Not so long ago, I have shown you one of the ways to make money online by setting up a membership site using a WordPress plugin called MagicMembers (aff link). Although that is an excellent option, many of you may think that it is too early to create your own membership site. Coupled with the fact that there is a little investment required, you will probably prefer to see if there is an alternative to that, experiment with it, and then decide on a later stage whether it is, or not, a viable alternative, despite knowing all the benefits a membership site can bring.
That said, Sire of WassupBlog has recently wrote an article on how to make money off a popular post by using MediaPass. After reading about it there, I decided to also share some of my views about MediaPass (ref link) here. Obviously I do recommend you to read what Sire has to say, as with everything blogging, each one has their own opinion and views and it will be definitely interesting for you to find out what he has to say.
What Is MediaPass?
Another way to see MediaPass in my view, is an easy alternative to a membership site. MediaPass allows you to charge for any online content you provide and creating an account is not only simple, it is totally free. Technical knowledge required is virtually zero and once you create your account, MediaPass will provide you with easy to install codes that will essentially serve as a gateway towards your exclusive content (paid subscriptions).
Exclusive here is the key factor as this can be anything from “pillar articles”, most viewed post (see Sire’s example), eBooks you have created, specific tutorials, article series, exclusive video, and just about anything else (use your imagination), provided it is online and inside your website. You choose the pages you want or specific sections (archived pages for instance), set the price for access and you are done. Only pages that you choose to be paid are affected by this and all other is free content. At anytime, you can cancel the subscription and make it available for free, your choice.
This works well if you think that you have or can create content that is so exclusive and of high quality that people will be willing to pay “something” just to have access to it. Another example could be a three part tutorial, where you share some “proven methods” to improve earnings on ClickBank. You provide internet users with a “teaser” and if they want to read the rest, here is where MediaPass comes into play. The code you inserted will now block the access to the remainder part of your paid content. The user will see the following screens before they can proceed.
The block. This is where users are now informed that the content they are trying to access is premium.
They want it so bad they now fill in the info requested and hit the continue button. They select the membership options that are presented to them and continue. The prices here are set by you.
Once selected the subscription option, they select the payment option, and after everything is confirmed, they now have access to that specific content. Congrats, you just made an extra couple of $$$.
Disadvantages of paid content and using MediaPass?
Not everyone sees paid content as a good thing. At the end of the day, it is really up to you to decide whether or not a specific content requires a paid subscription and if it is really worth it. Another matter is that although it is free to open an account, the service in itself is not free and you share the revenue with MediaPass at a 65%/35% split, the later for MediaPass. In my opinion this is slightly high but as I said, since you do not have to worry about almost anything and do not require any upfront investment, the price can be considered reasonable. At the very least, think of MediaPass as an experiment that will eventually help you decide to set up your own membership site in the future. On a side note, MediaPass is actually saying that this is an introductory rate!
There you go. MediaPass can really be an interesting alternative to charging for content. Considering that you have full control of your content, it is a viable solution for those who think that they have premium stuff to offer.
What do you think? Is this something you will want to experiment with? If I set it up here for my most viewed pages, do you think someone will want to pay to have access to it or will I drive them away? (lol)
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Dennis Edell@ Direct Sales Marketing
One must have some serious mojo to be charging for blog content and getting away with it.
Actually there are many people doing it Dennis and as you said, they are getting away with it. Paid content is really not new and “bigger” sites have been doing it quite successfully. I guess the issue here is to prove to users that the content is worth paying for and for that you really have to provide something special 🙂
Dennis Edell@ Direct Sales Marketing
Yes, right. “Mojo”.
I remember when you made that post on using MagicMembers to create a membership site, and I did feel it was too early for me to begin my own membership site.
I think MediaPass is a great alternative because it won’t require that much of a time commitment and it’s extremely easy to set up. However, your content will have to be very good and provide readers with exactly what they need.
I have been checking my Google Analytics to try and pinpoint my most popular posts to try MediaPass on. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this DiTesco.
