Monthly subscription to WebmasterWorld

Please give this some consideration

[dvduval]

If I could pay $15/month to subscribe to WebmasterWorld and opt out at any time, I would sign up immediately and I think I could even get my company to pay for it.

Any chance you might consider adding this option?
I'll bet you would get more paid subscribers.

[dvduval]

I might also add this question:

Would anyone else here consider a subscription if they could pay monthly and opt out anytime?

[Paul in South Africa]

Great idea, particularly for someone like me who's income and time available fluctuates wildly.

[Mike12345]

Ill second that, i cant part with the whole sum at once but i could on a monthly basis.

Plus, like dvduval i think i could my boss to pay for it. Monethly fees sounds smaller :)

[HitProf]

I think monthly payments would cost a lot more in money and administration effors.

[dvduval]

I think monthly payments would cost a lot more in money and administration effors.

There are at least 1001 hosting companies that do automated monthly billing for small amounts. With the right system, there is no reason monthly billing couldn't be streamlined.

If there is anyone else that would subscribe if monthly billing was offered, please speak up

[EliteWeb]

Monthly payments is a pain to follow, there is so much more of a risk of chargebacks. With a yearly rate there is the ease of knowing it was paid and it is set till the next date. What happens if someone doesnt have money on their card and its declined, so much more leg work for the staff here to follow up on it.

[Jenstar]

There is also a lot of information just in the archives. And there would likely be those who would pay their $10 monthly fee for just a single month just to see all the previous posts. That is a lot of work for mods & BT to give someone access to the forum, and then switching them back to non-supporter status, just for a single month of use. Imagine the amount of time it would take each month cross-referencing payments and non-payments with usernames, and then changing the access privileges accordingly. Not to mention the increased payment fees when a payment is sent in six small installments, rather than one large one.

I think having a six month minimum for a subscription is more than fair when you consider the work involved.

Don't forget, your subscription is a business expense for tax purposes ;)

[jeremy goodrich]

Paypal does have a handy system in place for monthly billing - however, I'm sure that Brett has probably thought through a lot of the pros / cons of the cost when implementing the current one.

For example, while a montly payment may sound more palatable to some, the price for subscriptions on such a short time frame is frequently at least 150% of the original cost.

There is already the substantial price break for the annual, versus six months, subscription.

Aside from those considerations, consider the psychological impact on yourself when you buy something:

if it costs too little, you may view it as 'low value' and hence, not worth the time & effort to pay such a small amount.

However if you pony up some serious $$$, you have a bigger commitment (in terms of actual dollars) so you will be far more serious about getting the value for your money.

[dvduval]

What happens if someone doesnt have money on their card and its declined, so much more leg work for the staff here to follow up on it.

On webhost accounts, an email is auto-generated and sent with a deadline to comply.

Monthly payments is a pain to follow, there is so much more of a risk of chargebacks.

That all depends on how much more revenue is generated. I think it is likely there would be more than enough additional revenue to pay someone to follow up on chargebacks. In my experience, chargebacks account for less than 1% of all transactions (I might even be willing to put money on that).

[dvduval]

I think having a six month minimum for a subscription is more than fair when you consider the work involved.

It sounds to me as if there is a fair amount of "manual labor" involved in making someone a subscriber. It sounds like, once again, the added revenue would more than pay for the time involved. And, better still, use the revenue to pay someone to stick an extra field in the db -> If subscription=1 and payment=current then access=all

[edited by: dvduval at 5:49 pm (utc) on June 20, 2003]

[caine]

what about the pulling in and out of the monthly agreement, different months, would be a nightmare to follow.

1 month your in supporters, next your not, then you want to be, then you don't - etc.

[dvduval]

what about the pulling in and out of the monthly agreement, different months, would be a nightmare to follow.

Chances are that if the payment system is "auto-billed", this problem won't be as bad as you predict. There will also be an additional benefit: some people who aren't even active will keep paying as a result of the automatic payments.

[Jenstar]

It sounds to me as if there is a fair amount of "manual labor" involved

Brett is the one to grant each person access as they subscribe. And as far as I know, he wants to keep it that way for security reasons, rather than building a database to do it automatically.

[georgeek]

How ironic that WebmasterWorld of all organisations should even have this debate. One of my clients is an online dating agency and one of the first things we did was to increase payment options - 1 month, 3 month, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years almost any currency and any card or payment system. It's a universal truth - with all other things equal - that the more options you have the more revenue you have. It's as simple as that.

[caine]

This may draw some criticism, but i am afraid to say that the amounts in question of the 6mth and yearly subscriptions are not very much, and if your company is willing to pay monthly - i just don't see why they would be worrying about amounts as minimal as that (half, yearly) for a continued stream of up-to-the-minute-info > which is very beneficial to the company.

Any person that has any involvement with a website on behalf of the company they work for, should get it sorted out, there is absolutely no concrete point that a company that are profiting in whatever way out of your labor, and learning here, can forfeit it on the grounds of money. Its not on.

The conference is a different matter that does involve larger costs, and that i can understand for some companies, but the subscription fee's -> can't see any valid reason.

