Written on November 10th, 2009 at 01:11 am by Darren Rowse
ProBlogger.com Price Rise Coming in 1 Week – Lock in the Intro Price Today
Update: The introductory offer ends at 1pm (Eastern US time) on Monday 16 November.
A number of people have been asking how ProBlogger.com (the new community section of ProBlogger) has been going since we launched a month ago – so today I thought I’d give a bit of an update – including giving some news on the new price which will go live 1 week from today..
Some stats:
- As things currently stand we have 2080 paying members.
- In the first month the forum has had 1,400+ threads of conversation started and 15,000+ actual posts.
- Less than 1% of those who registered for the first month decided not to renew their subscription.
- The section with the most new threads in the first month was the ‘Critique’ section where members post a link to their blog or something that they’ve done and ask for others to review it.
- The section with the most posts/responses (apart from the ‘general chit chat’ area) is the ‘blog promotion/finding readers’ section.
Here’s a quick screen grab of the different areas (taken a few days back pretty late at night US time so not a lot of people in the forum at the time).
As you can see the topics being discussed are far reaching and in most areas there is a fair bit of discussion. The new(ish) Tutorials area is an area I’d like to see a bit more action in and I’m going to recruit a few experts in different fields of blogging to contribute some tutorials here in the coming months.
We’ve passed the point where most members have had the chance to stop their subscription if they choose to. As mentioned above we’ve had just under 1% of people decide to leave. While I’d love everyone to stay it’s not feasible to expect that the site will suit every need.
We did have a few issues with the subscription renewals at the end of the month which caused some confusion but along with a few other growing pains the first month of ProBlogger.com has been well worthwhile and I’m getting a lot of really great feedback from members.
As with all membership sites it is those who are throwing themselves into it most who seem to be getting the most out of it.
The Price Rises in One Week from Today
Now that we’ve achieved the 2000 member mark and retained that amount of members we’re moving towards ending the introductory price of $1.95 a month. Anyone who has signed up at this price already (and who signs up in the next week) and stays a member is locked in at this level.
However in a week’s time we’ll be putting the price up to $5.95 a month for new members. This gives everyone a chance to get in at the introductory price – so if you’re thinking of joining – now’s the time to get locked in at $1.95.
$5.95 is a price that we still feel is accessible to many but will enable us to make the site sustainable.
You have one week to get in at this price before we raise it – your time starts….. now.
New Feature – Social Groups
Now that we’re at 2000 members we’re starting to see enough bloggers in different niches to make the collaboration area of the blog more and more useful as there are now little ‘clusters’ of bloggers in different topics.
To help with this collaboration we’ll be adding the ’social groups’ feature in the coming week. This will enable bloggers to group themselves a little more and set up areas to discuss common interests.
I foresee this ’social groups’ feature to be used in a number of ways:
- Niche Based Groups – for example the gadget bloggers might find it useful to set up an area where they can all come together to work together, discuss their niche, ask for and offer help to each other. Groups for Mommy Bloggers, Photography Bloggers, Sports Bloggers…. etc
- Location Based Groups – for bloggers from a particular city, region, state, country who are interested in talking about issues of their part of the world.
- Platform Based Groups – for bloggers who want to talk about a particular blogging platform or tool. I could foresee a group for WordPress bloggers, for Joomla bloggers, for Blogger.com bloggers….
Really the way that these groups can be used is only going to be limited to the imagination of members. I hope that they provide bloggers with the ability to find others like them but also discuss some of the more obscure topics that might not be relevant to everyone.
At first we’ll be choosing the topics for these groups but would like to soon open it up for anyone to start one.
New Feature – Weekly Chats
We will also be adding a weekly chat session for members in the coming couple of weeks. This will not go live until after the price rise but will give members the opportunity to interact live with one another on a weekly basis in a chat room – the hope is that we’ll nominate a topic each week to focus the chat around, do a little quick teaching at the start and then open it up for discussion.
Other Benefits
Discounts – The 50% off the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog offer has been used by many of our members. Getting $9.98 off the workbook effectively gives those members 5 months free membership.
I’ll be extending this offer indefinitely for ProBlogger.com members and also offering discounts on future ProBlogger resources (expect to see another one released in the next 2-3 months with more to follow).
I’m also talking to a number of blogging related companies about them coming into the forums to offer special discounts on their products to members. More on this in the coming weeks.
