Thank You!!!

I am really getting a lot of value out of the forum and haven't even really got into the other sections. Is there additional video content (like the one you sent me) for community members or all the videos the same?

This is really a great program - I had high expectations and it's exceeding them.

Which is rare.

You compared directly with 37signals!

http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/863-the-new-backpacks-first-24-hours

that is impressive (you being 1 person) them being whole team.

But I have only been sleeping every other night for the past week trying to get the launch to go well. I do the work of 2 or 3 people. :)

Aaron, are you still considering a cap on the number of subscribers?

Hi Daniel
For now I am thinking 2,000 members will be the cap. I would have to take on some staff to go beyond that.

Redorb I was just reading the 37s post too, quite interesting that Aaron pulled it off as a one man project, "Less is More?" :)

-
More info and projects at www.rosshill.com.au

Aaron,

I am relatively new to this business and was just recently introduced to your site here. I was impressed by all the information and resources you made available for free. Based on that I invested in your book just before you turned it off.

I was very interested in your community site and was giving some serious thought to joining. I had read you said would offer temporarily at a discount and I knew that was a great value. But I procrastinated and now see it is at the normal price.

That is might fault for not taking action and not the point. I just wanted to say its good to see an expert and authority sharing so much. But you gained more respect in my eyes as an Internet Marketer as well because you are true to your word. I have seen offers saying would raise price at midnight and six months later it says the same. So I salute you and hope to join your group in the near future.

Darwin

Hi Aaron,

I'm still a beginner (and doing this on the side while going to college) and probably won't be able to afford joining your community forum in the near future (or maybe never if there's a cap).

Your blog has been my no.1 source of information on SEO & online marketing ever since I started - so I'm wondering:

What is going to happen to your blog once your cap has been reached? Will you discontinue the blog and work exclusively in your community forum (as long as you have the 2,000 members you plan on getting) or will you continue this blog and post about changes in the field, etc.?

I understand that your time might be better spent focussing on making the forums/training program a quality experience instead of trying to blog for further exposure (if you have enough users, in the first place), still I'm wondering if you know about that already?

anyway, thx for helping me get started with your e-book, the information on your blog and all the e-mails you replied to for over a year :-)

Hi Aaron

I jumped on this as soon as I saw this training programme at $50. Waited an hour for a password to come through and now it's gone up to $100.

Please consider extending this offer:
i) individually for me :)
ii) a one month trial/intro offer
iii) a 3 month trial/intro offer

As someone doing SEO for myself and having purchased SEOBook (brilliant resource) $50 a month is a no-brainer. However once you make that price $100... then I... pause.

I'm also a mainstream (non-internet)marketer and here's some suggestions on pricing, intro offers and price points.

1/ Make the monthly sub $95/month. You'll reach 2000 probably about 30% quicker.

2/ Have a one month intro offer at $49/month that automatically upgrades to $95 with an email remainder.

3/ Have a one month intro offer that expires (doesn't automatically rebill) for $65.

Although price points seem so commonplace and obvious that we can't believe anyone would fall for the $99 vs $100 trick - well they do. It's proven - and I observe it in my own psychology all the time.

When we want something we look for ways to justify getting it - the $99 price point let's us irrationally justify what is really a $100 purchase.

If that is remotely helpful then can I get the $50 subscription? :)

Regards and thanks again for excellent SEO resources and commentary.
Mark

Hi Mark
My current rate of sales at $100/month for this with my first draft of my salesletter is looking like it may be higher than my rate of sales for my ebook at a one time $79 fee was.

I want this to look and feel premium such that I attract premium customers...hence the $100 pricepoint instead of $99.

If you bought SEO Book before, please shoot me an email seobook {aT] gmail.com and I will see if we can work something out.

good to hear you seem to plan on continuing your blog (even if it won't be a priority)

Hmmm... only the luxury high street shops use this sort of pricing strategy.

When launching a new product to an existing audience you will have a huge sales spike which usually drops off quite quickly once the core SEObook advocates and fans have subscribed. Once that core group has joined then it usually becomes harder and more traditional promotional methods are required.
(As product developer and publisher for a large new age group with very strong congregration I had major experience with this issue.)

