$97 A month, what keeps you paying?

[Scott Ames]

A broad question I agree, but I was thinking about the $97 a month price point that seems to be so popular now.

If you a member of a $97 or more a month site, what is so interesting that you want to continue with it?

[CDarklock]

People say all kinds of things they wouldn't say in a forum like this, just because they know everyone there is serious enough to pay $97 a month to be there.

[sylviad]

Just yesterday I came across a member site asking $97, with a $0 trial. I jumped in and grabbed the free offer and the product was garbage on niches that are not popular.

Then I received another email from this person offering something else, same deal. I joined again. The second product was just as bad as the first.

No way was I going to wait a month, pay $97 and get more crap. I cancelled both subscriptions.

What's worse, this is a well known marketer, which surprised the "h" out of me because I expected so much better. He has yet to respond to a query I submitted when I didn't get the second download link. That was over 5 days ago.

Your question can be asked over and over again... what do marketers think they can get away with for that price? And who is going to go for it, especially if the product is garbage?

And I have one more question... What was this guy thinking?

Sylvia

[summer07]

I've paid that and more for a membership that taught a particular skill, but the membership had a built-in time limit. After I learned what I needed, I 'graduated'.

But $97 per month is only 'relatively' expensive -- if you're making $20k per month (not there...yet), it's not much at all.

[WD Mino]

After doing much much research the price points I find to be the perfect target range are between 17 and 67 a month I see people who pay 97 197 247 etc but in this time we are in more and more are not able to pay for that even though they would greatly benefit by joining it.

I think one thing for a membersite owner that is frustrating is having a site that just kicks @ and not get many members and see other ones who hype it and get a ton of members . it is a fluctuating game sometimes it is because of a more perceived value at 97 then 17 but I guess it depends on the quality of the content and the quantity as well.

-WD

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by summer07

I've paid that and more for a membership that taught a particular skill, but the membership had a built-in time limit. After I learned what I needed, I 'graduated'.

But $97 per month is only 'relatively' expensive -- if you're making $20k per month (not there...yet), it's not much at all.

I agree with this, but need to modify it - "If you're making $20k per month directly as a result of the membership, it's not much at all"

To me it doesn't matter what the cost is - I just need to see some tangible ROI as a result, month after month. The quality of what's offered needs to be consistent and fresh (a lot of memberships struggle with that).

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by summer07

But $97 per month is only 'relatively' expensive

Just to put it in perspective: I've paid that much for cable television.

[ericwt]

There are membership sites that charge a heck of a lot more than $97.

If it had information I needed I would pay more than $97.

[Daniel Brock]

Frank Kern has a membership site for $97/m with a 1 month free trial.

It was totally loaded with content so I felt that I should at least pay for one month.

I had no intention of staying for longer than 1 payment as I was just curious to see the content he offered.

I think he did it perfectly.

The first month during your free trial they load it up with so much stuff. Overall it came to like 4+ hours of video training, as well as access to a couple of his older courses he offered.

Then as the 30 day trial ended, he slowly dripped in new content ever other day. It was a really good idea IMO.

The content was good so I had no problem paying the $97/m he charged.

[Taylor French]

I would gladly pay $97 a month for a site that would put me in touch with hundreds of serious affiliates. I would pay $197 a month for it, assuming it was limited in some way.

[Taylor French]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Just to put it in perspective: I've paid that much for cable television.

That must have been some really awesome cable.

I've paid that for cable plus internet, but not just cable.

[freudianslip27]

I use to belong to a few membership sites that were pricey, and this is just my opinion, but I really didn't see the value. Yeah there was valuable stuff there, but for the most part you can get that in a place like here too.

Sometimes we think there is more value there just because we are paying the monthly cost. Just make sure it is working for you, and if you see a positive return, of course you should keep paying. Just make sure you don't assume it is helping if you don't analyze it yourself.

Matt

[DogScout]

I belonged to Perry Marshalls MMC which when managing an Adwords campaign over a $1000 budget saved me at least that a month by having the latest changes to the Google algorithm dissected by experts

Glenn Livingston's HR Club, same deal, but lower cost and more scientific in the approach. Saved easily over $700 a month by being a member of both managing a $1500 a month Adwords campaign.

Dan Kennedy's which gives me access to the local GKIC free is only $49.Local networking which has meant thousands in savings/earnings.


So my answer would be ROI!

