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Subscription Site: Theme selections down to these four....Help me choose

by Bill P
3 replies
Good Afternoon Everyone

I currently have a free website, using a Bluehost account and custom domain name, but stock wordpress theme, which for the last three years I have basically used to "drum up" email subscribers and word-of-mouth interest. This site is done in my spare time, as my "Day Job" 9 to 5 is how I keep the lights on. The above free website deals with information for financial planning, tax awareness, and investing, all of which are what I do for my professional day job. I send out one email every two weeks to the free email subscribers/members, which based on feedback from my subscribers is just enough but not overly burdensome for their in-boxes.

I would like to take the free site, which is 10,000 members, and convert it to the paid membership model, possibly charging $97 a year (below the magic $100 mark). This paid site will be additional income besides by day job. If I can get 1 out of 10 members to sign up, that is 1,000 paid subscriptions, X 97 = 97,000 a year. Again, if.

Paid site will also serves as a marketing/launching pad for a planned E-book, on the very same topics as the site.

I have looked at paid themes and "subscription themes" ad nauseum, and simply cannot decide. I ask for feedback, tips, and advice from the audience, on these themes below, and also in general in regards to my plans. Thank you

Themes:

Optimize Press
Avada
Get Noticed
Genesis
Woothemes Canvas

Thank you again
#choose #fourhelp #selections #site #subscription #theme
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by Bill P View Post

    Good Afternoon Everyone

    I currently have a free website, using a Bluehost account and custom domain name, but stock wordpress theme, which for the last three years I have basically used to "drum up" email subscribers and word-of-mouth interest. This site is done in my spare time, as my "Day Job" 9 to 5 is how I keep the lights on. The above free website deals with information for financial planning, tax awareness, and investing, all of which are what I do for my professional day job. I send out one email every two weeks to the free email subscribers/members, which based on feedback from my subscribers is just enough but not overly burdensome for their in-boxes.

    I would like to take the free site, which is 10,000 members, and convert it to the paid membership model, possibly charging $97 a year (below the magic $100 mark). This paid site will be additional income besides by day job. If I can get 1 out of 10 members to sign up, that is 1,000 paid subscriptions, X 97 = 97,000 a year. Again, if.

    Paid site will also serves as a marketing/launching pad for a planned E-book, on the very same topics as the site.

    I have looked at paid themes and "subscription themes" ad nauseum, and simply cannot decide. I ask for feedback, tips, and advice from the audience, on these themes below, and also in general in regards to my plans. Thank you

    Themes:

    Optimize Press
    Avada
    Get Noticed
    Genesis
    Woothemes Canvas

    Thank you again
    First off, your theme isn't going to be what makes or breaks your plans. As long as your theme is functional and not distracting, it will work until you have more time running this particular site. Pick one and get on with it.

    Second, I think your idea of converting 10% of the members who are used to getting what you offer for free to suddenly start paying for it is pretty optimistic. Getting 1,000 paid members may well be doable, but getting them from your current free membership may be tough sledding.

    If your current site depends on user participation, you might consider grandfathering your free members into the paid site so that paid members see an active community.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    I can't help you with a theme but my advice is split test that 10,000 traffic with multiple prices to see which one has a better conversion rate. Do this ASAP once you're ready to monetize the site.

    Example:
    • 1,000 traffic = $19
    • 1,000 traffic = $29
    • 1,000 traffic = $39
    • etc...

    My point is, you might find that another price lower than $97 generates a higher profit across all your traffic. Then again the $97 might perform better but you need to split test prices to find out which has better conversions for future traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author johndetlefs
    Optimizepress (OP2) comes with a membership plugin, and the theme also comes with several templates designed specifically for membership sites, so all in all not a bad option.

    That said, any decent theme coupled with something like Wishlist is going to work just fine. Avada is an example of this.

    Personally I would avoid Genesis unless you have some coding experience. Their child theme setup can be a little tricky if you need to do customisation. True customisation almost always requires a "grandchild theme" setup via custom plugin and I don't recommend it.

    Thrive Themes is also a good option IMO, and along with OP2 is something I use with all of my clients.

    In general, Yukon and JohnMcCabe have given you some awesome advice!
    Signature

    You only get one shot at life - make it awesome.

    Everyone else also gets just one crack at it - help make theirs awesome too... or, politely step out of their way.

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