A continuity program is a product or service that you deliver, and your clients pay for, on an ongoing basis. Some examples of continuity programs are your newspaper subscriptions, membership sites you pay for on a monthly basis, and your internet service provider. You pay monthly, and the merchant delivers a product or service to you.

Many Information Marketers limit themselves by thinking that the only continuity program they can deliver is a monthly content membership site where they teach from their expertise. While this type of program can be fantastic, it’s only one of several hundred types of continuity programs available.
The challenge with continuity programs is providing what your clients need so that they remain subscribers. So what can you, as an Information Marketer, do to increase your chances of having long-term customers in your continuity programs?

The answer is simple.

Provide an essential product or service.

The answer is simple, but the solution is not. You will need to delve deep in your market to find out what products and services they consider essential. Some of these are relatively easy:

• If your client has a website, you can offer private label hosting, autoresponder, and website management services.

• You can publish your own magazine or newsletter focused specifically on one aspect of your market. Printed publications frequently have a better subscription retention rate than online-only publications. The best plan could be to publish in both print and online.

• You can maintain a resource directory that the people in your marketplace need to access on a regular basis in order to solve their problems or achieve their goals.

• You can start a professional organization, like those for doctors or lawyers, and provide continuing education and networking opportunities for professionals in other areas.

• You can start your own online gaming community. With access to resources like elance.com, you could have your own game created, or you can simply have a community site for players of another game where members can meet and share information and ideas.

Take the time to make sure there’s a large enough demand for information about your topic. Visit blogs and forums that are frequented by your target market, and find out what they consider to be essential.