HI Jason. Yeah, using your most viewed post is definitely one way to go as most of the time, it is not your regular readers that are looking in to it but rather from searchers. These are usually first time visitors and looking for something specific. If your content is highly viewed and i is of great value, charging for it may just work. Nothing better that giving it a try and see how it goes. You can always reverse it if you think that it is not working for you.
I think this works well as a sequel to a post from weblogbetter about how to create content and then “secretly” share your password with your twitter followers.
This is a good marketing strategy because people tend to buy things of which they feel exclusive. Like having access to something that not many do have.
Of course this mean that you first have to write some “free” posts that make people to want more in order for them to get in your membership website.
Hi Alex. Sharp eye 🙂 This can indeed be considered a sequel to that of Kiesha’s article as for some reason sometimes people prefer to have access to exclusive content than that of free. Like you said, the idea is to keep posting “free” articles and really make some “ultra high quality” content for private access. Thanks for stopping by
Hello, DiTesco …
With respect to MediaPass, you wrote …
“What do you think? Is this something you will want to experiment with? If I set it up here for my most viewed pages, do you think someone will want to pay to have access to it or will I drive them away? (lol)”
The first thing I think is that you forgot to mention the most important thing, which is that one of the things you get for the 35% commission you pay is trained, talented, native-born CSRs handling all the customer service associated with your paywall!
Another thing you get is a kick-butt affiliate program!
I gotta say, I’m impressed!
I signed up under you already!
My personal site is in the throes of a CMS makeover right now, so this is a perfect time to implement a paywall module … with peep holes!
I can think of 101 things I’ve been wanting to write about but haven’t because the thought of putting all that work into something that isn’t going to pay me anything makes me want to throw up.
Speaking just for myself, I wouldn’t want to get involved in a *monthly* subscription because I don’t want the pressure of writing because I have to, since I only write when I feel like I have something to say, but on an *item-by-item* basis, I could really go to town.
I will call MediaPass tomorrow to find out how to get set up to allow one-time access to white papers, tutorials and reports.
If I find out anything especially noteworthy, I’ll drop back in here and post another comment.
Meanwhile, have you thought about polls or surveys in conjunction with a paywall? About asking your visitors to tell you what they most want to read about, and then writing about that? Possibly making a short article about it viewable to all, but keeping “the good stuff” behind the wall?
Just my 2¢.
Regards, Elizabeth @
ElizabethAdamsDirect
🙂
Hi Elizabeth. So true, I did forget to mention that although you are paying for 35%, you are actually paying for a “kick ass” service.
LOL, still got a grin on my face.
As for getting one time access, it is perfectly possible. Actually that is one good stuff about MediaPass, because you choose only those that you want to have some “peep holes” 🙂 Will be very interested to know how it goes for you, so let me know. Thanks!
Ana | dofollow link
I did see Sire’s post and did try it on one of my popular posts. For now, I backed off.
Not that I didn’t like the service, but I had some questions for them, so I need to call them first – I am very much into research. 🙂
Questions for you, Francisco:
-do you use it on your site
-why did you decide again membership site
-I wonder if MediaPass affects SEO in any way
Ana
Hi Ana. It is always a wise decision to “know” up front about how things work before anything else. Like you I am very much into research and find out a certain product/service before even considering it as a viable alternative. As for your excellent questions….
Do I use it on my site?
Not on this one Ana, but I am running it on two other websites where I believe that some content can be considered exclusive. I decided not to run it here because I really do not think that I have any article that I believe should be paid. As I said, like you, I also like to experiment with things before and the whole set up works well.
Why did I decide to go again(st) a membership site?
Well, I did not really go against a membership site. I am actually part of a project of creating a membership site and should be soon live. Anyway, a full membership site is great and a lot of work has to be put in to make it successful. Turning a established blog into a membership site might not be a good choice as people who are already familiar with the website might not want to go to the hassle of having to register and all that. It is a great project to be involved with, if someone can identify an untapped niche or provide something of more value. MediaPass is an alternative to a membership site because you can still have your blog as a “normal” free content provider, whilst you can charge for exclusive content, if any.
