Membership site question...do trials work for you?

28 replies
I'll be releasing a membership site and charging $17 to $27 per month. I was wondering if any of you have had success giving a free trial period or a 'lower cost' first month...

My thoughts were "try it for $7 - $10" for the first thirty days and then having it go to "$17 - $27" for every month after. I'm wondering how this will affect the retention rate.

On the other end...I was thinking of charging more for the first month and then having the recurring billing be lower every month after. So, charge $27 - $47 for the first month and $17 - $27 for the recurring. The higher amount for the first month would be justified by all the front end videos and guides that are included in the membership.

Which of the above models would you go with? My primary goal is customer RETENTION...of course, that will have to do a lot with the value of the offer...but let's just assume it OVER delivers for now and the only variable affecting retention is the billing model.

Scott
#membership #questiondo #site #trials #work
  • Profile picture of the author fthomas137
    Been wondering that myself. I had purchased a WSO for $27 that was a 7 day free look before the charge went through. I enjoyed the WSO so much that I felt it was worth the cost. Otherwise, I'd have never paid the $27 up front.

    Sorry warriors, but I've had a bunch of crappy WSO sprinkled in with great ones....

    Frank
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron Douglas
    A 30 day free trial will get you lots of additional members. A 7 or 14 day trial works also but tests show that the 30 day works best - maybe because more people are likely to forget to cancel after 30 days.

    I would make the trial have limited access and provide them an incentive to stay on past the first month. Sometimes a simple 'here's what's coming' notification works wonders.
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    • Profile picture of the author MaskedMarketer
      Originally Posted by Ron Douglas View Post

      A 30 day free trial will get you lots of additional members. A 7 or 14 day trial works also but test show that the 30 day works best - maybe because more people are likely to forget to cancel after 30 days.

      I would make the trial have limited access and provide them an incentive to stay on past the first month. Sometimes a simple 'here's what's coming' notification works wonders.
      What about 1$ free trial for 7-10 days? Do you charge them anything with the 30 day trial? I would assume you'd aleast want the CC # before they come aboard?
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
    Trials work well, depending on the site.

    With a free trial, you will get more signups but a smaller % of them will stay since some have no intention of ever paying or may not have the ability to pay. If you do free, at least set it up as a trial where the billing starts automatically when the trial ends- and be very clear about how that works. Otherwise you'll just attract even more freebie seekers.

    As to whether free or low-priced is more profitable in the long run, you'll have to test it for every site.
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  • Profile picture of the author zerofill
    Scott with membership sites...normally we charge whatever it is we plan to charge right up front. But we will refund them the cost in the first 30 days. If they find that it is not for them...
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Million
    Originally Posted by Ron Douglas View Post

    A 30 day free trial will get you lots of additional members. A 7 or 14 day trial works also but test show that the 30 day works best - maybe because more people are likely to forget to cancel after 30 days.

    I would make the trial have limited access and provide them an incentive to stay on past the first month. Sometimes a simple 'here's what's coming' notification works wonders.
    Where did you find out that the 30 day free trial model works best?

    Anyone go the other way (higher priced first month with lower recurring)?
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Million
    Originally Posted by zerofill View Post

    Scott with membership sites...normally we charge whatever it is we plan to charge right up front. But we will refund them the cost in the first 30 days. If they find that it is not for them...
    What do you find is the retention rate for your membership site? And at what price point?

    Is there a product that goes over all this information? Or someone here who has successfully run several membership sites that offers paid consultation?

    It seems like you get one shot at launching this correctly and it either floats or busts. There's gotta be some 'pros' at this who created a 'successful membership sites' guide.
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    • Profile picture of the author zerofill
      Originally Posted by Scott Million View Post

      What do you find is the retention rate for your membership site? And at what price point?

      Is there a product that goes over all this information? Or someone here who has successfully run several membership sites that offers paid consultation?

      It seems like you get one shot at launching this correctly and it either floats or busts. There's gotta be some 'pros' at this who created a 'successful membership sites' guide.
      Churn rate on membership sites are huge anyway Scott...
      The reason being is you will have many sign up and pay for the first month but not use the information at all. Especially if you are offering make money online techniques and strategies. The ones that truly use the information and WORK...will stay with you. The ones that are looking for the push button instantly get rich will leave within a few months. But in a way that is great because it doesn't get your members off track that are really trying to build an income. So the negativity or laziness etc does not rub off on those people.

      Not sure this is the type of area you are targeting with your membership...but most people feel safe within the $17-$27 range...start getting a little uncomfortable beyond $37...

