Celebrity Paysite Pricing Points

[cj]

I would like to hear some feedback from webmasters on our pricing points on our celebrity sites ... we have a lot of theories of our own and have done quite a few tests, but we know we can do much much better.

The reason i'm asking is being that we are a 50% rev share program our pricing points effect our webmasters directly and I'd like to be able to work in a positive direction for everyone.

We started off the sites with $4.95 3 day trial recurring at $19.95 because at this price webmasters at least get a decent payout without it being overpriced for the surfer .... and we know the 3 day trial works.

HOWEVER ... we feel that because of the 'mainstream' angle of our sites, the price may be too high and is scaring off people who are looking at 1000's of other similar sites like E! online etc for free. We simply can't compete in this area (yet!) as we are a network of sites, not a media empire!

So at the end of the day, we are trying to sell something which many magazines & websites give away for free, but our difference is that we have 1000's of archive photos and they are bigger and better quality and uncensored etc but are people prepared to pay $20 per month for something that has no porn in it? We aren't sure that they will ... they don't seem to be.

Our posh & becks HEADLINE experiment was disappointing ... clickthru was rediculously high on an 'ex paysite member' mailout (about 5 or 6 times a standard porn site) but with ZERO sales on 4500 hits. I believe that although its a hot topic, when something is TOO hot, its available in too many places for free.

You never know these things for sure until you try huh LOL

So based on the above tests, we think we need to lower the pricing point dramatically to put us in the 'mainstream' world instead of hovering in between mainstream & adult.

Our ideas so far are this:

1) free 30 minute preview with $9.95 per month recurring (webmaster gets $4.90 per month for rebills - is this enough money for webmasters?)

2) 1 day paid trial cancels INSTANTLY (usually before they login!!) 1 day trials suck ass.

3) no trial .... mmmmmmaybe. we tried it to start with and it wasn't too bad but we want to increase conversions, not keep them the same.

4) optional 'join 4 free' style mini sites with registration, brief survey and flat rate $1 payout per confirmed registration.

What do you think?

As a webmaster what is the LEAST you would want us to charge keeping in mind you earn half of it?

Would you rather a site with good conversions and lower payout than high payout and lower conversions?

I really appreciate your feedback and we will definately be taking everything into consideration in our experimenting phase ... we know the product is good, we just have to find the 'trigger' to get surfers to see why the product is good.

ps, there's 2 new mini tours added over the weekend ...

http://www.privatecelebrity.com/female_cel...britney_spears/ (http://www.privatecelebrity.com/female_celebrities/britney_spears/)

http://www.privatecelebrity.com/female_cel...carmen_electra/ (http://www.privatecelebrity.com/female_celebrities/carmen_electra/)

[pushpills]

i didnt read the whole post at all but in comment of your pricing method, i think it should be higher, sneaker, upsells, and with a higher monthly with 1 dollar or free tials and instantaneous payout.


if its 40 a month with low cost trials ill take 60 revshare, otherwise, forget the current payout, as far as me and those like me are concerned.



Last edited by pushpills at Apr 18 2004, 09:47 PM

[cj]

>i didnt read the whole post at all

please do, or you won't understand what i'm asking.

How is a site going to convert better by putting a high priced sneaky method in there? Any ideas of what kind of high priced sneaky method would increase conversions?

so you want free trials, higher priced recurring and instant webmaster payout?!

I guess I left out an important point ... We need to make money too
:okthumb:

[Winetalk.com]

cj,
if I was running it,
I'd let webmaster chose his own charge structure...it's as simple as that!

me personally,
would go for $9.95 option,
knowing it would recur ad infinuim
;-)))

[cj]

Originally posted by Serge_Oprano@Apr 18 2004, 11:01 PM
cj,
if I was running it,
I'd let webmaster chose his own charge structure...it's as simple as that!

me personally,
would go for $9.95 option,
knowing it would recur ad infinuim
;-)))
now there's an idea that's never been attempted ...

allowing the pricing point to be adjusted by the affiliate and set on the fly ...

