Anyone who has run a real subscription business knows that overtime, subscriptions dont tend to keep people long term. For those looking at a subscription model, would do well to read this:
If Groundspeak is seeing 3% or less, than putting Google ADs on the free accounts should be something they *should* do to start covering cost of the free users. I mean, they are a business, they do have employees, they do pay taxes.
Christian
On 6/24/07, Andrew Senger wrote: > > The ads are very minor in relation to most of the websites out there. In > fact, many of them advertise even when you ARE a paid member. Remember that > the little box is below everything else of importance on the left banner. > Jeremy could have taken more money per view by putting it at the very top of > the page. As it is, I don't consider it "ugly". The links were placed in a > spot that wasn't being used, and they don't jump out to you. Also, calling > it "pedestrian" is a compliment. Like Ronald, I'm tired of Flash-animated > banners that want me to punch the monkey or pick my favorite celebrity for a > free iPod. I'll take a text-based ad for somewhat relevant sites over > anything else. > > As far as encouraging PMs, what more can Jeremy do? I know of some sites > that offer "Lifetime Memberships" for a week or so. The prices usually total > about 3-5 years of normal yearly PM costs. These "sales" are usually on > sites that are just starting or have hit their "climax" of popularity, where > a bulk of costs go toward development or maintenance. GC is beginning to get > big, and this expansion may last for a couple of years or more. As GPSrs > become cheaper, the hobby becomes readily available to more people. GC needs > to work on long-term strategies, such as looking into more machines and > staff to keep the site running smoothly. These are expenses that need a > steady supply of funds, not an instant bulk of funds. > > Jeremy and Groundspeak would love for every user to be a paid member, but > it's not feasible. I don't know what the true ratio is, but I'll bet it's no > where close to what they'd need to keep the site above water for long. > > Be glad Jeremy decided to go the "low-key" route. The ads could be much > worse! > > Andrew > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: sept1c_tank > To: gpsstash@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 12:55 > Subject: [GPSstash] Re: Geooglecaching > > [SNIP] > > The Google ads are ugly and pedestrian. There must be a better way > to encourage premium memberships and to increase profits than to > bombard the site with crap. > > . > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >
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