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Anybody have experience with SocialSam.com?

by SageSound
6 replies
Someone mentioned this fairly new service, SocialSam.com, in another thread. I'm wondering if anybody has any experience with it and cares to share their insights.

I've read over the public material -- I'm looking for folks who've actually set it up and used it: what do you think, how do you like it, is it easy to use, does it do what you expect, and so on.

From the main site, the "teaser" entry-level rate of $8/mo seems like a great deal. But the prices in their "Consulting" options are more like what I'd expect to see. So I'm curious if it's easy to set up something yourself without much work, or do you really need some of their "consulting" services to get anywhere?

Also, when they say it works with PayPal, are they talking about PayPal Pro, the credit card gateway? Or with regular PayPal accounts? Their material is quite vague in this respect.

-David
#experience #socialsam #socialsam.com #socialsamcom
  • Profile picture of the author georgetran
    Hi David

    I am the creator of SocialSAM.com. I am also the same guy who created 1Shoppingcart.com many years ago. I sold the company in 2002 and retired.


    SocialSAM.com is designed specifically for someone who wants to operate a paid membership/social network. It is designed to me easy to use and has as many features as possible to support an info marketer.

    It essentially integrates the best features of a BBS(like Ning/WarriorForum) with 1Shoppingcart (ie. can sell products, collect membership dues, affiliate program/tracking, etc).

    Is it easy to use or do you need consulting to set up? I've designed it so that you don't need to install any fancy scripts or deal with webhosting. You can essentially get your entire network setup in less than 10 mins.

    We created our consulting packages for those clients who need help. I've also written a very indepth setup guide that sets you through each step you need to setup your own network.

    How this differs from traditional membership software like ExtremeMember, MembersGate, WishList is that it combines the best of the following:

    1) An integrated ecource module...which allows you to deliver time delayed content to your users like a "virtual coaching program".

    2) It is a private social network application around your brand. Like Facebook..it allows your members to upload their contact database and we will invite them to come join (and grow) your network for you.

    3) Each member has a detailed member profile.

    4) It integrates the functions like forums/groups, classifieds, event calendars (and eventually event registration) into one common platform (which you can toggle features on and off).

    5) Each member is an affiliate which gives your users an incentive to invite others to come join your network.


    It is absolutely free to join. All you have to do is fill in the blanks..upload your logo and you are good to go. Once you are ready to launch, you can then activate your site for just $8/m (yes, I'm serious).

    To collect funds, our system uses Paypal's Website Payment Pro with the recurring billing module ($60/m). Alternatively, you can just use Authorize.net with CIM. We can get you set up for just $30/m.


    FYI we have 25 people in our company and we're growing very quickly.

    Let me know if you have any further questions.

    Sincerely
    George Tran
    CEO of SocialSAM.com
    Founder of 1Shoppingart.com
    Author of the Social Marketing Manifesto
    Blog: socialmarketingman.com
    Twitter: @georgetran
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    • Profile picture of the author TheBrainchildGroup
      Originally Posted by georgetran View Post

      Hi David

      I am the creator of SocialSAM.com. I am also the same guy who created 1Shoppingcart.com many years ago. I sold the company in 2002 and retired.


      SocialSAM.com is designed specifically for someone who wants to operate a paid membership/social network. It is designed to me easy to use and has as many features as possible to support an info marketer.

      It essentially integrates the best features of a BBS(like Ning/WarriorForum) with 1Shoppingcart (ie. can sell products, collect membership dues, affiliate program/tracking, etc).

      Is it easy to use or do you need consulting to set up? I've designed it so that you don't need to install any fancy scripts or deal with webhosting. You can essentially get your entire network setup in less than 10 mins.

      We created our consulting packages for those clients who need help. I've also written a very indepth setup guide that sets you through each step you need to setup your own network.

      How this differs from traditional membership software like ExtremeMember, MembersGate, WishList is that it combines the best of the following:

      1) An integrated ecource module...which allows you to deliver time delayed content to your users like a "virtual coaching program".

      2) It is a private social network application around your brand. Like Facebook..it allows your members to upload their contact database and we will invite them to come join (and grow) your network for you.

      3) Each member has a detailed member profile.

      4) It integrates the functions like forums/groups, classifieds, event calendars (and eventually event registration) into one common platform (which you can toggle features on and off).

      5) Each member is an affiliate which gives your users an incentive to invite others to come join your network.


      It is absolutely free to join. All you have to do is fill in the blanks..upload your logo and you are good to go. Once you are ready to launch, you can then activate your site for just $8/m (yes, I'm serious).

      To collect funds, our system uses Paypal's Website Payment Pro with the recurring billing module ($60/m). Alternatively, you can just use Authorize.net with CIM. We can get you set up for just $30/m.


      FYI we have 25 people in our company and we're growing very quickly.

      Let me know if you have any further questions.

