Member retention

TeenGodFather · 11-18-2003

I just launched my first paysite, it features a couple of exclusive models.
It's been live for only a week but, we already see 60% cancellations, and the week isn't over (..and no recurring yet). I have 1 week trial for $9.95 and recurring at 24.95$.. the design converts really well (of course, done by me).. but we're having trouble with retention. What can I do to keep members happy? We cannot have live-shows at this moment...unfortunately.

What else can I do? I only have 1 weekly update, with usually 1 photoset or video.

khy · 11-18-2003

If you offer weekly trials, I recommed updating at least a couple times per week. If you can't update more often, maybe just offer the monthly membership for now. You'll get less joins, but more money per join... and all members will have time to experience a few updates and see how the site is growing.

3 day trials typically convert the best, but you need to have updates daily or almost daily to run 3 day trials.

Whatever you do, it's going to take several months to really see the numbers pan out. 60% cancellations isn't necessarily bad on a trial membership. If the ones that stay don't cancel for several months, then you can still easily be in line with the industry averages of about 3 months per join.

Also, most billing companies offer some great billing options for member retention. Epoch offers a reduced price option that can be presented to any member when they try to cancel. Ibill offers a way to set up join options where monthly charges decrease the longer they stay a member and I'd bet CCBill has something similar.

Of course, the other obvious thing... at $24.95, you're charging more than quite a lot of amateur sites. Do you have a competitive members area? Do you have a variety of products for members to check out between your own updates?

Good luck,
Khy

Mike AI · 11-18-2003

I still think trials is a no-no for Amateur sites. I do not offer them on any of mine ( I have then on the PureCash sites if people back out, but that is mostly to make webmasters happy).

If done right, they will convert just as well, and retain much longer!!

Kacy · 11-18-2003

I would have to agree with that. I have seen too many amateur sites try the trial and have their whole site downloaded and all their content put on another web site. Not that it can't happen with a full membership, but at least you got more for it, LOL

Seriously, unless you have ALOT of content to keep them coming back, they just won't. If they join for a trial and go in and see you have a few galleries and a bunch of BS, they just cancel. They are getting smarter

BillyWRP · 11-19-2003

One thing I'd like to ad is not to get discouraged , it's only been a week. It's hard to run accurate reports with a weeks worth of data. You might want to reduce the amount of time you offer for the trial,or like most have mentioned, remove the trial all together and see how well your tour converts.
I'd also try lowering the price for a bit until you're confident that you have an abundance of content to offer.
Also you mentioned you couldn't offer live-shows at the moment.
homegrowncams.com is offered for free to webmasters. This might be a nice addition to your site, and will help with retention. Any interactive tool you can offer your members will help keep them longer. Try finding free online games that you can link to as well. Time waster help with retention alot.
Hope this helps

Hell Puppy · 11-19-2003

For retention, you need to give them something new to see everytime they visit. If they do not find anything new frequently when they visit, they'll cancel. That's the key to keeping those that CAN be retained.

There's a significant percentage that CANT be retained. No matter what you do, they just wanna have that one look around at everything you have and then cancel. They might come back 3-6 months later and do it again. It's these guys that make it a bad idea to do trials on an amateur site unless you have so much content that they cant possibly see it all in just one or two visits.

TeenGodFather · 11-19-2003

Thanks for the suggestions. We have to ponder them.

Wizzo · 11-19-2003

Once your ready, I can help you with live chat from your "exclusive models", which I think really helps member retention on amateur sites...

Mike AI · 11-19-2003

Lots of good advice....

Definately cannot judge numbers on a week.... way too soon.

Updating is important and helps retention. Make sure you communicate about updates to members often.

TeenGodFather · 11-19-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Mike AI@Nov 19 2003, 09:42 AM
Lots of good advice....

Definately cannot judge numbers on a week.... way too soon.

Updating is important and helps retention. Make sure you communicate about updates to members often.

I know a week's not much. Especially since I have 1-week trials. hehe.. it just gets to me when those bastards cancel after only a few days.

Well, gotta tweak some stuff then. Nice advice guys. Thanks.

Mike AI · 11-19-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by TeenGodFather+Nov 19 2003, 03:02 PM-->
QUOTE (TeenGodFather @ Nov 19 2003, 03:02 PM)

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11-19-2003 #12

Wizzo

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When I had Drunslut running, I would offer a full membership for $24.95 on the join page. Then if they exited the joinpage, we would pop a $3.95 trial that recurred at $39.95... It worked well, of course there wasn't near as many popup blockers out there, but it was a good way to get most people to buy a full membership, yet would pick up some from those who wanted a trial...