Guest Experts – as mentioned above – I want to beef up the ‘tutorials’ area of the forum by bringing in some special guests to provide some teaching around different topics. This will not be a formal curriculum or syllabus but rather regular input from people with experience in different areas of blogging and the opportunity to pick their brains a little.
69 Responses to “ProBlogger.com Price Rise Coming in 1 Week – Lock in the Intro Price Today” - Add Yours
Kelly
November 10th, 2009 1:21 am
Signing up right now. I put it off for too long!
Suneel
November 10th, 2009 1:21 am
I am a member there but in order to update my subscription for the current month, my paypal is not agreeing to send the amount as I have not attached a credit card to the PP account.
Help me Darren. I want to send the money, but I am unable to do so.
Andrew @ webuildyourblog.com
November 10th, 2009 1:25 am
If there is anyone on the ‘fence’, sign up now! It’s worth it at $5.95 but at $1.95 it’s a steal.
Andrew
Young
November 10th, 2009 1:27 am
Congratulations! Wish problogger.com a more successful business!!
Firas Steitiyeh
November 10th, 2009 1:29 am
WOW, I am so lucky that I have been a member since day one!! I highly recommend it to everyone!!
Kevin (strongandfit.net)
November 10th, 2009 1:29 am
Glad I’m locked in on the old price. I’ve really enjoyed interacting with other bloggers over at the forum.
BLOGERCISE
November 10th, 2009 1:41 am
I run a site with 10,000+ members and charge nothing. But good luck to you for making the chargeable model work.
It’s a shame though as I would love to have participated but have no interest in paying to help others out lol! I’m not quite that altruistic.
Dom
November 10th, 2009 1:50 am
Charging? For forums? Seriously??
The only people that will fall for that are the people that don’t realise that there are better, free communities all over the web. So what you’ll end up with is a community of clueless people.
I for one would not pay to be part of a community of clueless people. YMMV.
Eat Smart Age Smart
November 10th, 2009 1:52 am
I’m surely happy I joined in from day 1!
Wow! $5.95 is quite a different price. At $1.95, I don’t mind the membership and can easily justify it.
Free Laptops
November 10th, 2009 1:58 am
Whoa, there are already 2,000 members. That is good. That means that the forum is very active.
ITrush
November 10th, 2009 1:59 am
Nice stats, it’s growing very fast Darren.. Congrats.
Andrus
November 10th, 2009 2:05 am
@Darren
in the rss feed there is no link to the community. Would probably increase the sign-up level if it had.
Dana @ Online Knowledge
November 10th, 2009 2:07 am
It sound that problogger really a success forum. Keep it success. :D
ian
November 10th, 2009 2:14 am
I am impressed with how well the first month has gone for you, it is always a bit of a leap of faith to try something new and put yourself (and your brand) out there but it has really worked out well for you. I saw from your cropped image that it mainly covers monetizing your blog, do people expand into other areas like how to make money with affiliate programs. I have a blog now but would really like to try other things more specific which I know you said you were going to cover but just wondered how diverse people were on the forum?
Rhys
November 10th, 2009 2:21 am
@Dom
I’ve been a member from day one, and I wouldn’t call the members clueless. I don’t like to name names, but there are some pretty big bloggers, SEOers & online entrepreneurs in the community.
I have had immense benefit from being a member, from giving interviews, guestposting on humongous blogs (and being asked to, not speculatively sending a post), and even some work being sent my way. Of course, it’s how you use it, and there’ve been times where members have complained that it’s not for them, often the members have about 3 posts and have not engaged with the community.
Of course, nobody’s forcing you to sign up, but really it’s a bit of a steal for the price of a can of beer.
Blogging Tips
November 10th, 2009 2:41 am
Congrats darren Hope you achieve more success
Nicholas Cardot
November 10th, 2009 2:58 am
I signed up the very first week and it was definitely worth it. There’s a lot of great resources and collaboration there.
Dave
November 10th, 2009 3:11 am
Thanks for setting a great example for how a blogging forum can be run! I’m happy to spread the word, and appreciate the low (low) introductory rate.
crazy blogger
November 10th, 2009 3:46 am
Great dude. you are rocking
best of luck for new business
Ms. Freeman
November 10th, 2009 4:06 am
Looks like things are going as planned. I am still on the fence at this time, but who knows I may join eventually.
I’m still hoping to hear feedback from those that have actually joined. Perhaps they can post an endoresement on their blogs in their own words.
