Quote:
Originally posted by cj@Mar 23 2005, 10:21 PM
Few threads here at the moment that relate to customer retention and paysite members areas etc that got me thinking ...
There is 2 ways of thinking, both of which work ...
There's Nick's way of playing the numbers game and making money off the old 'forget to cancel' theory ...
and there's the 'give the customer everything he/she wants and treat them like a customer' theory ...
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For good or bad, Oprano is largely "old school". Fleece the flock, fuck the details, just pump volume volume and more volume. This worked great in the late 90's, you cant argue with the results.
One thing I'd really like to see in the gumbo is more program operators who have came along and made it in the last 2-3 years. The game has changed. IMO you now need to both generate your own traffic any way you can AND have affiliates. And yes, the modern affiliate is a pain in the ass, he's used to being given everything. I'd love to see more discussion on how you deal with it....ideally how can you retrain them. Again, I dont mind spending time to teach someone to fish, especially if they'll share their catch with me.
All due respect and all, I dont think the old methods work as well today. First off, mass traffic is hard to gather without paying for it. The free traffic that is out there has really been saturated with free porn for the most part. Either that or it comes with a helluva lot of heat. What this adds up to is it is much more difficult and expensive to acquire a customer....especially a customer that recurs.
It's cheaper and easier to take care of the customer who legitimately WANTS to be a member of your site and likes your content than it is to go acquire another one. In certain niches, if you take care of them, you can literally keep them for years. I have the recurring bases to prove it.
And yeah, a large percentage of recurring is still simply the guy who forgot to cancel after he finished and pulled his pants up. Visa will likely squash that noise sooner or later. If you're planning on being around for a while, it's best to NOT count on that as part of your business plan.