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11-19-2003 #13

Angel

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I have been running my personal amateur site for 6 years now and just about always had a trial membership. I have a $3.95/3 day trial that converts into $14.95 monthly. But I also have other pricing options. I have found that I get quite a few non renewing memberships, which I charge a little bit more for. I agree that your monthly price sounds a little high for an amateur site with not much content. Members want what they think their moneys worth.

The main thing is having enough content to keep the members happy. Updating often, more than once a week. You can always do a photo update one day, couple days later a video update, then maybe something else another day (i.e.. live chat, audio files, and a daily pic isn't hard to set up) and let everyone know what to expect, only one update or multiple updates a week. And be sure to deliver what you offer.

You can expect cancels, but if your site has quality content, and plenty of it, they will probably be repeat customers. I have many many members that join for the trial, stay 2 or 3 months, cancel, then are back in a month or so and do it all over again.

Sorry this was so long, everyone has had great suggestions, things aren't going to get any easier for amateur sites real soon, but if they feel they know the girl personally they will stay. Oh and answering email is a big thing too. I can not count how many times fans write me back saying they can't believe I actually responded to their email. They really like getting personal emails from their favorite girl.

Ok, I think that is enough from me, I could go on for hours : )

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11-19-2003 #14

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Quote:

Originally posted by Angel@Nov 19 2003, 10:22 PM
Ok, I think that is enough from me, I could go on for hours : )

Please do.
Its rare we get a good long post in this niche without a lot of drama!

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11-20-2003 #15

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Quote:

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Originally posted by gonzo+Nov 19 2003, 11:52 PM-->
QUOTE (gonzo @ Nov 19 2003, 11:52 PM)

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11-20-2003 #16

Angel

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Well I am not about the drama... There is too much to do and not enough time to do it : )

Yes I do have some members that have been with me from the beginning. And they keep coming back because they know me, and not just because they see me naked : ) I try to let them into my life (or at least what they think is my life), which most of what I tell them is true.

But no matter how loyal members are, if they aren't satisfied with what you are giving them, they will leave. I am dealing with this now, I neglected my site for a few weeks after having the baby (which they don't know about), and now I am having to build my member database back up. But I know they will come back now that I am back on top of things!

If anyone needs anything you can always ask, or email me.

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11-20-2003 #17

Euro-Coeds

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Care to show us your site, TGF?

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11-20-2003 #18

cherrylula

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Try losing the trial and consider a non-recurring billing option.

Guys hate commitment and will pay more that way for access than with a trial, when they know up front it will not rebill and they don't have to get jerked around trying to cancel.

And/or setting the rebill amount with a discount works well too.

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11-21-2003 #19

TeenGodFather

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Quote:

Originally posted by Euro-Coeds@Nov 20 2003, 01:42 PM
Care to show us your site, TGF?

No. Sorry.
Maybe in 3-4 months.

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11-21-2003 #20

TeenGodFather

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Quote:

Originally posted by cherrylula@Nov 20 2003, 06:22 PM
Try losing the trial and consider a non-recurring billing option.

Guys hate commitment and will pay more that way for access than with a trial, when they know up front it will not rebill and they don't have to get jerked around trying to cancel.

And/or setting the rebill amount with a discount works well too.

I have options for a longer period (3 and 6 months) non-recurring.
I also have it set up so that when a customer cancels his/her membership they get an option to renew at a lower price.

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11-21-2003 #21

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Angel hon, I could listen to you for hours:-):-) How are ya? Miss seeing ou and Billy!!

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11-21-2003 #22

squirter

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Angel, I responded to your post before I read the entire thread!! YOu and Billy had a baby??? Oh my gosh, congratulations...tell me details!!! You can email me ro@sexysquirter.com. That's probably somehwere in here..but what the heck:-) Look forward to hear from you..gosh...I'm so out of touch!!

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11-21-2003 #23

Kevin2

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TGF I run porn-gate.com as the main hub for our members to access all the content and we update 3 sites a day to maintain and increase our retention. Some of the sites have exclusive only content and we still get cancels.

We are adding another 2 sites shortly for them and they are both single model sites. We shoot all our own content and this is the first month I have tried a movie plugin.

It seems to go thru phases where you get a lot of cancels and then all of a sudden no cancels for a few weeks. A friend of mine was having the same problem you were having so I allowed his members access to all our sites in porn-gate and it helped him greatly.

