Does anyone have any luck with $1 membership sites?

[Ashley Gable]

Has anyone ever had a $1 per month membership site? I was thinking about having my membership site like this, but am concerned of the readers perceived value of the site.
Just curious to get some input from anyone that has tried this before or maybe you have had some success with it.

Im pretty sure I can get at least 2,000 members so even at $1 per month per member it would be way more than i am currently making online

So any tips, warnings?

Ashley

[rr1455]

In today race for $$$$, I think anything below $5.00 will get you some traffic and profit.... Let us all know who it goes...
Roger Rohrs

[DrewG]

Agree with Roger--

If you offer good content at a low price, it could be recommended by many, and have a viral effect. However, if it's really good, why not double the price (to $2)...so instead of $2,000/month, it'd be $4,000/month, a respectable income for any membership site.

Either way, good luck with it!

[Joel Chue]

It would be better if you do a $1 trial then charge at least $9.95 a month.

[Ashley Wright]

the $1 says it all, expect what you put in is more or less what you get out!

[jasonl70]

Honestly? I think it screams 'I'm afraid to ask for money'.
Do you think $1 would convert twice as much as $2? or 10x more the $10?

[sogeshirts]

I would start at five dollars a member at least. If you think you can get 2000 at 1 dollar do you think you could get more than 400 at five dollars cause if you do that is instant profit.

[Ashley Gable]

Do you think $1 would convert twice as much as $2? or 10x more the $10?

No I just was thinking about it one day...The fact that if i could get 2000 members at $1 each I would actually be making money! There is no testing or theory behind it.

I do like Joel Chue's idea; To have a $1 trial period and then charge a higher monthly fee. But to be honest I dont know if my targeted market would spend much money.

What do you all think about charging a monthly fee of say $9.95 per month or have an option to buy an outright lifetime membership for like $40 or $50?
Anyone have luck with that method?

Thanks for all the input though. I may still try the $1 per month idea just to see how it works.
Thanks again

[Ashley Gable]

Originally Posted by sogeshirts

I would start at five dollars a member at least. If you think you can get 2000 at 1 dollar do you think you could get more than 400 at five dollars cause if you do that is instant profit.

That might work I guess, i hadnt thought about the net profit options yet, I was just kinda testing the water so to speak, without actually dipping my toes in! Was hoping someone had tried it before.
Thanks
by the way..Yh i think i could get at least 400 members at $5 each, so that is something to think about. I was thinking more along the lines of what Drew Castle wrote about the possible viral effect. The niche basically has to turn to the web for friends and content. So anyone joining the site would probably have a few friends they could tell using trafficxplode or VI.

The site could get to 20,000 members or more judging by the numbers or other sites and some email lists i was able to take a peek at!...and well 20,000+ members per month paying $1 each is nothing to scoff at!

ashley

[jasonl70]

Im pretty sure I can get at least 2,000 members so even at $1 per month per member it would be way more than i am currently making online

Even 'free' is doing really well if it converts at 30% - which would require around 6000 targeted visitors.

If you could pull that off in a reasonable amount of time (drive 6000 targeted visitors to your site), then really should be able to make more then 2k a month.

I think you are falling into the trap of "if only charge a tiny amount, the traffic and sales I have been unable to get will magicaly appear". It just aint so - ask anyone who gives away freebies to build their lists, or who gives out free reports with their affiliate links. I can tell you it would cost me over $2000 ppc just to give away 2000 freebies. Ask anyone who starts a forum how easy it is to get 2000 active members, or how easy it is to get 2000 followers on their blog..

[Frank Bruno]

I've been running membership sites for years in various niches and have tried almost every scenario and what I can tell you is that what you decide to charge and how you charge is all relevent to your market for a particular product or service that you have a membership site for.

What might work and be attractive in Forex may not be appealing to the bird cage market.

What you need to do is test things out. Thats what I've always done. Its pretty simple and quick as all you have to do is change a few numbers.

