Get the price too low and your costs…..marketing in particular…….will eat into your margin. You could also put people off if the price point gives the perception of low value.

Get the price too high……particularly compared to alternative sources of information…. and you will put prospects off.

Before giving you some guidelines it is very important to remember:

There is nothing to stop you from changing the price to test the market.

Many subscription website owners pluck a subscription fee out of the air when they launch their site. Often it’s based on no more than a hunch. They never test whether it is too high or too low to maximise their profit. It is difficult to change the price for a print publication, but not for an online website.

Test! Test! Test!

There are no hard and fast rules about how much you should charge for access to your website, but here are 20 guidelines to help you work out the perfect price for your subscription:

1. The monthly subscription can be anything from ?1/$2 up to ?1,000/ $1,800. The most common subscription charges fall in the range ?4.99/$4.95 - ?19.99/$19.95.

2. A website with just 1,000 members charging $9.99 a month will generate about $120,000. If this business is run from home, even after costs it could generate a net income of over $100,000 for the individual publisher.

3. It is recommended that publishers offer a choice of payment plans with discounts for members willing to commit for longer periods of time, for example:
   • 9.97 /month, or
   • 24.97 /quarter, or
   • 87.00 /year

4. If you offer three pricing points, you tend to get most subscribers going for the middle one. It’s a psychological thing

5. You will probably have seen on charity collection forms a choice of three donations. They do this because they know that most people will go for the middle one, which is usually set at a level higher than people would normally give:

6. “Please tick the donation you wish to make:
   • 5.00
   • 25.00
   • 50.00
   • Other”

7. If you offer a monthly price point, make sure that it is much higher than 1/12th of the annual. You want to encourage people to subscribe for as long a period as possible, whilst not putting off people who want to test the water before fully committing themselves. E.g. Monthly 19.97, Annual 149

8. Offering just an annual subscription will greatly reduce your conversion rate because you are increasing the perceived risk for prospects signing up. This is still the case even if you offer a 100% money back guarantee

9. Be aware that many payment providers will not allow you to charge an annual subscription because if the website closes down they are liable for refunding members the outstanding balance for the remainder of the 12 months. Check with your payment provider before signing up. Also be sure that they can take automatic monthly payments if you are offering a monthly subscription. This is called ‘Recurring Payments’

10. Generally speaking, sites aimed at consumers charge less than those targeted at businesses Consumer sites typically 30-120 per year Business sites typically 120 - 700 per year

11. What are the competitive sources of information for your potential audience? How much do they charge? If Manchester United charges ?100 a year for membership of the official fan club, a competing online independent fan club should probably charge no more.

12. The more exclusive the content, the more you can charge. A very successful share trader, Vince Stanzione, charges ?100 /$180 a month for a newsletter reporting what trades he is about to make or has just made. Jay Abraham charges $300 a month for access to his website that gives his personal advice on growing a business (www.abrahaminsider.com)

13. Study magazines in your sector. How much do they charge? What is their circulation? How will you compete? There is n
    Mirroring Techniques in Online Forum Controversial Debates
    Have you ever participated in an online forum debate and found yourself in the midst of name-calling and really bad behavior, yet wanted to get back on the subject, but could not seem to get anyone from fighting? Indeed this is not an easy thing to do at all but here is how you do it.First you deny any label anyone has called you. Then you make everyone feel sorry for calling you whatever names or things they called you, last you tell them you are so angry that you are now switching sides from your former neutral position and let them know now you are going to be vigilant in fighting against their cause from here on out. Here is an excerpt of how it works and this is taken from a forum debate on gay marriages of all things. But it was indeed good practice;“I am not a Buddhist, so “Scotty7” your categorization of what "I am" is yet another mirror of what you think I th
    e for a print publication, but not for an online website.

    Test! Test! Test!

    There are no hard and fast rules about how much you should charge for access to your website, but here are 20 guidelines to help you work out the perfect price for your subscription:

    1. The monthly subscription can be anything from ?1/$2 up to ?1,000/ $1,800. The most common subscription charges fall in the range ?4.99/$4.95 - ?19.99/$19.95.

    2. A website with just 1,000 members charging $9.99 a month will generate about $120,000. If this business is run from home, even after costs it could generate a net income of over $100,000 for the individual publisher.

