6 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
6 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Setting up a trial on membership site

by gooroo
6 replies
Hey guys,
I'm in a process of creating my own (wordpress)blog which will be based on paid membership. I've found 2 free plugins that mostly suit my needs, one is Simple Membership and the other is Paid Membership Pro, unfortunately I can't afford yet to spend 100-200$ on a premium plugin (I might do that eventually), but I think this issue should apply to both free and premium plugins.
I want to set up a free trial for new members that would last for around a week, during that time they would get same access as paying members and after trial period they would get demoted to regular users.
So, setting up a trial itself isn't that big problem, what I haven't figured out yet is how to make sure that one user will be allowed to sign up for trial only once, if the blog launched today, there would be nothing stopping them from signing up once every week. So far I've come up with few options:
1. Use coupons with limited number of uses and release them irregularly - could prevent some people re-signing up but not really what I'm looking for.
2. Don't keep registration open at all times, only allow it every now and then - expecting similar result to the first one.

What I want to do is give a free trial access completely free and maaaybe locking it up with a social locker (need to share or like to unlock), preventing re-sign ups is my only conern. I want to keep the registration open indefinitely and give everyone a chance to try it out.

How would you do it? I'd really appreciate some advice.
Unfortunately I can't code so modifying the plugin or writing one on my own is out of option.

Thanks!
#membership #setting #site #trial
  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    Make the trial offer the same for everyone and so no matter how many times they join they will see the same content every time.

    One way to do that is through drip feeding the content.

    Mark
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10661302].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author gooroo
      Originally Posted by Mark Singletary View Post

      Make the trial offer the same for everyone and so no matter how many times they join they will see the same content every time.

      One way to do that is through drip feeding the content.

      Mark
      Hello Mark, thanks for the advice.
      I can't use drip content unfortunately, I should have mentioned it sooner but haven't thought of that. My content will be released daily (betting tips) and it will be useful only on that specific day it's been released.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10661316].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author gjabiz
        Originally Posted by gooroo View Post

        Hello Mark, thanks for the advice.
        I can't use drip content unfortunately, I should have mentioned it sooner but haven't thought of that. My content will be released daily (betting tips) and it will be useful only on that specific day it's been released.
        I've had a lottery site up since 1998. What has worked best for me, is to have it very closed (even secret) which requires a referral. In lieu of that, they get a one week autoresponder with the daily picks.

        You should be able to use their IP too, can limit or restrict via that way.

        Best thing, give good tips. They will gladly pay, for years and years.

        gjabiz
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10661379].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author gooroo
          Originally Posted by gjabiz View Post

          I've had a lottery site up since 1998. What has worked best for me, is to have it very closed (even secret) which requires a referral. In lieu of that, they get a one week autoresponder with the daily picks.

          You should be able to use their IP too, can limit or restrict via that way.

          Best thing, give good tips. They will gladly pay, for years and years.

          gjabiz
          Thanks! Keeping up the quality of my tips is the first thing in my mind I still need to take care of this though, I don't want to be paranoid and implement every possible protection, but at the moment there is nothing that would prevent people from abusing this system and that's more than I can allow.

          What about your site? I don't know what things were like in 1998, but did it take long for you to succeed with your site? Are people usually keen on buying gambling-related tips if you guarantee them it will be worth it? I would love if you could give me some tips for starting up, since you're in the same niche

          Tracking their IP could be a good idea, I would have to check every account manually upon registration, but if it can indeed help me I'll be glad to do that. I see at least few plugins for tracking the IP so I'll give it a try.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10661542].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author gjabiz
            Originally Posted by gooroo View Post

            Thanks! Keeping up the quality of my tips is the first thing in my mind I still need to take care of this though, I don't want to be paranoid and implement every possible protection, but at the moment there is nothing that would prevent people from abusing this system and that's more than I can allow.

            What about your site? I don't know what things were like in 1998, but did it take long for you to succeed with your site? Are people usually keen on buying gambling-related tips if you guarantee them it will be worth it? I would love if you could give me some tips for starting up, since you're in the same niche

            Tracking their IP could be a good idea, I would have to check every account manually upon registration, but if it can indeed help me I'll be glad to do that. I see at least few plugins for tracking the IP so I'll give it a try.
            I'm not big on discussing this, but, I might talk on phone.

            I had an OFF line method to bring them online. Once I reached a certain number, I closed it off, and all members risk being "fired" for any revelation they may make. Depends on what you want it to do. I'm happy with a lower number of members with a recurring income, some for over a decade. Their lifetime value is so huge, it makes lower members worth while. And of course, there are backends too.

            You can find my email all over or my PM is here, although, I seldom check it and respond when I feel like it.

            Buona Fortuna.

            gjabiz
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10661645].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author gooroo
              Originally Posted by gjabiz View Post

              I'm not big on discussing this, but, I might talk on phone.

              I had an OFF line method to bring them online. Once I reached a certain number, I closed it off, and all members risk being "fired" for any revelation they may make. Depends on what you want it to do. I'm happy with a lower number of members with a recurring income, some for over a decade. Their lifetime value is so huge, it makes lower members worth while. And of course, there are backends too.

              You can find my email all over or my PM is here, although, I seldom check it and respond when I feel like it.

              Buona Fortuna.

              gjabiz
              I see, still, this is very interesting, I wouldn't have thought about an almost secret group myself, but now that I think about it I can see why your members would be loyal subscribers and stay with you for such a long time. I will aim for something similar, try to keep my subscribers happy with good tips and hopefully they'll stay for a longer time!

              Thanks!

              As for the topic, I've decided that I will use the coupons and give a limited amount out every now and then, hopefully getting new people to join me each time I do that. I'm still looking for suggestions if anyone else would like to add something.

              gooroo
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10661926].message }}

Trending Topics