Phenomenal Idea Or Not ?? What Is Your Take On This Subject?

Hi Jmorris

The nice thing about a free membership is the instant attraction. You can allow members to read posts and access some information, but to post and participate in forums or groups etc., they have to register to be a "paid" member.

Sometimes it appears to more high-perceived value to start of with a subscription fee as well, so there definately are pros and cons to both.

As for Social.Go - I found it interesting, but I am going to suggest a new platform solution by George Tran called Online Social Marketing Solutions, Networking Membership Software Its benefits are:


Scalable from 10 members to 10 million members.
Prices start at just $7.95 per month.
No software to install, no servers to configure. Everything is handled for you.
No need to configure, apply or buy a SSL certificate.
They handle backups, RAID, firewalls and virus protection for you so you can focus on your business.
No HTML to program! Just upload your logo, create your forums and upload your content.
Create Membership Packages and set access rights according to your own business rules.
Use your own merchant account information so you can start collecting money immediately

Everything is integrated and built for eCommerce:

Forums and Discussion Groups (with complete access management control)
Recurring Billing - Membership fees/dues automatically collected
Member Profiles, Member Search, Friends and Photos
Membership Management System
Shopping Cart, e-Commerce Solution
Built in 2 Tiered Affiliate Tracking System*. Allows you to pay your members for referring others to your network
Event Calendar
Event Registration*
VAM™ Technology - Allows members to mine, upload and send network invitations to their e-mail contacts from Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail and many more
Classified Ad System
e-Course Content Distribution System
Article and Content Management System


As for how to create interest....I would suggest giving away something of VERY high-perceived value for joining, an eCourse (for i.e.) which Social Sam has a content distribution system for. Great for listbuilding as well. You can also start a discussion, a group, a blog etc to get the ball rolling......

A name for your Network? I'd call it the (keyword) Club.

Good Luck!
Terri

Terri , thanks so much for the feedback - I am going to check out the platform you recommended. Sounds like a feature friendly platform. I love the fact they handle all of the tech support etc.


(Sometimes it appears to more high-perceived value to start of with a subscription fee as well, so there definately are pros and cons to both.)

Do you think I should say offer a limited number of subscriptions at no costs to get interest built up. Then once I have members adding content, photos , groups etc then look at offering a subscription service for a low monthly or yearly fee?

Also - thanks for the domain idea - something I did not think of but must say it gets my attention :-)

Thank you again ,
Jason

Hey Warriors , anyone else have some great feedback for me? I appreciate anything you can share.

Thanks ,
Jason

You hit it right on Jason.

I think you should:

1) Provide a free membership level. Give them just enough info to join your network...

2) Upgrade them to a premium level. Just like what WarriorForum is doing.

3) This give "seed" to your network so it is not empty. You want people inside your community to create buzz and excitement.

4) I recommend creating a free "virtual coaching program"...give it away. This is your ethical bribe to get people into your network...and gives people incentive to join (and refer their friends to join your network.

Check out this video, where I explain the process in more detail:
viddler.com/explore/socialmediaguru/videos/29



Terri,

Thanks so much for your ongoing support. Please contact me at any time if there's ANYTHING I can do to help you.

Hi Jason

Thanks for your questions. I am including your PM question here so everyone can see my response:

=====
I am currently researching membership / social network platforms and I ran across your posting about Social Sam Some other platforms I am looking into are SocialGO - Social Network Maker - Create Social Networking Websites, Blogs, Forums & More, and subhub.com]Welcome - Membership Software from SubHub - Membership Site Experts If you do not mind can I ask you a few questions before moving forward? I will have to say up front that Social Go looks pretty amazing - they offer member blogs, unlimited forums, audio/ video member librarys , and pretty much any features that are provided by most social network platforms.

1. Can a client create their own look and feel using HTML / CSS - In other words create the network of their desires? How difficult is this ? Do you offer this service via a concierge service ?