My prediction is that once you break the 500 or 1000 subscribers mark you'll need to be thinking of the $95/month price and intro monthly offer.

Or maybe your core audience is large enough?
Mark

Hi Mark
I am betting that (unless I mess up something really bad) that I will get more free word of mouth marketing than most other internet marketers. And I am betting you start seeing it within weeks.

After reading this article I am not so sure that I am using luxury pricing.

Well done, Aaron. Once again you prove that value is value and you can get subscribers without cheap price tricks.

I DO wonder however if you would make more sales by $99 or $97 instead of $100. (I guess you wonder too).

"I am betting that (unless I mess up something really bad) that I will get more free word of mouth marketing than most other internet marketers."

That's definitely true, as genuine things earn more respect than hype.

I am not joining the community yet because of total lack of time, but I won't mind paying $100 when I can really use the service.

I interviewed the president of one of the top five book distributors in the US about my publishing company's book pricing policy. He said that there were only really two prices for books above $10 - $14.95 and $19.95.
And recommended we adjusted up to these prices.

If you can get $100 for your service then you can probably get $115 or $120. Once you break the $99.99 price point the purchase will happen all the way up to the next price point.

You've definitely got the internet/SE marketing down - but this is 101 marketing on price points. Just the way the mind works...

And with a recurring subscription then you have that same psychology happening everytime they review their bills and see that $100 hitting paypal. Make it $99 (and get more sales) or make it $120 (and get more profit margin). $100 is no-man's land in marketing. It might make you feel good but you must only be concerned with making the purchase happen and then overdelivering to the customer.

Mark

Hi Mark
As more people continue to subscribe and I keep adding content I will move the pricepoint upwards.

I'm a big fan of the book. I am considering joining the community but am a bit time short on time currently.

I noticed an overwhelming amount of FREE material that has been added to give a taste of whats inside the new community.

At a glance, that content appears to be as valuable as the book.

My question to Aaron and any subscribers, should I bypass the free content and join the community and save the time I was going to spend reviewing the free content?

I would say to read the free content first, and only join the community when you have enough time to get value out of it.

I find tons of value in your site, but I only got the first two days of the 7 day course - I was looking forward to the rest...

I will try to get this sorted and will blog about it when it is fixed.

Hi there...

Just downloaded one of your movies, and I can't see anything. White screen. Can hear you just fine.

I'm on a Mac running Quicktime 7.3.0.

Any ideas?

Well its now official Aaron is now a sellout. Making a book is one thing, but charging people $100/month to join your website is ridiculous. It's amazing how you can offer people something that they can get for free and b/c it's Aaron Wall they buy it. Remember that quote you wanted to borrow from me? Seems like you won't be needing it anymore since you are a sellout.

It's not unfortunate for me b/c I don't believe paying you $100/month will get my clients better results. It is unfortunate for you that I know how to read and you are not the only source on the internet. You are a SELL OUT. Defend again as you wish.

I highly disagree with fireflycreative. I have found Aaron's site and book to be the most instructive informational portal I've seen on this subject, and on business in general. I would (and likely will soon) gladly pay $100 for his knowledge and expertise on this subject. Yes, I could learn about SEO from a number of sources, many of which are free. I return for the exceptional quality and timeliness of the information, which really is his product. And..its all in one place.
And that's how Aaron engenders authority and trust in his site.
We only pay for what we believe has value, so for whatever reason fireflycreative doesn't find it to be of value to pay for Aaron's expertise. Many people do. How is selling a product that distills all your years of experience into something that people can learn from being a "sellout"??
That is a hollow, meaningless term.
I find it interesting that fireflycreative returned to comment. If you don't find value in it, fine..change the channel to one you do find value in, instead of name-bashing.
And besides...a guy has to make a living. Aaron provides LOADS of free valuable information(engendering authority and trust); it is only proper for him to add a paid 'premium' content section for those serious about digging into SEO.

Thank you Mike!

Hey Aaron, just noticed this but thought that it was still worth a comment.

I've been following you for 2 years now (as you may remember when I interviewed you so long ago). Just like to say congratulations on getting this out there and finished, the financial reward is just deserved I'm sure.

Hopefully I can do something similar in the ORM niche one day :)

Thanks for the kind words Glen. :)