I can hear xippy scheming ways to kill me even as we think this LOL
Not sure if its technically viable, but i'll put some thought into it

The $9.95 point is my fave too serge ...

[Winetalk.com]

Originally posted by cj+Apr 18 2004, 11:15 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (cj @ Apr 18 2004, 11:15 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin--Serge_Oprano@Apr 18 2004, 11:01 PM
cj,
if I was running it,
I'd let webmaster chose his own charge structure...it's as simple as that!

me personally,
would go for $9.95 option,
knowing it would recur ad infinuim
;-)))
now there's an idea that's never been attempted ...

allowing the pricing point to be adjusted by the affiliate and set on the fly ...

I can hear xippy scheming ways to kill me even as we think this LOL
Not sure if its technically viable, but i'll put some thought into it

The $9.95 point is my fave too serge ...[/b][/quote]
cj,
just make an upper limit of let's say $29.95 ...you don't want $1500 a pop charge backs
;-)))

[gonzo]

Originally posted by Serge_Oprano+Apr 18 2004, 11:43 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Serge_Oprano @ Apr 18 2004, 11:43 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Originally posted by -cj@Apr 18 2004, 11:15 PM
<!--QuoteBegin--Serge_Oprano@Apr 18 2004, 11:01 PM
cj,
if I was running it,
I'd let webmaster chose his own charge structure...it's as simple as that!

me personally,
would go for $9.95 option,
knowing it would recur ad infinuim
;-)))
now there's an idea that's never been attempted ...

allowing the pricing point to be adjusted by the affiliate and set on the fly ...

I can hear xippy scheming ways to kill me even as we think this LOL
Not sure if its technically viable, but i'll put some thought into it

The $9.95 point is my fave too serge ...
cj,
just make an upper limit of let's say $29.95 ...you don't want $1500 a pop charge backs
;-)))[/b][/quote]
...See Hooper? Serge was thinking of you too!

[cj]

LMAO

good point - I can see the grogans of the world taking advantage of that one LOL

[SykkBoy]

I wouldn't mind a $9.95 pricing point, or even a straight $14.95-$19.95 with no trial. If I'm sending to a program, I'd rather get half of $15-20 than half of $3 for that initial signup, then let those who forget/decide to stick around become the "gravy"

The only problem I could see is the Athertons of the world beating you with their "explicit, hardcore" pics and yours playing like a more adult version of the National Enquirer. IMHO, what would help you guys is for your paprazzi to get some amazing exclusive shots that generate buzz/controversy. A surfer isn't as likely to signup for a nipple slip he can find elsewhere when some is offering the full Paris Hilton video or that bullshit Jessica Simpson home video.

Maybe a 4free type site that reads more like a gossip rag and upsells to the "exclusive, hot pics we can't show you in our public areas"



Last edited by SykkBoy at Apr 19 2004, 02:26 AM

[Catman]

Hi CJ, Here ya go.. Just MHO..

Since you added the free trial click thrus have gone up 4 times. I think you should consider yourself a racier National Enquirer type mag. And priced similiarly. I wouldn't even mind seeing you try a longer free trial/4.95 per month model if this one doesn't work out. Then push the 6 month or year subscriptions at a discount rate from inside. Like any new "magazine" you may have to give em a couple "free issues" to get things going. How about a 1 day free trial? A "free issue" as it were.

Also 30 min trial if I was a surfer seems fishy. I looked around your processor site as to how I would cancel and it took me a while to find the cancel procedure. Actually I didn't even find it. I assume that once you enter 2 of 3 bits of info that will get me a cancel page. But I am not sure. And niether is the surfer. You need to have that much more accesssible perhaps. If your gonna give em something free give em something free other wise it seems shifty. But hey I dont own any paysites so..

