Yes, that's what I'll be posting sometime on or after Sunday June 3, when my next shoot takes place. And trust me, guys, it'll knock your socks off. I've got very high hopes for the next update.
I apologize for the ruse, but I figured I'd get fewer people reading if this post were titled "The Revenue Model I'm Considering." But in any case, here's the revenue model I'm considering.
First of all, to avoid the pain of microtransactions and the agony of having to enter your credit card information frequently, all cash transactions will be for the purchase of either renewing subscriptions, or "tokens". Content can be purchased with tokens, not with money. The price of a token will vary based on how many you're purchasing at one time.
The most basic monthly subscription will be on the order of $4.16/month. Don't get too excited though... this subscription will come with no content. Why even have it then? Well... parts of content are "locked". Even nonsubscribers can see the unlocked part (which will consist mainly of the first few minutes of a piece of content). Low-end subscribers have to pay a fee to unlock the content. Once it's unlocked, it stays unlocked as long as the subscription is active.
Or if you don't want to deal with unlocking content, you can subscribe at the $29.99/month level, which causes all new content to unlock automatically, and old content to unlock on a weekly basis. Or when subscribing you could unlock all the old content at a discounted rate. And when you've had enough content, you can drop down to the $4.99 level and keep all your licensed content for a mere $50/year. Or if you don't like the subscription model, you can pay a rate (higher than that paid by subscribers) to purchase content outright, which will never expire even if your subscription does.
Why this complicated model? Because I wanted to give my subscribers the greatest amount of flexibility. Nobody is forced to pay for content he doesn't want, and those who would prefer to spend a little for a little content may, as may those who'd rather spend a lot for a lot of content.
Questions, comments, or suggestions?
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13 comments:
Are you planning on having weekly updates?
If I wanted to login, and download what ever I like, how much will that cost? For that matter, will we be able to download?
Seems a tad confusing but I'm sure it's not as bad as it sounds.
Sounds good, I like the flexibility. will videos be full screen, and what extension (wmv,mpeg, etc.)? Can we download for keeps at the "higher" rate?
-Beaver
It seems it may be a little pricey but if the content is as good as I think it will be then it will be worth it.
Can I work for tokens?!
Any way to click-1000-advertises to win some few tokens to use in the site?
Regards
Far too complex...
It'll turn folk off...
Keep it simple. ;0)
I don't think it will look so complicated when Red has the site up. When we can see how much the tokens actually cost and what we are getting for them.
Seems expensive considering you can access several years worth of content on other sites for between $15 and $30. To access just one year's worth of content on here it would cost you $360. Maybe I'm reading this wrong or maybe the content will be worth the steep price. If so I apologize.
I'm sorry but these prices are ridiculous.
~Cliff
Thanks everyone for the feedback. Comments on the comments:
Everybody: I think I was a bit unclear when I started listing prices. The prices themselves are far from set in stone; they're estimates, it's the model I'm seeking feedback on.
Yes, I'm aware it's a bit complex and confusing. I'll try to simplify it a bit in the final product.
cheese: Yes, that's the goal. Some updates will however be more substantial than other updates. For example, one week I might update with a new interactive game, the next week I might add forfeits to that game.
Anonymous May 31 5:44: Videos will definitely be full screen, and at the higher rate you can definitely download "for keeps." I haven't decided on the format yet... the compression will be something high-quality and cross-platform, but as for the container, I'm not sure.
I hate to say this, guys, but there will probably be some sort of DRM involved. I have some ideas for how I can make it as unobtrusive as possible, but I'm deathly afraid of piracy. I mean, I know all (or a lot of) the pirate sites, I've been a part of "the community" for over a decade, I've occasionally pirated content myself (and I'm not proud of it) (and I've very often purchased content I originally pirated, not that that excuses the piracy), and the biggest lesson I took from the donations experiment was: very few people will pay for something if they don't have to. I know that the most of you are honest, but pirates could kill me, and I have to look out for my interests. I promise that I will never lose sight of my loyal paying customers and that I will never inconvenience them unnecessarily.
member666: That's a great idea! Here's the first way you can work for tokens: I need a logo. The first person to send me a high-quality, high-resolution logo for LostBets.com that I decide to use will get $150 in tokens when the site opens or $100 in cash right away. I really hope someone can help me with this... if this works out, I'd be more than willing to do a cash or tokens deal for more in-depth site design, where I could really use the help. Terms and conditions: I'm the sole judge. You must possess all rights to all elements of your logo free and clear, and upon acceptance you must be willing to assign those rights in their entirety to Lost Bets Productions, Inc.
Anonymous June 3 11:08: Yes, some sites give you access to years of back updates for the price of a single month's subscription. Some other site owners often complain about marginal profitability. I don't want that to be me. Yes, my site will probably be more expensive than others. It's a niche market, and niches cost more.
And again, my goal here is flexibility. How many of you would be willing to pay a thousand bucks a year for fifty good stripping game videos? Well, I would. And I know of a handful of other people who would, too. (That's only $20 a video, after all, and for a lot of us, $1,000 isn't a huge expense.) But not many people would. So I want to give those few true fans the opportunity to give me that kind of money for such a rich amount of content, while also giving people who like the content but aren't willing to make that kind of investment the ability to buy what they want at a price that's affordable.
Here's an example of how that might work. How much would it be worth to get an interactive stripping game like Mia's Rock-Paper-Scissors we all know and love? Well, Torquemada charges 24.95 zloties for a Video Strip Poker opponent; that's around $8.80. And while I love VSP and own every bit of content, my opponents actually speak to you, and in English. So if I charged about that for a game (maybe a little more, maybe a little less), that'd be fair. But let's say that when the girl gets naked, she offers to keep playing, doing a forfeit if she loses. And when you beat her again, you're offered a menu of, say, five different things you could make her do. They're locked, and you'd have to pay, oh, let's say $2.50 to unlock one of them or $10.00 to unlock them all. If that's too much for you, that's fine, you hopefully still got good value for the $8.80 you paid for the game, and if that sounds like a fair price to you, you can pay more and get more. Flexibility. Again, all prices are just for the purpose of illustration and do not necessarily resemble what the actual prices will be.
And (and here's where it gets complex again), you wouldn't even have to pay that much if you didn't want to. Maybe the price to unlock would be just $5.00 for the game, and $1.00 for the forfeits, if you were willing to maintain a basic subscription. Or if you went with the premium subscription, both game and forfeits would unlock for free.
Cliff: Sorry you think the prices are ridiculous... but again, they're not final. The actual prices may be lower. Or they may be higher. However it works out, I hope you find at least some content on the site that you think is worth the money.
Oh, here's another way I'd like to get revenue (on mutually-beneficial terms) from the true fans: I've always said, and I will continue to say, that I would love input and ideas from my fans. I've also said that I may or may not accept those ideas. But let's say you've got an idea that you really, really want to see made into a video, and I don't seem to be making it a priority. I'll give you the option to pay me to make it, and this will include a special cut for you and you alone with outtakes and interviews. That sound cool to everyone?
"How many of you would be willing to pay a thousand bucks a year for fifty good stripping game videos? Well, I would. And I know of a handful of other people who would, too. (That's only $20 a video, after all, and for a lot of us, $1,000 isn't a huge expense."
Yikes! I wish a had $1,000 period. I'm sad to hear that the games will cost that much. I know you haven't set the prices yet but it seems they will be on the high side. I am a true fan and have been greatly anticipating the launch of your site but it appears I will not be able to participate. Best of luck to you.
Finally, an issue that I am passionate about. I have looked for information of this caliber for the last several hours. Your site is greatly appreciated.
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