I don't post often but when I do... I do...
Dollarmansteve, don't take the first statement out of context. The statement after I said programs leave money on the table just to get volume to upsale, cross sale, send to popups, and the other tricks. It is more profitable if programs concentrate on making a solid product with no tricks. They will draw large affiliates who will also make more money in the long run.
Look at karups, atk, twistys, and other similar sites. They are still going strong with the same layouts they have used for years. Why? Because people are not affraid to see their sites. People LIKE their sites. People recognize them. Do you wonder why pay per trial programs need to keep changing thier layout so damn much? Because after people start to recognize the sites they hit the back button right away. They are trying not to see the pop ups. Trial sites need to keep fresh layouts to trick the surfer that he is safe to click deeper into the site and not to fear popups. Now people have popup blockers... good thing there are cross sales. Can't you see pay per trial is digging a hole for all of us? It is harder to convert now because people don't trust membership sites. Maybe that is why review sites are doing so well now. They are trying to get that trust back.
Why fuck a potential customer? If they don't buy now they might buy later when they realize you do have a good product they would like to see. Once they do join they will come back and join many times in a year and over many years. They do at my site and this is how the sites I mentioned above do so well and make so much profits. They are not plastered everywhere to make such great money either.
I have talked to some affiliates of pay per trial... large affiliates... who can't seem to figure why their SALES have dropped over the years. Honestly it could be many reasons... maybe the affiliates themselves... but I do believe most pay per trial programs are digging their own grave.
Keep in mind I think limited trials are a good idea IF IF IF done right. Don't fool the customer... trust me people are stupid. This needs to be done carefully, in a very simple way, and very very clearly.
My main complaint is the pay per signup programs who use cross sales, pop ups, and a cheap trial going to a very high monthly price just to maintain profits. I don't agree with this business model. I think it creates lots of problems but it attracts the affiliates who don't know how to look at bottom lines. They only look at the conversion ratios which don't mean a damn thing on their own. Unfortunately many large affiliates started with programs like this many years ago and stick with them out of loyalty and fear of changing what has made them alot of money. Which is sad. If these affiliates are such great marketers they would make so much more with other business models which don't fuck the future of this business. I used pay per trial programs and made a killing but I moved on and changed my entire business model because I saw more future profits with recurring. It paid off and is still paying off.
This is a great business. Why fuck up the future any more than it is now? There is so much money to be made the honest way without the tricks. Shap is doing it, KarupsLou is doing it, Quiet has done it, I am, and many others. I would rather be in this group of names.
THEY GAVE THE CUSTOMER WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTED AND IT PAID OFF HUGE FOR THEM.
As for my second statement... If you have a site with trials... remove them and lets see if your site can sell without a trial as the sale point.