The real problem is it is getting harder than hell to sell anything anymore filtered/unfiltered, whatever, for a myriad of reasons. ; (

I do know, celebrity does seem to be getting harder and harder to sell the last 6 months. I used to do real well with sending celeb to 4 free progs but even they don't sell the last 2 months. I am starting to let my weaker type in celeb domains go.

Ya know, nobody has a 4free email type celeb prog. CE had one for a while and it did real well while it was up. I would really like to see one of those but I suppose they arent profitable as there are no real upsells to be made and content is all out there free anyhow.

Maybe you could do that, pay the WM a buck and then pitch the exclusive stuff you have from inside.

Your strength is your exclusivity of pics. They can only get certain pics at your site and you are constantly adding new ones like the national enq does.

Part of the prob is celeb tgps that give away all the celeb nudes. It is only a matter of time until EVERY surfer has one of these sites bookmarked. And then were all screwed. If I got a bookmark to one of them why do I join up to any paysite? Especially if i see some of the pics I have on my HD on your tour!

Hence, you have to make sure that no older celeb pics are used in the front ends as the surfer will figure that you just have the same old, same old, inside. All pics they see must be exclusive or they will fig you are full of BS. Does National Enq publish last years pic in todays issue? ; ) I will say, that your promo materials and tours are as sharp as anyones in the celeb niche. But pretty tours dont seem to mean much anymore to the jaded surfer. They are nec but they don't sell on there own it seems as they once did. Once again exclusivity of content AND fresh, new content is your strength.

Anyhow, good luck. The increased click throughs look good for your new free trial/9.95 model. : ) Let's hope so. : ) Your my celeb domains final hope.
I can always sell type ins blind for .3 cents a click though. ; (

[cj]

Catman, I'll do my best to have those celeb domains paying you what they are worth again ;-)

We're trying to move more towards 'National Enquirer' style pricing points - and the more i think about it the better the '4 free' concept sounds. If we can work on churning over volume of signups the amount billed becomes less important.

Last night we implemented the FREE 30 minute preview with $9.95 rebill - we instantly started getting fraudulent transactions LOL Hopefully that will balance out with genuine signups over the next few days.

Most of the billing models mainstream magazines have are too low for credit cards - other options on the way.

You are right about not being able to sell things unfiltered - try throwing a few hundred thousand porn hits at mainstream celeb sites LOL

And re old pics in the tours - most of the time I wouldn't use old pics, i'd grab something from the newest cd's when I build a tour however there are so many old unpublished pics that occasionally i throw one in. For example, the pic on the front of the posh & becks tour is over a year old (of her looking pissed off with him walking behind her) - a few of the tabloid rags have used the same photo ... sometimes the archives have some real gems!!

looking forward to seeing the results of the billing tests this week :okthumb:

[HoneyBlond]

Hi CJ,

I personally would prefer good conversions and lower payout and I like your 9.95 recurring pricing point.

This is just a *raw* though I have had for a while so it is in no way refinded enough to use yet... but maybe a starting point.

A members area Customisable by the member.

A base level membership with a heiarchial structure that the customer can customise their own members area content each month.
Taking adult as the example your base members area might just be softcore stuff for 9.95 per month however
one can 'customise' their porn by adding favorite niches for a month for an added cost of course. ie 1 niche for 9.95, 2 niches for 15.95 etc

So your recurring base rate is ALWAYS AT LEAST 9.95 and also maybe a better chance at customer retention / lower Cb's??



Last edited by HoneyBlond at Apr 22 2004, 06:43 PM

[Opti]

Popping a magazine style "for free" frontend on exit, before the webmasters traffic back URL... might help conversions. If you carry the affiliate code through and use the free site to upsell to the paysites I mean. Maybe the average celeb surfers need a bit more warming up than a pornsite style tour if they get an overload of free stuff.