[Joel Gray]

I also have paid $97 per month for memberships that I felt were giving me good information each month, when it got to the point that the information was not up to par so to speak I cancelled the subscription. The first few months however it was certainly worth it.

Joel

[WD Mino]

Originally Posted by DogScout

I belonged to Perry Marshalls MMC which when managing an Adwords campaign over a $1000 budget saved me at least that a month by having the latest changes to the Google algorithm dissected by experts

Glenn Livingston's HR Club, same deal, but lower cost and more scientific in the approach. Saved easily over $700 a month by being a member of both managing a $1500 a month Adwords campaign.

Dan Kennedy's which gives me access to the local GKIC free is only $49.Local networking which has meant thousands in savings/earnings.


So my answer would be ROI!

So if a person is offering coaching training downloads social networking etc the price of the membership should be set higher like $97 a month?

But just saying hypothetically wouldn't that limit people who really need the training and stuff but who can't afford to put out that much?

See when I first created my membersite I had that price tag in mind 97 for Gold and 147 for Elite. but then I got more involved here and started seeing a huge set back for lots of folks they wanted it but couldn't afford it. but now I am thinking based on your comment I may be robbing myself. Certain site have the right to charge more because of the quality and quantity of the content i mean i studied these models for months and months before I started one but given the economic times I figured price lower offer more actually help people.
hmm
Something I need to think about now.
-WD

[Bev Clement]

WD, is your content all unique or is part of it unique because it makes a difference to what people are prepared to pay.

The higher the unique content, the higher the price can be.

[Vadym]

Originally Posted by ericwt

There are membership sites that charge a heck of a lot more than $97.

If it had information I needed I would pay more than $97.

That's the secret answer, by the way.

A person will pay $497 a month if they're being delivered what they VALUE to be at that point.

If the rewards outweigh the cost, the person will buy.

That's all.

[WD Mino]

@ Bev,
happy New year.

The content I offer on the site for downloads are just PLR and MRR products I have accumulated I have lots of memberships at most of the top sites and have a vip at one which was the best investment i made aside from my war room membership.

The training on the other hand is unique and my own . products I create will be given in the members area as well but to get a nice amount of content for them upfront I installed quite a bit from stuff I have that was just sitting on my drive.

In doing training and things like creating products I don't like to use others stuff although I suppose I learned from lots so that obviously comes out. Unique is what I primarily deal with for myself and my products so I don't know how to answer that properly Bev. The downloadable content stuff is just a feature for them the crux is the programs offered and the training I develop for them. does that make sense? I prefer to offer my members things that they personally want and need . Elite members get me in their corner coaching and helping them get through the ups and downs of getting going.

but the site is geared for those starting out so that I can help them get a solid foundation and base built ready to take on any niche with an arsenal under their belt. I will go over everything from html to product creation to setting up an AR setting up a membership site traffic generation I mean I cover everything. in modules which I will write so it is completely unique and my own methods. right now I have one module uploaded that is called the plan that is my own and it is unique but the one thing I know is you have got to plan first before doing anything then you systemize that plan execute it and develop a strategy to fulfill it.
-WD

[DogScout]

Originally Posted by WD Mino

So if a person is offering coaching training downloads social networking etc the price of the membership should be set higher like $97 a month?

But just saying hypothetically wouldn't that limit people who really need the training and stuff but who can't afford to put out that much?

See when I first created my membersite I had that price tag in mind 97 for Gold and 147 for Elite. but then I got more involved here and started seeing a huge set back for lots of folks they wanted it but couldn't afford it. but now I am thinking based on your comment I may be robbing myself. Certain site have the right to charge more because of the quality and quantity of the content i mean i studied these models for months and months before I started one but given the economic times I figured price lower offer more actually help people.
hmm
Something I need to think about now.
-WD