      This is a newbie area though. If you are targeting a different more advanced audience then you will be able to charge substantially more. Your retention rate will more than likely go up as well.

      So it is hard to give you an idea of the results you will see since your target users will be different then ours.
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      • Profile picture of the author Scott Million
        VERY true...a great example is LinkVana...$147/mo and I'll be a customer for life. It obviously targets the intermediate to expert SEO crowd and those who stay know and see the ROI.

        It's a no-brainer...

        And that's where I hit the hurdle. Do I want to make this a premium membership site and really target the experts

        or...

        do I want to go the newbie-friendly route at a low price point.

        -----

        And based on your input it seems that the newbies who do nothing are going to cancel anyway...so the premium benefits me more in the long run since those who really use the material I provide them will be making 10x + their investment back every month.

        Thanks a bunch.

        Originally Posted by zerofill View Post

        Churn rate on membership sites are huge anyway Scott...
        The reason being is you will have many sign up and pay for the first month but not use the information at all. Especially if you are offering make money online techniques and strategies. The ones that truly use the information and WORK...will stay with you. The ones that are looking for the push button instantly get rich will leave within a few months. But in a way that is great because it doesn't get your members off track that are really trying to build an income. So the negativity or laziness etc does not rub off on those people.

        Not sure this is the type of area you are targeting with your membership...but most people feel safe within the $17-$27 range...start getting a little uncomfortable beyond $37...

        This is a newbie area though. If you are targeting a different more advanced audience then you will be able to charge substantially more. Your retention rate will more than likely go up as well.

        So it is hard to give you an idea of the results you will see since your target users will be different then ours.
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  • Profile picture of the author BlogBrowser
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
      Originally Posted by BlogBrowser View Post

      People, as customers, are apprehensive to get involved in recurring monthly fees. The best way to prove them that your content is good is allowing them to have a free peep inside with a one-month trial. Charging $1 for that initial month is pointless because that already means that they gotta swing their credit card and those who're just curious might opt against it.
      Have you ever run a membership site?

      The whole point of charging $1 is to make sure the person is able and willing to pay. If they aren't, they will never become paying members.
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  • Profile picture of the author zerofill
    Hey Scott just noticed your in Syracuse...Your only about.. 1.5 hours away from me 8)
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  • Profile picture of the author Barry Davis
    I have been running a membership site in my niche for over five years. It is $9.95 per month. Three months ago I started a 30 day free trial with the subscription payments set up through PayPal (after 30 days the charge starts automatically). So far over 95% have stayed through the first paid month. Also, my sign-ups have tripled for an average month.

    My content is new every month, and new subscribers cannot access prior content, so my situation is probably a bit different than most.
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    • Profile picture of the author Scott Million
      Yea, this is the other side of the table...making the low cost per month with loads of members.

      It's all relative to the offer...

      Do you sell previous month's content within the members area? I have a similar situation and I plan on selling previous months content in the members area.

      Originally Posted by Barry Davis View Post

      I have been running a membership site in my niche for over five years. It is $9.95 per month. Three months ago I started a 30 day free trial with the subscription payments set up through PayPal (after 30 days the charge starts automatically). So far over 95% have stayed through the first paid month. Also, my sign-ups have tripled for an average month.

      My content is new every month, and new subscribers cannot access prior content, so my situation is probably a bit different than most.
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      • Profile picture of the author Barry Davis
        Originally Posted by Scott Million View Post

        Do you sell previous month's content within the members area? I have a similar situation and I plan on selling previous months content in the members area.
        I compile 12 months worth of material and sell them as Annual CDs that are shipped. I also sell individual months that can be ordered and downloaded. My material is not time-sensitive like SEO would be, so I can sell these same CDs 50 years from now. Right now I have five Annual CDs that I offer for $99.95 each, or they can be purchased in bundles for a substantial discount. And I do sell a LOT of them.

        Barry
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        • Profile picture of the author Scott Million
          Originally Posted by Barry Davis View Post

          I compile 12 months worth of material and sell them as Annual CDs that are shipped. I also sell individual months that can be ordered and downloaded. My material is not time-sensitive like SEO would be, so I can sell these same CDs 50 years from now. Right now I have five Annual CDs that I offer for $99.95 each, or they can be purchased in bundles for a substantial discount. And I do sell a LOT of them.

          Barry
          Excellent, this confirms that selling previous months material is more than worthwhile.

