First let me thank every one of you that took the time to participate in this informal poll. Even though there were only a few respondants I was able to get a lot of useful information, and make a few pointed observations. If you've read through all the posts as I have, I'm sure you have found a few surprises.
I hope you will all take advantage of this very useful information, whether you're a membership site owner, a soon to be membership website owner, or thinking of joining a membership.
Here is a very general condensation of the responses:
What I look for: Number of responses:
Free - Low cost to join 5
Recruiting required Y= N= 1
Live Training Y= 3 N= 1
Written Training Y= 2 N=
Recorded training 1
Daily "nuts & bolts training 6
Support 4
How to "step by step" 3
autoresp. Websites. Uploads
pay setup
Honesty, trust, integrity 3
Products 2
Comp plan / income potential 2
advertising exposure 1
Languages 1
"handicap" access 1
Community 1
Opportunity/timing 1
There were 14 individual responses from 21 posts, and 332 views.
Now, there a a few observations one could make from the above number of responses vs views. First off..it's seems eerily similar to broadcast mailings these days, so people might take note that on an Advertising Forum, as with email advertisements, your response rate is going to be in the 4-7% range. I suppose I could try some split testing with a better subject line but I think I might tick a few people off and lose a few readers..lol (and besides, I already know my response rates here in Adland are pretty much in line with Industry Standards)
As far as the actual responses, because of the relatively small numbers it's difficult to really make more than a few observations, and perhaps a couple of assumptions.
First, it's obvious that Training is first and foremost in many minds, and that's an interesting indicator. I see most sites advertising just this kind of thing but with the responses I'm wondering about the quality or the EFFECTIVENESS of some of those training plans..
OR
Is it that people join a site expecting to be Trained, as in "hold my hand, walk me through this, teach me how" kind of training (and the responses seem to indicate a general trend in this direction)
The live training aspect is important to people, as we are social creatures, but I think also because it's easier to gain an understanding sometimes, and the ability to reflect that understanding (or seek correction) immediately that is so important to us.
On the other hand, in large groups or conferences, you might find that people are intimidated by the group and will be afraid to speak out, so smaller and more familiar or intimate groups of people (perhaps even at a similar developmental stage) is more condusive to participation.
Next is the desire for Support. I myself know how important it is to me in getting a speedy response to my problems, because in this competitive arena, ever moment wasted is opportunity gone. We don't want to wait for the answer if something's not working.
And how important are first impressions when someone's taking a chance on joining a new (at least to them) site? Probably no less than the first impressions when you meet someone face to face.
I think even though it's a cost, webowners must consider this factor very carefully and find ways to make a speedy response to any questions or problems.
The Honesty, trust, integrity elements are also of note (not surprisingly) probably due to the fact that so many people have joined a site with expectations that were not met, so they have developed very cautious attitudes when considering an opportunity.
That products, opportunity/timing, and compensation plan took a back seat, to me was a bit surprising, but the numbers are so small and the information so sketchy, that I can't make many observations on this, but I do have some opinions:
First would be that people are concerned with what products they are dealing with, but probably the overriding factor (besides being a bona fide quality product) is saleability. Can the product be sold for a decent return. Funny enough though..it takes a back seat to training and support, so perhaps one could assume that people might be willing to sell anything decent as long as effective training and superb support were available.
Second, and this one surprised me, that comp plan and income potential would rate so low, and I'm not sure what to take from that.
Third and last of my observations is my surprise that Opportunity/timing would rank so low because that is something I would rank fairly high. The saying "first to market" is important because it's so very true. So too is being in a system early, because that is where the majority of the opportunity lies..when it's fresh and new. People are much more inclined to join a fresh attractive site than they are something old and seen a million times.
So there you have it.
A very simple little exercises in the power of surveys and just asking people a few questions, and how much valuable information you can get from it. I hope you've all enjoyed it :-)
To SUCCESS!