In my cases, the 1st 2 examples were immediate savings. The memberships paid for themselves and then some. I was a Livingston Charter member so I only paid $29.95/mo for his which is now over $75 and still worth 5-10 times as much. Anyone managing a larger account would see even higher savings!
Kennedy's MMC is a bit slower. The benefit there was longer in coming and the bulk of it is having free face to face access to Kennedy style local marketers. We meet once a month, have guest speakers on various topics. Do hot seats where everyone brainstorms a members marketing campaign either before or after it is implemented. There is a local printer that if you order from material for a campaign is likely as not to call and make suggestions based on Kennedy style advertising. Same with a local video company, a lawyer, couple photographers, some IMers, Graphic designers, realtors, a house painter even! All in all 50+ local, sharp, out of box thinkers always willing to take a look at what you are doing or planning and help with ideas you alone might miss, at any time.
Eventually though, that one is the gem. Every one of the members CARES about the success of EVERY one of the other members. You are never alone or just have a forum to talk to people who 'get it'. Face to face - nothing beats that in my book. So while the website was no great shakes (Bill Glazer has been a little more active there lately though) the opening it gives me to local businesses is priceless.
(Last month a lady presented a marketing campaign that was very good, right down to putting the stamp on a little crooked on the envelope. She put her company name as the return address though. Simple no-no, but easy to miss. With 50 other people looking at the campaign, that as well as several other number of ideas where shared; perhaps doubling, tripling or more her open and conversion rate. All for $49/month. How do you beat that?)

[WD Mino]

Ok So the one feature of that site is the face to face get togethers so it is the social aspect . ok Well that is different but not so different from what I do the elite members get to present their sites and products to the other members and we can meet in the chat room or forum etc so that is simiar in the aspects you mentioned . hmm something for me to consider 49 a month is a great price and falls in the prime target range so maybe I really do need to increase the price because even though I may not be face to face with them I am right there with them that is one of the main purposes of it.

thanks for the help Dog nice of you to do so
-WD

[drmani]

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

If you a member of a $97 or more a month site, what is so interesting that you want to continue with it?

Be it $9 or $97, I'd keep paying if:

* it gave me value worth the price (not all value is measured in ROI or dollars/cents terms, too)

* I forgot about the auto-bill arrangement (and it didn't put a big enough dent in my budget so I'd notice)

All success
Dr.Mani

[Jesus Perez]

Simple. I get back the $97 x 10 in some fashion.

[cityofangels]

If I'm a member paying $97/month, I will continue if the information is incredibly valuable, I see a return on this investment and if the provider over delivers. I think the last part is super important. If the provider just barely provides what they promise, then it may make me question continuing with the service versus if they provider over delivers--gives bonuses, additional related material, provides unexpected tips, etc. That is truly valuable so I would continue.

[pheonix44]

What keeps me paying is know the site is saving me hours and hours of time, thusfore making me more money. Like if you are making 1000s a month with EZA you will not care about the monthly fee to be a premium member.

[Ryan Even]

For me it's simple...

Do I make at least $97 per month (or same me $97 worth of time) as a direct result of being a member (assuming it's a membership in the IM/business niche)? If not I cancel... If so I gladly remain a member.

[sdentrepreneur]

I pay monthly memberships for four different sites, $149, $97, $47 and $29.
All of them are quality and where I get 90% of my Internet Training, get the other 10% from the Warrior Forum :-P

[sbucciarel]

I don't join membership sites and would never join one for $97/mnth. I will buy a product outright that interests me, but not a membership to a site. The ones that I have joined, I quickly unjoined as they did not provide enough fresh, valuable content after 1 or 2 months to justify the cost.

[iYingHang]

$97 is a very very big price which nobody will really like to pay monthly unless the content has a lot of value.

[SamuelJ]

Massive value! Thats it!

I am a member of Super fast results James Schramko's Private IM
forum and I am happy to pay $97 every month.

He basically makes it too hard to leave because he offers so much
value in the form of content, Private webinars and privately
developed tools that you can't get anywhere else, you would be
silly to leave.

It's all about the VAlue or percived Value

[Aaarrrggghhh]

I don't mind the costs...it's the returns. If it can return on my initial investment, I'm usually the first one in. I have spent a lot of money on WSO's and on monthly memberships to get quick answers for my clients so, as long as the info or tool is what I need to get a job done faster or easier, I have no problem spending the $$. But, I will NEVER join a membership site that does not clearly have the details of how to unsubscribe...I got caught in a couple of sites where it took me months to escape! Will never do that again - lol!

[theemperor]

Originally Posted by BIG Mike

I agree with this, but need to modify it - "If you're making $20k per month directly as a result of the membership, it's not much at all"

To me it doesn't matter what the cost is - I just need to see some tangible ROI as a result, month after month. The quality of what's offered needs to be consistent and fresh (a lot of memberships struggle with that).

I agree. Working as a software developer, I know software companies would pay good $$$ for anything that would save us time, help us be more organised etc. Compared to salaries and other costs $97/mo is not lot. Especially for a company with 10 or more employees. It's nothing to them.

