My humble point of view: influencer or not, I would want them to pay as everyone else does. Paying is a way of committing or expressing commitment. It would make me feel uncomfortable if that person could join for free - speaking as a paying customer.
And yes, I understand they could contribute value but they could also not.
Ultimately that’s of course an executive decision from you Marc. As a paying customer I would consider it unfair.
Thanks for sharing that Alexander. Hearing these opinions is exactly why I asked the question.
What do you think about makers who would have not joined otherwise? Not because they don't want to pay, but simply because they might not have known about WIP at all, if it wasn't for me inviting them?
I guess that's really the reason I'd consider giving a free membership. I might come across a maker on Twitter, Hacker News, etc, I'd really think would be a valuable addition to WIP, but just telling them "hey sign up for WIP for $20 per month" wouldn't be the same.
What do you think about makers who would have not joined otherwise? Not because they don't want to pay, but simply because they might not have known about WIP at all, if it wasn't for me inviting them?
That’s a good question, and it’s actually two things:
Learning about WIP (first or early contact)
Joining WIP (having had multiple contacts ending up in the sale)
In copywriting, the term that I’m aware of for that is market awareness (or customer’s journey), and it’s ultimately a sales (funnel) question.
You would talk differently to a number 1 audience because they don’t know about WIP and you want them to know about WIP. There’s no sale yet because - as you said - they’re a „cold” audience and "hey sign up for WIP for $20 per month" wouldn’t work. They need more warm-up, more contacts, and more trust-building.
(I also learned that even if something is for free you still need to sell them on that. It can be almost as hard as selling things that have a price tag.)
Your job as a salesman of WIP (among other duties, course) is to make it obvious for them that the value they get out of WIP is a multiple of 240 USD (annually speaking). If you do that, paying will be a no-brainer for them.
Once they’ve reached that point, then "hey sign up for WIP for $20 per month" would actually work because they (the number 2 audience) been waiting for you to send that message.
BUT: And I think I heard that before in some WIP conversation where someone said that WIP could offer a 14-day or even 30-day trial period to actually see WIP in action. Me, as a paying customer, I would consider that to be fair and probably the best compromise between respecting your early customer’s loyalty and wanting to attract new (great) people.
Because look (and again that’s just my humble opinion), why would you devalue or give a 100 % discount on your product when it actually has a price tag? It can have this slightly desperate connotation and I prefer to buy from someone who is convinced about the value of their product and not in doubt about it. So maybe there are (unexpressed) doubts that you have about WIP and what value it can provide (even to those „influencers” who are just regular people like you and me but with more eyeballs on them; that’s it.)
Thanks Alex. A free trial might indeed be the best approach. I'm already experimenting with his using "invites" active members can give away. They allow your friends/etc to try out WIP free of charge for a certain time period.
I could give away similar invites when sending a cold email.
With regards to doubt about the value of WIP: I stand behind the pricing, but I think it's the type of product you need to experience before you truly understand the value.
So yeah the free trial approach might be a really good compromise.
I'm already experimenting with his using "invites" active members can give away. They allow your friends/etc to try out WIP free of charge for a certain time period.
That’s a good reminder. I actually noticed that and I still have one invite left. Let’s see who I want to invite.
With regards to doubt about the value of WIP: I stand behind the pricing
I’m glad to hear that :)
but I think it's the type of product you need to experience before you truly understand the value.
My humble point of view: influencer or not, I would want them to pay as everyone else does. Paying is a way of committing or expressing commitment. It would make me feel uncomfortable if that person could join for free - speaking as a paying customer.
And yes, I understand they could contribute value but they could also not.
Ultimately that’s of course an executive decision from you Marc. As a paying customer I would consider it unfair.
Thanks for sharing that Alexander. Hearing these opinions is exactly why I asked the question.
What do you think about makers who would have not joined otherwise? Not because they don't want to pay, but simply because they might not have known about WIP at all, if it wasn't for me inviting them?
I guess that's really the reason I'd consider giving a free membership. I might come across a maker on Twitter, Hacker News, etc, I'd really think would be a valuable addition to WIP, but just telling them "hey sign up for WIP for $20 per month" wouldn't be the same.
With pleasure, Marc.
That’s a good question, and it’s actually two things:
In copywriting, the term that I’m aware of for that is market awareness (or customer’s journey), and it’s ultimately a sales (funnel) question.
You would talk differently to a number 1 audience because they don’t know about WIP and you want them to know about WIP. There’s no sale yet because - as you said - they’re a „cold” audience and "hey sign up for WIP for $20 per month" wouldn’t work. They need more warm-up, more contacts, and more trust-building.
(I also learned that even if something is for free you still need to sell them on that. It can be almost as hard as selling things that have a price tag.)
Your job as a salesman of WIP (among other duties, course) is to make it obvious for them that the value they get out of WIP is a multiple of 240 USD (annually speaking). If you do that, paying will be a no-brainer for them.
Once they’ve reached that point, then "hey sign up for WIP for $20 per month" would actually work because they (the number 2 audience) been waiting for you to send that message.
BUT: And I think I heard that before in some WIP conversation where someone said that WIP could offer a 14-day or even 30-day trial period to actually see WIP in action. Me, as a paying customer, I would consider that to be fair and probably the best compromise between respecting your early customer’s loyalty and wanting to attract new (great) people.
Because look (and again that’s just my humble opinion), why would you devalue or give a 100 % discount on your product when it actually has a price tag? It can have this slightly desperate connotation and I prefer to buy from someone who is convinced about the value of their product and not in doubt about it. So maybe there are (unexpressed) doubts that you have about WIP and what value it can provide (even to those „influencers” who are just regular people like you and me but with more eyeballs on them; that’s it.)
I hope it helps.
Cheers,
-Alex
Thanks Alex. A free trial might indeed be the best approach. I'm already experimenting with his using "invites" active members can give away. They allow your friends/etc to try out WIP free of charge for a certain time period.
I could give away similar invites when sending a cold email.
With regards to doubt about the value of WIP: I stand behind the pricing, but I think it's the type of product you need to experience before you truly understand the value.
So yeah the free trial approach might be a really good compromise.
That’s a good reminder. I actually noticed that and I still have one invite left. Let’s see who I want to invite.
I’m glad to hear that :)
Indeed it is.