![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Okay,
We are very close to picking a new hosting provider. One is considerably more expensive than the other, but what they are offering us is 100% top notch service. The problem is that if we choose them we will not be able to keep our paid accounts the same price. We will raise them to $20/6mo or $35/year. If we pick the other provider, which is not as well known, and isn't offering us the same level of service we will not have to raise prices at all.
Please fill out this poll on what you all would want. Would you be willing to pay more for a more reliable InsaneJournal. Granted the cheaper option may never go down, but we will defiantly have more room to grow with the more expensive option.
Edit: I do want to note that once we get settled in and the paid accounts are coming in at a decent pace then we will consider lowering the prices back to a reasonable level.
Please spread word of this poll around as I want to get as many answers as possible. Also, when you do spread word of it, please don't encourage anyone to vote any particular way as I really do want honest answers.
Poll #1421 New Hosting Questions
Open to: All, results viewable to: All
We are very close to picking a new hosting provider. One is considerably more expensive than the other, but what they are offering us is 100% top notch service. The problem is that if we choose them we will not be able to keep our paid accounts the same price. We will raise them to $20/6mo or $35/year. If we pick the other provider, which is not as well known, and isn't offering us the same level of service we will not have to raise prices at all.
Please fill out this poll on what you all would want. Would you be willing to pay more for a more reliable InsaneJournal. Granted the cheaper option may never go down, but we will defiantly have more room to grow with the more expensive option.
Edit: I do want to note that once we get settled in and the paid accounts are coming in at a decent pace then we will consider lowering the prices back to a reasonable level.
Please spread word of this poll around as I want to get as many answers as possible. Also, when you do spread word of it, please don't encourage anyone to vote any particular way as I really do want honest answers.
Poll #1421 New Hosting Questions
Open to: All, results viewable to: All
What hosting option should I pick
View Answers
Amazing service but have to raise paid account prices
431 (87.6%)
Good service, but not as fast or reliable, but leave prices the same 25 (5.1%)
No Opinion 36 (7.3%)
I still use LJ in addition to IJ; had I not previously obtained a permanent account there, I probably would not have maintained paid status with the recent shift of things. In spite of the fact that I do have a smaller network of friends whom I communicate with through IJ, I would rather pay for its service over LJ - especially if it means that it is going to be quality service.
I'm willing to pay $20/6mo or $35/year for quality. Yes, LJ may be lowering the prices, but the service isn't near the quality you provide already just by keeping us up to date with what's going on and being honest with us.
Obviously, I voted to go with the amazing service.
That said, I know there's a ton of RPers who have many multiple paid accounts because they use all the features, so maybe that's where the bulk of the revenue will come from? And as word continues to spread about IJ, I'm sure many more people will continue to join and get paid accounts once they see that the service is great and site is reliable. I'm just worried that the site growth may plateau at some point and fewer people will be getting paid accounts if they're more expensive, that's all.
So I'm going to register a "no opinion" on this one, since I don't think it would be fair to vote for the first option being that I don't plan on getting another paid account myself anytime soon. I'm rooting for it though *g*
As an added thing, I don't know if there is anything you need to do on your end or not, but I have been agitating at Utterz to make InsaneJournal one of their Connections. Is there anything you need to do? Or just the folks on their end?
I have several perm accounts here, and I'll buy more (if the offer is still there in May). I have paid accounts for my RP journals, and I don't mind the price being higher, if my RPs are safe and sound with a good provider.
I'd say, go for quality. IJ is already better than that Other Site, and along with getting the last updates and designs in order, together with a provider you (and the rest of us) trust IJ's creme de la creme.
a. I'm in a relatively privileged position (i.e., $35 a year would be no hardship at all for me); this isn't true for all users.
b. I have a permanent account, so it's pretty much a moot point.
I'm making a pledge to turn one of my other accounts into a paid or permanent account (not because I really need to, but to help out). However, would it be possible to create a two-tier paid account system? One at the old price, but the other at a higher price that allows the buyer to choose two of four extra options (like "X extra icons" or "X amount of photo-hosting space" or something).
The reason I suggest going the option route is because when LJ says "Okay, we're raising the rates, but now you get blahblahblah!" the thing they offer is always going to be useless to a good chunk of the user base. I never used a single phone post in my lift, even though I could have. Giving people choice will make the higher price paid account far more attractive.
Though something to consider would possibly be implimenting incentives for those who have faithfully paid for their accounts to hold paid status for x-amount of years? I've suggested something similar on another LJ-clone and think it might be something fun aside from the phenominal service we already get here. :)
Though I have a permanent account right now, I do have other accounts that are free now but will become paid or permanent within the next year or so (getting through nursing school takes top priority right now).
I would be willing to spend a little more in the first year or so if it means that my service here continues to be reliably well. Granted, $35/year for a paid account seems a little high, but it's worth it -- on the other hand, if it would be at all possible to not raise the price quite that much (say, to $30 instead), it isn't a large enough difference from other journaling sites to make or break the decision to sign up here. Most people are willing to pay a little extra for the better service, so it shouldn't be a big issue as to whether or not a price increase, temporarily, is a problem.
I have a permanent account. I also have a free account and a community that I would consider getting paid and/or permanent status for, once I actually have a job that pays me money. Unfortunately, though, those accounts aren't priorities for me right now, and as my main account is already permanent, I won't be contributing more money yet.
I will put in a point for the other side, though. I am a student, a grad student at that, and I don't have much money to spend on extras. To me, anything above $25 is a huge cost that I better either need desperately or have to think a LOT about before I buy it. A few years, ago, anything above $10 was a big purchase for me. That's probably what kept me from ever getting a paid account on LJ. (What kept me from doing it the last year or so was the crappy service they've been giving.) I definitely believe the better service is worth the price, but as you know, there will be people who will look on any price raise with suspicion, and those who, even though they may think it is worth it, will not have the extra money to put in.
Well, there's my dollar.
I think an annual paid account price of $35 would hurt IJ's growth right now. But the percentage of paid accounts has always been small, so will it really matter all that much? If only 1000 people get paid accounts instead of 1500, does that really impact you?
In the long run (two or three years down the road) going with the better service is the right choice -- as long as you can survive with less (or static) income from paid accounts for a year or two.
Also, grill the service that is supposedly better. Rake 'em over the coals. They are offering you more, but can they deliver? Who else uses them? Talk to those people.
Does anybody else remember when TWOP used to have little fundraisers? I still have a bunch of the cute stickers they used to sell through cafepress.
My one concern is how you've figured the future growth rate of IJ ... if the # of people purchasing accounts declines, will we be able to afford to stay with the top-notch service?
Because I only have perm accounts, so raising the price won't affect me personally.
Changing to a more reliable provider is a good idea and needs to be done. I can easily see IJ growing to 500,000 accounts very fast, so having a good host and a flexible contract is crucial. I am sure that new growing journals like IJ require more bandwidth per total accounts than old ones because the most of accounts are active. As opposed to the "other Journal" which has a huge number of abandoned accounts.
$35 is a bit high, but could be ok as an expansion fundraser. For a long term the price needs to be comparable to other blogging services. Many users are students and people with low incoms.
Many free account people would subscribe for extra userpics in bundles of 50 or 100 if the price is low. Some other features could be marketed this way. As long as the payment system is automated and the cost of transactions is low.
Speed of upload of my IJ pages is an important improvement to me, because I have broadband and have multiple browser windows and tabs opened at all times. Which means that IJ pages are getting opened side to side with other sites and journals. Speed is the creed :)