DISCUSSION - 2 tier membership system (paid members!).

[Wayne Luke]

Okay, I am back. I plan on getting something released before the fireworks fly on the 4th... This is like one of my favorite holidays so I have to celebrate (the other two being Xmas and Halloween).

I have the hack mostly finished, it just needs some polishing. I have picked some people to test it for me. (Please don't email or PM me at the last minute to be picked).

While reading the latest posts, I can see some valid points. I would like to address some of them.

If people get upset about preferential treatment given to subscribers, that is their own problem. I for one will not remove any rights or privileges given to current members. New members will still have all the same rights. However Premium members (subscribers) will be given access to more features. This will allow them to use the system better. It will be more than a fancy title. It will be access to features.

I will also be giving SPF members a couple of ways to pay for their premium membership.. They can purchase it by contributing to the community and earning credits towards the membership or for those who don't want to contribute as much they will be able to eventually pay by cash. However, I will be pushing the contributing method heavier.. Why? Because we can already get a decent income for targetted ads. While not great it is fairly good income. My main goal is to be able to do this full time and pay my volunteers a small monthly stipend. If that is greedy then so be it. As of now, I have no pop-ups on the site, however that will change and only for quests. I am planning a unique pop-up campaign that will be geared towards getting the guests to register. These will be dynamic, self closing windows that stay on the screen for up to 15 seconds, not to invasive if you ask me.

AS far as increasing the major income potential of the site, I feel that it isn't in the current ad structure or even in subscriptions but I do have a few ideas and working on them now. Too soon to discuss them and once in place, I will share.

[thewitt]

It will be interesting to watch the dynamic in the online community space, as people move from one free community to another.

I suspect that many will leave as the community either becomes flooded with ads they can't stand to have pop up all over the place, or when the site becomes pay-for-use.

Most Internet communities are not driven by the owners, they are driven by the members. When the members feel like they are no longer members but paying customers, I suspect most will go somewhere that feels more like a community than a pay-and-get-in club.

As a paid service, you will also be expected to provide higher level of support and services, and when the service is not received, you will not get those customers to sign up again unless you go out of your way to provide other significant value for the money.

I'm not suggesting that anyone not go down this path - only that it may not be exactly what you think it will be in the end. I left the pay-for-talk services like AOL, Compuserve and Genie when the quality of talk on USENET was higher than those subscription services. I never looked back. I suspect others will do the same in the new Internet order of pay-as-you-go forums.
-t

[ToraTora!]

Originally posted by thewitt
It will be interesting to watch the dynamic in the online community space, as people move from one free community to another.

I suspect that many will leave as the community either becomes flooded with ads they can't stand to have pop up all over the place, or when the site becomes pay-for-use.

Most Internet communities are not driven by the owners, they are driven by the members. When the members feel like they are no longer members but paying customers, I suspect most will go somewhere that feels more like a community than a pay-and-get-in club.

As a paid service, you will also be expected to provide higher level of support and services, and when the service is not received, you will not get those customers to sign up again unless you go out of your way to provide other significant value for the money.

I'm not suggesting that anyone not go down this path - only that it may not be exactly what you think it will be in the end. I left the pay-for-talk services like AOL, Compuserve and Genie when the quality of talk on USENET was higher than those subscription services. I never looked back. I suspect others will do the same in the new Internet order of pay-as-you-go forums.
-t

I could not of said it any better. There are sites that can pull this off from a information, and service route, however there are quite a few that basically hit on topics that a thousand or more sites do as well, that have no pop-ups, or advertising to speak of.
There will be a major shift down the road from members jumping to other free services and forums. Unless there is really something special to offer, or the site that is tied in with the forums, somehow has something that is a stand out from others, people will find the next free thing, and stay with it until that site decides that it wants to become a pay site.

Members, or customers, all have one thing in common when it comes to raising prices. They feel they have contributed already by visiting the site or establishment. Religiously, they have visited the site or establishment dozens of times, and whether or not they bought anything during that whole time is irelevant to them.
They feel, that you owe them something. As narrow minded as it sounds, it is the truth.
There are people out there that feel no matter what you offer for thier membership, it is not enough to cover thier loyalty, and as such, will leave to another free site or establishment, to openly bash your site or establishment at any given moment. Hense, one walks out, he will take more.
That can mean potential customers, or current.
Give something, to recieve something is all i am saying.
I think Luke's approach is a good example of how to approach the sensativity of "pay" or not to "pay" for members.

people are not dumb enough to extort themselves for the good of others.

[Joe]

Whats the latest on this?

[Wayne Luke]

I have been overwhelmed. I have been working on it a little here and there but haven't finished it. I have one more hack to finish for Hystersisters.com then I will finish this up tomorrow and email it to a few people who have expressed interest.

[Wayne Luke]

Both Tora and Thewitt raise valuable points.

For people looking to the subscription model, think about what added features you can offer your subscribers. Whether that is an email alias or some neat new features. Don't take features away from your existing members though because they will go elsewhere at this point in time.

However recent studies have shown that people will be willing to pay for internet subscriptions if they feel there is value and that the subscriptions will provide for stability. In the same study, people have proven that the Internet is a research resource and they use it like a library. They would still pay for these services but not without samples or some basics for free.

When I roll out my subscription memberships, my existing members will lose nothing in fact in the past week they have gained 2 different new features that gives them more control over their accounts. These include the ability to turn the forum descriptions on or off and the ability for them to choose the forumdepth shown on the index page. There will be more features like this both for subscribing and non-subscribing members.

[Joe]

Nice, i look forward to the release. Keep up the good work. Btw, while im here, i just noticed im in the in-active group on your forums, can you move me to the registered group? Username is RoadRash, im ready to post and help out on your forums

[Wayne Luke]

Fixed...

Please verify that your email address doesn't bounce or have an auto-responder on it.

[Castel]

wluke has the features list changed at all from what you mentioned before?

I won't be taking away any feature from the current users as well since I don't offer custom avatars or titles at this moment. I also don't allow images in signatures...how about allowing that for the premium members?

which sites allready have a subscription service??