          Thanks!
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    • Profile picture of the author Lance K
      Originally Posted by Barry Davis View Post

      I have been running a membership site in my niche for over five years. It is $9.95 per month. Three months ago I started a 30 day free trial with the subscription payments set up through PayPal (after 30 days the charge starts automatically). So far over 95% have stayed through the first paid month. Also, my sign-ups have tripled for an average month.

      My content is new every month, and new subscribers cannot access prior content, so my situation is probably a bit different than most.
      Thank you for the very interesting case study, Barry.
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  • Profile picture of the author BlogBrowser
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    • Profile picture of the author Scott Million
      Originally Posted by BlogBrowser View Post

      You should also take into consideration that A) in any niche there are many more newbies than experts, so your client base will be much larger and B) it's easier to create (and outsource) content for newbies than experts.
      That's not necessarily the case. My offer appeals to both...it's all plug 'n play stuff that saves tons of $$$ and hours of work.

      For those that know how to get targeted traffic it really is a no brainer...it will save them so much time and money that I think the retention rate to this crowd will be extremely high.

      But, I was going to provide a bunch of step-by-step guides/instructions on how to get targeted traffic so that it's newbie friendly...however, if they don't DO IT then they'll cancel, no question...and it seems like most people don't do much with what they buy...So premium is starting to look a lot more appealing. It's just a matter of finding where that crowd hangs out other than the WF.

      Thanks so much guys, this thread is really helping me out.
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  • Profile picture of the author BlogBrowser
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
      Originally Posted by BlogBrowser View Post

      QUOTE: "The whole point of charging $1 is to make sure the person is able and willing to pay. If they aren't, they will never become paying members."

      What does it matter to you whether they are willing to pay or not.
      Because I'm a rational business person, obviously. (One of us had to be.)
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  • Profile picture of the author fthomas137
    You know it sounds reasonable. I was think about all that too, one month of free trial and all and with paypal, you do have to give a valid paypal account name and such, so it cures the false payment issue and if payment doesn't come through, access is cut off.


    Frank
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  • Profile picture of the author Manuel Viloria
    If you're going to give some kind of preview, offer a sample
    chapter or module of your membership site content. It's up
    to you if you want them to give up their email address for
    that or not.

    That sample/preview will satisfy the window-shopping crowd.

    For actual "full" access to the site, offer a $1 trial that's good
    for X number of days. That will help segregate the window
    shoppers from those who are more committed.

    Kind regards,
    Manuel Viloria
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  • Profile picture of the author Ronnie Nijmeh
    From my experience, a lower price-point grabs "freebie-seekers" and people who just want a look - i.e. all talk, no action kind of people.

    The moment I increased my prices, my attrition rate dropped substantially and my income quadrupled.

    So I'd stay away from the $1 trial and make it a $9 trial... and I'd say a higher price point as well.

    When it comes to trial length, 30-days has worked well for me since people are more likely to stick around. If it's a short trial, you get people who want to test things out immediately and make a snap decision whether they should cancel or not.

    That's my experience anyway!

    Ronnie
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  • Profile picture of the author Franck Silvestre
    Free trial works great because you will get more people in your funnel, and if you take their email address, you will always be able to make a sale later on with a promo...

    The more value there is in the membership, and the more it converts because free members see what they will miss if they don't upgrade.

    As for $7-10, I'd choose $1 and need to test this.

    Franck.
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    • Profile picture of the author David-JP
      That's one of the most common but hardest to answer questions. There's no one answer that fits all. It really depends on your offer and market.

      As a general rule, if you content is answering a specific question, that can be answered within your trial period, I would use an upfront payment.

      If its something more abstract, that has value over a longer period as they have access to the content then a trial of $0 may be effective.

      You will really need to test.

      David
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  • Profile picture of the author tradermike2008
    Years ago when I first started with my stock trading membership sites I did a 30 day free trial. I found that 50% of the people would stick with a free trial. They had to enter their credit card to get the trial.

    I don't know what it would do now. But I don't do free trials anymore. Instead I rather give a really solid guarantee and I get less than 10% ask for it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lance K
      Originally Posted by tradermike2008 View Post

      Years ago when I first started with my stock trading membership sites I did a 30 day free trial. I found that 50% of the people would stick with a free trial. They had to enter their credit card to get the trial.
      Was the 50% that stuck a number greater than the sales you would have made without the free trial?
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  • Profile picture of the author Barry Davis
    I'm sure a lot of this depends on your niche. For mine, the free 30 days works great, especially since they have to sign up with PayPal to start the free trial. I have had a couple that unsubscribed after they got their first notice from paypal that a payment has been made, but the vast majority have stuck with it.

    Barry
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