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What would be different about your paid, Internet-focussed Business Networking site?

by theultimate1
5 replies
Hello Warriors,

Let's say you're planning to develop a business networking site that focussed on having a web presence (and looking at online marketing & social media) as a business strategy component. Let's assume you'd be charging $97 a month as membership fees to it.

What would you be different about your site to get tens of thousands of people to actually pay & join your site, and stay as members? What features would the website have? What benefits (features-related PLUS non-features related) would it provide to the members?

I know this is too much to ask, but it's for a prospective client who would hire me to go ahead and develop the site for him. Please help me here, as I need some help with my finances this month. My only best bet is to get this client in, apart from my content writing services going on.

Thanks in advance, for any help on this one
#business #internetfocussed #networking #paid #site
  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by theultimate1 View Post

    What would you be different about your site to get tens of thousands of people to actually pay & join your site, and stay as members?
    Let me just sort of wave a hand here.

    You want tens of thousands of people.

    As in plural tens. More than one ten.

    As in twenty thousand people or more.

    Paying $1,164 a year ($97 a month times 12 months) to be members.

    That's an annual gross revenue of $23,280,000.

    You are not just in here asking for a working business plan... you are in here asking for a twenty million dollar a year business plan.

    And you are not going to get it for free. The few people who have the experience and the track record to field this question are absolutely not going to tell you how to do it without getting a big check first.
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    • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
      Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

      Let me just sort of wave a hand here.

      You want tens of thousands of people.

      As in plural tens. More than one ten.

      As in twenty thousand people or more.

      Paying $1,164 a year ($97 a month times 12 months) to be members.

      That's an annual gross revenue of $23,280,000.

      You are not just in here asking for a working business plan... you are in here asking for a twenty million dollar a year business plan.

      And you are not going to get it for free. The few people who have the experience and the track record to field this question are absolutely not going to tell you how to do it without getting a big check first.
      Haha, you caught me there Caliban.

      It was pretty naive of me to write such a corny large number. So, for modesty sake, can we say 3,000 members? I know that's still a lot, but then working for anything smaller wouldn't make much sense either; or so my client says.

      Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by theultimate1 View Post

        working for anything smaller wouldn't make much sense either; or so my client says.
        Oh, okay. If all he wants is THREE million a year, that's different. :rolleyes:

        In my professional opinion, your client is an idiot. He's grabbing numbers out of the air with absolutely no idea what they mean.

        The single biggest problem facing a membership site is to get the first 150 members as quickly as possible, and many FREE sites never manage it.

        The next problem is that most people don't stay on a paid membership site for more than four months.

        The key to getting your members to stay is the old standard, value delivery. Every time they have to pay, they think about whether or not to keep paying. Last month has to have been worth more than they paid for it... and they need a reasonable assurance that next month will be worth more than they are about to pay.

        Fail either of those, and your paying members will bail. A good sales letter will get people on for the first month. A solid batch of cool stuff will keep them there for the second. The third is about the other people on the site, and the members' own sense of consistency. But month four is the one where they realise the adrenaline rush is gone and they just don't feel the same way about the place anymore. Month three wasn't worth the money. Month four isn't going to be worth the money. And before it comes time to pay for month five, they've cancelled.

        But here's the thing: if you can keep your members there and happy for a full six months, they're probably not leaving. Ever. They'd literally have to be forced away from the site.

        How to keep those members and convince them your site is worth the money... well, that depends on what your members want. I don't know the answer to that, and honestly, you don't either. You need those first 150, and then you need to get them to tell you.
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        "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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        • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
          Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

          You need those first 150, and then you need to get them to tell you.
          That's one tip absolutely worth the 3,000,000

          Thanks a ton, Caliban [I sure will appreciate some more ideas ]
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  • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
    Sorry to bump this one up, but I could definitely use some help here.

    Possibly someone can point me towards paid business networking sites, whether in the IM or non-IM segments? [I'm not looking for PLR membership sites or IM coaching sites, however. ]

    Thanks
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