Regarding personal subs, due to not working with commercial websites, hence only family / interest based stuff, then i would suggest saving the pennies, or talking to Brett about a work around.

[dvduval]

This may draw some criticism, but i am afraid to say that the amounts in question of the 6mth and yearly subscriptions are not very much, and if your company is willing to pay monthly - i just don't see why they would be worrying about amounts as minimal as that.

Would you be more likely to sign up with a new host if the initial commitment was $15 or $89?
If you were starting dance lessons, would you rather buy one month's worth of lessons or six months?

[Jenstar]

I don't see it as signing on with a new host, since you are already a part of the community. I would look at it as paying for an added special feature that isn't available with the regular freebie account ;)

[dvduval]

I don't see it as signing on with a new host, since you are already a part of the community. I would look at it as paying for an added special feature that isn't available with the regular freebie account ;)

What if I come to find that it's not what I expected?
(Using the host example: What if the control panel is terrible?)

[dazz]

I think most people that have been in this forum for more than...say 3 months have probably made more than $89 for themselves or their company from WebmasterWorld.

There is more than enough in the free side to get yourself a kicking website and if you think of the subscription fee more of a donation I think that would be fair.

You will not learn too much more in the subscription side than you know already from reading past/present posts from this side........but in my opinion its worth it!

[caine]

dvduval,

Stating the obvious, but what has a amatuer/professional SEO/SEM/Internet forum got to do with hosting costs or dance lessons costs.

The demographics are completely different, WebmasterWorld is for people who want to learn how to achieve more (ROI), usually in the long-run.

Dazz, excellant point the subscription fee was introduced as a donation fee about 2 years ago, for people to help out of the goodness of their hearts, to allow the system to grow, and to cover the costs of that growth, i remember donating a couple of times myself, and it was more than what is being asked to have access to the supporters forum.

[edited by: caine at 6:31 pm (utc) on June 20, 2003]

[jeremy goodrich]

And there is the tax write off as well. Business expense.

At least, if you are making a profit -> guaranteed, you will need all the write off's you can get. Here in the states, at least, it would be deducted from your tax liabilities, and thus actually save you money by subscribing - not cost you money.

[dvduval]

Are URL's and individual site evaluations allowed in the paid forum?

I'm looking for selling points to get this approved through the company I work for. I'm not sure they have a positive attitude toward talking in forums while at work.

[DaveN]

Are URLs and individual site evaluations allowed in the paid forum

URLs yes unless you a trying to get some banned

site evaluations it's still WebmasterWorld we are talking about, please site evaluations are so risky on many points to name a few

full of spam and not your site.
it's in competition with another members site.
everyone laughs at your design and you take your bat and ball home.
the people you really want to do the site evaluation don't do site evaluations.
someonw gives you wrong advice and your site gets burnt.
googleguy see's it and does not like your creative style.

dave

[edited by: DaveN at 6:48 pm (utc) on June 20, 2003]

[korkus2000]

>>I'm looking for selling points to get this approved through the company I work for. I'm not sure they have a positive attitude toward talking in forums while at work.

Discussions are a lot more open. Specifics are allowed.

[caine]

To tools yes, commercial non WebmasterWorld related drops - no not really, things are overlooked, but there is no spidering of the supporters forum. I would say that you can certainly find out about topics in a deeper sense, with sharper insights and techniques coming to the fray, which people are not quite willing to tell the world and their competition all about, except for the fact that the comp is probably in their too.

Regarding your own site url's for comments and idea's from other members, whether out here or in supporters, i would strongly suggest skating around the industry, then approaching interested parties via sticky is probably a more suitable way off doing it.

[dvduval]

I visited the thread about, "Why should I subscribe?" here:
[webmasterworld.com...]

It seems many of the same issues were discussed:
1. There were people who desired a monthly subscription.
2. There were people who weren't able to start out with that large of a sum of money.
3. There were few concrete benefits given as reasons to subscribe (nothing really tangible except 25% off at the pub).

[caine]

But, there are the people who joined. Why:

Because they felt it was necessary - WebmasterWorld isn't a commodity to be traded - for most its a lifestyle to be achieved.

[coconubuck]

Caine, I agree. There is a perfect slogan somewhere in what you said....its a lifestyle to be achieved. I am actually saving up money now to subscribe. It is definitely worthwhile.

[mipapage]

most its a lifestyle to be achieved.

Don't quite follow you there, caine. Are you refering to the way the people are in the supporters forum wrt conduct?

What is covered in the supporters forum? Well, wait, I'l go and read dvduval link to the other thread first...

(curious as to how the SF it is structured etc...)

<added> Okay, still curious as to how the Supporters forum is structured, but here's what sells me:

I think of how much WW has helped me, here on the public side. Little gems of wisdom that are helping me rise above my competition (of which not many are here ;-} The subscription must be worth the gems I've gotten (great english there) already. Anything new I can learn 'up there', and who knows maybe one day know enough to start giving back... it's a given that I'll join... just as soon as I get that next client.. ;-b