    3. It is recommended that publishers offer a choice of payment plans with discounts for members willing to commit for longer periods of time, for example:
       • 9.97 /month, or
       • 24.97 /quarter, or
       • 87.00 /year

    4. If you offer three pricing points, you tend to get most subscribers going for the middle one. It’s a psychological thing

    5. You will probably have seen on charity collection forms a choice of three donations. They do this because they know that most people will go for the middle one, which is usually set at a level higher than people would normally give:

    6. “Please tick the donation you wish to make:
       • 5.00
       • 25.00
       • 50.00
       • Other”

    7. If you offer a monthly price point, make sure that it is much higher than 1/12th of the annual. You want to encourage people to subscribe for as long a period as possible, whilst not putting off people who want to test the water before fully committing themselves. E.g. Monthly 19.97, Annual 149

    8. Offering just an annual subscription will greatly reduce your conversion rate because you are increasing the perceived risk for prospects signing up. This is still the case even if you offer a 100% money back guarantee

    9. Be aware that many payment providers will not allow you to charge an annual subscription because if the website closes down they are liable for refunding members the outstanding balance for the remainder of the 12 months. Check with your payment provider before signing up. Also be sure that they can take automatic monthly payments if you are offering a monthly subscription. This is called ‘Recurring Payments’

    10. Generally speaking, sites aimed at consumers charge less than those targeted at businesses Consumer sites typically 30-120 per year Business sites typically 120 - 700 per year

    11. What are the competitive sources of information for your potential audience? How much do they charge? If Manchester United charges ?100 a year for membership of the official fan club, a competing online independent fan club should probably charge no more.

    12. The more exclusive the content, the more you can charge. A very successful share trader, Vince Stanzione, charges ?100 /$180 a month for a newsletter reporting what trades he is about to make or has just made. Jay Abraham charges $300 a month for access to his website that gives his personal advice on growing a business (www.abrahaminsider.com)

    13. Study magazines in your sector. How much do they charge? What is their circulation? How will you compete? There is n
        Work Smarter, Not Harder
        Work smarter, not harder. What are you doing to make your business run more smoothly? Are you working too hard in your business and not working hard enough on your business? As the new year starts, it's a good time for you to start thinking about how you can simplify how you go to market and how you sell and promote your products. To make it easier for you to get to the customers that you really want and focus all of your resources and attention on the customers that have the best potential return for you. A lot of companies are peddling as fast as they can, focusing on the wrong markets and wrong customers…those that don't have the revenue potential and the profit potential that they need in order to grow.Now is a great time to think about how to reposition your company and go after markets and customers that have the best fit with your business. Or you have a unique
        ods of time, for example:
        • 9.97 /month, or
        • 24.97 /quarter, or
        • 87.00 /year

    14. If you offer three pricing points, you tend to get most subscribers going for the middle one. It’s a psychological thing

    15. You will probably have seen on charity collection forms a choice of three donations. They do this because they know that most people will go for the middle one, which is usually set at a level higher than people would normally give:

    16. “Please tick the donation you wish to make:
        • 5.00
        • 25.00
        • 50.00
        • Other”

    17. If you offer a monthly price point, make sure that it is much higher than 1/12th of the annual. You want to encourage people to subscribe for as long a period as possible, whilst not putting off people who want to test the water before fully committing themselves. E.g. Monthly 19.97, Annual 149

    18. Offering just an annual subscription will greatly reduce your conversion rate because you are increasing the perceived risk for prospects signing up. This is still the case even if you offer a 100% money back guarantee

    19. Be aware that many payment providers will not allow you to charge an annual subscription because if the website closes down they are liable for refunding members the outstanding balance for the remainder of the 12 months. Check with your payment provider before signing up. Also be sure that they can take automatic monthly payments if you are offering a monthly subscription. This is called ‘Recurring Payments’

    20. Generally speaking, sites aimed at consumers charge less than those targeted at businesses Consumer sites typically 30-120 per year Business sites typically 120 - 700 per year

    21. What are the competitive sources of information for your potential audience? How much do they charge? If Manchester United charges ?100 a year for membership of the official fan club, a competing online independent fan club should probably charge no more.

    22. The more exclusive the content, the more you can charge. A very successful share trader, Vince Stanzione, charges ?100 /$180 a month for a newsletter reporting what trades he is about to make or has just made. Jay Abraham charges $300 a month for access to his website that gives his personal advice on growing a business (www.abrahaminsider.com)

    23. Study magazines in your sector. How much do they charge? What is their circulation? How will you compete? There is n
        Franchise Opportunity Tips (Part 2)
        1. Question the franchisor: The decisions that you make about your potential business will need to be based upon information from very pointed questions to the franchisors. Questions such as, what is the initial franchising fee. These fees vary from franchise to franchise and could run as high as several hundred thousand dollars.More than likely you will also be required to pay an advertising fee to help promote the franchise. You will need to know the amount of that fee, or how it is figured (sometimes figured on a percentage of sales) and how much of that is used for local advertising and how much for national exposure.Royalty payments are payments to the franchisor for the use of the franchise name. These are usually figured as a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales. Again this number can vary from franchise to franchise and should be well understood b
        fore fully committing themselves. E.g. Monthly 19.97, Annual 149

