We've had the trial on for a few weeks, just to see how it worked. However we hardly noticed any increase, and it did not change the bottomline at all.
Even if it had increased a little I'm not sure we would have kept it on. We offer the surfer what equals almost 400 dvd's and give them something that equals like 1/2 a new dvd a day. If they were to go out and buy this stuff on dvd's it would definetely cost them way more than the 24.95 we charge them. I see absolutely no reason why we should give them access for 2.95 unless it really increased the bottomline significantly and it did not.
I've made all my money in this biz from recurring sponsors without trials, and I've very seldom seen conversion ratios higher than 1:250 - 1:300 if ever during 2 1/2 year. It's simply a myth that people won't buy memberships, they want to, but they wanna make sure they're not getting ripped off.
As long as the tour is informative enough about what is offered, and the content inside is of decent quality I see no reason for a trial, it simply costs you money and sends the wrong signal to the surfers.
Lars