Just sayin’ :)
Daniel Lichter
November 10th, 2009 4:10 am
I wanted to join the ProBlogger Community but I had a problem with PayPal because it seems only to be possible to pay via PayPal in combination with a credit card and not PayPal & automatic debit transfer system from my bank account :(
Joined your colleague’s programm from Yaro Starak instead but still best of luck with your project. My number one ressource for blogging here ;)
Cheers
Daniel
5starAffiliatePrograms
November 10th, 2009 5:05 am
Darren,
I’ve been thinking about joining but have a question.
Note: for me this isn’t about price at all. Even at the new higher price, it’s just a drop in the bucket. For me it’s about where I focus my time and energy.
I’m primarily interested in joining only if there are lots of people that I can help that are interested in and asking questions about monetizing their blogs and about affiliate marketing. I already participate at lots of affiliate forums and really enjoy helping people.
So is there much interest in affiliate marketing at your forum?
Thanks,
Linda Buquet
We Fly Spitfires
November 10th, 2009 5:13 am
I just signed up yesterday! I haven’t had a lot of time to post (other than introduce myself, of course) but I’d had a flick through and it looks great. Looking forward to undergoing the site critique!
Glad I locked in at the low price.
Trace Mayer
November 10th, 2009 6:06 am
@Dom,
“The only people that will fall for that are the people that don’t realise that there are better, free communities all over the web. So what you’ll end up with is a community of clueless people.”
I do not think your logic follows. There have been ‘barriers to entry’ for elite networking clubs throughout history. You would probably shudder at the annual cost of a couple of the country clubs I belong to. Some you cannot get into without being invited and approved no matter how much you are willing to pay.
But as my Dad coined, “We discriminate the old fashioned way; with money.” A couple months ago one of my friends was eating lunch and the guy he was with waved over Charlie Munger who joined them. How do you put a price on an intimate 2 hour conversation with Buffett’s #2 man who has a net worth of $13B? Additionally, where do you think almost all the business deals get made?
I think Darren is going to be creating an extremely valuable virtual country club. I have received tremendous value from Problogger.net and make sure I go through his affiliate links whenever I buy something. I will be signing up for Problogger.com. If I never login again I will still pay for it because of the value I receive from the free blog. But think of the relationships and potential business opportunities from such a niche and self-selected group? This should be a lot of fun.
Ronblogger of Top Blogging Tips
November 10th, 2009 6:33 am
I know the forum will be bigger than what is expected, so the introductory subscription price is completely a big steal.People must join early.
Patrenia
November 10th, 2009 7:48 am
Thank you Darren for introducing the forum. I have been a member since day 1, but have only been active for a few days. In the few days since activity, I have received so much support for my new blog. To echo what Tracy said above, “If I never login again I will still pay for it because of the value I receive from the free blog.”
Paramendra Bhagat
November 10th, 2009 8:32 am
All the best with this venture. You keep branching out to new revenue sources, don’t you? Very inspiring.
Buzzlord
November 10th, 2009 8:59 am
Do you really need to charge for membership?
Is it just to keep spam and unwanted influences out?
It seems like there are so many options out there to collaborate with others, why do I need to pay $1.95 (or $5.95) a month to do so?
I guess I don’t see the benefit in making it exclusive.
WP Themes for Bloggers
November 10th, 2009 9:12 am
I can’t figure out why people are worried about Darren charging for this forum.
The only thing that you should be asking is whether or not this investment is worth your money or not. At $2/month its pretty ridiculous to think it wouldn’t be…especially considering how much $ and connections there are to be made through this forum.
Anyone worried about spending $2 a month for this opportunity is seriously behind the curve.
AJ St Claire
November 10th, 2009 9:27 am
@thesmallbizpro
Am joining up – this seems like a wonderful idea.
Thanks!
Tyler Staley
November 10th, 2009 11:06 am
I see why your charging for a Forum (though I don’t agree), but $5.95 is way too much for it.
David Walker
November 10th, 2009 12:25 pm
Tick Tock Darren and a basket full of goodies; I’ll sign up asap.
@ Tracy. That’s right. Dom’s just tying to rain on Darren’s parade. Anyone who’s been visiting the Problogger site will know about the valuable content offered here. If free is this good, then it follows when you pay a little, it can only get better, for you. Just imagine the networking opportunities and helping each other out. It’s an excellent idea.
