Premium VS Free, What do you think?

Hi guys,

At last I have come up with an idea that I like, but I am not sure that it would work, But I definitely love it.

Here is the pitch ...

Some of you might know my website, PicturePunches. I have decided to add premium content added by the user.
So I know that people would love to get payed for their sense of humor, like create funny captions on pictures or create memes. But what I am not sure about is that people would pay to see premium content ...

I know that the value of my content is somewhat cheap, so I decided to make the cost fixed and cheap. You can view a members' collection of funny pictures for $0.50 one time fee that have more that 100 pictures.

there will be lists that people follow that can be updated daily from the owner of the list, so imagine that someone pays $0.20 to follow this person. and think that the person that own the list will be talented, so he will make professional cartoons or whatever that sells.

What do you think?
- Should I lower the prices.
- Should I make it free and profit from Adsense (which I don't want).
- Should I make it a one time payment instead of monthly.

If you have a new idea I am open to it, so please share your input.

Thank you in advance
FarrisFahad

 

I wouldn't recommend having a premium section on a humor website. There are enough funny websites out there.... The content is freely available. I would opt for a revenue sharing approach. Users can opt to earn from their uploads. You can pay $1 per thousand views and place a popup code on their page. That'll encourage them to get views and earn you revenue.

 

I hate to say it, but I agree with the above poster. (I only hate it because it's never fun to shoot down someones idea.)

But sambling has a point- if you find a cost effective way to reward the uploaders for driving traffic themselves (give them a reason to WANT to) then you are investing in traffic in an alternative sort of way, instead of trying to build a business model itself.

How you monetize that traffic is up to you - be it adsense, cpa ads, affiliate stuff.

 

I'm with sambling and LaughingBearInc. The premium content model has historically been nearly impossible to sustain. Even long-established sites like Fark (where you can get premium features for $5/yr) still rely on advertising for nearly all of their revenue. It's hard enough to keep a user base engaged already, and making people want to pay to use a website is categorically more difficult than that.

Instead, focus on always providing value to the users, both the browsers and the contributors, so that they feel that they are getting something by using the site. Revenue is only possible when you have that function filled.

 

I thought by offering premium content through my users, they can make a lot of money through my website, But you guys are right, this business model wont work simply because there is so much funny content for free that it does't make sense to pay for it. But I am trying to stand out from the crowed, as you know there are a lot of funny pictures websites, so competition is tough.

If any of you visit funny pictures websites, what would you like to see from these website, and what have you liked?

Some ideas I would like to get your input on. What if you can view only pictures that you haven't seen so return visitors wont have to resee pictures. And what if there was a wall that will be filled with what your friends liked on the website.

Thank you in advance
FarrisFahad