I have adopted a realistic point of view and understand that, while I pay for some services, someone else might pay less or nothing or even get paid to use them or whatever. It's all vitamin C and the world works like this.
However, from an entrepreneurial point of view, I just think that's not the way to go. You'll get too many people (percentage-wise) in, who don't really care about WIP.
Remember, that those people are still people. Just with a few more followers for what it's worth. They will bring the same positive and negative characteristics into your community like everybody else, but you're not filtering the bad ones out by offering free access (by the way, "bad" doesn't mean bad people or professionals or whatever. Just a bad fit for WIP). It's just not a good business decision. They won't do the things for the community you hope them to do if they got a free-ride, because they are not invested with their skin. They won't act authentically.
Ask yourself:
- What made you decide to set this up as a paid community, in the first place?
- Would you repair windows for any one of your family's friends for free? (Really???)
- Could it be that you're actually doing them a favor if you tell them about WIP?
As a simple solution: Just tell them what you've done in your life. "Built this and that. Oh, and also created WIP. It's a community of makers. Last week I also took some cool photos of people's fridges, you should check them out!"
That should be easy enough to do in a conversation. If anything, they will catch up on the WIP part and have a look at it. Maybe they join. Maybe they don't. Maybe they contact you asking for a free membership. How is it they don't feel disingenuous doing that (if they ask)?
The price doesn't change anything for someone who wants to bring and receive value and genuinely is hooked. It only changes something for someone not willing to pay it anyway and probably not even interested in the product.
I agree someone willing to commit is a better fit for the community than someone unwilling to pay.
If an "influencer" with a large following would reach out asking for a free membership, I would be inclined to say no. They can just pay like everyone else.
But let's say I come across a really talented maker on Hacker News, and they aren't familiar with WIP yet. I think it's way more likely they try WIP if doesn't cost them anything. A message "hey I love you work, signup for my paid community" just seems like spam.
I wonder if long-term inviting some makers like that, would result in an even more vibrant community, ultimately being better for everyone. And those members who initially signed up for free, might end up upgrading to a paid subscription later. (e.g. many early WIP members who got access for free decided to pay anyway, to support WIP).
I'll give it some more thought. Perhaps there's a way in-between as well (free 1-year try-out trial, etc)
Actually, I changed my mind! :D (Although I still stay by my original statement fundamentally).
I think you should go and try it. Invite 5 people you'd like to join and offer a free membership. However, also invite 5 people from Hacker News just asking to join paid. Then have a comparison / evaluate the results as far as possible.
Where I still strongly disagree is, that offering a paid membership sounds like spam or makes you sound / feel "disingenuous". It's not about what you offer, it's about how you offer it. Try something like the following:
"Hey John, I admire your most recent project, "XYZ". Because you're rocking as a maker so much, I'd like you to know about WIP, a project of my own. A community of makers with a very active and supporting Telegram group.
Great indie hackers like Arnold and Tim already use the community daily. Access is paid though, and as much as I'd love to offer you a free membership (mainly because I believe it would make this message sound less spammy), I can't do it because I feel it would be unfair in regards to the paid members.
I would love to see you around, thanks!"
For me personally, that's more than enough sincere touch to view it as a genuine message.
I just figured, you could also append that refunds are not a problem, if they don't like it. That also takes away some of the financial weight to the message.
I have adopted a realistic point of view and understand that, while I pay for some services, someone else might pay less or nothing or even get paid to use them or whatever. It's all vitamin C and the world works like this.
However, from an entrepreneurial point of view, I just think that's not the way to go. You'll get too many people (percentage-wise) in, who don't really care about WIP.
Remember, that those people are still people. Just with a few more followers for what it's worth. They will bring the same positive and negative characteristics into your community like everybody else, but you're not filtering the bad ones out by offering free access (by the way, "bad" doesn't mean bad people or professionals or whatever. Just a bad fit for WIP). It's just not a good business decision. They won't do the things for the community you hope them to do if they got a free-ride, because they are not invested with their skin. They won't act authentically.
Ask yourself:
- What made you decide to set this up as a paid community, in the first place?
- Would you repair windows for any one of your family's friends for free? (Really???)
- Could it be that you're actually doing them a favor if you tell them about WIP?
As a simple solution: Just tell them what you've done in your life. "Built this and that. Oh, and also created WIP. It's a community of makers. Last week I also took some cool photos of people's fridges, you should check them out!"
That should be easy enough to do in a conversation. If anything, they will catch up on the WIP part and have a look at it. Maybe they join. Maybe they don't. Maybe they contact you asking for a free membership. How is it they don't feel disingenuous doing that (if they ask)?
The price doesn't change anything for someone who wants to bring and receive value and genuinely is hooked. It only changes something for someone not willing to pay it anyway and probably not even interested in the product.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Maxim.
I agree someone willing to commit is a better fit for the community than someone unwilling to pay.
If an "influencer" with a large following would reach out asking for a free membership, I would be inclined to say no. They can just pay like everyone else.
But let's say I come across a really talented maker on Hacker News, and they aren't familiar with WIP yet. I think it's way more likely they try WIP if doesn't cost them anything. A message "hey I love you work, signup for my paid community" just seems like spam.
I wonder if long-term inviting some makers like that, would result in an even more vibrant community, ultimately being better for everyone. And those members who initially signed up for free, might end up upgrading to a paid subscription later. (e.g. many early WIP members who got access for free decided to pay anyway, to support WIP).
I'll give it some more thought. Perhaps there's a way in-between as well (free 1-year try-out trial, etc)
Actually, I changed my mind! :D (Although I still stay by my original statement fundamentally).
I think you should go and try it. Invite 5 people you'd like to join and offer a free membership. However, also invite 5 people from Hacker News just asking to join paid. Then have a comparison / evaluate the results as far as possible.
Where I still strongly disagree is, that offering a paid membership sounds like spam or makes you sound / feel "disingenuous". It's not about what you offer, it's about how you offer it. Try something like the following:
"Hey John, I admire your most recent project, "XYZ". Because you're rocking as a maker so much, I'd like you to know about WIP, a project of my own. A community of makers with a very active and supporting Telegram group.
Great indie hackers like Arnold and Tim already use the community daily. Access is paid though, and as much as I'd love to offer you a free membership (mainly because I believe it would make this message sound less spammy), I can't do it because I feel it would be unfair in regards to the paid members.
I would love to see you around, thanks!"
For me personally, that's more than enough sincere touch to view it as a genuine message.
Love that. Calling it out like that does indeed make it seem much more authentic 🙌
I just figured, you could also append that refunds are not a problem, if they don't like it. That also takes away some of the financial weight to the message.