> Unfortunately, at this time you can not edit the HTML/CSS. You can insert some of your own html of your own. See these networks for example:
socialsam.net

>> I have more but WarriorForum is not letting me enter URLs :-(




2. Do you plan to offer the following and when do you expect to release these features in a stable non beta release - client / member blogs , photo / video library , business directory, calendars, FaceBook / Twitter integration. I see that you offer other features such as forums, member profiles, classifieds, events, groups. These other features I am in need of and I would assure you that others would also love to have. I would love to hear your feedback on this particular subject.



Member blogs - Yes. This is scheduled for our next major release by end of Q1.
photo/video library - not at this time.
Business directory - Yes. It's called "Pages". You can just build your own page file. But, you can also allow your members to just post their information on the classifieds/marketplace.
Event Calenars - We already have this function
FB/Twitter Integration - You will be able to have your members login/join your network using FB login information. These are ongoing development features.

Unlike open source or off the shelf software, I have a team of 13 developers that are constantly improving the system so you will be getting new features, literally on a daily basis. This is a long term commitment. This platform is a major game changer.

SocialSAM is designed to be the platform of choice for internet marketers...like 1Shoppingcart did in its days.

3. Is your platform built on open / closed source software?

>> I designed the code from the ground up.



4. Security - what security do you have in place to protect a clients network? What measures do you have in place , coding of application , network access , hack prevention via Mysql etc?

The system is behind a firewall. We have RAID configurations, and daily backups. I have a fulltime sysAdmin monitoring the network. The SQL db is completely detached from internet access.





5. Do you offer discount pricing to fellow Warriors?

> Not at this time. The pricing is hard coded into the platform. It is not as easy as "flipping a switch"



6. Can I use third party scripts such asAd Peeps - banner rotator and text ad rotator software and geotargeting[/url] for private advertising sales?

>> Unfortunately, not at this time because your site is hosted by us. We can not allow scripts to be put on our server for obvious security reasons.



7. Do you offer discounts for additional networks created within your platform?


>> Good idea. I did not think of it at the time of design....so no. Sorry.


8. Can you share more information about your Affiliate Tracking feature and when can clients expect to see this feature?

>> This is going to be cool. The problem in the past with affiliate programs is...unless someone is a super affiliate...few people actually make any money for you. By making the affiliate program attached to the member...now every member of your private social network is an affiliate. This allows you to say something like this:

"Invite your friends to come my network. If they buy anything from me, I will pay you a commission".

As you know Social networking is about friends inviting friends to join a network...and that's what socialSAM is designed to do.

It allows you to track and pay affiliate/members for purchases, and member fees. You can set commissions on Signups, as well as sale (percent and per item).

Another cool feature is that commissions are automatically converted to credits if they are under your minimum payout amount. This means that users can buy stuff with credits...pay member dues with credits....so you get to keep more of the money.

We have pioneered another concept called "fulfilled/unfulfilled" state. This allows you to default orders as unfulfilled for 30 days. Unfulfilled orders are not commissionable....this protects you against refunds and chargebacks. As you know, once you issue a refund...and if the affiliate is already paid...you have no recourse.






9. What is your average response time for critical issues / concerns such as server outage , server problems , overload etc?


> Depending on the issue...whether programing is needed or research is needed..but if it is regular questions, within a couple of hours.





10. Can you share some examples of your biggest clients who are using your platform?

socialsam.net
thirdstage.i360net.com
parentpowernow.com (TV Celebrity Judge Hatchett)

>> I have more but WarriorForum is preventing me



Here's the thing, I created 1Shoppingcart many years ago. I know the needs of a marketer. What you get with SocialSAM that you won't get any where else is my mind. It's all the "little things" that will make the difference. Our DNA is designed for business and info marketing. The other networks are not so much. (like integrating the affiliate tracking system, event registration system, etc)

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely
George











Any information you can provide will be greatly appreciated. I look very forward to hearing from you soon. If I have additional questions may I contact you once again?

Thank you ,
Jason