      Sincerely
      George Tran
      CEO of SocialSAM.com
      Founder of 1Shoppingart.com
      Author of the Social Marketing Manifesto
      Blog: socialmarketingman.com
      Twitter: @georgetran
      Hello George:

      Thank you for responding to this post and excellent website!

      Keep up the good work.

      -Aaron
      Signature
      Search Engine Optimization Company
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  • Profile picture of the author SageSound
    Thanks for the info, George. That's one thing about the WF -- you're about as likely to get a reply from the founder/owner of a service as from other folks!

    It's not clear from the sales page that you don't have to pay anything until you "open up". I'll have to go sign up and play around!

    Also, it's not clear how to get that "indepth setup guide" -- it seems to only be included with the Consulting packages.

    Please tell me, what are your plans for supporting standard PayPal IPN-based transactions?

    If one were to use something like RAP to handle sales and payment processing, can it use your API to enable/disable accounts based on its own mechanisms?

    Thanks
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    • Profile picture of the author georgetran
      You are welcome David


      > Please tell me, what are your plans for supporting standard PayPal IPN-based transactions?

      We made a strategic decision to not hold credit card numbers on our server so we will not be a target for hackers. I learned the hard way from 1Shop. It's a mess.

      As such, only support Paypal Website Payment Pro and Authorize.net CIM, so standard Paypal will not work.



      >> If one were to use something like RAP to handle sales and payment processing, can it use your API to enable/disable accounts based on its own mechanisms?

      We will be releasing an API in the next few weeks so you can do ecommerce transactions outside of our system. To see how the API works, come to our social network at socialsam.net.

      Let me know if you have any further questions.

      Sincerely
      George
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      • Profile picture of the author SageSound
        Originally Posted by georgetran View Post

        > Please tell me, what are your plans for supporting standard PayPal IPN-based transactions?

        We made a strategic decision to not hold credit card numbers on our server so we will not be a target for hackers. I learned the hard way from 1Shop. It's a mess.

        As such, only support Paypal Website Payment Pro and Authorize.net CIM, so standard Paypal will not work.
        I appreciate your concerns, George, but this makes no sense. It seems backwards.

        First, regular PayPal payments and subscriptions only require that you keep their PayPal email address on file. None of their financial info is even accessible. That's what I love about PayPal.

        As a consumer, I can set up subscriptions for stuff, then switch the card that's billed, and I don't have to deal with the vendor at all. I can also easily see and manage my active subscriptions right through my PayPal account, with out needing to deal with the vendors.

        In contrast, I had a payment hit an account on Christmas day that was from something that I thought I'd cancelled. It wiped out funds that I was about to use for something else. Since it's being billed directly through the vendor through my CCard, and they're closed for the whole weekend, I'm stuck. See the difference? With PayPal, consumers can manage things themselves, and stuff like this doesn't have to arise.

        As far as subscriptions go, PayPal allows an amazingly wide variety of recurring billing options to be set, including two separate "intro" periods as well as a couple of graduated payments; limited and unlimited payments, etc.

        Everything is driven off of their IPN messaging system, AFAIK. They have a whole API, too, and even a dedicated support staff for it. (I think they've got their development stuff hosted on x.com, who they bought back in 1998 or so.)

        Second, your sales page says it DOES support recurring subscriptions. How can you do that with a traditional merchant gateway without submitting customer credit card info every month? SOMEBODY is holding onto the custome's CCard info. But the customer has no direct access to it, which means more work for your Support staff.

        I don't blame you for not wanting to hold onto CCard info -- I'm familiar with the regs and crazy implications that go with it.

        Which is all the more reason why you should support regular PayPal -- there's no exposure at all on your part, and it reduces the necessity of customers dealing with your Support staff.

        And if you get hacked, it's no more of a problem than if your email account gets hacked. It takes more than somebody's paypal email address to get money out of their account.
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        • Profile picture of the author georgetran
          David

          I'm glad you understand the hassle with regulations and bull Visa puts you through. One has to have an audit every quarter (I believe). It is an absolute pain that I did not want to deal with.

          1Shoppingcart has to deal with this..and has to force its customers to change passwords every few weeks...sheesh! What a pain! Not something I look forward to.

          To answer your question regarding "who keeps the credit card numbers?". Authorize.net and/or Paypal does. CIM stands for Customer Information Manager.
          Everytime a recurring billing profile is created...we submit this information to Authorize.net/Paypal. They return us a customer ID which we then use for recurring billing.

          To answer your question about why not a regular PayPal account with subscription...here's the problem. If a customer logs into his PayPal account and cancels the subscription...we will never know about it. Thus..that member is forever free on your system (all the while...you might be paying your affiliates a commission for money you did not receive). There's lot's of other loopholes here that I won't bore you with.

          Trust me. I thought long and hard on this topic.

          For most businesses...a $30/m Authorize.net with CIM fee is very reasonable. We recommend our clients use Authorize.net as their primary preference.

          Let me know if you have any further questions.

          =====
          Aaron
          Thank you for your kind support. Please come check out SocialSAM.com. It is free to sign up to test the system.
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