    24. Offering just an annual subscription will greatly reduce your conversion rate because you are increasing the perceived risk for prospects signing up. This is still the case even if you offer a 100% money back guarantee

    25. Be aware that many payment providers will not allow you to charge an annual subscription because if the website closes down they are liable for refunding members the outstanding balance for the remainder of the 12 months. Check with your payment provider before signing up. Also be sure that they can take automatic monthly payments if you are offering a monthly subscription. This is called ‘Recurring Payments’

    26. Generally speaking, sites aimed at consumers charge less than those targeted at businesses Consumer sites typically 30-120 per year Business sites typically 120 - 700 per year

    27. What are the competitive sources of information for your potential audience? How much do they charge? If Manchester United charges ?100 a year for membership of the official fan club, a competing online independent fan club should probably charge no more.

    28. The more exclusive the content, the more you can charge. A very successful share trader, Vince Stanzione, charges ?100 /$180 a month for a newsletter reporting what trades he is about to make or has just made. Jay Abraham charges $300 a month for access to his website that gives his personal advice on growing a business (www.abrahaminsider.com)

    29. Study magazines in your sector. How much do they charge? What is their circulation? How will you compete? There is n
        What to Use an Offshore Company For and Where to Set One Up
        If you decide you’d like to reduce your tax burden, protect your assets, simplify your company operations or enter into cross border business transactions for example, and you’re interested in whether an offshore company structure could help with any or all of the above, chances are it could.There are many ways you can use an offshore company, many benefits you can derive from the use of one and many locations in which you can set one up…so how can you decide whether such a structure is applicable to you and how on earth should you decide where to incorporate an offshore company?What to Use an Offshore Company ForYou can use an offshore company if you want to trade internationally or invest offshore. You can use such a structure to buy and hold real estate at home and overseas or to own intellectual property. Additionally you can use such a holding str
        sites typically 30-120 per year Business sites typically 120 - 700 per year

    30. What are the competitive sources of information for your potential audience? How much do they charge? If Manchester United charges ?100 a year for membership of the official fan club, a competing online independent fan club should probably charge no more.

    31. The more exclusive the content, the more you can charge. A very successful share trader, Vince Stanzione, charges ?100 /$180 a month for a newsletter reporting what trades he is about to make or has just made. Jay Abraham charges $300 a month for access to his website that gives his personal advice on growing a business (www.abrahaminsider.com)

    32. Study magazines in your sector. How much do they charge? What is their circulation? How will you compete? There is no rule about charging more or less than them, but you have to be sure that your value proposition is more compelling when trying to attract new members. Do remember as an online site you offer huge advantages over print. These benefits have a value that you can charge for.

    33. People love a deal! Set your price a bit higher than you intend to charge and then discount it back. This has two benefits:
        • People perceive the value of the content is at the higher price
        • Prospects feel they are getting a bargain

    34. There are psychological barriers in pricing. It is better to charge $4.95 a month than $5.00, or $9.97 is better than $10. There are also opportunities to push pricing up towards these barriers. For example if you charge $385 a year, you could probably getaway with lifting the price to $397 without any impact on sign up rates. Just don’t break the $400 level as this is the next psychological barrier and will cause a fall in subscriptions.

    35. Don’t give discounts to loyal members! If a member returns year after year they perceive that the price they pay is equal to the value they receive. By all means reward their loyalty with bonus information, such as a free ebook or a research report, but don’t reduce the price. This is a very common mistake.

    36. Offer promotional prices for one year, but don’t drop the general price. If you believe that you are missing out on a big market group because they are more price sensitive, offer them a promotional code/discount on the standard price. Don’t drop the price for all subscribers. A good example is if you decide you want to attract students who tend to be very price sensitive.

    37. DON’T ever consider, even for a moment, charging a one-time fee for lifetime’s access. This was common in the early years of the internet, but I haven’t seen a single site that has survived with this strategy

    38. Test, test and test again! One of the greatest benefits of the internet is you can easily change pricing, offer discounts or promote free incentives with minimum effort and cost. For example send out two different price offers to two similar groups of prospects. Measure the response rate and margin to find out which offer is most profitable. Then create a new offer and try it against the best of the first offer…… and so on. This is known as “AB Testing”

    39. You can also consider offering trials, but be sure to get the customers credit card details before the trial starts and get them to agree that after the trial is over you will automatically bill them unless you receive written instruction not to.

    I hope that you find this advice useful. It has been put together from the experience of helping dozens of online publishers decide on the subscription fees for their membership websites. Please take the time to research and choose the right price. It is one of the most important decisions you'll make in determining how successful your business will be.