to free content

Basically, if you’re going to start a free membership site, it still has to offer something of value. This is even more important if you want people to upgrade to a paid membership. The goal is to offer content that makes people want to upgrade to paid status.

Make sure your free membership site is actually useful, and not just a bunch of sales pages with downloads and password protection. A good membership site should provide useful content, and provide a place for members to interact and learn. Frequent updates wouldn’t hurt, and would also help the site become a place people visit again and again.

The main problem with a free membership site is the lack of upfront income. At the end of the day, you’re working for no pay and hoping someone makes a purchase or upgrades to a paid membership. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Most marketing involves working for free until someone buys a product or service. However, most people start paid membership sites to make immediate income. So if your motivation is to make a steady income from your membership site, forget the free option.