Free Site vs. Pay Site - Hmmmmm
 

I'm about to get things going on one of my sites. It's basically an indie/underground site that will have a section for nude modeling - alittle like Suicidegirls but more focused on the underground/indie scene.

My question is, for a niche like this, is it better to have a paid member area for say, $10/mo. or use something similar to a Join4Free script and try to make money by emailing those who join with the list I accumulate?

So far this is what I can think of:

Pay Site

Pros

1. small niche=big chance people will come back each month and stay (pay $10/mo.)
2. Low monthly fee

Cons

1. target audience is 18-20somethings, many might not have CC's or the $ to spend on a site
2. less people will join rather than if it's just a free site/email registration


Free Site

Pros

1. it's free = more people will join
2. more people = more emails = more people to email offers to
3. can offer than many different sponsors

Cons

1. Have to email them w/ offers rather than making $ from my content
2. Have to be bothered w/ offers to get free content

What's your take on this? As a webmaster, would you rather get paid $10/signup knowing conversions will be real good or take $.25-$.50 per free email signup?

Also, for this type of site, do yo thnk $5/mo. is too low and is $10 too high?

Your target audience is fine. What 18-20 year old doesn't have a CC? I have 3, every one of my friends has at least 1. When you have a CC, "not having money" very rarely happens, especially for a college student who is usually an impulse buyer.

Yes, less people will join. So what? Those free site members probably won't make you as much money.

Why not incorporate both of your ideas? Make the paysite, but if they don't join, give them the option to join your free site. In your free site, push the paysite heavily.

make a free site with a "gold membership" shit

good idea, was thinking about that, any recommendations as far as how many pics should be in the free section vs. the "gold" section?

Should I have non-nude in the free section? or tease them w/ a few?

If folks don't have a CC, why do you want them in your email list? You're not going to sell them anything anyway.
Rather than pushing them to a free site, push them to a free AVS site. You'll get money for them signing up and they get tons of content, not just your stuff. And it's "free" (there are a couple of truly free avs sites) so if they've got a problem with $10 they might bite better on this.

But making it truly FREE with just an email address ensures that you're going to have tons of folks without CCs - including underage kids - that will put in their email addy to see the content.

Cool sig man.. too funny :thumbsup