HUGE DISCOVERY: Continuity Isn't King

It's very true that there's a huge number of variables.

Every business needs to test and figure out its own best model.
That, I believe is a DANGEROUS conclusion, and a wrong one too.

First, there is no data in your sales numbers that in any way supports that specific conclusion about niches.
Second, there are a lot of niches that thrive on continuity products.

I mention this not to prove you wrong, but to open your mind again for the possibilities, that are easily overlooked when operating from the above conclusion.

Ralf

I agree with Ralf, you might want to look at your stats again and be certain all the bases are covered before making a sweeping conclusion.

That could be MONTHLY and require less work.

That's ONE-TIME. Next month it will be lower because it's no longer a launch.

Garrie

An observation of my own. "The tools don't make the master." A wonderful implementation of the "perfect system" will still suck if the product or service being sold by the system is sub-par. At the end of the day, it's all in the value proposition. Frankly if what you've got is what they want then your system can suck and you'll do fine. But perfection without point is well ... pointless, or more importantly - PROFITLESS

Very true James.

Thanks for your input!

Continuity shows its true effect in months.... it snowballs slowly... and when it reaches a critical mass, it becomes rapid... so rapid that you can not possibly stop money from flowing in.

Just Saying...

-Lakshay

P.S. I love $5/Month. Its easier on my customer's pockets. And their minds.

Thanks for the thoughts Iaks.

I like a low pricepoint as well!

Somehow, i dont agree "continuity is king i.e per month billings". How many have tested rather than just listen to hearsay.

I have noticed that in many niches, people dislike continuity and that has less sales.

In any case, you might have noticed that its harder to sell continuity products. Try giving one in clickbank a try with a "one time payment" product, and i can bet the latter will have more sales for less effort.

Continuity shouldn't be you're whole business.

Why is the "Internet Marketing Community" so
freaking Either OR?

You are RUNNING A BUSINESS.

Which means you don't seperate the income into
"Continuity made 1500, and launch made me 5000"
so I should just stick to launches".

Both of them together brung in 6500 in revenue for
your business.

Utilize many different streams in your business to
maximize profits.

That's business.

A continuity plan is just another stream for your business
as well as doing product launches, and traditional marketing,
and whatever.

Continuity is great because it keeps you bringing in consistent
income over time.

Product launches are great because you can make a big
whop in a few days.

So why not do both and have an effective profitable business?

You profits should be more from your high end back end products such as coaching and high value products, you need to have a good continuity site to get people to stay a member... fixed (micro) continuity allows you to offer something of high value at the end, so you keep members longer IMO.

ACTUALLY, I agree with the OP: I moved my business from the continuity model to the standalone + upsell model. After parsing through a lot of data and doing some statistics, I came to the conclusion that continuity didn't make much sense in my business. Here's why:

My monthly billing was US$27 and the stick rate was between 4 and 5 months. Yes, many people tell you that continuity equals to income for life, but that's not true. In fact, most of your subscribers will only remain onboard for a fistful of months before unsubscribing no matter how good your content is. Why? become most people change hobbies, interests and niches like they change shirts. Only a tiny percentage of your customer base will continue paying the monthly fee for years. Anyone who's run a continuity site will confirm you that VERY few people stick beyond the 6-month line.

Eventually I repacked the whole thing into a stand alone product of US$97 plus an OTO upsell of an extra US$37.

Guess what: if you run the numbers, you will see that US$27 times 4 or 5 months equals more less the same to US$97 plus the OTO upsell. And guess what else: running a stand alone product is SO MUCH LESS WORK than running a continuity program it's not even funny. Yes, all the gurus will tell you that you can automate the continuity process, but the customer service overload is certainly higher: since you've built a continuity community, you get many more emails than with a stand alone product and you need to remain connected with your community or else people will unsubscribe.

Moral of the story: I moved away from the continuity model and my income hasn't dropped on that precise product, plus the work overload is certainly lower so I can focus on creating new products, new upsells, etc.

I run a stock trading service where continuity is the product, have been in business over ten years and came to a conclusion a fw weeks ago about continuity - that it makes sense when you are in a niche like mine where what people are paying for is regular timely information - stock picks, market forecasts in response to a changing market.