Another point is that the surfers are smarter now and they will join and then cancel immediately because they don't like recurring. However I have found that when their months membership ends many signup again and leave recurring on.

What are your % of cancels versus signups?

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11-18-2003	#3
Mike AI Administrator Want to see your own Advertising Here! Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 11,618	I still think trials is a no-no for Amateur sites. I do not offer them on any of mine ( I have then on the PureCash sites if people back out, but that is mostly to make webmasters happy). If done right, they will convert just as well, and retain much longer!! __________________ Make big money on your Domains! Why wait 40 days to get paid with the other guys? Parked.com pays the most for your traffic, and cuts checks twice a month!

11-18-2003	#4
Kacy The Host with the Most Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: So Cal Posts: 154	I would have to agree with that. I have seen too many amateur sites try the trial and have their whole site downloaded and all their content put on another web site. Not that it can't happen with a full membership, but at least you got more for it, LOL Seriously, unless you have ALOT of content to keep them coming back, they just won't. If they join for a trial and go in and see you have a few galleries and a bunch of BS, they just cancel. They are getting smarter __________________ ~Kacy Get Naked With Me :)

11-19-2003	#5
BillyWRP Members Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 7	One thing I'd like to ad is not to get discouraged , it's only been a week. It's hard to run accurate reports with a weeks worth of data. You might want to reduce the amount of time you offer for the trial,or like most have mentioned, remove the trial all together and see how well your tour converts. I'd also try lowering the price for a bit until you're confident that you have an abundance of content to offer. Also you mentioned you couldn't offer live-shows at the moment. homegrowncams.com is offered for free to webmasters. This might be a nice addition to your site, and will help with retention. Any interactive tool you can offer your members will help keep them longer. Try finding free online games that you can link to as well. Time waster help with retention alot. Hope this helps __________________

11-19-2003	#9
Mike AI Administrator Want to see your own Advertising Here! Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 11,618	Lots of good advice.... Definately cannot judge numbers on a week.... way too soon. Updating is important and helps retention. Make sure you communicate about updates to members often. __________________ Make big money on your Domains! Why wait 40 days to get paid with the other guys? Parked.com pays the most for your traffic, and cuts checks twice a month!

11-18-2003	#1
TeenGodFather Members Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 623	I just launched my first paysite, it features a couple of exclusive models. It's been live for only a week but, we already see 60% cancellations, and the week isn't over (..and no recurring yet). I have 1 week trial for $9.95 and recurring at 24.95$.. the design converts really well (of course, done by me).. but we're having trouble with retention. What can I do to keep members happy? We cannot have live-shows at this moment...unfortunately. What else can I do? I only have 1 weekly update, with usually 1 photoset or video. __________________ I may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. I really am an idiot.

11-18-2003	#2
khy Members Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 17	If you offer weekly trials, I recommed updating at least a couple times per week. If you can't update more often, maybe just offer the monthly membership for now. You'll get less joins, but more money per join... and all members will have time to experience a few updates and see how the site is growing. 3 day trials typically convert the best, but you need to have updates daily or almost daily to run 3 day trials. Whatever you do, it's going to take several months to really see the numbers pan out. 60% cancellations isn't necessarily bad on a trial membership. If the ones that stay don't cancel for several months, then you can still easily be in line with the industry averages of about 3 months per join. Also, most billing companies offer some great billing options for member retention. Epoch offers a reduced price option that can be presented to any member when they try to cancel. Ibill offers a way to set up join options where monthly charges decrease the longer they stay a member and I'd bet CCBill has something similar. Of course, the other obvious thing... at $24.95, you're charging more than quite a lot of amateur sites. Do you have a competitive members area? Do you have a variety of products for members to check out between your own updates? Good luck, Khy __________________ Amateur Partner Earn a Double Payout in December

11-19-2003	#6
Hell Puppy Fat Fucking Nobody Want to see your own Advertising Here! Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 6,523	For retention, you need to give them something new to see everytime they visit. If they do not find anything new frequently when they visit, they'll cancel. That's the key to keeping those that CAN be retained. There's a significant percentage that CANT be retained. No matter what you do, they just wanna have that one look around at everything you have and then cancel. They might come back 3-6 months later and do it again. It's these guys that make it a bad idea to do trials on an amateur site unless you have so much content that they cant possibly see it all in just one or two visits.

11-19-2003	#8
Wizzo Members Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 247	Once your ready, I can help you with live chat from your "exclusive models", which I think really helps member retention on amateur sites... __________________ See Who I Am At AdultWhosWho.com!