As far as 50% of a 9.95/mth recur alone... I would be expecting a pretty amazing conversion ratio to make it worth promoting.. and it would be hard to attract new adult webmaster affiliates imho, if that is a concern. But if webmasters can convert better than 1:200 and you have an average member retention over 3 months... it will pay enough to keep people happy once they are on board.

I like the way the playboy sites present their join page... It's $19.95/mth or $7.95/mth for annual subscribers and pushes the Save $144 off the regular price ... I'm not sure what those 2 price options would do for conversion ratios without the playboy brand behind it.. but every time I see their join page I do think it looks good!

http://cyber.playboy.com/signup/0404cyberj...jointst_photos/ (http://cyber.playboy.com/signup/0404cyberjointst_photos/)

[gonzo]

I have a comment to make but it doesnt have anything to do with pricing.
CJ & I both talk a lot on the radio show about doing business with people you know and trust.

Ive been up all night replacing old hard links with sponsors that I know either turn that shave on and off or that have been unproductive.

Ive replaced them ALL with links to celebrity bling programs. This isnt something I discussed with her or she asked for but it is the right thing to do.

Why?

1. I know and trust CJ.
2. I wasnt making any money off of those links anyhow so why not let her try and convert them?
3. Heres a kicker for you all to consider. She gives you the exit traffic back to the URL of your choice. You have NOTHING to loose. By doing that you can use it as a filter to pass it thru her celeb program and then cascade to another one or filter it back off to do the same thing you do with the rest of your unproductive traffic.


Give one of the family a try...you got NOTHING to loose.

[Opti]

Originally posted by gonzo@Apr 22 2004, 07:54 PM
3. Heres a kicker for you all to consider. She gives you the exit traffic back to the URL of your choice. You have NOTHING to loose. By doing that you can use it as a filter to pass it thru her celeb program and then cascade to another one or filter it back off to do the same thing you do with the rest of your unproductive traffic.

The traffic back system works better than most too...

I've tried a few program's "traffic back" links recently... and most seem to only manage to send back less than 50% of clicks sent to them... or do shit like pop a no-credit entry console on you if you choose the traffic back option..

[cj]

Originally posted by HoneyBlond@Apr 22 2004, 02:35 AM
Hi CJ,

I personally would prefer good conversions and lower payout and I like your 9.95 recurring pricing point.

This is just a *raw* though I have had for a while so it is in no way refinded enough to use yet... but maybe a starting point.

A members area Customisable by the member.

A base level membership with a heiarchial structure that the customer can customise their own members area content each month.
Taking adult as the example your base members area might just be softcore stuff for 9.95 per month however
one can 'customise' their porn by adding favorite niches for a month for an added cost of course. ie 1 niche for 9.95, 2 niches for 15.95 etc

So your recurring base rate is ALWAYS AT LEAST 9.95 and also maybe a better chance at customer retention / lower Cb's??
HB, your suggestion is another approach to an idea we have had for a while ... staggering content for different rebill periods etc. Lots of setup required with our members and content management system but this is definately where we are working towards. (And the mini tours are no accident either - eventually each mini tour will have its own members section with a set pricing point and upsells to the 'full' private celebrity. Baby steps LOL)

By giving customers the option to CHOOSE how much they want to pay, they usually will spend more. Human nature - as long as we feel like we are making a choice ....

ps HB, have fun in Sydney ;-)

[cj]

Originally posted by Opti+Apr 22 2004, 06:17 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Opti @ Apr 22 2004, 06:17 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin--gonzo@Apr 22 2004, 07:54 PM
3. Heres a kicker for you all to consider. She gives you the exit traffic back to the URL of your choice. You have NOTHING to loose. By doing that you can use it as a filter to pass it thru her celeb program and then cascade to another one or filter it back off to do the same thing you do with the rest of your unproductive traffic.

The traffic back system works better than most too...

