to charge or not to charge?

[lawnman777]

what do you think about letting people have access to my membership site for free until it gets more traffic and people interacting or should i charge right from the get go. I do offer money back guarentee.

[VodaHost]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

This is a business decision that you will have to make for yourself, you know your circumstances and budget better than anyone. If you think you can suffer it for a while, give it a try.

[Bruce Hewitt]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

I think it's a good option to allow people free access at first to attract members and then gradually increase the membership fee once they're hooked, don't make one giant leap for mankind or you might scare them away, but as ***** says you must be able to afford the freebie

[jmtravis]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

I have a classifieds section that I am doing this with right now. It is free for a limited time. If you have a new site it will take a little while to get traffic and build membership. I think that building membership will have a snow ball effect starts out slow and will gain momentum with increased page rank and hard work on your part.

cheers!
John

Gamers Marketplace and Forums

http://www.iplayg.com

[lawnman777]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

hey john, what type of keywords do you use for a classified ad section?or a membership type bus? suggestions?

[jmtravis]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

hey john, what type of keywords do you use for a classified ad section?or a membership type bus? suggestions?

I look for keywords using this tool. I believe it is one of the best. Try it out at http://www.wordtracker.com/ It is worth the small fee.

It is going to depend on what your classifieds is all about. Since mine is dealing with used video games I will do a keyword search for used video games. Wordtracker will show you all the related searches for that phrase and give you a rateing on the keyword or keyword phrase.

Cheers!
John

Gamers Marketplace and Forums

http://www.iplayg.com

[Vasili]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

FL LawnMan777-

If I remember correctly, you Membership fee is quite affordable, and for 6 months? And you offer various trade-related services....

It is not uncommon for providers of any sort of "subscription" to offer a Free Trial Period, which in fact establishes firm footing for a Satisfaction Guarantee....an essential element to building credibility and assurable interest.

If your term IS 6 months, I personally would change the offer to a "30 Day FREE TRIAL with every 1 Year Subscription." If a professional cannot determine the value of your services (which are time-sensitive - i.e. classified ads, seasonal offers, current dating/events, etc.) in 30 days, then I would probably prefer to cut them loose early. I mean, if you are offering regionally pertinent Classifieds, most of them are turned within 2 weeks, right? That's where most of your site maintenence will be, updating the ads.... **HINT: You can make this a LOT easier and format them *****ly by using a phpBB Forum that comes free with your VH account....you can simply "use it another way" instead of it just being a Forum....
Besides, if you intend to 'reward' your membership in any way, you might begin by posting some sort of special every 3-6 months....something to look forward to as a Member, you know?

As General VodaHost mentioned, having a proper business plan and a website plan are not mutually exclusive, they are essential!

[rinahearts]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

i agree with bruce suggest letting them in for free then charge them after you have enough traffic and members then offer them upgrades for extra features

[ez-ez]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

i agree with bruce suggest letting them in for free then charge them after you have enough traffic and members then offer them upgrades for extra features

And I put my vote behind that too.

[FPRob]

Re: to charge or not to charge?

If your service is a good one and good value for money and people are genuinely interested then they will pay for it. One of the best things to do wouldbe to find ways of attracting people to the site rather than waiting for them to find it. Maybe, if you do have a servic that is chargeable.. It could be worth considering paying out a little for some advertising. You might be out of pocket to start with but hey.. hehehe that's business :)