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NC for Hire

Hey guys!

 

You have helped me countless times with questions I have had over the last few months. It is my turn to give a little something back. There are a lot of you who without a doubt could figure all of this out on your own if you had paid access. The problem is taking this step is somewhat of a blind risk because of the fact you must dive in and subject your members to your trial and error with a system you are not sure of. Well, I took the leap and have been able to figure a lot of things out. I will try to answer most of the questions that I have seen pop up over the last few weeks. I will have a few suggestions and a few requests from Ning. I will give you some options I have discovered and I hope by the end of this post you at least have enough information to make an educated choice whether to jump in or at least come away with some modifications you would like to see Ning make before you sign-up for paid access. Here we go!

 

1. This is the Manage Your Paywall Dashboard.

 

Here is my first take on this page. When you click on Subscribers I would like to see a list of only those members who have subscribed. I don't. I see a list of every member of my network. Now for the good news. This seems to be a major topic of debate. When you click on Member Comp you have the option to comp certain members for 1-12 months or for a lifetime. My NEW members are showing up in this list. Not just my members from BEFORE "Paid Access".... This means that if you do not use the paywall for initial sign-up but only for content after sign-up you will be able to comp new and old members alike. I must warn you though, BE VERY CAREFUL, as of right now there is no way to reverse this comp without removing the paywall and starting over! "Ning - Please Fix This!"

 

I would have shown a print screen of the Subscribers and Member Comp pages but I would of had to mask member info and that left very little to see.

 

2. My network is currently free to most members with "Paid Access" for Elite Members. Here is how I am accomplishing this. Keep in mind as you follow along that I will try to explain what I am doing that is working for me, what I have tried that did not work, what I see as possibilities on other networks, and what I would like for Ning to add in the future.

 

A - I am currently housing Elite Member features behind a group called Elite Members Group. This group serves as the paywall. This group also serves as the Elite Members sign on point. I have added links on my homepage for members to follow if they choose to subscribe. They point to the Elite Members Group url.

 

B - With the new option of adding pages within a group you have many exciting options for creating content behind the Elite Members Group or "Paywall"... I have an Online Magazine that is embeded in a page behind my paywall. Here is the exciting part. Members don't have to dig deep into your site to find the exclusive content such as my Online Magazine. The don't even have to enter my Elite Members Group. I have a text box on my homepage with an image of my Online Magazine that links to the Online Magazine page behind the paywall. Elite Members jump directly to the Online Magazine. Non-Subscribers receive a pop-up asking them to subscribe and explaining that certain content is for Elite Members only... See below.

 

C - When Non-Subscribers click Join Elite Members Group this is what they see.... Keep in mind that you have full control over what these screens say and I am just giving suggestions by showing screen shots of mine.

 

D - I have also found a way to restrict access to certain site features of my network to Elite Members only. For an example I decided to allow Elite Members the option of changing or modifying the theme to their members page. This meant I had to turn on access to this feature for every member of the site under My Dashboard/Members/Controls... This created a small problem as the link to "Customize My Page" showed up on every members page just below their member photo. To solve this I replaced the "Customize My Page" link and text in the Language Editor to say this...

 

 

And your result is this...

 

 

To complete the steps involved you simply need to make a link within your Elite Members Group or behind your paywall that points to the feature your giving access to. In this case this is the path - http://www.modelairplanecollectors.com/profiles/appearance/edit. Just replace my network with yours for this particular features url...

 

And here is a snapshot of my exclusive Elite Members new feature as it appears inside the Elite Members Group!

 

 

The option to add content and pages within a group offers you a lot of freedom to get creative when using the group as a paywall. I really feel however that this is a backward way of thinking. I think Ning would have a better system if you were able to create the paywall and add specific url paths to it instead of hiding content behind one specific url. For example;

 

My Paywall

 

Block access to the following;

 

www.mynetwork.com/photos

www.mynetwork.com/pages/page/onlinemagazine

www.mynetwork.com/groups/group/diecastmodels/exlusivediscounts

 

 

Using the example above only Elite Members would have access to network photos and the Online Magazine page however full content of the group Diecast Models would be open to all members of the network with the exception of the Exclusive Discounts page within that group. That would be for Elite Members only.

 

I think this would be a little easier to manage.

 

Please feel free to ask questions about Paid Access and its features as I know most of you want to know about specific features but have no way of looking yourself. If you have any suggestions please share them! I am always looking for new ideas, tips, and tricks!

 

Thanks,

Matt

 

p.s. I am not looking to win a free year of Paid Access but just looking to give a little back for all of the info, help, and assistance I have received from Creators.. This is why I made this a separate discussion and did not reply to that particular discussion! 

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Replies

  • NC for Hire

    Curious if this has helped anyone??

    • Matt- not sure what is happening with my site- it's new could be user error- mine ;)  

      I have a free site with a paywall group. Everything is set pop up shows when I review yet I keep having people ask how much it is- they are not seeing the wall. I had my friend leave the group then request to get it- I approved her, she went straight to my paid content she never saw the paywall.

      I read on another post that is how it worked you approve them and then they see the paywall. This didn't happen in my case. I just launched today and have about 10 people asking about the paid option. I'd love to give it to them but not sure what is happening. Any suggestions?

      I think a NIng rep is getting back to me but they are slow sometimes and I need a quick answer- Thank you 

      This is my site Blogs To Riches Club

  • Thanks, Matt. Very interesting insights. Thank you.

    What percentage of your members have gone to paid access over what period of time? And what are your cost points?

    • NC for Hire

      Steve,

       

      I would say I am approaching 15% so far however the majority of my site is free. It is just the Elite Members Group that has a paid subscription fee. I currently offer $5 per month, $50 per year, or $100 lifetime subscription options...

       

      Thanks for the reply!

      Matt

      • Thanks, Matt. That 15% is an encouraging number, for sure. What do Elite members get for that payment? Just an extra newsletter?

        • NC for Hire

          Steve,

           

          Included  in the Elite Membership is our site Online Magazine, special retailer discounts and promotions, free site giveaways, limited edition site prints and posters, and exclusive site features such as video chat and the option to customize your member page theme...

           

          All of the items I offer my Elite Members are donated by retailers in exchange for advertising.

           

          Thanks,

          Matt

          • Very helpful. Thank you! I'd like to do something like that too, but have been afraid of member backlash if I don't do it right.

  • Thanks for sharing.

    • NC for Hire

      Thanks!

       

      btw, That is one of the most seductive profile photos I have ever seen! 

       

      Matt

  • Great Info ! Thanks

This reply was deleted.
 

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