I don't like paid access

[Alexander]

 

PAID ACCESS?? What a let down!

We have just activated Paid Access to try it out for a month... WOW! What a let down it is!

Only THREE possibilities.. Paid access to certain groups, paid access to certain pages, paid access to the network! THAT'S IT!

What about paid access to adding events... the completely obvious one that NING has missed! But why? Paid Access for creating groups is another blatantly obvious choice that NING missed. Why, Why, Why?

I, for one, am VERY, VERY, disappointed with this VERY limited add-in which NING are charging creators an extra $19.95 a month for.

What a let down!

[Eric Suesz]

Hello. We've been clear that is exactly what we have built and that it doesn't restrict features. I noticed you asked a lot of questions about it over the past few weeks. Was that not clear? Were you expecting to have the ability to charge for events?

[Alexander]

Hello Eric... "Were you expecting to have the ability to charge for events?"

Yes, I was hoping to be able to receive a donation at least, as after all it is a form of advertising. Also it would have been nice to have had a donation or make a nominal charge for members to create groups. So if members create their own groups how does paid access to groups work then? This has not been thought through!

Yes, sorry to say, I am really disappointed. Paid access could have included more and better choices.

Thanks,
Alex

[Eric Suesz]

This is the first version. It's possible we'll add in more later. But we definitely are trying to be clear about what you can and can't do with this first release. Keep in mind that every network is different. I think that most networks that provide value for their members in some manner can pretty successfully use this. The first three NCs who tried it out got amazing results in the first 48 hours.

You can take donations. You can even put in a suggested donation. Did you do try that out? 

What kind of results have you had on your network so far? Did you customize the messaging prospective members see? I'd be interested in checking it out, but I'm not seeing your call to action for people to donate in your sign-up flow. Did people donate? How long has it been on, and have you made any money yet? 
Since you're one of the first people who have used it, we'd love to hear more about the details. Did you get any feedback from your members, for example?  

[Alexander]

Thanks for your reply Eric.
I have made some groups available for a nominal fee; others by donation. We have the donation page with extra links to it… but have only received one realistic donation since we got started (over two years).
It would be good to have the paid access for the features I mentioned. Also what about the question of people creating their own group? If only NCs can ask for a donation or charge a fee! There is no sense in charging for group access when members can create their own group without being charged! That definitely needs sorting out, or else there is no point in having paid access to groups; not unless NCs prevent members from creating groups.

Please keep me up to-date with this one. I would appreciate knowing how NING is going to tackle it.
I'd like to see where we go with paid access... I'll do my best to let you know how we get on... a forum for that would be helpful, don't you think?

Regards,
Alex

[Eric Suesz]

Okay, thanks for this feedback. 
Are you using the new Paid Access add-on? It appears you're asking for PayPal donations for Event creation, which I get. Earlier, you noted that you had turned on the Paid Access module, so I was hoping to hear more about that experience. 

We could charge for Events down the road, but charging for people to create Groups isn't one we've heard a lot of call for yet. 

[Alexander]

Yes, I have turned on the Paid Access add-on, but at present we are only asking for donations... hopefully we'll get some.

I think the answer to the group issue is not to make group creating available to members, and then to ask for a small donation to join a few specialist groups (as we are now doing). All donations are voluntary, including new member access to the network.

I'll see how this goes!

[Alexander]

What would be better than paying for each group and each page, is a one off paid access to ALL groups and another possibly for pages. Paying for individual groups? - people are going to be paying a lot if they want to join several groups.. . which they will not like or want to do, so to have a single charge would be far more sensible.

[Alexander]

For the present we have added a request for a donation from members adding Events.

[Scott]

I'm looking at this new feature as a soft launch that has value rolling out later.  

 

I don't know if it should be called a beta or a 1.0, but it's definitely in its infancy.  Maybe the right term is proof of concept.

 

Ning built something neutral, lets see who can do something cool with it.  Maybe they will iron out their own bugs, maybe enough constructive and calm suggestions will help them shape the direction this heads in.

 

Your post implies a lot of emotion.  I'm not sure if that's helpful or enjoyable.  I care a lot about my network and the members, which is why staying calm helps me to be successful for it/them.

[Trina Hemphill]

Paid access is a huge issue because my site is based on paid membership for business-related information.  About half of my pages can be free, and the other half will have paid access.  Please address the following questions/issues.  1. Do I understand correctly that I can only charge page-by-page?  I would like to have my members access a number of pages (or menu tabs) together by paying one membership fee.  Paying for each page would be very annoying for members.  How should this be handled?

2. Can event registration fees or advertising rates be included in the paid access?

3. Am I correct that membership levels etc. have to be "managed" separately?  Therefore, payment isn't integrated with any kind of membership management.

I am comparing the paid access ad-on to a different social networking site by WildApricot.  I hated their formatting and layout options (the reason why I left the service), but I loved how membership and payment were integrated with reporting features. 

[Speed Racer]

why dont you make groups by approval only, and when someone wants one they go thru the some 2 minute creation process.....if you approve it, message them an approval notice (be creative and make a nice looking one if you want to) and instruct them to pay X dollars thru the paypal (or whatever pay system you use) and then you will either create it yourself to their specs (this keeps people from getting mad at you and leaving, deleting their content) or you can take the chance on them never leaving and taking valuable content, and simply click "approve". What's wrong with THAT?

Did I mention that method doesn't cost $19.95 a month? :/

The tool is OPTIONAL. How many times does Ning have to say it? If Ning put all of the work into everything everyone wants in this tool, there would be ANOTHER group (of people who think like CREATORS) coming here screaming "wtf, do you guys think we're just stupid?"

[Speed Racer]

i was adding to the post above and ran out of time....

Here is a GREAT example of someone who thought for a littlebit and came up with an idea. If you aren't familiar with Google Plus, you'll have no idea what i mean here, if you want an invite, pm me here or post an email addy i can send one to, be glad to get anyone here in.

This idea popped up yesterday on my G+ stream, and it is absolutely genius. What the person  is doing (no idea who it was, name wasn't mentioned, but they were stated to have a large following in some niche)  is charging people $5 to be added to a newsletter circle, where he will send out newsletters on say, how to make money online. OK, simple enough, but what he is doing, after you join, anyone you get to join YOU get $2 of the $5 THEY pay. after your third referral joins, where you already got back your $5 and have a profit of $1, you are making money on all of the rest......this is an example of a guy who looked at Google Plus, and quickly found a simple way to make a bunch of money using it. The same can be done here, if you just sit back and THINK. Think about your ideas, and how YOU can make them work without having to involve Ning or anyone else. I sometimes get off of my computer altogether, sit out on my patio with some good music on with pencil and paper. I write things down, draw diagrams, etc. Many things you are out here begging Ning to do, you can work it out yourself, on your terms, your way.