Does it affect SEO?
Good question and although I would want to say, NO, I believe that making such a statement can be bold as you never know how things will work when it comes to SEO. What apparently is OK today, may not tomorrow. Anyway, according to MediaPass, it does affect SEO as the article is still crawlable and readable by bots. I mean you would still write your content with all the on-page SEO and can still build links for it.
I hope this helps Ana. When you finish your research, I would be very interested in knowing what your views about MediaPass are. That would be a great addition..
Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts.
Hello everyone!
Thank you all for your interest in MediaPass. My name is Andrea Davis and I’m the Sr. Account Manager for everyone that registers with us. I do try my hardest to provide “kick ass” customer service 🙂
Thank you ALL for the great comments and dialogue regarding paid content. ANA! I have not forgotten to call you back…you’re my next phone call I promise! Crazy day…lots of new publishers including Elizabeth Adams 🙂
Dennis, here are some examples of websites who are having success using our product:
VeloceToday.com – http://www.velocetoday.com/archives/14178
DailyFashionJobs.com – http://dailyfashionjobs.com/index.php/3488/ny-joey-showroom-internship-4/
If anyone has any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
Thank you for the review DITESCO! 🙂
Brankica
Olá,
I am guessing this isn’t WordPress limited, right? I have some niche websites that could use this service and I already have some great posts that have thousands of visits every month, I just didn’t see any great way to monetize them more than they are.
I am thinking that a bad thing that is most likely to happen is surprising people with the pop up if they are used to getting free info on your blog. I guess it can result in pretty high bounce rate.
I actually would never pay for a page I know was free earlier. If it was created with this intention then OK, but if I got some info for free a month ago and click my bookmark to remind myself of the post, see the pop up…talk about click away and never come back 🙂
Hi Brankica. Now I am not so sure if this will work on other platforms but it is definitely something to get informed about. Sorry about that. As for the process it itself, no it is not a pop-up. It blends naturally on an article and readers will not now about it until they actually view the post where at a certain point, they will be offered to register so they can see more. After that the whole thing disappears and you are right about charging for a post that was free earlier. Many think it is possible as normally, regular readers will not go back for those articles again.
Another thing that pop up my mind right now is to be careful if the articles has received many inbound links from say friends and other known websites. They might like the idea that they are linking to a post that is paid and that could be an embarrassing situation for everyone, if you know what I mean 🙂
Good points, thanks.
Sire
Hi DiTesco, until now I didn’t even l know you wrote this article, so although it’s a little late, thanks for the linkluv.
In regards to MediaPass I still only have it on one post and those who really want the information are paying to get it. Those others prefer to waste their time searching google for the answer. As far as I’m concerned my time is too valuable and if someone has the answer for a few bucks I’m more than happy to pay for their services. After all they have taken the time to research the problem before putting it online.
One other thing, if you sign someone under you, you also make a percentage of their takings. At the moment I’m making more from them than I am from my own site.
Better late than never Sire. Good to know that you have been able to get some people signed up under you. I have the same experience with sponsored tweets. They are making more than me and luckily I also get something out of it. Not the same luck on MediaPass though. guess I am not marketing it enough.
How’s your “online lotto” thing going?
Slowly but surely. As you know it all takes time. I was on the second page of Google and then all of a sudden it disappeared. I have no idea why. Apparently they do that sometimes, reckon I will have to wait and see.
I have manage one sign up and one sale so considering the age of the blog I reckon that is pretty good.
Donald
Hi all,
Interesting conversation!
Just to let you know their are more alternatives to sell your premium content directly from your website.
At Cleeng we simplified the buying process even further so customers can access your exclusive content and pay for it with a single click. And this all happens in-page, keeping your SEO, traffic and advertisement incomes.
For you as a publisher we have plugins available, like for WordPress that really make the set-up a matter of minutes. Check out how you can set-up to sell a single item on WordPress here: Cleeng
Let us know if this works for you!
Donald – The Cleeng Team