I've tried a few program's "traffic back" links recently... and most seem to only manage to send back less than 50% of clicks sent to them... or do shit like pop a no-credit entry console on you if you choose the traffic back option..[/b][/quote]
opti, we are considering adding an entry console that is purely an ad for the site ... for eg, we wanted a way to put on all of the sites (maybe only temporarily) the news that we have a free 30 minute preview available & I was thinking mainstream with an entry console or an overlay ad that advertises the special offer ... it doesn't have links or anything so no interference with affiliate tracking.

Would that still be a pain in the ass if we did this? Would you think this would be a good ad to get peoples attention or piss them off cause its a popup?

ps, responding to your email with some ideas

[cj]

Gonzo *blush*

you :rokk: ... & thank you for EVERYTHING over the last few months pardner!

[gonzo]

Originally posted by cj@Apr 22 2004, 07:54 AM
Gonzo *blush*

you :rokk: ... & thank you for EVERYTHING over the last few months pardner!
Its me who should be thanking you.
I appreciate the time and persistance than youve shown to Oprano.
Im thankful that you have a different perspective on all of this and you arent afraid to say so. I think that the people that listen in every week must like the friction as well!

Why wouldnt anyone here be supportive of what your doing? After all this is the "Family that does business". We all need to be more supportive of each other.

Its fresh and groundbreaking and hell we get paid!
Im glad to see you pushing the envelope and banking.

Too many other women want to just whine about people calling them newbies and scheming a sensationalized angles with the trendy domain name of the week like gayweddings.com .

You dont even sing it...you just bring it!

[HoneyBlond]

ps HB, have fun in Sydney ;-)



Thanks CJ

:rokk:

[cj]

30 minute preview = :okthumb: :okthumb: :okthumb: so far

will keep ya'all posted!

the current headline banner is now updated with the new free trial info & you can hard code this into your page to call from our server. We'll update it everytime something changes.

http://banners.celebritybling.com/headlines/celebrity_headlines.gif

now its time to get serious ;-))

thanks everyone for your feedback & stay tuned ;-)

[slavdogg]

cj, what about promising celeb content on the outside like you currently do
and offering the world on the inside, meaning add huge selection of porn pics, vids, cams on the inside in addition to the celeb stuff.


also whats the best tour to dump some celeb traffic to ? lmk

[cj]

Slav, we are currently tossing up that option ... we are wanting to go the mainstream angle however so we think maybe at some point we need to split into 2 groups - mainstream sites & adult sites.

We'd like to experiment with the sites being 'clean' enough to advertise in magazines but this puts barriers to our adult webmaster work. The more we think about it the more necessary it seems ...

ALTHOUGH ... I did an update 3 days ago, added about 1500 better size & quality photos, movie premiere red carpet pics, paparazzi on the street for march & april etc cool shit from mags, i even stopped to read the captions LOL

Our recur to a full member is looking good so far on the 30 minute preview, with only 1 cancel before rebill today.

what's the traffic you've got? we are noticing really good success on sending for eg 'beyonce' traffic to the beyonce mini tour ... so if you have specific names lmk and i'll tell you if we have them on a tour anywhere.

if its looking for 'nude' best is nastyceleb.com or the upskirts or nipple slips mini tours. nastyceleb was converting crap on this traffic right up until yesterday when we changed the pricing point.

The hardest thing is to push the angle that we have over everyone else ... we have archives & bulk - its the same as buying a thousand magazines because we publish the whole set of 10 or 20 instead of just 1 pic.
We are like a giant mega monster magazine stand all together in 1 location.

hit me up on icq when you want to chat

[Opti]

Originally posted by cj@Apr 22 2004, 10:51 PM
Would that still be a pain in the ass if we did this? Would you think this would be a good ad to get peoples attention or piss them off cause its a popup?

No that sounds good... I don't care what you pop if it is designed to help me make sales!

The ones I dont like, pop a blurred entry console advertising other sites without my affiliate code in it.... but on a PPS program they can do what they want as far as I am concerned, if they make money like that I would stick with them anyway. ;-)