Frank Bruno

[Ashley Gable]

Originally Posted by jasonl70

I think you are falling into the trap of "if only charge a tiny amount, the traffic and sales I have been unable to get will magicaly appear". It just aint so - ask anyone who gives away freebies to build their lists, or who gives out free reports with their affiliate links. I can tell you it would cost me over $2000 ppc just to give away 2000 freebies. Ask anyone who starts a forum how easy it is to get 2000 active members, or how easy it is to get 2000 followers on their blog..

I see what you mean, but I was only in my speculation phase (I'm trying to sound like a veteran marketer in case you haven't noticed)

I was merely saying If I could get 2,000 members it would be very good. Actually getting the members, as you pointed out is a whole other thing. I am very new to the internet, but after my last site I definitely realize how hard it is to get traffic to a site! I had such high hopes!

Originally Posted by Frank Bruno

What you need to do is test things out. Thats what I've always done. Its pretty simple and quick as all you have to do is change a few numbers.

Yes I think you are right, I just wanted to check in case it was a big no no to ask for so little. But considering the mixed responses I will just test out the offer.

By the way, have you ever had anyone get mad when they find out that other members have lower rates or paid a lower one time access fee?
Especially if you have a forum you think it would come up at least once?

Ashley

[nicholasb]

I have had higher conversions using a free shipping offer instead, where I give away an actual physical product for the cost of shipping

[dave147]

Originally Posted by Joel Chue

It would be better if you do a $1 trial then charge at least $9.95 a month.

I agree - a $1 trial for 1 week and then an upgrade or a straight upgrade for $1 but only for a week, then with an option of staying on for $9.95 pm

[Hililuud]

Originally Posted by AshleyAA

I see what you mean, but I was only in my speculation phase (I'm trying to sound like a veteran marketer in case you haven't noticed)

I was merely saying If I could get 2,000 members it would be very good. Actually getting the members, as you pointed out is a whole other thing. I am very new to the internet, but after my last site I definitely realize how hard it is to get traffic to a site! I had such high hopes!



Yes I think you are right, I just wanted to check in case it was a big no no to ask for so little. But considering the mixed responses I will just test out the offer.

By the way, have you ever had anyone get mad when they find out that other members have lower rates or paid a lower one time access fee?
Especially if you have a forum you think it would come up at least once?

Ashley

Your one of those dudes that brings down the value of the product by asking for ridiculously low prices, I feel sorry for the people in your niche.

[iTechSolutions]

I have a membership site and I charge $1 for 14 days trial and $7 per month after. I tried diff prices and find it best

[Ashley Gable]

Originally Posted by Hililuud

Your one of those dudes that brings down the value of the product by asking for ridiculously low prices, I feel sorry for the people in your niche.

Actually there is no one marketing what i am marketing in my niche, they offer offshoots of the same thing but lack the main core of what I will be offering, which is what everyone wants in my niche. At least thats in theory

So dont feel sorry for them.

I was merely asking for constructive input. Maybe you didnt catch the question marks in my posts?

Originally Posted by pcanada

I have a membership site and I charge $1 for 14 days trial and $7 per month after. I tried diff prices and find it best

Originally Posted by nicholasb

I have had higher conversions using a free shipping offer instead, where I give away an actual physical product for the cost of shipping

Yh I think after all the helpful posts this what I will try, I have a product i can give them and i think the trial period is a good idea.

Thanks again
Ashley

[Dayne Dylan]

Go with $4.95 a month and use this...

"For the price of one fast food meal a month, you can get all this!" or something like that.

[tommygadget]

I agree with all the above. Start out with a $1 trial offer. Then ask for at least $5/month. As stated above, always test out the offer by varying the numbers and tracking conversions. The trial offer should not be free IMO because it weeds out the freebie seekers and those who would have paid for it will anyway.

TomG.

[dean1986]

Originally Posted by AshleyAA

Has anyone ever had a $1 per month membership site? I was thinking about having my membership site like this, but am concerned of the readers perceived value of the site.
Just curious to get some input from anyone that has tried this before or maybe you have had some success with it.

