One Month Left! Am I On the Right Track?
For anyone interested in the MMO niche, this is a huge deal. In my case, this is the moment I've been working towards FOR A YEAR.
The market I'm targeting is "gold guides". It's a popular niche for many different games which feature a currency and economy. For Blizzard's franchise, these guides are in incredibly high demand, especially at the launch of a game. Knowing this, I began work last year and have continued working hard to dominate google, network with other web hosts, and encourage new bloggers to join me in writing about Diablo 3.
What I've done is utilize two very different business models:
1. A one time purchase, with permanent access to a frequently updated and useful guide. (Instead of a pdf, members log in and view the guide in real time). I will be in charge of adding to this guide and keeping it up to date for the game's lifespan.
2. A forum with recurring membership. This is meant to keep revenue coming in regardless of how long ago a member purchased the guide. There are expert gamers mixed in with the members to help administer the forum and keep the conversations productive.
Right now, I'm charging a measly $17 for permanent guide access and $2 per month for the forum. I have sold over 300 copies, 75% of which were internal and not through affiliates. In order to get these buyers to join my forum, I've given them 3 months free access. When this runs out, I will be making additional revenue from monthly forum charges.
I'm working very hard to increase the value of the guide and plan to increase the price to $24 on May 1st, then up to $37 on May 15th when the game is released. With regards to the forum, I do not expect to increase that price point. Also, I will probably continue to offer a small chunk of forum time for free to new buyers.
Affiliates will earn 75% of all revenue and I am hosting on the clickbank marketplace.
As more guides start showing up besides my own, I plan on reviewing them and possibly selling them within my guide and/or on my blog.
The guide sales page can be found here:
Diablo 3 Gold Secrets | Best Diablo 3 RMAH Guide
The blog where I'm writing to generate leads can be found here (over 1,000 subscribers currently):
Diablo 3 Gold Guide Blog | RMAH Guide
What I'm looking for is insight, criticism, and help on how to proceed with this project. I feel that I've done a good job so far, but soon May 15th will come around and I won't have much time to plan any longer. I'll just be acting on instinct and the plan I've laid out already. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated, especially anyone who has worked with similar business models in the past.
I genuinely do care about my buyers, and so I will devote obnoxious amounts of time to keeping the guide up to snuff. Sometimes I get a bit carried away and lose sight of other goals. Hopefully you can give me some insights and help me to avoid such situations in the future.
Have you worked with similar projects in the past? How did they go for you? As an affiliate of other products, is my work appealing? Is the sales page something that stands out to you? Where can I improve?
I know I've written a lot, and Paul, if this post is too self promoting then feel free to edit or outright delete it. I wasn't really sure how to ask these questions without giving the entire picture of where my sites reside and what I've done thus far.
After all, you're probably following a few hundred people already that aren't doing squat for you.....