But in Internet marketing it might not be such a great thing. Two reasons. First things aren't changing all of the time so your information can't always be timely. SEcondly though the market is different, most people who buy an IM product are beginners. They buy the course and most of them don't even look at it and fewer do anything with it. They buy continuity as an add on to their purchase, but then eventually they give up on IM and just cancel or move on to something else.

I don't think continuity is a great thing to base a business model on when it comes to Internet marketing niche. Think this is why stompernet got into financial trouble and lowered their price and why it looks like now Frank Kern is going to stop offering his infomillionaire.

But in a niche like mine Continuity is king.

So I think it depends on your niche- but in most niches it isn't as great as it is made out to be.

I think it absolutely is about the niche. I also think it's about your depth of knowledge/experience, in that this will in large part determine your ability to be prolific with the information you can impart to your membership if you go the continuity route. I sell info products with usually a higher priced OTO and multiple upsells. This works for me because I have over a decade in IM. This would probably not work in many other niches.

Whoever above me said you gotta test was 100% correct. Don't assume in any niche. Test out various models. If more than one works well, don't limit yourself. Incorporate all the winners. It's your business!

John

The thing with continuity is that most people don't realize that the average membership life span for the typical subscriber is a mere fistful of months, so for the average user you don't end up getting more money than if you charged them the whole package in advance as a stand alone product.

Unless you're able to keep your AVERAGE subscriber over half a year minimum (which is VERY difficult), the maths dont add up.

Some ideas...

I wanted/want to buy your DJ course. I am getting a new setup soon, so I wanted to pick up your course, but...

I didn't want the beginners stuff that you cover in your free +S&H offer. I would have bought your actually upsell with the more meatier stuff by now if I knew what it was, and I could just browse your product library.

So idea numba 1: Create more offers! (more buy now buttons on the web = more money)

Offers that fit to the people who may not be sure about DJ stuff, and you can offer
them the free DVD, but also offer people a place to buy the bigger course.

People searching about DJ stuff online have some idea about the basics already, or
atleast they are learning it. So asking those part of your audience to buy a beginners
guide isn't a good enough offer (to me, atleast - cause I am that part).

People LOVE advanced stuff, and they will buy it no matter what level of skill they
are at.

I can't even do a basic scratch, yet I am gonna be buying a $2,000 setup, but I feel
happy to buy the setup, because I know its ADVANCED, and will last me a long time.

Thats why people with no skills at photoshop buy the BIG photoshop packages, and
they buy the ADVANCED books about it, not the lame "Photoshop for idiots".

Same with marketing, just look at all the newbies buying Mike Hills course, and Frank
Kerns, etc etc.

They all want ADVANCED stuff, and will pay for it. Because it lasts longer, and it allows
them to feel like they are becoming better at it faster, they are learning harder stuff
sooner, and the basic stuff seems obvious.

Thats why if I buy a basic DJ guide... once I am done it... I am done it. No use to go
back to it, but an advance guide is big, and there is a lot to master.

As for your membership site... I dont know what your offer is with that, but remember
that musical people are creative people, so maybe offer them new promotional
templates every month that they can play with for their own basement shows, etc etc.

Anyways, your videos are killer, and your emails are cool too. I like the House doc. that
you posted on your blog.

You got a kickass thing going, just need to widen up your offer set, because the free
plus S&H is just one offer, but you need more buy now buttons at different prices.

Hope that helps.

- Dylan

As long as its working for you then keep running your business like this.

After testing this myself, I have come to this conclusion:

You need to focus on how much money you want to make and what your expenses are.

I have two membership sites that cover my business expenses. Once the revenue/membership dips, I promote it again to get to the point where it covers expenses.

Then we have products at the 37,197,397,997,1200,3000,and $5000 price range to make the big bucks.

You have to start thinking like the big boys/gals.

They focus on revenue goals, etc... How much do you want to make this month?

What are your projections?

If you made $6500 last month, what will you do to make $8500?

If continuity is $2000 this month, you need to make $6000 from regular product sales.

You can sell 20 $300 product or sell 10 $600 product...

Have you created a 1k product yet? Will your niche by a product that cost that much?

If there are no expensive products in your market, create one and see if the market will bear it.

A few years ago I went from making 15k one month to 100k the next just by putting aside the fear of selling high priced products.

Conclusion: Continuity is good, but you're not going to get rich doing it unless you're selling thousands of memberships a month... Be Blessed.