Im pretty sure I can get at least 2,000 members so even at $1 per month per member it would be way more than i am currently making online

So any tips, warnings?

Ashley

Ashley, what business model are you going to use, im in the process of setting up a new website with another person, we have a very unique approach which we think will make over approx 2-3 million dollars after the first year.

Our model is simple provide the best training material available on the net for making money for free, they when we have everyone hooked, charge them.

[primeelite]

In my opinion I will take the content for free unless it is someone I heard or know is worth paying for. In my opinion it is all about demand. If you are very good at what you do, well known, and or have great reviews of the membership website then I would be willing to pay $20-$50 a month for tools and content. I don't think anyone will pay $1 for a website that they could get for free somewhere else.

[Gene Pimentel]

Just a side note: How much of that $1 do you actually see in profit after the transaction fees? 50 cents? All payment processors will charge you a per-item cost plus a percentage of the sale. 2000 subscribers may only yield $1,000. Not to mention customer service issues ("I can't log in!" "how do I download this?" "why can't I open this PDF"?, "I forgot my password", etc.).

[Do-My-Research]

The membership site with the least cost I have ever subscribed to was $9.95 everything below that just seems too much of a hassle to even set up the paypal payment since if somebody thinks their own product is only worth $1, why would I want to put the time into it to set it up?

[Ashley Gable]

Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan

Go with $4.95 a month and use this...

"For the price of one fast food meal a month, you can get all this!" or something like that.

lol thats good although I might have to change it a bit...my target audience is kinda "new age"

Originally Posted by primeelite

In my opinion I will take the content for free unless it is someone I heard or know is worth paying for. In my opinion it is all about demand. If you are very good at what you do, well known, and or have great reviews of the membership website then I would be willing to pay $20-$50 a month for tools and content. I don't think anyone will pay $1 for a website that they could get for free somewhere else.

Well actually I am an unknown in this field but have 5 years experience and I am actually an expert, but as of now unknown. There is one other expert in the field, but he is a researcher at Harvard and his site is and always has been static, but it still gets #2 ranking in google(been around a real long time).

There are other sites, but none of them are known experts either. But I know what you are talking about, and someone could get all the info for free on the internet, but using the info right is what seperates me and a few other experts from the other hobbyists. (It isnt a money making niche in case you were wondering)

Originally Posted by Gene Pimentel

Just a side note: How much of that $1 do you actually see in profit after the transaction fees? 50 cents? All payment processors will charge you a per-item cost plus a percentage of the sale. 2000 subscribers may only yield $1,000. Not to mention customer service issues ("I can't log in!" "how do I download this?" "why can't I open this PDF"?, "I forgot my password", etc.).

You know I never thought of this, you think it would of been my first thought. I completely forgot about transaction fees!

Well you will all be happy to know that I have come to a conclusion!

I will charge a $1 trial fee and then charge $5-$10 per month after that. Of course after testing all the offers and everything else.

Thanks again for all the help!

[Ivancho]

I am on my road to test $1 for first 7 days and then put a higher price but we will see how it goes. I promise I will update you...

[Ashley Gable]

Awesome please do. I have had a couple setbacks so I wont be able to test or even get anything up for a month or two.

Id love to hear how it goes for you.

Ashley

[AndyBlackSEO]

I think many people prefer to pay a one time fee in my opinion. I tried the monthly subscription think before and although it sold a little it was a fraction of the sales I got when I just sold lifetime memberships.

Maybe offer a monthly and lifetime solution. You may find that people would rather pay the one time larger fee.

There will never be a shortage of potential customers. When you sell worldwide over the web there are loads of new people entering the customer base every day.

[stateless]

Originally Posted by jasonl70

Honestly? I think it screams 'I'm afraid to ask for money'.
Do you think $1 would convert twice as much as $2? or 10x more the $10?

Very good point. If someone is willing to go to the trouble of paying a dollar, they are probably the same type of person who'd be willing to pay $3 or $4.