Plugin providers - why do you allow free sites?

[Far-L]

Originally posted by Robin@Apr 9 2005, 07:56 PM
>> Our conversions are doing just fine. Our retention is excellent
>> and we are a relatively high priced site. Admittedly, we have
>> a strong brand but the fact that people can see us for pennies
>> on cable compared to our site has not hurt sales only helped.

I'm curious. Would you care to reveal the convertion ratios you are talking about? What do you mean by "just fine"? 1-100? 1-500? 1-1000? or what? And where is the traffic mainly from?

I'm pleased to hear that your retention is excellent - you are looking after your customers.

Seeing your content on cable is OK - but... it's TV - you can't wack your wanger out so easily in the living room ; ) - that's why you get the web sales - people feel safer at their computers - in their home offices etc... ; )

>> We all agree that there is a glut of content.

Yes

>> There is also a glut of marketers.

Yes

>> A glut of programs.

Yes - but a dearth of good ones...

>> The successful programs of yesterday may or may not be
>> the kings and queens of the market today.

You can't rest on your laurels - especially on the web...

>> It is natural for only a small percentage at the top to make the
>> majority of profits in any free market.

Agreed - there's always the pyramid.

>> You can go to the movies to see a big screen picture..
>> you can wait for it to come to cable...
>> wait longer for the dvd...
>> or wait longer to see the edited version on free tv.
>> The same basic rules apply for the way we market Homegrown.
>> You have to be a member of the site to see the whole enchilada.

Yes - also agreed - except that porn surfers want satisfaction NOW. An urge must be fulfilled - that's the male condition. So surfers won't wait for the free/cheap stuff - you are right. But... they will find whatever they can NOW that is the cheapest or free. The dick rules what the head desires - but the mind looks after the bucks - it never gets so tied up in the porn that it forgets basic economics...

If your horny surfer can get what he needs free then he will - if it's not free - he still has an urge to fulfill and will pay.

The sexual urge overides most stuff - it's part of nature - hide or remove the free stuff - but keep the surfer aware of where the paid porn is - you will always make more money - men need visual stimulation - they get bored just imagining - after a while of no free porn they will pay.

I don't mind giving you some numbers. If anyone wants to challenge me as pulling the typical marketer hype then I will be happy to show them. I go to plenty of trade events and am easy to find.

Overall we are at a little less than 1:300 on full signups plus trials. We convert about 40% of trials to full memberships. 12% will stay on over a year. We don't get a lot of tgp traffic. Our ratios look so good because of our own type-in traffic generated from our ads on cable and our dvds, etc. Review sites also do particularly well for us typically converting better than 1:50.

We don't have many affiliates compared to other programs. We do not have huge amounts of traffic. However, when we were with CE the only thing that coverted better was a free password program and we were the best retaining site according to MikeB, Fabian, and others.

Here is a recent customer post that illustrates my point more clearly than I could possibly express:

"To the management and staff of homegrownvideo.com:

I have been a member of homegrownvideo of and on for a couple of years now, and it has continually got better. All the latet streaming technology is used, you try to cater for all your customers. The content which you provide , is both diverse and consistently of a high level of quality.

As for not being able to download the movies, why would you want 1,000 movies at 300MB on your hard drive anyway, once you've seen them a couple of times.

I think some people may forget how much it must cost to maintain the streaming servers , aswell as all the other overheads when running a business.

I also like the fact you provide ample places for members to provide feedback, and also I like the cancel membership option in the members area. I'm in Australia, so when I join a site in the us via ccard, my only correspondence option is via email. And ever since I've joined this site I've never had a single billing issue. at any time with this site.

People are right there are alot of other amateur sites on the net, however, in the quality versus cost ratio I feel I'm doing very well for my money. You've have obvisiously got some pretty good business models in place, as you provide a superior product at a economically feasable price.
Everything it states on the tour pages, actually appears in the members section, which puts you ahead of alot of your other competitors instantly.

Ok enough compliments, I'm sure people will be able too ascertain my happiness with my subscription to homegrownvideo.

regards,

satisfied customer

Andrew"

Even I, having been in the biz for years, been there, done that, it is in our library, have purchased memberships for sites I have seen on tgps and mgps. Customers will always be willing to pay, imo, if there is an incentive to do so. Keep in mind that many people also start to avoid a lot of free stuff out there because of all the dirty tricks programs do with spyware.