@ WP Themes for Bloggers. I think the problem here is not the less than $2 monthly fee; it’s the fact that Darren’s charging at all that seems to get people miffed. Anyone who’s been here long enough won’t bother asking why because they know what they’re getting out of it all.
Sarge
November 10th, 2009 1:46 pm
Such a great price. Really worth it.
If you don’t have your own private mentor for blogging and the like this is the next best thing if not better. If you ask a question you get answers right away.
camcorder taschen
November 10th, 2009 2:07 pm
Problogger community is definitely a best place to hang out for bloggers. It is good to see that he has invited you to join this community. Don’t forget to share your experience with us
Technology Slice
November 10th, 2009 5:07 pm
That’s a decent amount of participation for a 1 month old forum.
elizof
November 10th, 2009 6:14 pm
So far, so good… This is well worth the $1.95 and I am happy to pay it. When people have to pay, even a nominal fee, for an opportunity, the incentive to pay more than cursory attention to the site increases.
This is a business with some operating costs and there’s no point in expecting Darren to run it without remuneration. We knew what we signed up for and the expectations have not changed.
Kudos Darren and Lara. Please keep us posted on all updates.
Cheers,
Eliz
Tinh
November 10th, 2009 7:41 pm
I would love to join in with the introductory price but actually I do not have enough budget now. What a big pity but anyway when my blog grow up, 5.95$ is still fine with me. I will spread out this in my blog soon and hoe other can hear this updates
Kelvin Servigon
November 10th, 2009 9:46 pm
Whoa, you’re forum is growing really fast! Hope to see it more in action. :D
Samuel
November 11th, 2009 1:15 am
Whilst I disagree that the forum will be full of ‘clueless people’ like someone above suggested, the whole ideology of it being a paid subscription suggests that it will have its fair share of ‘money-hungry sell-outs’ for want of a better phrase.
Good luck to you all in whatever you want out of your blogs and well done to Darren for adding another pretty penny to his bulging bank account. As for me personally, I’ve just found a free creative writing forum I’m going to sign up to instead… :)
Sam
Pria Ingrum
November 11th, 2009 8:43 am
I just signed up and keeping my fingers crossed. I don’t normally like to pay for monthly memberships like this. However, blogging is such a lonely activity and being part of a community where I can get some motivation during slumps may be helpful. Also, I am a beginner and need to build traffic and not turn into a statistic. I could use some critiquing and mentoring.
-Pria
Top Blogging Tips
November 11th, 2009 11:10 am
Glad to see that more people are signing up, looking forward to better and bigger community
Dave
November 11th, 2009 11:32 am
Well, they said that the people who got really rich in the Californian Gold Rush were the guys who sold the shovels and picks.
hokya
November 11th, 2009 2:18 pm
i though you asked for price just for filtering the consequent members
FitJerks Fitness Blog
November 11th, 2009 2:41 pm
Hah, well look at that, im featured on the screenshot. How nice of ya Darren.
For those that are on the fence, I have a message for ya:
Join if you’re serious about blogging… people in that forum actually WANT to make their blogs a success so most of them don’t sit around and wait for crap to happen.
Also, you’ll get out what you put into it. Don’t join and then just sit and wait. What the hell are you waiting for? Just intro yourself, throw your blog in the critique section, start making connections and start collaborating.
if you do that… then $1.95/a month is a seriously shocking price. How can you NOT jump on this opportunity? Spare a cup of coffee once a month… I’m sure you can manage that.
work at home
November 11th, 2009 4:32 pm
I wish for success in problogger.net. Thank you.
Magnetic Bar
November 11th, 2009 7:53 pm
Wish problogger.com a more successful business!!
The Blog Is Mine dot Com
November 11th, 2009 8:15 pm
It sound that problogger really a success forum. Keep it success. :D
Galvahaha
November 13th, 2009 2:22 am
I just signed up yesterday! I haven’t had a lot of time to post (other than introduce myself, of course) but I’d had a flick through and it looks great. Looking forward to undergoing the site critique!
Glad I locked in at the low price.
Mike from Drop Ship
November 13th, 2009 2:10 pm
Your forum rocks! Good to see that more and more people are signing up. I wish you all the luck.
Novephel
November 13th, 2009 3:32 pm
I’ve been a member since it opened a month ago and I’m very please with everyone’s participation and general willingness to help out others :)
Paula from Affiliate Blog Online
November 13th, 2009 5:16 pm
Just signed up today. Been meaning to do it for a while now so this has given me the push to take action.