[grandstar]

Basically, for your membership to be worth $97, you must overdeliver! There is nothing else to it.

Use a free trial offer to woo people first.

Wishing you the best!

[Hamida Harland]

I don't think I would pay $97+ for a content based membership site as I've seen too many of those fall by the wayside. Plus most information you would ever need is available for a one time payment somewhere.

3 memberships I'm currently subscribed to are $97 or over - one helps me drive alot of traffic to my sites, one is a software that helps me build backlinks faster and another is a backlink service. I'm also thinking of signing up to an outsourcing service that is currently being offered as a WSO.

[willyboy104]

Interesting thread. How about if the membership was to give you one full product with everything you need to either resell or sell to customers with the quality being like this > The Migraine Relief | 100% Natural Migraine Treatment and Headache Remedy

You were to get one per month with articles, autoresponders, reviews...

[TelegramSam]

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

$97 A month, what keeps you paying?

Usually Amnesia!

[dbarnum]

I pay this for service-related subscriptions that come to mind:

Linkvana $149 mo. and Article Underground $97 mo. - - one way link services
Subhub $97 mo. - - membership / ecommerce + more site software with killer support
Media sources - regularly publicity / ads (over $97)
Adsense - varies

[MikeWalker]

Originally Posted by TelegramSam

Usually Amnesia!

That's actually very funny

[Scott Ames]

Originally Posted by TelegramSam

Usually Amnesia!

Ha ha.. good one.. and so true in a lot of cases.

[Nicholas William]

hey scotty. dude, I feel like I haven't been around for months... oh hang on, it has been months. Man time flies when you've got yr head down churning out sites

for me tho, I pay for $97 rebills because of the time that they save me. Things like traffic geiser are well worth it, because of the leverage I can get from that tool. Sure they make a great return too, but my honest answer to your question is that it saves me a huge amount of time

[glenngers]

Hi there, it's Glenn Livingston :-)

I have a strong opinion on pricing for membership sites which I thought might be helpful to you all.

First, realize that continuity is HARD to sell. As in VERY HARD. As in, most people would rather pour hydrochloric acid on their genitals than sign up for a regular monthly fee, no matter how valuable, and no matter how good the Return On Investment actually is.

Therefore, what's MOST important for those of you developing a membership site is INTELLIGENCE... what gets people to CONVERT. And intelligence comes much more quickly and inexpensively at LOW price levels, because conversion is much higher at low price levels.

So in short, I'd rather see you all start very low, get LOTS of conversions, be able to do a LOT of split tests in a short amount of time, and get your darn sites converting.

Then, you raise the price slowly but surely until you hit the sweetspot (where visitor value is maxed out). This has the double impact of rewarding your early adopters, who got to lock in the lower rate, and now are afraid to ever quit (as well they should be) because they'll have to come back in at the higher rate. AND, the persistent price raises, assuming you're keeping your list informed, does wonders for conversion in and of themselves. (I'm constantly amazed at how flooded I get just before the price raise deadline)

In sum?
- Start low and make lots of sales
- Do lots of split tests to maximize conversion
- Persistently raise your price to reward early adopters, create loyalty, and create a flood of orders at every jump
- Stop when your visitor value starts going down

My two cents, for what it's worth!

Dr G :-)

Glenn Livingston, Ph.D.
Hyper Responsive Marketing Secrets
(Now $77 for a full day's worth of seminar quality material each month...and climbing steadily)

[Scott Ames]

Originally Posted by glenngers

Hi there, it's Glenn Livingston :-)

As in, most people would rather pour hydrochloric acid on their genitals than sign up for a regular monthly fee

OUCH!!! Good grief that would hurt.

[Jim Symonds]

Originally Posted by Aaarrrggghhh

I don't mind the costs...it's the returns. If it can return on my initial investment, I'm usually the first one in.

I couldn't agree more. What I haven't seen mentioned in this thread, is any or all of that $97 recurring fee going to affiliates?

I just launched a site that pays out $100 monthly to affiliates - you break even on your first sale.

Instant Inbox Cash - Get Paid To Build Your List!

If you're making money from the investment, you're going to hand around, and pay your $97 or $100/mo.

My 2 cents.

Jim

[Designr]

I'd stick with the others who say, if the return on investment is good enough I'd be happy to pay.