Premium Memberships

Patrick (@iFroggy) posted a great article about paid memberships (http://www.managingcommunities.com/2012/07/16/banning-premium-members/) over on his blog earlier which echos my sediments on the subject to the tee.

I've been thinking about implementing an upsell for members more a less so they can support the site. Several members have expressed interest in donating despite the site being the site being supported by advertisers. I haven't done the math in quite a while but I'm pretty sure on a year to year basis our hosting and licensing costs are still covered by advertising dollars.

Most upsells include increases in artificial limits being bumped up. Most sites give an increase in PM space, larger avatars, more signature space, etc. in exchange for a premium membership. My trouble is that I already give all this to my members. Promoted users (those with more than 30 days and 10 posts) get something like 5k PM storage, as large an avatar as I feel comfortable offering to everyone, and virtually unlimited signature space (within reason, of course).

So, what do I offer as an upsell? Do I artificially limit 'normal' accounts to encourage an upsell?

 

I haven't launched premium memberships, but I do allow my users to support the site by donating- and they're moved to their own group. I always thinking about jumping into selling T-shirts that help us promote the site and possibly keychains. I'm waiting for an artist to get back at me to let me know what's going on with them. It's a good idea that I want to pursue because it'll mean more streams of revenue for us, and also, another way to promote. And I do give my supporters more PM space as well.

 

Thanks for the kind words and the mention, @Dan Hutter . What is your community about? Is this the DJ forum in your signature or another one? You mentioned the community was supported by advertising and I only saw an ad in the header, so I wasn't sure if it was that one or a different one.

Speaking generally, I would leave whatever you give people for free. If it is really crazy and more than people could ever use, then you could limit it. But, in general, you want to look for other ways. So, what else can do you? Here are a few things:

• Exclusive content, giveaways and sections
• An ad free experience or a reduced ad experience, anyway
• More abilities in areas of your community where you allow advertising or promotion (if you do)
• Physical goods, such as t-shirts, etc. Perhaps an exclusive t-shirt for premium members only

Depending on the topic of your community, there may be more that you can do. But, hopefully that helps the creative juices to flow a bit.

Thanks,

Patrick

 

i'd love to do premium memberships on my site. But since it is teen/kid oriented, that wont go very well.