Health Mind Spirit
November 13th, 2009 5:17 pm
Hello, I will now join. Your reputation as a blogger, and the value of the free content here on the blog, well, your forum must be good!
Sahil
November 14th, 2009 3:12 pm
Hi,
Can you tell me which is the best paying site for ads after Google Adsense. My blog is quite new and I think it will not be approved by google so soon. I am having adbrite ads and bidvertiser. Can you suggest any other site which pays good.
http://bestsarkarinaukri.blogspot.com
Thanks
dsi r4
November 15th, 2009 12:15 am
The problogger is definitely one we should all be in. One reason id join is nt even for the information being shared but to network and find new friends in the blogging space because people that join here will be serious and committed to blogging.
Flek
November 15th, 2009 2:33 am
Most of the forums are free. But its worth paying a bit for these highly valuable resources. But personally 5$ is a bit high. All the best with it. And I’m signing up the way..
Pallav
November 15th, 2009 5:13 am
What a great Idea! Probblogger definately deserves that. I am a personal blogger but I like to visit this site for getting profound experiences. I am in love with this blog!
leasy
November 15th, 2009 5:52 am
Another legit site with proof of making money feeling out simple surveys.
Pallav
November 15th, 2009 7:06 pm
Why my blog isn’t getting adsense approval?
I have good alexa rank, low google PR 1, original content and huge traffic but still I am unable to get approval from Adsense. Can somebody tell me the reason? You can also visit my blog. I hope to get some useful information about adsense from problogger.
Thanks
Bronwyn
November 16th, 2009 2:47 am
I wish there were a different subscription/payment method available other than paypal. I’m unable to use paypal.
Madeleine
November 16th, 2009 5:18 am
A Problem with Registering: I’ve been trying to sign up to extend membership at the initial price. I couldn’t remember my password, so I logged in with my user name and other info. as requested. Then I selected receiving another password by email. Immediately, I got an error message saying that “You have chosen not to accept the forum rules, so registration cannot continue.”
I had accepted the forum rules, but I went through the whole process again with the same resulting error message. Can you please help straighten this out? Thank you so much!
Ishan@ILoveFreeSoftware
November 16th, 2009 5:13 pm
wow Darren.. these are really good numbers. This will keep getting you continued income month after month – nothing beats it. When I had read first about this that you are launching a paid forum, I wasn’t much optimistic about its success. But you have definitely proven me wrong. Really good job!
roschelle
November 16th, 2009 5:23 pm
Glad I got in the first week. $5.95 is pretty steep for a forum. Those who are interested should really sign up like NOW!
The Dotcom Hippie on Twitter
November 17th, 2009 12:45 am
Just signed up. My gut feeling was telling me it’s the right thing to do. Besides, with places like Twitter having become less conversational and more spammy, I think places like this could be good for meeting up with new people and forming new relationships for fruitful collaboration. Just took a look at the forums – things are looking good so far!
Besides, at $1.95 I’d have to consider this thing almost free…
The Dotcom Hippie
makingamark
November 17th, 2009 2:46 am
I’m happy to join – and have registered – but don’t understand why I’m only being offered the option of paying by e-cheque. I pay other subscriptions using paypal and don’t use e-cheque for those.
Mike
November 17th, 2009 5:52 am
This is the first time I have ever paid to join a forum. But at a $1.95 you can’t go wrong when you consider the quality of information you get.
mromero
November 17th, 2009 6:42 am
Got in late I guess because of time zone and the price is now $5.95 so backed out. Maybe some other time when you have a promotion or something like that. Thanks.
mromero
November 17th, 2009 7:24 am
Looking back at the comments I was unaware Paypal was required. Like another poster said, Paypal does not work for me so it would have been impossible to sign up anyways. 2CO or WorldPay would be better payment options – we know this from our own business.
Andre
November 17th, 2009 10:44 am
lol… everything goes up!! There goes my “one” grande mocha per month once January hits, lol. I better adjust my pricing too to recover from my caffeine addition. Actually, going from $1.95 to $5.95 is not a big deal and considering the info you get, I would have gone higher but running sites like this and many other types is not 0 cost anymore for most and when it started to become in demand, it can definitely add up your own personal time keeping things updated and adding new things.
S Ahsan
November 18th, 2009 4:07 pm
The forum is sweet! Its worth the price
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